Governor tells looters to relinquish plunder
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso has called on residents to relinquish goods plundered during last week's riots, which saw widespread looting and wanton destruction of private and public property.
"Looting is haram (forbidden in Islamic law). It's better to live a poor life than to plunder other people's property," he told a crowd when visiting Kapuk, North Jakarta, on Monday.
During his visit, Sutiyoso saw dozens of people relinquish various appliances, such as refrigerators and TV sets, to the Kapuk village chief's office.
Yesterday, more people came to the office and relinquished 13 dynamos, 42 shaws, 22 boxes of tomato sauce, one amplifier and 90 pairs of Edwin trousers.
Local community leaders attributed residents' growing awareness to give up their loot to ulema's call during last Friday prayers at local mosques.
"Last Friday (May 15) imams called on everyone to relinquish goods which was not rightfully theirs," said Marzuki, an activist of Al Ichsan Mosque, as quoted by Antara.
The governor said he hoped more people would follow suit after they became aware that looting and destroying property was immoral, irresponsible and forbidden in any religion.
He estimated that the violence had resulted in the destruction of about 5,000 buildings. "If each building had 10 employees, then at least 50,000 people have entered the long line of the unemployed."
Sutiyoso also visited the Pantai Indah Kapuk luxury housing complex, where residents reported heavy losses from a looting spree in the waterfront village.
Residents questioned why no security officers were available to stop the anarchy.
Sutiyoso said that the authorities could not help them because of the "limited number of security personnel" which were spread thinly throughout the city trying to stop similar widespread chaos.
"Social envy runs high here. I call on you to think about it and learn from this lesson. Do not show off your wealth by throwing lavish parties, for example."
As of Monday, the city administration had put the total material loss incurred from the mob violence at "more than Rp 2.5 trillion (US$250 million)", noting that reports of losses continued streaming in.
Officials have thus far recorded 2,547 shop/houses as being destroyed or damaged, as well as 1,819 shops, 46 repair stations, 40 malls, two churches, 77 private banks, 12 state-owned banks, 383 private offices, 21 government offices, 13 restaurants, 10 hotels, nine gas stations and 753 private houses.
Angry mobs also wrecked eight public buses, 1,119 private cars, 821 motorcycles, 587 traffic signs, 45 parks and hundreds of meters of fences.
Deputy governor for administrative affairs Abdul Kahfi said Monday that repairs of damaged public facilities had begun May 15.
"The process will take quite some time. Things cannot be fixed overnight," he said.
He said that because the city budget was limited, the repair of infrastructure and business centers would receive the highest priority.
"We hope that owners of the affected private buildings will soon rebuild so that there won't be too much pitiable scenery in the city," he said. (pan)