Rumors of more unrest rock West Java

Rumors of more unrest rock West Java

JAKARTA (JP): Rumors of further religious and ethnic unrest
rocked Bandung and several West Java towns yesterday.

Violence did erupt in the industrial area of Rancaekek near
Bandung when thousands of striking workers wrecked dozens of
vehicles within their factory compound, officials said.

Police said the workers were angered by the company's failure
to pay their Idul Fitri holiday allowance on time. The management
had promised to give the money on Feb. 6, just three days before
the holiday.

According to a manpower minister decree, companies are
supposed to pay Idul Fitri bonuses two weeks before the
celebration.

Rumors of major unrest swept Bandung, Cianjur, Ujungberung,
Cicadas and Padalarang, after leaflets inciting people to attack
Chinese and Christian properties were circulated.

The rumors prompted Bandung shopping centers on Jl.
Cihampelas, Jl. Otto Iskandar Dinata, Jl. Kepatihan and Jl. Ahmad
Yani to close.

A Bandung resident working for a travel bureau on Jl. Ahmad
Yani told The Jakarta Post that she first heard the rumors at
10:30 a.m. yesterday.

"All shops on Jl. Ahmad Yani closed immediately on hearing the
rumors. We also closed our office then," she said.

The rumors also affected the Bandung town square. The city
authorities alerted the riot police, who deployed in the area
with two armored vehicles.

There was no official comment on the rumors. A public affairs
official at the Siliwangi Regional Military Command only said
that there had been no instruction to close the shops or schools.

"It was done on their own initiative," he said.

Meanwhile, life in Rengasdengklok, the scene of Thursday's
riot, returned to normal yesterday. Town market businesses opened
as usual and shops and schools were also open.

The chief of the Siliwangi Regional Military Command, which
oversees West Java, Maj. Gen. Tayo Tarmadi, said in nearby
Karawang yesterday that the authorities have released 115 of the
126 rioters arrested Thursday and declared the remaining 11 to be
suspects.

Chief of the Karawang District Police Lt. Col. Harry Montolalu
said all of the 11 suspects were residents of the Karawang
regency.

When asked about the whereabouts of Go Wie, who allegedly
triggered the riot, and her husband Kim Sin Cian, he said they
were in police custody. "They are also suspects in the rioting,"
he said.

Tayo called on West Java residents to be wary of provocative
statements and actions instigated by irresponsible people or
parties.

Seventy-six houses and 72 shops were destroyed in the
Rengasdengklok unrest, while 19 cars were damaged and eight other
vehicles were burned.

The rioters damaged three churches and burned another. Two
Buddhist monasteries were also damaged and burned in the
violence.

Security officers imposed a 9 p.m. night curfew on the
subdistrict Thursday to prevent further disturbances.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Buddhist Council (Walubi) expressed
grave concern in Jakarta yesterday over the violence. It said in
a statement that the riot had disrupted public order, endangered
the peaceful coexistence of people from different faiths and
could lead to national disintegration.

"May God give the victims strength and the perpetrators love.
As Buddha teaches us, hatred will never end if we fight it with
hatred," said the statement signed by the council's acting chief
Oka Diputhera.

The council called on Buddhists to keep calm. It praised the
authorities for taking prompt action to quell the riot.

Oka Diputhera told the Post that damage to the two wrecked
Buddhist temples exceeded Rp 1 billion (US$420,000).

Another part of the country that witnessed tension yesterday
was Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, where city bus
drivers protested a new traffic ruling they considered unfair.
The protesters pelted traffic offices with a variety of objects.

Shops and banks closed for security reasons, eyewitnesses
said. During the protests, 18 people sporting menacing black and
white headdresses followed the drivers, heightening the tension.

Government and military officials were not available for
comment.

This followed Wednesday's incident when a group of 30 to 40
people whose faces were covered with the same black and white
headdresses attacked a Catholic foundation in the nearby Siantan
Tengah subdistrict.

In the attack two motorcycles and a truck were burned, three
offices damaged and two women residents living nearby injured.
They are reported to be "improving" at Santo Antonius Hospital.
(ahy/imn/01/pan)

Measures -- Page 2