Police question 35 in relation to drivers's strike

JAKARTA (JP): City Police are questioning 35 people believed to have committed criminal acts related to the massive strike by city bus drivers over the past three days.

The ongoing strike has left millions of people stranded.

"Based on our tentative investigation, we've found strong indications that certain parties tried to make the best use of the strike," Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto announced yesterday afternoon.

He, however, refused to name the suspected third parties. "In- depth investigations are still underway," he said.

Hindarto added that the strike was badly organized.

The strike increased in intensity yesterday when drivers of other types of public transportation vehicles, such as the 12- seat Mikrolet minibus, joined the protest against the new ticketing fine scale which is much higher than the previous one.

At first, only drivers of the 30-seat Metro Mini and Kopaja minibuses in East and South Jakarta went on strike.

The drivers who refused to take part were forced by their colleagues from the same company to follow suit.

Yesterday, the protest spread throughout the city, leaving millions of passengers stranded until late in the evening.

According to Hindarto, all of the 35 people questioned both Tuesday and yesterday were bus crew and unemployed people.

"Some of them were believed to have forced other drivers to strike while others were involved in vandalism on other public transportation vehicles," he said.

Police data shows that at least three public vehicles, including taxis, were damaged by the protesters.

The 35 suspects were nabbed at bus terminals in East, Central and South Jakarta.

APEC

The police and some media yesterday received telephone calls from unidentified persons saying that several public buses had been set on fire in the Senayan area.

"When we arrived there, we found nothing," Hindarto said.

"We, therefore, call on the public not to fall victim to such rumors."

He said certain parties intended to disturb order in the city."

In November, Indonesia will host the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting in Bogor, 50 kilometers south of Jakarta and a ministerial forum of the group here.

United States President Bill Clinton and other Pacific and Asian leaders are expected to attend the meetings.

Asked whether the suspected parties might do something to disturb the forum, Hindarto said: "Probably."

Hindarto said that the strike will not alter the government's decision to impose the new ticketing fine scale.

"If someone does not want to be ticketed it's very simple. Don't violate the traffic rules," he said.

Quoting from police data, Hindarto said 40 percent of the 20,000 traffic violations recorded in the city during the last three months were committed by drivers of Metro Mini buses.

The other 20 percent were by Kopaja drivers, he said.

"It seems to me that these people have a potent tendency to violate the law," he said.

Meanwhile, Effendy, 29, a Kopaja minibus driver, who joined the strike yesterday, said that his colleagues were willing to go back behind their steering wheels if the traffic police want to implement the rules objectively.

"A police officer fined a colleague of mine Rp 125,000 (US$57) because a passenger -- beyond his control -- opened the door and got out of the bus at a traffic light," he said.

Responding to reporters' questions about this complaint, Hindarto said that he would punish the officer if the report is true and he gets full information about it.

Effendy told The Jakarta Post: "How can we know the officer's identity if he uses a jacket to cover his insignia?" (bsr)