Hendro: Continue war against racketeers!
Hendro: Continue war against racketeers!
JAKARTA (JP): Outgoing City Military Commander Maj. Gen. AM
Hendropriyono wants his successor to continue the fight against
racketeers in and around Jakarta.
"Racketeers, particularly those who extort money from lower
class people and small-scale traders, should be wiped out from
this city," the two-star general told reporters yesterday.
Racketeers invariably force small-scale traders to surrender
part of their meager earnings to them, Hendro said after
delivering his one-and-a-half-hour speech at the Commander's Call
of City Garrison gathering at the Jakarta Theater auditorium.
According to a tentative schedule, Hendro, 49, will be
replaced by his Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. Wiranto, a former
adjutant to President Soeharto, in a ceremony at the City
Military Command Headquarters on Jl. Sutoyo, East Jakarta, on
Wednesday morning.
Hendro further said a racketeer would frequently demand half
of the total daily earnings of Rp 10,000 (US$4.60) from a bakso
(meatball) seller.
"For many, the Rp 5,000 might be worthless, but for a bakso
seller it is quite valuable," he said. "Therefore, we have to
continue to fight against such criminal groups."
During his one-year-and-seven-month assignment as the City
Military commander, Hendro, who is also chief of the City
Coordinating Agency for National Stability (Bakorstanasda) which
groups all strategic institutions, has carried out a series of
raids against various criminal gangs.
The sweeps dealt mainly with the operations of gangsters
believed to have been backed up by "untouchable figures", like
those at gambling dens and brothels.
In his speech, Hendro also revealed a number of achievements
and failures as well as barriers the city authorities faced in
maintaining stability of the city during his term.
The meeting, which was attended by hundreds of senior officers
of the city military, police and other related institutions along
with their wives, was almost like a farewell ceremony for him.
"I thank God for the appointment of Wiranto to replace me
because he is the right figure who already knows many things
about this command. His promotion might make it easy to continue
the plans," Hendro said.
Hendro is due to be inaugurated as the commander of the new
Bandung-based Military Education and Training Command in West
Java tomorrow. (bsr)