Local leaders give up on Matraman melee

Local leaders give up on Matraman melee

JAKARTA (JP): Local community leaders in Matraman, Central
Jakarta, have given up trying to end the destructive and bloody
feud between two neighboring subdistricts in the area, which has
been going on for some three decades.

Contacted separately by The Jakarta Post on Sunday, most of
the leaders and senior residents said that they are now totally
helpless in stopping the continuing brawls between Palmeriam and
Berlan residents.

An executive of the newly-established Matraman Residents
Communication Forum (FKPMM) at Palmeriam, Rahmat Kholid, said
that he has always tried hard to stop the brawls.

But, he added, his efforts have never worked.

"The last time I tried to calm the people here, I went to
Berlan to ask some people to tell their colleagues to abort the
brawl. But I failed, like always," Rahmat said.

"Finally, I always end up saying 'alright then go on, do as
you want'," Rahmat said.

His idea was shared by several other community leaders in the
neighborhoods; such as Untung B.P. from Palmeriam, a female
leader of Berlan, and a senior resident, Rustam, also from
Berlan.

"Every time I told the kids not to engage in the brawls again,
they always said 'yes, yes, yes' when in front of me," Rustam
said.

But still, the fights never stopped, he said.

The female community leader at Berlan, who refused to be
named, said she had repeatedly tried to tell the youths in her
community to stop the feud but, like the others, she was never
successful.

"My mouth is filled with foam every time I tell the people not
to get involved in the brawls but they keep doing it," said the
woman, who has been living in the area since childhood.

Local leaders were seen as the last hope to end the seemingly
endless brawl which have already destroyed several buildings on
Jl. Matraman Raya, and injured many people from both sides with
molotov cocktails, air riffle shots, machetes, sickles, and other
weapons.

City councillor Tubagus Akbar said recently that the only
parties which could restrain the locals from fighting were their
respective local leaders because they had roots at their
communities.

"Locals would listen to them because they were chosen directly
by the people in the communities, not like other officials such
as the head of subdistricts," Tubagus said on Friday.

Governor Sutiyoso replaced recently the heads of the two
subdistricts after they were considered unable to create peace in
their communities.

According to one community leader of Berlan, those involved in
the brawls were mostly youths.

She said that the attempts to prevent brawls from erupting had
been difficult because some incidents were initiated by unknown
people.

"My son once saw men riding a motorcycle who stopped in front
of Jl. Palmeriam and then two other men stopped in front of
Berlan. They both threw rocks (into both areas) and left
immediately.

"My son chased one of them with his motorcycle but failed,"
she added.

She also said that the brawls had been getting worse over
recent years.

"They usually fight before the country's general election and
stop fighting afterwards," she said, adding that the feud had
been going on since the late 1970's.

"Today, you can't stand on the side of the road late at night
without the risk of being shot by air rifles," she added.

During last Thursday's brawl, about 20 people were injured
from air rifle shots. During the latest incident on Saturday
night, the two parties were involved in a fierce brawl yet again.

The city authorities have already made a number of attempts to
create peace in the warring neighborhoods, such as erecting a
two-meter high, 400-meter long fence to separate the residents.
But these have failed.

FKPMM, inaugurated personally by Governor Sutiyoso on May 7,
was also meant to reconcile the neighborhoods. (08)