Police kill one, injure 25 in South Sulawesi protest

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi

At least one person was killed and 25 others injured as police fired shots at more than 1,000 villagers in Makassar, South Sulawesi, who rioted on Monday in a protest against the alleged occupation of their land by a rubber plantation company.

One demonstrator was shot dead by police and at least four others sustained gunshot wounds, South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Jusuf Manggabarani said.

However, local residents said 20 other villagers were also injured during the incident that broke out at Bonto Mangiring village in Bulukumba regency, some 210 kilometers from Makassar.

Jusuf said at least 15 villagers were arrested and brought for interrogation to the Bulukumba police station.

He defended his men's move to open fire on the rioters as they had refused to end the violent protest, even though warning shots had been fired to disperse them.

The unrest started at around 8 a.m. when people from Bonto Mangiring and neighboring villages rampaged through a plantation belonging to PT London Sumatra (Lonsum), cutting down rubber trees and attacking the housing complex of its workers.

The rioters, carrying saws, also occupied a company office.

The protesters accused the company of occupying their traditional land since 1967 in Bonto Mangiring, which led to the eviction of many villagers there.

In May, three villagers were arrested by local police for staging a protest against the company along with dozens of other residents.

Similar demonstrations have taken place many times, but the local authorities have failed to heed to the local residents' grievances.

"Today's unrest was the culmination of our frustration over the authorities' inaction against the plantation company," local resident Armin Salasa said.

Apart from that, he said, some houses belonging to locals had been set ablaze by workers from the firm when the locals refused to move away from the plantation.

Armin said many workers also carried firearms to protect themselves or intimidate the villagers, but added that when this was reported to police, no action was taken against them.

The area remained tense on Monday evening as hundreds of additional police personnel were deployed to the scene to prevent more attacks.