Tension still grips Kuala Kapuas town

Tension still grips Kuala Kapuas town

JAKARTA (JP): Tension still gripped the town of Kuala Kapuas
in Central Kalimantan on Wednesday as arsonists razed dozens of
houses.

"We have arrested five people in connection with the fire and
three of them have been brought in for intensive questioning,"
Adj. Sr. Comr. Syaiful Maltha told Antara.

Schools and business activities were halted while most people
opted to stay home to avoid possible clashes.

Reports said the mob who conducted the arson came from
Palangkaraya.

In Jakarta, coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons
and Victims of Violence, Munarman, told a dialog on Sampit that
it is likely that the conflicts which began in Sampit and
Palangkaraya would spread to other regencies in Central
Kalimantan.

Munarman further said that there is a tendency for conflicts
in the country to move from the eastern part of Indonesia to the
west.

"First it was Maluku, then it moved to Sulawesi (Poso and
Palu) and now it is Central Kalimantan. I'm afraid if the
government don't act soon it will spread to the western part of
Indonesia," he said.

Madurese patron and former attorney general Sudjono Chanafiah
Atmonegoro said in the discussion that Madurese expelled from
Central Kalimantan could not return to the province if there was
no security guarantee from the Dayak community leaders.

"We need a security guarantee not only from the local
government and the security forces but most importantly from
Dayak community leaders," Sudjono said.

Madurese and Dayak leaders, and four Kalimantan governors and
East Java governors plan to meet with Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri and related ministers in Jakarta on Thursday.

Secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM), Asmara Nababan, said an inquiry team into the
rights violations in Sampit was about to be formed.

"By the end of this month we would have completed the
recruitment of the inquiry members and will start work soon," he
told journalists at his office.

Commenting on the spreading of the ethnic conflict to Kuala
Kapuas district, near the border with South Kalimantan, Nababan
said the civil administration and the police should be held
responsible if they cannot stop further violations.

"There is no need for Jakarta to send bigger forces there ...
the police and the administration were not doing their job. They
should blend in with the members of society and talk to them, not
just hide behind their desks. (edt/bby)