Police kill one, injure 25 in South Sulawesi protest

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.