Opposition voiced to plan to relocate brawling residents

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)