Looting spreads to various areas

Looting spreads to various areas

JAKARTA (JP): At least three people died and dozens more have
been wounded in clashes with the security forces during sporadic
outbreaks of rioting and looting in areas of North Sumatra, South
Sulawesi, Jambi and East Java over the past three days.

In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, a mob of 100 people
took advantage of the chaos caused by a public transport drivers
strike to attack the city's luxurious Plaza Yuki Simpang Raya
shopping center.

The crowd threw stones at the building's glass walls and
looted some of the merchandise displayed on the first floor,
including wristwatches and jewelry. Shoppers and salesgirls alike
fled in panic before the security forces arrived 15 minutes later
to restore order.

No injuries were reported and five arrests were made.

The incident took place at around 8.30 a.m., when Medan had
been brought to a virtual standstill by the drivers strike which
left thousands stranded and without transport.

The drivers were protesting at the soaring price of basic
commodities and vehicle spare parts.

When the looting began yesterday, the drivers and their
supporters, including students and youth activists, were
delivering their demands to Governor Rizal T. Nurdin at his
office on Jl. Diponegoro.

The meeting lasted late into yesterday afternoon.

During the meeting, Rizal agreed to the establishment of a
People's Collective Council. The council will be manned by the
representatives of farmers, fishermen, drivers and menial workers
and will advise the governor on his efforts to improve the
welfare of people in the province.

Demonstrators told the governor how they no longer earned
enough to live as a result of soaring prices.

"We go to work early in the morning when our children are
still asleep and come home when they are already back in their
beds, but we never earn more than Rp 7,500 (65 U.S. cents) for a
hard day's work," said one of the drivers. "The price of a
kilogram of rice is now Rp 4,000. We can't buy anything to eat
with it.

"What's going to happen to us? No matter how hard we work, we
just can't make a decent living," he lamented.

The drivers pointed out that the price of spare parts has
risen by 400 percent, making life even more difficult for them.

Meanwhile, sporadic looting has been breaking out in East Java
since Saturday. In one incident in Bondowoso, a man identified as
Busyairi, 36, was shot dead on Sunday morning when troops tried
to stop a mob from pillaging rice mills and shops selling basic
commodities. Seven people were arrested and may be charged with
organizing the looting.

Police chief Col. Budi Utomo said investigations had revealed
that the looting was motivated by "personal interests."

Also on Sunday, hundreds of people looted two major chicken
farms, PT Telor Kencana and PT Ayam Petelor, in the Pakis
district of Malang regency in East Java. Five people were wounded
when security forces tried to disperse the crowds. The mob stole
15,000 chickens, six television sets and one pickup van.

Still in East Java, hundreds of people stole timber from a
teak plantation in Snepo Sepi, Pesanggaran, in Banyuwangi regency
on Sunday.

Six people were arrested and taken to Pesanggaran police
station. However, a crowd of 100 people then gathered and
threatened to burn the police station down if the six people were
not released.

Also in Malang, hundreds of residents from the Gondanglegi
area of the city looted a warehouse where Harto Wijoyo, alias A.
Hok, was allegedly storing 50 metric tons of rice. The looting
started on Saturday evening and lasted until Sunday morning, when
the crowd burned the building down.

However, the mob unwittingly destroyed evidence the police
were relying upon in an investigation into A. Hok, whom they
suspected of hoarding imported rice.

On Monday morning, a crowd in Cerme district, Gresik, looted
three shrimp farms with impunity. Police arrived too late to put
a stop to the theft. At almost the same time, security forces in
Ngawi regency were overwhelmed when villagers began to raid teak
plantations in the area.

Brawijaya Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Djoko Subroto
told the media on Monday that he would not hesitate to issue a
shoot-on-the-spot order to his men if looters continued to defy
the security forces.

"The looting in East Java has gone way too far," he said,
calling on the public to ignore those who tried to incite them to
cause anarchy.

Brawls

Meanwhile, in Luwu regency, 460 kilometer north of the South
Sulawesi capital of Ujungpandang, a brawl between youths from two
villages erupted into full blown rioting which killed two and
left 18 others injured. One hundred and eighteen houses were also
burned down during the incident.

The violence between villagers of Lara and Rante Malino began
on Saturday and lasted until Sunday evening, according to the
Luwu police. The incident also disrupted traffic between South
Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi.

Luwu police chief Undang Rahmansyah said that the 40 police
personnel dispatched to the scene were vastly outnumbered by
those involved in the violence.

Antara reported that a looting spree also took place Monday
morning on a noodle warehouse in Rawa Pudak, Jambi Luar Kota,
Batanghari regency in Jambi.

Hit by the worst economic crisis in decades, Indonesia has
borne witness to a rising incidence of social unrest over the
past year. Earlier this month, major looting sprees broke out in
Pontianak, West Kalimantan. However, Tanjungpura Regional
Military Commander Maj. Gen. Suwisma said the looting was not
prompted by food shortages, much less hunger.

"West Kalimantan people, especially those in the hinterland,
are not suffering from a food shortage," he said as quoted by
Antara. (nur/21/37/swe)