Rise in crime scares the city

JAKARTA (JP): The capital witnessed just another ordinary day on Friday in the midst of fresh rumors of looming disturbances.

No serious incidents or clashes were reported. In several parts of the city, a number of university and high school students packed the streets to continue their week-long anti- Soeharto protests.

Although many Jakartans could still go about their daily activities as usual, some others were still unable to get rid of the fear that has been sparked by the escalating number of crimes here in the past few weeks.

Robberies, looting and extortion have been reported almost everywhere -- from houses, street junctions, public buses, taxis, streets to toll roads.

Worst, none of the city's 15,000 or so police officers could be seen at hand to help the defenseless victims in dealing with the crooks, who mostly work in groups and are armed with sharp weapons, iron bars and rocks.

So far, none of the responsible parties, such as operators of the taxi companies and toll roads, have been willing to pay compensation, explain or -- at least -- ask for forgiveness from the victims.

For instance, none of the toll road operator PT Jasa Marga's executives, including spokesman David Wijayanto, could be reached on Friday to comment on the series of hold-ups of motorists on the toll roads during the Nov. 22 riot.

On that day, armed mobs suddenly took over parts of the toll roads in Cawang, Tanjung Priok and Tangerang, forcing motorists to stop and hand over their belongings. Those who refused to meet their demands had their cars damaged.

The victims strongly condemned Jasa Marga, which collects hundreds of millions of rupiah per day from toll road fares, as it did nothing to halt the brutal attacks on its users.

"I don't know where the toll road personnel were at that time. My question is why they allowed us to get on to the toll road and collected our money but did nothing to secure us?" female employee Ika told The Jakarta Post.

During the Nov. 22 fray, Ika and her husband lost nothing but their brand new Kijang minivan was marked with several light scratches on the body after they were asked to stop by a group of 15 people on the Tanjung Priok toll road. Instead of reducing speed, her husband, she recalled, sped the vehicle up, making the armed mob jump in different directions.

One of the victims, Nathani Vijay Manekchand of Bandung wrote to the Post that he, his female employee and driver had had to give all their belongings, including a gold chain, a trouser belt and a shirt, to a group on the same toll road.

"This sorry affair was closely watched by two towing vehicles about 50 meters ahead," he said.

Last night, a doctor received severe stab wounds after being attacked by a group of men in Cawang, East Jakarta. The men had told him a relative of their's was ill and required emergency medical attention. The doctor's car was stolen by the gang. He is still in a critical condition in St. Carolus hospital in Central Jakarta.

Promises, promises

As usual -- after these events were widely reported by the media -- Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman on Friday finally pledged "to intensify security" in some areas prone to robberies of motorists and car drivers.

He admitted that the number of robberies on street junctions, public vehicles and toll roads in the capital has seen a significant increase.

"The current situation in some parts of Jakarta draws my deep concern. But the number of bad guys is always bigger than the good ones," Noegroho told reporters.

According to Noegroho, the city police are now recording an average of three to four street robberies per day.

In the past few weeks, the media had reported a number of street crimes of types which had rarely happened before.

For example, a group of senior high school students in their uniforms in the Bungur area of Central Jakarta recently took over a public bus and forced all the adult passengers to give up their belongings.

In the routine heavy traffic of Grogol in West Jakarta, five men armed with knives approached a Mercedes Benz and took the vehicle's rear view mirrors away.

A housewife also wrote that her teenage son and his friend had to hand over all their bags, wristwatches and caps to a group of 15 extortionists of their own age attired in junior high school uniforms.

A number of expatriates and locals have even been robbed, abducted and subjected to extortion by taxi drivers working together with accomplices in well-planned robberies.

Among the latest street crimes were the two taxi robberies that occurred in the early hours of Friday in Klender, East Jakarta and on the Bekasi toll road.

As in many other cases, none of the suspected crooks were arrested by the police. (bsr/emf/prb)