Govt can do nothing against thuggery, say activists

Govt can do nothing against thuggery, say activists

M. Taufiqurrahman and Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The society has to count on itself in the war against the
hoodlums and their organized mob bosses as the government, which
should lead the campaign, reaps benefits from the presence of
thugs instead, an activist allege.

Chairwoman of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC), Wardah Hafildz,
told The Jakarta Post last Saturday that because of the
unwillingness of the city government to get rid of the gangs, the
campaign must be promoted by the society in collaboration with
the press.

"How can you expect the government officials to wage a
campaign against themselves?" Wardah said.

She accused the government officials of not only using thugs
to meet their political ends, they even act like thug bosses at
times.

"The way that the city administration drives streets vendors
away clearly indicates that it practices hoodlumism," Wardah
said, referring to the use of violence and extortion in the
eviction of street vendors.

She also cited the example of how Governor Sutiyoso was
reportedly using bands of thugs to counter protesters against his
candidacy in the last gubernatorial election.

Top city officials, she said, also received money from people
who operate underworld businesses.

She said it was already public knowledge that some city
officials were already "in the pockets" of powerful mafia bosses.

Wardah acknowledged that the city administration had many
times conducted raids against thugs, but she was dissatisfied
with such a campaign as it was aimed only at small-time thugs.

"Raids against street thugs are but a superficial measure, for
which the city administration appeases the public's anger against
rampant thuggery," she said.

Despite the huge number of thugs in the city, Sutiyoso
admitted that the city had no program to deal with organized
crime and their henchmen, saying that it was the duty of the
police. He said that the administration would recruit more
civilians to help the police, as they apparently cannot handle
the situation with their current numbers.

Currently, the city has some 3,000 civilian police assistants
(Banpol) which are managed by the City Public Order Agency.

The head of urban community division of the Jakarta Legal Aid
Institute (LBH), Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto, said that the city
administration had no political will in eradicating hoodlumism.

"As a matter of fact, the city administration, with the
information from police and intelligence sources, already has a
complete list of people who can be categorized as thugs.

"But, apparently it is reluctant to start an all-out campaign
to wipe out thugs from the city," Tubagus told the Post.

He said that the city public order officers who were supposed
to deal with thugs, were deployed instead to evict street
vendors.

"It shows that the government have no real plans about how to
deal with thugs," he said.

Thuggery had developed due to the absence of security in
society, and certain strongmen controlled different areas and
demanded payments for all manner of goods and services, Tubagus
said.

Organized gangs have increasingly been creating unrest among
the people.

Suradjiman, 30, a taxi driver who resides in Pejaten, South
Jakarta with his wife and his only son, said that extortion by
hoodlums had added more problems to his daily life.

"I sometimes have to give away Rp 1,000 to thugs who extort
me, which is probably very little for rich people, but it is
worth 10 percent of my total daily earnings," he said in dismay.

He was so angry with the thugs that he said that there would
be no other way to stop them except to shoot and kill them.