Governor tells residents of Matraman to grow up

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso told Matraman residents, who were involved in their latest clash on Thursday, to settle their disputes and grow up for the benefit of themselves, their neighborhoods and the country.

"Stop being childish. They won't get anything (by staging their seemingly never-ending war). Their actions will affect themselves and the public, and will only make investors think the country is still unsafe," said the governor, who has seen numerous brawls between the neighboring Palmeriam and Berlan subdistricts since taking office about three years ago.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Sutiyoso said he disagreed with a proposal to relocate Berlan residents to another part of the capital. "It's impossible. Where should we place them? Much more importantly, there's no guarantee for security in the area if we decided to remove the people from Berlan."

The governor hoped the new subdistrict heads, who were appointed a few weeks ago, could resolve the problem. "I'll give them a chance. They were all appointed based on their experience."

Separately, city councillor Binsar Tambunan, who is also the chairman of Commission A on governmental affairs, urged the Jakarta Police on Friday to begin taking stern measures against anyone involved in the clashes in an effort to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

"There's no other way (to stop the conflict) except to take stern action," Binsar said.

Hundreds of Palmeriam and Berlan residents did battle on Thursday with rocks, Molotov cocktails and air rifles. Some 20 people were wounded after being shot with air rifles and one house was burned. Some combatants also were seen carrying knifes and sickles.

The brawl was finally quelled by some 100 personnel from the Jakarta Police, who arrived two hours after the violence began. There were no fatalities and no arrests were made.

"If the police officers do not dare to take firm action, they shouldn't have joined the police because are only wasting the state's money," Binsar said.

According to Binsar, all the steps taken by the authorities to create peace in the warring neighborhoods have proven fruitless.

"The dismissal of subdistrict heads and other related officials does not work because they do not have roots (in the community). They're just administrators," the councillor said.

If dismissing officials was the city authorities only response to the violence, he said, then parties would use the conflict to achieve the dismissal of certain officials.

When asked to comment on the councillor's statements, acting city police spokesman Maj. Alex Mandalika said the police were hesitant to take firm measures during the brawls.

"If we take repressive action, the result could be a clash between the police and the local residents which would create more damage," Alex told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Alex also said the police did not have the personnel to keep officers stationed in the warring neighborhoods at all times.

"We also need the personnel for other areas," Alex said, adding that there were supposed to be 100 police officers posted in the area.(08/06)