Sutiyoso donates money to churches
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso handed over donations totaling Rp 97.5 million (US$13,000) on Tuesday to 19 of the 22 churches which were burned or damaged during the Nov. 22 rioting in West and Central Jakarta.
Kristus church on Jl. KH Zainul Arifin received the largest portion, Rp 25 million, followed by Santapan Rohani church on Jl. Taman Sari Raya which got Rp 20 million and Pantekosta church on Jl. KH Zainul Arifin which received Rp 10 million. The three were among the four churches burned during the riots.
The fourth church burned by was Bunda Hati Kudus church on Jl. KH Hasyim Ashari. As it did not sustain much damage, it received only Rp 2.5 million.
The 15 other churches were also given Rp 2.5 million each. A donation of Rp 2.5 million was also given to the Khiril Biqa mosque, which was vandalized before the start of the riot.
Sutiyoso said on Tuesday that the donations were intended mainly to help rebuild the damaged churches.
"These are the only funds we can provide. The city administration is currently short of funds as it has been forced to set aside part of its budget for the renovation of public facilities damaged or burned by the mid-May riots and also the Nov. 13 to Nov. 14 chaos," he said.
After the May riots, he said, the city administration was forced to set aside Rp 12 billion from its budget for renovation of public facilities. Calculations for similar damage incurred from rioting after the People's Consultative Assembly's (MPR) Special Session, however, have not yet been finalized.
After inspecting three of the five most severely damaged churches, the governor symbolically handed over the donation to the priests at the Petojo Utara subdistrict office in Gambir district, Central Jakarta.
The governor warned people at the ceremony that the city would be in serious economic turmoil as a result of the rioting. He was therefore left with no choice but to "instruct security personnel to take whatever stern action was necessary," to prevent further rioting, vandalism, looting or robberies.
The Nov. 22 riot, which was sparked by a clash between residents of Ketapang and guards at a local amusement center, which people thought functioned as a gambling den, ended with the burning and vandalism of 22 churches and five Protestant and Catholic schools.
Sutiyoso admitted that he was ashamed when he was reminded that he was governor of Jakarta.
"Where's the pride of governing a city whose people enjoy murdering others as if they are killing pigs, looting and robbing?" Sutiyoso asked.
"People are not only killing, but also robbing motorists heading to Soekarno-Hatta Airport along the toll roads. Some of the robbery victims have connections with embassies here.
"They call up the embassies, their families abroad and tell them not to come to Indonesia. Tell me, where should I put my face as a governor of such a city."
He said that even though 98 percent of the Jakarta population was Moslem, Moslems were a minority in other cities like Dili and Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara.
"There, Moslems can easily be vanquished if riots occur. Is this what you Jakartans want? Do you want the entire country to destroy itself?"
The governor was referring to Monday's burning and vandalizing of six mosques by a mob in Kupang, said to have been in apparent retaliation for the burning of churches here on Nov. 22. (ylt)