`Tempo' case reveals the dark side of Jakarta

Marco Kusumawijaya, Consultant, Urban Development, Jakarta

Many Jakartans have just seen the movie The Gangs of New York. However, the real reason why they are not at all overwhelmingly surprised by the act of violence at Tempo magazine's office is that for a very long time there has been a "public secret" about the operational existence of mobs and thugs behind the not-so- well-masked public facade of the city's business, police and military environments.

Ahmad Taufik of Tempo magazine noted in his minutes of Saturday, March 8, that "David", reckoned to be a Tomy Winata man, said that the businessman had paid for Sutiyoso's bid for the governorship, had bought the entire police force, and had paid even for the installment of the lamps of the Central Jakarta Police Headquarters, during the arguments there with the editors.

What is really surprising, ironically, is that none of this information is new to us! We have heard all about it before in one guise or another.

Indeed, David also called up the Jakarta Police chief, as well as the businessman Ciputra, amid the arguments with Tempo editors.

Maybe the only thing that is really a surprise is that this is the first time there have been recorded words by persons so close to a "Godfather", and in a manner so public.

Suddenly people are awake: What we have been hearing after all these years may not be hearsay after all! Everything also appears to be so logical now: All those army and police generals living in comfort, despite continuous complaints about limited budgets.

The official cars of the police top brass, for example, seem always to be new every year, in contrast, for example, to the old Volvos of ministers.

What about the other "public secrets" about which we have also been hearing? About, for instance, the fisheries businesses controlled by the Navy, etc. Could they be real too?

For those who are thinking positively suddenly there is a faint hope: Is this a window to really probe into those rumored business links with authorities, and so cleanse the city of them?

Everywhere in the world, cities always have their dark sides. These have inspired the gloomiest scenarios in many comics and movies -- for instance the Gotham city of Batman. For the real cities, you can name New York, Hong Kong and Bangkok in the league of those known for their underworld.

But can we do anything about it?

The conditions within developing countries have been consciously and constantly used to justify the dependence by military and police operations on private, extra-budgetary funding. The conditions are real. But the justification sounds more and more like convenience for individuals instead of real desperation in the system. Some countries in Africa are now very disciplined in accounting for all funding in official budgets, including foreign aid. They have begun to show success in mitigating corruption, in poverty alleviation and other programs.

Bogota, a city in Colombia now famous for its public transportation system, also had to fight gangs and mobs before it achieved what it has now. One major problem that Jakarta has to face sooner or later, in order to improve its transportation system, is to deal with similar issues. Jakartans, especially those living in the outskirts of the city, know very well how public transportation in the suburbs is controlled by gangs and mobs.

What we can do depends on what we do with respect to "public authority", and not degrade it into "private ownership". Public authority depends on the integrity of its offices and its officials, its leaders most obviously. I am afraid we cannot depend on those foreign, donor-driven programs on "good governance" for that matter, because it is about our choice of elected officials, not just about structural changes and capacity-building programs.

Ironically, all those programs on good governance look like dust blown in the wind by the simple privatization of public authority by the "Godfather". We just have to remember that during every one of the next elections, as one writer has put it, "in a democracy, we do not vote for decisions, but merely individuals to make decisions for us." After they are elected, nevertheless, there is one more thing we might want to do: Unite, refuse to be intimidated, and keep the pressure on.