Entrepreneurs seek government safety guarantee

Entrepreneurs seek government safety guarantee

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie received a strong message
from the business community yesterday that the government must
ensure the safety of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs and punish the
perpetrators of the May riots if it wishes to see a full
resumption of business activities.

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Aburizal Bakrie told the President that a comprehensive
settlement to the nationwide rioting in May is essential to
restoring confidence.

Aburizal said the absence of non-indigenous people,
particularly Chinese-Indonesians, was seriously affecting the
country's economy, especially the distribution network.

"I conveyed their (the ethnic Chinese businessmen's) request
for a security guarantee (to the president) so that they can
conduct their business activities in Indonesia in safety.

"And in this context, they asked for legal action to be taken
against those who are guilty of rioting," Aburizal said after
meeting with the President at the Bina Graha presidential office
late yesterday afternoon.

Aburizal said he had held a meeting with about 100
entrepreneurs, which included businessmen of Chinese descent,
prior to meeting Habibie.

He said calls for a security guarantee and a commitment to
take stern action against those responsible for the riots were
among the demands stressed during the earlier meeting which he
later conveyed to the president.

When asked about the President's reaction to the
entrepreneurs' message, Aburizal replied: "The President's
reaction was of course to say that legal action will be taken."

The shooting to death of four Trisakti University students by
security forces on May 12 sparked nationwide riots which
culminated in the resignation of President Soeharto.

The riots claimed nearly 1,200 lives in Jakarta alone, as
shops were looted and burned.

Establishments perceived to be owned by people of Chinese
descent were often targeted by looters.

Women's rights group Mitra Perempuan said early last month
that up to 100 Chinese women had been raped during the riots,
some of whom were later killed by their assailants.

Indonesians of Chinese descent account for only 4 percent of
the country's population of 202 million, but control 70 percent
of the economy.

Over 70,000 Indonesians, mostly of Chinese descent, left the
country from airports and seaports in Java, Bali and Sumatra, in
the wake of the riots.

The prominent role of Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs was
also recently highlighted by Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid and
tycoon William Soeryadjaya, both of whom urged the thousands of
Chinese-Indonesians who fled the country to return and help
revive the nation.

They both acknowledged that Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs
formed the backbone of the country's business sector and that it
would be difficult to resuscitate the national economy in their
absence. (prb)