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)