Fear grips N. Sumatra on 4th day of rioting

Fear grips N. Sumatra on 4th day of rioting

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Fear gripped the province on a
fourth day of rioting as looting and burning continued in several
towns near the capital of Medan.

In Medan itself, shops and offices have gotten back to
business as usual even though some owners opened their
establishments half-heartedly.

In Lalang Panjang in Medan Deli district, 14 kilometers from
Medan, at least 140 families of Chinese descent had taken flight
from rioters who attacked their homes and looted their
belongings.

"We've been sleeping under these banana trees for the past two
days," said Gunawan, one of the refugees.

The families were forced to flee when hundreds of people,
including women and teenagers, attacked the village and stole
their belongings, including chickens and ducks.

Pematang Siantar district saw riots yesterday evening as
hundreds of people smashed shop windows in Sinaksak and
Perdagangan.

Eyewitnesses said the riots started in the nearby town of
Parluasan.

The angry mob also set fire to a car.

A local resident, Sitimanur, told The Jakarta Post last night
that the area was almost like a burning ghost town.

No new fatalities were reported.

In Jakarta, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
yesterday revised the week's death toll from one person to two
for the riots in Medan and surrounding areas, sparked by the
government's announcement of fuel and electricity price increases
Monday.

"One was trapped and burned to death during a riot and one was
killed in a fight during other rioting," Da'i said.

On Thursday, North Sumatra Police chief Brig. Gen. M.A. Sambas
confirmed only one new death, a boy.

Some local reports had earlier put the death toll at six.

Da'i denied that the riots in Medan were generated by security
forces to showcase the ill-effects of the country's student
movement, which has called for reform through protests.

"I say again, the facts speak for themselves. The Medan riots
have been provoked by the student movement. Maybe the students
were not involved in the incidents, but their movement lead other
irresponsible parties to join the demonstrations and turn them
into destructive activities," he said.

National Police Chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo has hastily dismissed
Brig. Gen. M.A. Sambas as the police commander of North Sumatra.

Dibyo has named Brig. Gen. Sutiyono, who is commander of the
National Mobile Brigade Corps, as Sambas' successor.

The replacement ceremony is scheduled to be held today.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Sambas said he had no idea
what his new post would be.

But he believed the substitution "must be the best decision
for the police force, for me, for the reporters and for the local
people."

Self defense

As of yesterday, many ethnic Chinese -- who make up roughly 30
percent of the local population -- were still worrying about
their safety and their businesses as tension persisted in the
province.

Some Chinese families have sought protection at local police
offices and the homes of neighboring indigenous Indonesians and
top figures.

At the small town of Lubuk Pakam in Deli Serdang district, a
group of 20 Chinese sheltered themselves at the house of a former
council member.

Local sources told the Post that several families have
sheltered at hotels. Some of them have even chosen Singapore as a
place of refuge.

Over the past few days, Polonia Airport recorded a significant
increase of passengers heading to Singapore.

Lower-income Chinese traders have had no choice but to defend
their lives and property by arming themselves with wood and
rattan.

On Jl. Wahidin in Medan, for example, Chinese residents --
including teenage girls and housewives -- have stood guard in
front of their shops and houses day and night to ward off
possible attacks from rioters.

"We're forced to do all these things. We're not attempting to
make any challenges," said a resident, who asked not to be named.

The resident, a physician, supported the student protests but
blamed rioters and looters for the destruction.

Sharing his view, A Seng, a second-hand car trader on Jl.
Nibung Raya in Medan, said: "We were born here and have lived
together with the locals for years."

It is no use to attack each other, said A Seng, who closed his
Bintang Jaya Mobil shop on the first day of rioting.

Similarly, owners of other shops in the area have been on
alert 24 hours a day to protect their businesses. (edt/21)