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)