Mobs rule streets as riots rock the city

JAKARTA (JP): Mobs ruled the city's streets yesterday.

It was a day when crowds, motorists and motorcyclists did not have to bother about traffic signs or traffic laws.

Mobs engaged in orgies of looting and burning, blocking roads and threatening motorists and motorcyclists, and scaring drivers of public buses.

The streets, especially in commercial districts, were jammed with crowds with unusually light traffic because people were too afraid to go to work by car.

In the downtown area, many bicycle owners offered to taxi people to their destinations since ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers were rarely seen.

Countless burned cars and motorcycles could be found along West Jakarta's main roads like Jl. Daan Mogot, Jl. Jelambar, Jl. Kembangan and Jl. Cengkareng.

Roads around the presidential office were blocked in the afternoon as rioting drew near the area. A strong contingent of riot police tightly guarded the area.

Singapore Airlines reported that flights to Singapore had been fully booked since Wednesday afternoon when the massive rioting escalated.

"This is unusual in time of crisis," a Singapore Airlines employee told Antara.

Hundreds of people were also stranded at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as taxis and buses refused to carry them due to the uncontrollable violence.

Thousands of commuters were stranded and many had to walk as far as 10 kilometers in the hope that they could find a bus to take them home.

Well-known lawyer O.C. Kaligis, whose office is located near the State Secretariat in Central Jakarta, said that at 6 p.m. about 40 of his employees were still stranded, not knowing which safe roads to take.

"There was practically no business activity throughout the day," he said, adding that he canceled a plan to attend a seminar on bankruptcy law at the Shangri-La Hotel.

Kaligis, who lives in Pondok Indah about 15 kilometers from his office, was still stranded at 6 p.m. He said he would walk home if the streets were not yet safe to drive a car.

Rina, 34, an employee of a private company on Jl. Wahid Hasyim, Central Jakarta, said she walked about four kilometers to Tomang in West Jakarta to catch a bus to Tangerang.

"I'm not sure I'll get a bus because Tangerang is also burning at the moment," she said.

Security officers in PT Humpuss, a widely diversified conglomerate on Jl. Merdeka Timur owned by Hutomo Mandala Putra, President Soeharto's youngest son, were allowed to go home early.

Employees of the Jakarta governor's offices also cut short their working hours and left at about 11 a.m.

Governor Sutiyoso said the administration had no plan to close its offices despite the widespread rioting.

Indri, a shop attendant at Sarinah department store in the business area of Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, said she was serving a foreign customer when her supervisor asked her to go home.

But it was not easy for her to find public transportation since the city's main thoroughfare was already packed with stranded commuters waiting for buses and taxis.

"I finally got home (to Pondok Betung in South Jakarta) after hours on the street using five different ojek which cost me Rp 5,000," Indri said.

Tri Sunarto, an employee of a private company living in Karawaci, Tangerang, decided not to go to his office in West Jakarta yesterday due to the riots.

"I was right. My office was closed today. Nobody wanted to take any risks to go," he said.

Conductors of the few state-owned public buses plying the Tangerang-Jakarta route operated yesterday but asked passengers to pay only half of the official rate.

"We're all scared today," said a conductor.

The discount made commuters, struggling to get public transportation, happy and changed the buses into moving free- speech forums as most of the passengers discussed the chaotic situation.

A military truck was seen picking up stranded people in Central Jakarta. The truck moved toward Tomang.

The third day of rioting practically crippled business activities in the capital. Many private and government offices were closed or let employees go home early for fear of violence.

Several sections of toll roads in and outside Jakarta were closed in a bid to help prevent mobs from entering the chaotic city.

The 70 kilometer Jakarta-Cikampek toll road was closed at the Jatibening gate to prevent a possible inflow of people from Bekasi and other areas to the city.

David Wijayanto, the spokesman for PT Jasa Marga which oversees toll roads, said the Bogor-Jakarta toll road was also closed at 2:30 p.m. for similar reasons.

The toll road connecting Cawang in East Jakarta and Grogol in West Jakarta was also closed for fear that angry mobs might attack passing vehicles. (team)