Governor declares war against 'becak'

JAKARTA (JP): City Governor Sutiyoso, backed by the city police, declared war against becak (pedicab) drivers following Tuesday's riot which killed one civilian guard and injured two others.

"The administration will not step down from driving becak from the city as we are determined to rid the capital of them," the governor said on Wednesday.

He pledged that the authorities would continue with their crackdowns on pedicabs until they were out of the capital.

Tuesday's crackdown by city public order officials turned violent in the areas of Roxy and nearby Grogol as hundreds of becak drivers resisted the raid. Not only did they attack the officers, but they also vandalized eight cars, mostly belonging to the city administration, and a motorcycle.

The Roxy Mas International Trade Center immediately halted all activities for the day.

Abdul Kahfi, the deputy governor for administrative affairs, said the administration would arm its officers with tear gas instead of sticks in following crackdowns.

The tear gas is needed to protect them from becak drivers, who are likely to use weapons during the raid, Kahfi said.

"We will continue with crackdowns even if they become too risky," he said.

He said that the police had promised to back them.

"They will use rubber bullets, and even live bullets if necessary," he said.

Sources at the city administration said there were about 8,000 becak operating in the capital.

Meanwhile, City Council aired their support for the administration's determination in cracking down on becak in accordance with City Bylaw No. 11/1988, which bans them from operating in the capital.

However, the deputy chairman of the City Council, Djafar Badjeber, blamed Sutiyoso for the drivers' continued presence in the city.

In 1998, Sutiyoso had announced that becak were allowed to operate again in the capital, but he revoked his statement the next day.

Tension between the administration and the becak drivers, who later gained the support of the Urban Poor Consortium, has grown since then.

Both the city administration and the police have said the consortium was behind Tuesday's violence.

Separately, Wardah Hafidz, the coordinator of the consortium, admitted their involvement in Tuesday's protest of the crackdown by the becak drivers.

"I wasn't there but my colleagues were," she said, adding that instead of provoking the drivers, the consortium had tried to calm them.

She told The Jakarta Post by phone that if the consortium had not been involved, the violence might have been on a greater scale with the mob possibly attacking not only officials' vehicles, but also those of civilians.

Wardah noted that the administration had upset pedicab drivers by involving police officers armed with tear gas and weapons.

Meanwhile, city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bahrul Alam said the consortium was among several non-governmental organizations that were suspected to be behind the drivers' attack of city public order officers.

On Wednesday, hundreds of becak drivers conducted a rally outside the North Jakarta Mayoralty building, damaging a car which belongs to the local community health center.

Mayor Soebagyo HS said two becak drivers were arrested but were released several hours later. (jun/04)