Students Intercept West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi in Bekasi, Disappointed by Lack of Substantive Response

Bekasi — Several law students from Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya University intercepted West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi following a provincial assembly meeting celebrating the 29th anniversary of Bekasi City at the Bekasi City Legislative Assembly Building, Chairil Anwar Street, East Bekasi District, on Tuesday (10 March 2026).

Rafi Priyatna, Chairman of the Student Executive Board of the Faculty of Law at Bhayangkara Jakarta Raya University, stated that the students were initially unaware that Dedi Mulyadi would be attending the assembly meeting. “We actually didn’t know that the Governor would be at the meeting. We only found out in the field, so we were quite enthusiastic about getting to meet him directly,” Rafi said when confirmed by Kompas.com on Wednesday (11 March 2026).

However, he assessed that the governor’s response failed to adequately address the issues the students had raised, including flooding and state-owned enterprise budgeting matters. According to Rafi, the conversation was brief before Dedi Mulyadi left the location. “He only said that ‘yes, it will be followed up’. Of course, as participants in this action, we were disappointed,” Rafi stated.

Rafi argued that as a provincial-level regional head, Dedi should be able to provide more comprehensive explanations regarding the concerns raised by the students. “This is the governor, an official we elected to absorb public aspirations across West Java. But why is he only focused on creating content?” he remarked.

During the action, students raised several criticisms against Bekasi City Government policies, particularly regarding flood management. “As students and members of the public, we believe that the mayor and his staff have erred in implementing their policies,” Rafi said.

He highlighted the construction of water retention structures (folders) in several districts that had previously been touted as a solution to flood mitigation. “We suspect this occurred because the government failed to adequately study how these structures function optimally,” he explained.

The students also demanded the normalisation of river flows, which they argue has not been carried out evenly across Bekasi City.