Seven shot at protest against new dump
The Jakarta Post, Bogor/Jakarta
A protest over a waste treatment plant turned violent on Monday as police opened fire on residents of Bojong village in Klapanunggal district, Bogor, wounding seven.
Police fired live rounds into the crowd after protesters allegedly attempted to set the plant on fire. Reinforcement officers arrived at about 3 p.m. and arrested 33 residents for provoking the violence.
Officers continued to pour into the area late on Monday to search for additional suspects.
Four Bojong residents, accompanied by non-governmental organization activists, met with National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung late on Monday to protest the police's actions.
"My husband was arrested while he was sitting on the porch with me. He is innocent," said Ini, whose husband Ta'ing was in police custody as of Monday night.
She said armed officers burst into her house and the homes of her neighbors searching for suspects. "They broke down the doors and kicked holes in them."
Rachland Nashidik of the Indonesian Human Rights Watch demanded that the officers be pulled out of Bojong.
Haris Azhar from the Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence said the police were searching homes in the area without warrants.
Both activists characterized the police's actions as a gross violation of residents' rights.
"The police should have calmed the situation, but apparently they are biased in the matter," Harris said.
The clash began when about 2,000 residents were protesting against a planned trial of the Bojong waste treatment plant. The protest turned ugly when residents allegedly attempted to burn down the plant.
"We demand that the plant be closed immediately because it can make us sick. It would be better to build a red-light district here than to flood us with garbage," said one resident, Mi'ah, 48, who has been protesting against the plant since last year.
Ten Bogor Police officers and 10 members of the police's elite Mobile Brigade were guarding the plant and its employees at the time of the protest. They used tear gas and opened fire when the protesters attempted to attack the plant.
The officers and plant staff were eventually forced to flee through the rear of the plant.
Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito said the shootings did not follow procedure and that he would form a special team to investigate the incident.
"The Mobile Brigade officers fired their rifles. Their presence at the plant had nothing to do with us. The company hired them without coordinating with us," he said.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said the protesters should be punished for vandalizing the waste treatment facility, which when operational is expected to absorb one-third of the 6,000 tons of garbage the capital produces each day.