Social groups set up to handle community brawls
Social groups set up to handle community brawls
JAKARTA (JP): Police will set up community groups to help
quash years of community hostility in areas of Central Jakarta
that often break out into mass brawls.
"We have met with the informal leaders of the two area,"
Central Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira told
The Jakarta Post over the weekend, referring to the Pegangsaan
and Menteng subdistricts.
According to Abubakar, the groups will consist of 10 or more
people from the disputing areas and will be assisted by some
officers of the police precinct.
Setting up a nearby police station is also being considered,
because brawls often happen when there is no police supervision,
Abubakar added.
For reasons they can hardly figure out now, the residents, who
mostly live in shanties in the slum areas of the two subdistricts
have been fighting each other for at least five years.
The disputing parties, comprising one neighborhood unit
against three others, are separated by a wall and a railway line.
Last month, a young man was stabbed to death in front of his
house during one of the community brawls. Fire razed four
shanties last Friday, allegedly started with Molotov cocktails,
following a three-day brawl. Stones thrown during the brawl also
damaged dozens of other shanties.
Hundreds of police and troops were deployed around the
compound to prevent another brawl.
"We now feel safer with the police and troops around," said
Mamat, one of the residents.
A female resident showed the Post around her decrepit and
virtually inhabitable house, which is due to most of the roof
tiles being broken. A gaping hole in the ceiling provides no
protection from sun or rain. During the fight, she said, she
sought refuge in her parents' house.
According to Mamin, a long-time resident and a former
community neighborhood chief, said that various reconciliation
attempts have been pursued, all to no avail, referring to
reconciliation attempts held in Puncak and the West Java town of
Pelabuhan Ratu over the past three years.
"None of that nonsense will give positive results unless
people start to think straight," added Aceng, a father of two
whose house was burned to ashes.
Many residents have lived in the vicinity for decades. Most
have families and relatives living on the "enemy" side.
Close family ties, however, do not ensure harmony.
Security personnel told the Post that some residents,
including women, continue to pour fuel on the fire by booing the
"enemy" or throwing stones. (jun/14)