Governor tells looters to relinquish plunder

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)