Salemba task force set up to end student brawls

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Recurring riots, between students from three of the most esteemed institutions of higher learning in the country, on and around Jl. Salemba in Central Jakarta, have prompted the municipality administration to take action.

It has now joined forces with five institutions in the area to set up a special task force to end the violence.

Mayor Muhayat said on Thursday that the task force would be comprised of representatives from the University of Indonesia (UI), YAI Persada Indonesia University and the Christian University of Indonesia (UKI) -- the schools whose students are involved in the melees -- along with St. Carolus Hospital and Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.

The task force will be assigned to monitor security and uphold public order along the crowded street.

"Police and the city public order officers have been ineffective, and they have not curbed the violence. We believe that by involving people who have a genuine interest in the area, we will be more effective in tackling the issue," Muhayat said.

Student brawls have been the main concern of building owners in the area as massive groups of students regularly square off in what has all the hallmarks of classic tribal warfare, and the clashes have affected business activities and worsened traffic congestion. In some incidents, passersby often get injured, cars get damaged by hurled stones and, of course, the students also regularly sustain injuries, some quite serious, even fatal.

Usually, the fracases occur more frequently at the beginning of new school terms.

UKI administration officials urge students to refrain from engaging in the ritualistic clashes on their official website. "Any involvement in student brawls, individually or in a group, for whatever reason, is a violation of the university's policy and we will impose punishment," the website said.

Muhayat said the task force would also be assigned to tidy up the area by evicting street vendors and cracking down on illegal on-street parking as they also encroached well into the main thoroughfare and blocked traffic.

"We hope by next year Jl. Salemba along with parts of Jl. Kramat Raya and Jl. Matraman, which connects Central Jakarta and East Jakarta, will be cleared of street vendors and have well- ordered on-street parking."

Salemba is one among 16 locations in the municipality which is prone to heavy traffic congestion.

The Jakarta Post observed on Thursday that street vendors still were completely blocking all the sidewalks in front of UI, forcing pedestrians to walk on the street, put them at great risk of being hit by passing vehicles.