Governor tells residents of Matraman to grow up

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)