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)