Seven injured in latest round of Maluku violence
By Budiman Moerdijat
AMBON, Maluku (JP): Seven people were injured in another communal riot in the district of Kairatu on nearby Seram Island on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.
Dozens of houses and a market were razed in the latest incident in a spate of violence which has rocked the province since Jan. 19.
Maluku Police spokesman Maj. Jekriel P.H. told reporters that the unrest was triggered by a fight between two locals.
The commotion brought people out of their houses, some armed with spears, arrows and air rifles, and the situation quickly exploded into a full-scale riot.
"Most of the houses belonging to the Kairatu villagers were burned down. The riot also spread to the nearby villages of Waitosi, Pakarena, Waraloi and Kelapa Dua," Jekriel said.
Two Army infantry battalions and another battalion from the police's Mobile Brigade were dispatched to the area, he added.
Security personnel have strict orders to shoot armed rioters on the spot.
Police have not made any arrests, but they did restore calm in the area, about a 90 minute ferry-ride to the north of Ambon.
The head of the Maluku office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs has been dispatched to the area to attempt to foster peace among the villagers.
The riots in Ambon, which first erupted on Jan. 19, have pitted Christians against Muslims, as well as natives of Maluku against migrants.
Jekriel said the death toll from the riots now reached 94, including a member of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command. Eighty-three people have died in Ambon, three in the North Maluku regency and eight in the Southeast Maluku regency.
"These are casualties who have been identified," he said, adding that about 250 people were injured in the clashes.
He also said that 2,827 houses, 127 cars, 98 motorcycles and 423 pedicabs were damaged or burned in the riots. In addition, 132 kiosks, 338 shops, two banks, five markets, 10 government offices, one theater and three schools were damaged. At least 15 mosques and 16 churches were also damaged during the unrest.
In Ambon, the site of the worst clashes, an eerie calm prevailed on Thursday as residents struggled to restore some semblance of normalcy to their lives.
The police and local officials said schools would be reopened on Monday.
A few shops and most government offices reopened, and some public transportation was running again, but when night fell the streets were void of all signs of life.
"Shops in the downtown area usually stayed open at night. Some food stalls and entertainment centers even operated until the early hours of the morning. Now, they close after 5 p.m. or 6 p.m.," Jekriel said.
Coffeehouses throughout the city were also empty.
"People like to hang out in these coffeehouses and talk over a cup or two of coffee. They can sit and talk for hours. Now, as you can see, people are reluctant to go out," a local reporter commented.
The departure of hundreds of migrants to Sulawesi has taken its toll on one public service in Ambon: garbage collection. Uncollected garbage has piled up on several streets in Ambon, prompting the administration to appeal to neighborhood associations to remove their own garbage.
Six Cabinet Ministers visited Ambon on Tuesday to take stock of the situation after President B.J. Habibie ordered the town to be rebuilt.
"It will take at least two years to rebuild this town," Sugeng Sentausa, an official at the Ministry of Public Works, who was on a follow-up mission, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"We will build makeshift shelters on the ground of the razed public marketplace and in shopping complexes which are not being used," he said.
The ministry also plans to build 21-square meter houses to accommodate families who lost their homes.
Sugeng said the extent of the damage in Ambon was worse than any other area he had encountered in the past, including those hit by natural disasters.
"The quality of most of the buildings was not good enough to sustain much damage," he said.
Meanwhile, relief aid from various organizations began to arrive in Ambon on Thursday.
The Indonesian Committee for Humanity, led by former finance minister Mar'ie Muhammad, donated 10 tons of rice, 4,000 boxes of instant noodles and 26 six boxes of medical supplies, funneling the aid through Maluku Governor Saleh Latuconsina.
The general-secretary of the Indonesian Communion of Churches, J.M Pattiasina, and the chairman of the Tanggul Bencana Foundation relief organization, A. Frans Tumiwa, were also in Ambon.
They said they would cooperate with Muslim leaders to distribute relief aid to both the Muslim and Christian communities.