Hunger strike goes on as two hospitalized

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two Acehnese who participated in a hunger strike for three days at the provincial legislature here were rushed to the hospital on Tuesday with digestive disorders.

But dozens of others vowed to keep up the fight, despite a deterioration in their state of health, until their demand for disbursement of state funds was fulfilled. One of them, Suminem, 62, suffered a stomachache and vomited several times, but refused medical treatment,

Sumitro, the strike coordinator, said that M. Hasan, 58, was hospitalized in Malahayati Hospital while Zulkifli, 36, was taken to Pirngadi Hospital.

Meanwhile, provincial administration spokesman Eddy Sofyan said that thousands of Acehnese refugees, who had been taking shelter at the compound of the governor's office, were given 24 hours to abandon the site or face expulsion.

"They have no option but to leave because the local government employees have complained about the disruption caused by their presence," Eddy told The Jakarta Post said.

The refugees had built tents inside the office parking lot. They had also established a public kitchen and dried their clothes on lines surrounding the office, giving the compound the appearance of a shanty town.

The displaced people, who have been living in temporary shelters in Medan, Deli Serdang and Langkat, turned up in large numbers on Sunday to join in the strike at the governor's office to demand disbursement of state funds allocated to them, with 25 of them taking part in a hunger strike in front of the provincial legislature next door.

They vowed to continue their rally until the provincial administration disbursed Rp 100.5 billion in government funds provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The funds were disbursed by the ministry two months ago to the provincial administration.