Police urge residents to stay at home during campaign period
Police urge residents to stay at home during campaign period
JAKARTA (JP): City police on Monday suggested Jakartans spend
less time outside their houses and offices during the campaign
period.
"If there's any choice, staying at home will be the best
option," Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis told The
Jakarta Post.
He said the police understood that anxiety about possible
clashes among supporters of the political parties contesting the
general election had frightened many Jakartans.
The 1998 mid-May riots also continue to haunt many Jakartans,
he said.
Lubis urged city residents immediately to check any rumored
unrest with police.
"Please call the police to verify any news and rumors. We'll
be glad to check such rumors for the public," he said.
He also regretted that many media exaggerated groundless
information, printing it in big headlines which frightened
readers.
Commenting on the number of political parties which have held
rallies and seen their supporters parading through the city's
streets before the May 19 campaign kickoff, Lubis said: "We're in
a difficult position in dealing with these political parties."
Police, for example, have the right to stop and ticket convoys
of motorists violating traffic regulations, but officers would
risk causing violent reactions from party supporters if they
stopped a convoy, he said.
Accordingly, street convoys will not he halted unless they
disturb public order, Lubis said.
During the campaign period and election day, Jakarta security
authorities will deploy a joint security force of 20,000 police
and military personnel to help safeguard the city.
Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman will
inspect the readiness of the force on Monday next week.
Most of the security personnel will be deployed around the
city's vital buildings, including the Presidential Palace, the
House of Representative/People's Consultative Assembly (DPR/MPR),
state-owned television station TVRI and state radio station RRI.
"Neighborhood security watches will be increased in
residential areas and at shopping centers and malls with the help
of the city's People Security militia (Kamra) and security
guards," Lubis said.
As reported earlier, the campaign period for the 48 parties
contesting the polls will begin nationwide on May 19. The capital
will mark the first day of the campaign with a citywide parade of
all 48 parties.
Giant net
While members and executives of the 48 parties are busy
preparing for the campaign, owners of office buildings and
commercial centers also have been busy protecting their
properties.
In last year's riots, hundreds of banks, malls, shopping
centers, offices, business centers, vehicle repair shops and
small shops were burned and pelted with stones by mobs.
As of Monday, about one year after the May 1998 riots, owners
of hundreds of buildings have yet to repair broken windows. Some
owners simply have left the broken windows as they are, while
others have covered the windows with boards.
The city's new regulation banning street rallies during the
campaign has not inspired confidence among locals, who wonder
whether security authorities can enforce the regulation.
Every weekend, for example, up to thousands of party
supporters take to the capital's streets ahead of the official
start of the campaign.
In an attempt to prevent their buildings from being damaged by
stones thrown by party supporters, many owners of commercial and
business centers have shielded their properties with giant nets.
In West Jakarta, the area worst hit in last year's riots, nets
have been installed at the ITC Roxy Mas shopping center on Jl.
Hasyim Ashari, the Bank Royal building on Jl. Suryopranoto, the
Bank Metropolitan building on Jl. Gadjah Mada, Tunas Toyota car
dealership and Hayam Wuruk Tower on Jl. Hayam Wuruk.
Rut Jernih Aguslim, an employee at PT Duta Pertiwi, the
company which manages ITC Roxy Mas, told the Post on Monday, "We
expect to keep the nets until after the polls and the MPR general
session have ended."
She said the nets also were designed to prevent looters from
entering the building.
"In the May riots, people from the surrounding areas looted
the merchandise of our tenants on the first and second floors of
the building," Rut said.
Tutut, an employee at Tunas Toyota, said the company's
headquarters in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, ordered its eight
branches in the city to install the nets.
Jaya, an executive at PT Antilok Maju Puri Indah, which
manages Puri Indah Mal shopping center in West Jakarta, said his
company already bought nets to protect the shopping center.
"We'll install the nets several days prior to the start of the
campaigning," he said.
According to Jaya, the nets were purchased from tackle shops
on Jl. Pasar Ikan in North Jakarta at some Rp 7,000 per square
meter.
He said the nets, however, were not fire resistant. (emf/01)