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)