Scavengers turn violent after ban on looting

Scavengers turn violent after ban on looting

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of people attacked vehicles and
extorted money from motorists in North Jakarta after they were
barred from stripping construction materials from a deserted auto
assembly plant on Monday.

The people, most of whom were scavengers and used goods
vendors, became enraged after security officers prevented them
from collecting steel and other construction materials from the
10 warehouses and two office buildings at the site on Jl. Lodan.

"They vented their anger on passing vehicles by smashing them
with anything they could get their hands on," said Mulyono, a
used goods vendors from Teluk Gong in West Jakarta.

Police have yet to make any arrests in connection with the
incident.

A sign was erected at the entrance to the site stating that it
was now under the supervision of the local district head.

A crowd gathered opposite the site under the elevated harbor
toll road and settled down to await further opportunities to
enter the site.

Mulyono said that the Monday morning attacks on passing
motorists stopped when police and soldiers arrived on the scene
about an hour after trouble had first broken our.

"The troops fired warning shots when the crowd refused to
disperse," he recalled.

If they had shot anybody, the situation would have become much
worse," Mulyono said, adding that the crowd eventually dispersed
peacefully.

He insisted that similar incidents could only be avoided if
the security forces granted the scavengers access to the site.

"We don't want to disturb anybody. If the officers ask for
money to buy cigarettes, we'd give it to them as long as they
allow us to enter to collect the material," Mulyono said.

Inside the deserted compound, fully-armed soldiers and police
officers stood guard at the site which scavengers have swarmed
over in recent weeks.

M. Fadrun, 55, a security guard at the site, said that people
began plundering the site last month. The plant shut down in
1993.

"The people, most of whom are local residents, arrived here
about 10 days before the Ramadhan fasting month began," he said.

Fadrun said that people had been collecting materials from the
site 24-hours a day, ignoring attempts by security guards to get
them to leave.

"When they saw guards, they scurried away from the area,
waited patiently just out of site and then returned as soon as
the guards left," he said.

He also said that at least four security guards posted at the
site by the now liquidated Bank Umum Nasional (BUN) had been
attacked after attempting to usher scavengers off the site.

"At first, we used to ask them to leave and watch the site. If
hours passed and we did not move an inch, the mob started pelting
stones at us," he said.

The site formerly belonged to the liquidated bank and is now
under the supervision of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency
(IBRA).

Inside the building, an old concrete sign reads that the
initial construction of the building was inaugurated by noted
businessman M.N.M. Hasyim Ning in his capacity as president of
C.V. Indonesian Service Company.

Fadrun said that security guards had informed IBRA officials
of the problem, but added that they had not received a
satisfactory response.

"The security guards coordinator met IBRA officials last month
to discuss the situation here, but the officials said 'just let
them be'," he explained.

On Saturday and Sunday, a stream of people flowed back and
forth at the site, hauling plunder to trucks and carts parked
nearby.

They only be dispersed on Sunday afternoon after a troop of
400 soldiers were deployed at the site, but reappeared on Monday
intent on carting off yet more of the plant.

According to city police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang,
the scavengers must have thought the site was unoccupied meaning
that they were free to take anything they wanted.

He added that the owner of the site had yet to report any
problem, leaving the police powerless to charge anyone with
stealing or looting.

Separately, Governor Sutiyoso expressed concern over the
situation and said he was disappointed by the matter.

"I have told North Jakarta Mayor (Subagyo) that it is too much
to allow the scavengers to pillage in the holy month of Ramadhan.

He (the mayor) himself should look into the matter
personally," he said.

According to Subagyo, some of the looters have come from as
far away as Karawang and Serang in West Java.

The mayor urged the site's owner to sell what construction
materials remained instead of allowing looting to continue.
Looting, he said, only created more problems for the local
authorities. (ivy/emf/ylt/ind)