Senior citizens give in to terror at their nursing home

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After three nights of terror and intimidation at the Pniel nursing home on Jl. KH Samanhudi Dalam in Central Jakarta, the residents and staff savored rujak (fruit salad with spicy peanut dressing) in a party on Sunday afternoon as they eventually decided to move out of the century-old facility.

"What else can we do? It (the attack) is a high-level game that we cannot play. We cannot stand it anymore so we have decided to leave the facility," nursing home director Stien Hitipeuw told The Jakarta Post.

"We believe that God will give us a place," she added.

The violent attacks took place on Thursday and Friday nights and had terrified the 71 septuagenarians, as the thugs smashed the front outer wall which is located near the rooms where the senior citizens sleep.

One of the residents, Lily, 68, had left the facility on Saturday night to stay with her daughter due to the fear and intimidation which her ailing heart could not take, promising to return when the nursing home had been moved to a new place.

The unidentified men, who had built a corrugated iron fence surrounding the 4,000 square-meter complex and its 3,000-square meter open field as well as a security post at the entrance, had been seen loitering around it in the last three days, even when police were present.

But on Sunday, none of the men were seen on the compound nor the police.

"It's a lie if the police say they were here to guard us following our complaint. They came two hours after the attack on Friday, although we had called the emergency number 112 several times.

"And the two policemen went inside just to say that they were here to mediate a negotiation between us and the thugs," Stien said, adding that she had filed a complaint with the Sawah Besar subprecinct police on Thursday.

The violence is apparently connected to a protracted legal dispute over the ownership of the 7,000-square-meter plot of land, the current value of which is estimated at approximately Rp 70 billion (about US$8.3 million) due to its strategic site in the central business district.

The property was reportedly sold to a director of now defunct Bank Tata in 1993, whose assets were later acquired by Bank Artha Graha, which is controlled by controversial businessman Tommy Winata.

However, it was unclear who ordered the attack as the police have not questioned the attackers loitering around the nursing home.

Commenting on the absence of policemen at the nursing home although a report had been made, Central Jakarta Police deputy chief Adj. Comr. Ricky F. Wakanno said on Sunday that he would look into it.

"If it's true, then the policemen had breached the law for neglecting their duty to protect and serve the community," he told the Post.

However, there is no written law yet that stipulates sanctions for negligent police, said Rudy Satrio, who is a legal expert from the University of Indonesia.

"However, the community can file a class action suit against the police in this case," he told the Post.