Shops damaged, houses torched in W. Java riot

BANDUNG (JP): Eight shops were damaged and five houses and seven motorcycles torched when hundreds of people ran amok yesterday in Jatiwangi, about 90 kms east of here, officials said.

The riot that rocked the "roof tile" subdistrict town mainly involved hundreds of pedicab (becak) drivers and blue-collar workers most affected by the worsening economic crisis, they said.

Residents said the violence started at about 10 a.m. after an hour-long protest by a group of 50 pedicab drivers over a 100 percent increase in the price of pedicab and bicycle tires. They targeted properties of people of Chinese descent.

There was no word of injuries. Police said 19 rioters were arrested for looting pedicab parts and grocery stores along a main street.

The situation was brought under control at about 1 p.m. after hundreds of police officers and soldiers were deployed.

Local military commander Col. Oding Mulyadi, who was on the scene, told reporters that the people's patience was wearing thin over the soaring prices of essential goods.

He said the riot began when the protesters were joined by minivan drivers who had been on strike since Monday, also in protest at rising prices of vehicle parts.

Residents said the rioters "freely" pelted shops with stones, looted the contents and set fire to stores until security personnel arrived. Police said dozens of bicycles were burned together with the shops.

Heavy rain helped put out the fires and prompted many of the rioters to disperse.

West Java Governor R. Nuriana expressed his "deep concern" over the violence.

"The Majalengka regent told me the unrest was sparked by the increasing prices of vehicle parts," he told reporters here.

He said that while he could understand the people's plight he denounced the use of violence to express their desperation.

A similar riot targeting people of Chinese descent erupted in the area in 1963.

The riot occurred less than a week after hundreds of people ran amuck in the East Nusa Tenggara town of Ende where 21 shops were burned to the grounds and 71 others damaged.

Like one in Jatiwangi, the Ende riot was started by people angered by the soaring prices of essential commodities. (43/kod/aan)