Officers 'behind protection racket'

JAKARTA (JP): City Council Commission B for economic affairs proposed on Thursday that subdistrict-level military and police officers be dismissed for their alleged involvement in the extraction of protection money from street vendors.

Commission B deputy chairman Agung Imam Soemanto said he had received information from city residents and street vendors that several military and police officers at the subdistrict level were behind the collection of protection money.

"They (the officers) are not directly involved in collecting the money. They hire hoodlums to do it.

"We have received tip-offs from people that they also collect money from illegal parking attendants and togel gambling agents," Agung said on the sidelines of a hearing with administration officials from the City Council's regional economic bureau.

Commission B chairman Syarief Zulkarnaen also said street vendors had complained of having to pay protection money.

"We have received complaints from street vendors that they have been forced to pay illegal fees," Syarief said

Agung said the military and police officers had taken the initiative to collect the money after learning that Law No. 18/1997 on Regional Levies states that street vendors no longer have to pay official fees.

"They have been collecting protection fees since city officials no longer supervise street the collection of levies from vendors," he said.

He said commission members agreed that the 1997 law be revoked as it was not in line with the 1999 Law on Regional Autonomy.

Meanwhile, head of the regional economic bureau Dameria Saragih revealed that a joint investigative team had found that there were 12 kinds of protection money collected by hoodlums from street vendors in the capital.

The joint team, which was set up in mid-August, comprises city officials and representatives of the Bogor Agriculture Institute. The team is responsible for gathering information on the hundreds of thousands of street vendors in the capital to find solutions to their problems.

Dameria, however, refused to talk more about the investigation.

"It's only a preliminary finding. Once we have the complete report from the joint team, we will disclose details on the amounts of money extracted and to whom the hoodlums deliver it to," she said.

Dameria said that those involved in the extraction of protection money would be punished.

"If any city officials are involved, heavy punishments will be imposed on them," she said.

Syarief said the commission welcomed the team's findings and promised that it would follow up on it. (lup)