Opposition voiced to plan to relocate brawling residents

JAKARTA (JP): Criminologists disagree with a city administration idea to relocate communities stricken by chronic outbreaks of violence between rival groups.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post on Saturday, criminologists Mulyana W. Kusumah and Yohanes Sutoyo of the University of Indonesia argued that such a move would not solve chronic neighborhood clashes.

Improving communication and upholding existing laws, they said, were the only ways to stop communities from warring against each other.

"The most effective way is to arrange a dialog between rival groups, particularly their community leaders. Such a meeting could be initiated by either the city administration or security authorities," Mulyana said.

"As far as I know, such a move, through which the root of the problem could be uncovered, has never been tried by city officials. To me, it seems the authorities don't pay serious enough attention to the matter and only concentrate on sending security forces to spots where clashes occur," he added.

Yohanes urged the city to take stern action against residents who flout the law.

"The authorities should educate the people to uphold the law. Those who violate the existing rules should be punished accordingly.

"To date, I haven't seen any legal action taken by the authorities," he said.

Such an approach, he said, would educate the people in ways to solve problems with their neighbors peacefully.

"So far, the authorities seem to be happy enough if they get rival groups to shake hands after violent incidents, thinking that the problem has already been settled," Yohanes said.

Large clashes have erupted in several areas in Jakarta since early last month.

At least two men, including a passer-by, were killed during separate recent clashes between residents in Manggarai subdistrict in South Jakarta and Menteng Jaya subdistrict in Central Jakarta.

Governor Sutiyoso has admitted that such clashes reflected the failure of his administration to properly educate the public.

To solve the problem, his administration has proposed building low-cost apartments in certain troubled areas to thin out densely populated neighborhoods, resettling excess residents elsewhere or sending them back to their former hometowns.

When asked to comment, a senior Manggarai resident agreed with the criminologists, saying the city's proposal would not solve the problem.

"What is important here is that the administration should recognize qualified leaders in communities who want to work for the people, not for their own interests like we have today," Daud Haris said.

As of Saturday, Manggarai residents were still living in fear of renewed neighborhood warfare.

Some families there have temporarily abandoned their damaged homes to seek refuge from the violence. They claim that repairing their properties now would be senseless since fresh brawls could occur any time.

"I've spent Rp 500,000 to repair damages to my house twice but it was then damaged again and again," said Maming, another resident.

"We've become victims of these brawls even though we're only innocent bystanders," he said while pointing out a score of houses partly or totally destroyed by the clashes.

Those who have decided to stay in the area have erected barricades of wood and other materials to shield their homes from stones thrown by neighbors.

"Violence has become a routine occurrence for us. I'm not afraid of facing our rivals anymore," said Adil Hasan, a local youth leader. (ind)