Governor warns officials of influx of people to city

Governor warns officials of influx of people to city

JAKARTA (JP): In the wake of heightening political tension,
Governor Sutiyoso has ordered the heads of local administrations,
ranging from mayors to subdistrict chiefs, to remain vigilant for
people coming from other towns who may be out to endanger the
capital's order and security.

Head of the data gathering and processing center Raya Siahaan
said on Wednesday that the order, formalized through
Gubernatorial Instruction No. 129/2001 dated April 24 and signed
by city secretary Fauzi Bowo on behalf of the governor,
stipulated that the administration heads should cooperate with
the security authorities and other concerned institutions in
order to maintain public order.

"They have been instructed to get all civilian defense and
public order officers, as well as civilian police auxiliaries
(Banpol), ready to help local communities put precautionary
security measures in place," Raya said.

The ruling also instructed all mayors, and district and
subdistrict chiefs to remain in the capital on Sunday and Monday,
when two huge rallies are expected to take place.

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of Nahdlatul Ulama supporters
will flood the city to attend a mass prayer meeting, which many
regard as a mere show of force by the Muslim organization in
support of President Abdurrahman Wahid. The embattled President
is facing a second motion of censure when the House of
Representatives convenes after its recess on Monday.

Separately, the City Land Transportation Agency reported that
there had been a gradual increase in the number of people coming
to the capital over the past week. The report said that only
29,400 people had arrived at bus terminals across the capital on
April 18, but five days later the number had soared to 41,200.

"The increase indicates the arrival of people from East Java,
Central Java and West Java. Normally there are only between 8,000
and 10,000 people entering the capital," the agency's head Buyung
Atang said.

Safeguard

Also in the day, two associations of indigenous Jakartans
claiming to have 15,000 members pledged to fight Abdurrahman's
supporters if they provoked riots in connection with the planned
mass prayer on Sunday and the House plenary session on Monday.

Chairman of the associations, the Tanah Abang Big Family
Association (IKBT) and Anticommunist and Antiviolence Indigenous
Betawians (ABANK), M. Yusuf Muhi told a media conference that
they would safeguard their neighborhood in Tanah Abang,
especially the railway station and market, and the House complex.

"The Betawi community welcome any visitor to the capital. But
we are also prepared to fight those who want to show off magic
powers and provoke riots in the city with the sole purpose of
defending one person: the President," he said.

"If President Wahid's supporters try to terrorize the DPR and
create chaos in Jakarta, we are ready to fight them to the
death."

The two Betawian organizations also called on political
leaders to pacify their respective supporters and suggested that
they settle problems through discussion instead of physical
force.

Yusuf said that IKBT and ABANK recommended that security
authorities shoot on sight any of President Wahid's supporters
who were responsible for inciting riots across the capital.

Meanwhile, some villa, bungalow and hotel owners in the Puncak
hill resort near Bogor said their rooms had been booked out for
the weekend. The reservations had been made mostly by Jakarta
people.

An employee of the Safari Garden Hotel, Fredy, told Antara
that all of the hotel's 400 rooms had been booked from Friday
through Tuesday. He said it was common for people to stay in the
hotel over the weekend.

"Normally the hotel occupancy rate reaches 60 percent during
the weekend, but this time around the hotel has been fully
booked," he said, adding that some people had been turned away.

Quoting some customers, Fredy said the Jakartans were afraid
of security uncertainties on Sunday and Monday.

Some people had even reserved rooms for the coming weekend in
the Bukit Raya Permai Hotel three weeks ago, a hotel staff member
said. (01)