Maluku residents say no to returnees
Maluku residents say no to returnees
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
Not all Maluku residents have responded positively to the
government's efforts to restore infrastructure and security in
the formerly riot-torn province.
Residents of Lisabata subdistrict in West Seram regency, for
example, recently opposed a government plan to allow hundreds of
refugees from three neighboring subdistricts to return to their
homes.
The residents told a group of visiting Maluku administration
officials on Friday that they were not ready to live side by side
with residents of the three neighboring subdistricts -- Nuniali,
Wokolo and Patahue.
Jaida Kaisuku, a Lisabata resident, said that he did not trust
residents in the three neighboring Christian subdistricts,
accusing them of having attacked Lisabata during sectarian
clashes in Maluku, back in 1999. Lisabata is a Muslim
subdistrict.
Prior to the sectarian conflict, some "irresponsible" people
from the three subdistricts had prevented traders from Lisabata
selling cloves in Taniwel, sparking minor clashes, said Umri
Hatumena, another resident.
Taniwel is the capital of Taniwel district, where the four
subdistricts are located.
"We want to live in peace, but it is the residents in those
three subdistricts that caused conflicts in our area," said Umri.
Also before the conflict, residents of the three neighboring
subdistricts had damaged clove trees belonging to Lisabata
residents, causing a poor harvest, said another resident
Marawiah, 68.
"If the government pushes ahead with its plan, we cannot be
held responsible if other clashes occur in the future," said
Jaida, supported by dozens of Lisabata residents attending a
meeting with Maluku provincial administration officials in
Lisabata subdistrict hall.
There are 34 subdistricts in Taniwel district, three of them
are Muslim subdistricts. Residents in Lisabata clashed with the
neighboring residents of Nuniali, Woloko and Patahue in October
2000. The Lisabata residents proved to be the stronger group,
forcing their rivals to take refuge in safer places.
Meanwhile, responding to the Lisabata resident's rejection,
Maluku Deputy Governor Muhammad Abdullah Latuconsina said that
the government would proceed with its plan.
"We have laws and live under the Unitary State of Indonesia.
The government will protect the rights of every citizen," said
Latuconsina, a Muslim.
The government ruled that all problems related to refugees had
to be settled before 2005, Latuconsina added.
To appease Lisbata residents, Latuconsina said the
administration would pay attention to development in Lisabata
subdistrict, including the construction of a 75-kilometer highway
from Piru, the capital of West Seram regency to Taniwel and
Lisabata subdistrict.
He asked Lisabata residents to bury the hatchet and forget
past bitter experience, for a better future.
Responding to the statement, Ma'ruf Pattiiha, also a Lisabata
resident, said that the government should not push for its target
to be accomplished this year. He said that the dispute among
residents should be settled first, before the repatriation of the
refugees.
The sectarian conflict began in Ambon in 1999 and spread
rapidly to other areas of Maluku, including West Seram regency.
Thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of
others took refuge after the clashes, which largely subsided in
2002.