Sutiyoso given demand over gambling dens

JAKARTA (JP): In a rare move, city councilors on Tuesday demanded Governor Sutiyoso's resignation unless he is able to close down all of the gambling dens in the capital.

The councilors even threatened to go on strike, the council's deputy speaker Ade Surapriatna said.

According to the councilors, the presence of the gaming parlors, which are illegal in Indonesia, have been the cause of many clashes between local residents and the parlors' civilian guards.

They cited Sunday's violent clash between residents of Ketapang and guards of the local amusement center, which was also a gambling den, as an example of these clashes. The incident in West Jakarta claimed at least 14 lives, and caused material losses in the billions of rupiah.

The councilors made the ultimatum in response to the demand made by some 100 students grouped in the Action Committee of Concerned Students for the People for the immediate closure of the cities gambling dens.

Councilor Ade told the students that the councilors would join the students in their protest if Sutiyoso failed to give a proper response within two weeks.

Deputy head of Commission E for Social Affairs, Afif Hamka, pledged that his commission would force the city council to immediately send the ultimatum to Governor Sutiyoso.

According to Afif, the absence of action by the city administration "in these crucial moments" could prove the students' accusation that many city officials have regularly received bribes from the gambling operators.

"Why else would one of the students dare to claim that he can prove that there is a public order official, for example, who comes over to pick up upeti (a bribe to a high-ranking official)" Afif said.

Afif said that he himself had gone to an entertainment spot in the Kembangan district of West Jakarta, where one of the regulars told him to come over on certain nights to watch cockfighting.

"That is gambling. The person clearly told me that no police officer is ever present on those particular nights, because they come the night before for their payment," Afif said.

Head of the Golkar faction Fatommy Asaari said that if the governor did not soon take immediate action, bloody incidents like what had happened in the Ketapang area on Sunday would soon occur again.

"It's too risky to maintain the existence of gambling spots, which have in fact caused many disturbances in neighboring areas," he told the students.

Fatommy said that the council had repeatedly asked the administration to take punitive against owners of the gambling spots.

"But top officials of the city's Public Order office considered it unnecessary to close them down," he said.

Fatommy asked Sutiyoso to replace any of his subordinates who were not willing to hear the people's voices.

"Should the governor fail to react within two weeks, students may demonstrate again," he predicted.

In agreement, secretary to Commission E for Social Affairs Agus Waluyo wants the administration, particularly tourism, to strictly control the used of the permits given to entertainment operators in the capital.

"There are too many restaurant permits, for instance, that have proven to be used for multipurposes. The operators could modify the interior parts of the restaurants for gambling and prostitution," Agus said.

"The city administration is lying if they claim to have no idea about these things. We therefore hope that the governor does what he is required to do," the councilor said.

According to a representative of the students, Muklis Ali, many city and security officials backed the entertainment spots.

He said that the administration has to close the gambling spots and take stern actions against those who backed the dens. (ylt/ind)