Police to conduct festive season firecracker raids
JAKARTA (JP): City police will conduct selective raids on the circulation of firecrackers in anticipation of Christmas, the Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan and New Years, an official said on Tuesday.
"We will seize any firecrackers which are produced or distributed without obtaining an authorized license first," city police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said at the headquarters.
He said the police would tolerate people who were in possession or selling certain models of firecrackers.
"We'll let people sell certain models, such as small firecrackers or sparklers, since they do not endanger lives," he said.
Zainuri said the police respected the traditions of the Betawi (native Jakartans), who often celebrate by setting off fireworks.
The Betawi usually set off small firecrackers to celebrate Idul Fitri, the post-Ramadhan celebration, or weddings.
Police seized on Monday various firecrackers packed in 1,100 cardboard boxes loaded on four trucks in a raid at Era Mas Housing complex in Cakung subdistrict, East Jakarta. They also arrested Donni Hasan, also known as Alfa, the alleged owner of the firecrackers.
Donni, 43, said he obtained the firecrackers from Cirebon and Indramayu, both in West Java.
The suspect said he planned to sell the firecrackers to customers in Jatinegara, East Jakarta and Medan in North Sumatra for Christmas and Idul Fitri celebrations.
Zainuri said the suspect violated Article 1 of the 1951 Law on Emergency, which carries a maximum sentence of death.
Meanwhile, City Councilor Abdul Aziz Matnur of the Justice Party (PK) suggested that the council make a bylaw which would ban firecrackers in the city.
"The current bylaw, No. 11/1998 on Public Order, does not regulate firecrackers," Aziz, a member of the council's Commission A for administrative affairs, said on Tuesday.
He said firecrackers had become a part of the Betawi tradition, but they should be prohibited if they caused damage and injured people.
Taxi
Separately, Tanah Abang Police chief Capt. Suwito refused to comment on a taxi which was damaged by firecrackers on Sunday in front of the Manggala Wanabakti building on Jl. Gatot Subroto, Central Jakarta.
Kompas daily reported on Monday that two men and two women hailed two taxis to take them to the Tanah Abang market in Central Jakarta. They reportedly were carrying four sacks of firecrackers with them.
Two sacks suddenly blew up when they put them into one of the taxis.
The driver, Mizan, 33, was then rushed to the Mintohardjo Navy Hospital, which was about one kilometer away.
The other taxi left the scene immediately, and the four people also fled. Witnesses said the suspects had just stepped off a bus plying the Cirebon-Kalideres route.
Police confiscated the other two sacks of firecrackers, which were left by the suspects on the street.
"Mizan suffered burns to the left part of his face but he was allowed to return home after treatment. He was not hospitalized," a hospital nurse told the Post over the telephone.
He said he gave a tetanus shot and antibiotic cream to Mizan.
The taxi company which leased the damaged vehicle declined to confirm Sunday's accident.
"We didn't know anything about the accident," said a night shift operator. (asa/jun/05)