President to lead ceremony

President to lead ceremony

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid has agreed to lead
the National Police's 55th anniversary ceremony at Bhayangkara
Field in South Jakarta on Sunday.

After a meeting at the presidential palace on Saturday,
National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro said he had visited
Abdurrahman to request that he lead the ceremony.

"He said he would, but in the case of an emergency, Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri will do it," Bimantoro said, as
quoted by Antara.

Bimantoro, who was accompanied by National Police deputy chief
Comr. Gen. Chaeruddin Ismail at his meeting with the President,
will be the field commander at the ceremony.

Also scheduled to attend the ceremony are First Lady Shinta
Nuriyah, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri and her husband,
legislator Taufik Kiemas, and Indonesian Military Commander
Widodo A.S.

The ceremony will be highlighted by a parade of troops and a
weapon display.

The event on Sunday is expected to be an ice breaker for
Abdurrahman and Bimantoro.

There has been tension within the ranks of the National Police
since Abdurrahman suspended Bimantoro after the latter defied a
presidential order to resign.

Abdurrahman then suspended Bimantoro and appointed Chaeruddin
to take over Bimantoro's duties.

The dual leadership has also created rivalry between different
graduation classes of the police academy.

Earlier on Saturday, however, both Bimantoro and Chaeruddin
denied there was any rivalry.

Bimantoro led a tribute to national heroes at Kalibata Heroes
Cemetery in South Jakarta. Chaeruddin arrived later and both then
cleaned the graves of dead police officers.

"We're getting along just fine. It's the media that gives out
the impression that we're rivals," Chaeruddin asserted.

Bimantoro voiced the same view, adding that the most important
thing is to maintain unity within the National Police corps.(hdn)

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ANPAn..r..
Quake-Majalengka
More money needed for quake victims
Sunday/2/Hilite

Funds lacking for quake victims

MAJALENGKA, West Java (JP): The regent of quake-racked
Majalengka, Tutty M. Anwar, said here on Saturday that her
administration lacked funds to repair residents' houses heavily
damaged in a recent quake.

"Under such circumstances, we are finding it difficult to
raise funds to rebuild and repair residents' houses. We must
provide cash for civil servants' salaries on Monday," she said,
adding that an official request for aid would be sent to the
provincial administration.

She said that the quake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale,
which rocked 25 villages in the regency on Thursday, inflicted
estimated financial losses of more than Rp 20 billion.

The epicenter of the quake was in the neighboring town of
Ciamis. Tremors were also felt in the nearby towns of Tasikmalaya
and Garut.

Recent records indicated on Saturday that 890 of the more than
7,200 houses damaged were in very poor condition.

No fatalities were reported in the quake.

Almost 160 mosques and 89 schools in the 25 villages were also
damaged.

By Saturday, residents whose houses were damaged were still
living in temporary shelters.

"They are traumatized," Tutty said, adding that she was
waiting for technical guidance from the Meteorological and
Geology Agency regarding the possible relocation of the people.
(25/sur)

;JP;46;
ANPAn..r..
Pontianak-Clash
Pontianak returns to normal
Sunday/2/Ponti

Pontianak returns to normal

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan (JP): A meeting between authorities
and local ethnic figures managed to reduce tension in the West
Kalimantan capital of Pontianak, which has been rocked by ethnic
clashes for the past two weeks.

Held at the National Human Rights Office in Pontianak, the
meeting was attended by administration officials, military and
police chiefs and senior figures of the Dayak, Malay and Madurese
communities.

"All ethnic representatives agreed to help the police and
military restore the situation and work hand in hand to end any
kind of violence," a participant, who requested anonymity,
revealed.

The recent escalation of tension in Pontianak was triggered by
an ultimatum issued by locals, demanding that all Madurese
refugees, who have been in the town for more than two years, be
relocated by July 1.

The Madurese perceived the ultimatum as a premeditated plot to
attack them.

However, Traditional Council of Dayaks chairman Syaikun Riyadi
MM and Communication Forum of Malay Youths in West Kalimantan
chairman Syamsul Rizal clarified that the ultimatum had been
directed at the local administration.

"The ultimatum is not meant to be a war cry against the
Madurese migrants. It's just to pressure the administration,
which has been too slow dealing with the problems caused by the
refugees for almost three years," Syaikun said.

More than 100,000 Madurese migrants fled from the deadly clash
with locals in Sambas, West Kalimantan, between January and April
1999. They were resettled in neighboring towns, including
Pontianak. (46/sur)