Students fail to meet mayor

Students fail to meet mayor

BANDUNG: Twenty students, who said they represented a
solidarity committee for the local sidewalk vendors, failed in
their bid to meet the city mayor yesterday to express their
sympathy for the victims of the recent riot which involved
traders and pedicab drivers.

The students said police officers and mayoralty guards had
barred them from approaching the mayor's office.

A spokesman for the students told the Antara news agency that
officers had herded them into the office of the city social and
political affairs, where they were told "the mayor is too busy to
receive you."

On Thursday last week thousands of sidewalk vendors and
pedicab drivers held a protest rally over the rumored death of a
pedicab driver in a clash with security officers.

The rumor was later proven false. The officers had been
conducting an operation to clamp down on pedicab drivers and
sidewalk vendors.