The days of hoodlums

Barbarous hoodlums have enjoyed the freedom to stir up trouble in Tanah Abang market, Central Jakarta, for at least a year, but only early this week did the city authorities beat the war drum against them.

The declaration of war was seemingly provoked by the mass strike of mikrolet (minivan) drivers Monday and Tuesday, in protest over the thugs' imposition of illegal levies on them. The strike almost paralyzed public transportation leading to and from the city's most popular textile center.

What may seem strange among the criminal offenses they commit in this overcrowded market area, is that the hoodlums, who openly operate in daylight, allegedly force each of the drivers to pay them Rp 2,000 (60 cents U.S.) every day. The sum might seem nothing to other people, but for those who sit behind the wheel of the slow-moving vans, it means a lot.

The drivers say they need the amount to finance their children's education. As a comparison, the average one-way fare on a mikrolet is around Rp 400, while each of the drivers has to pay Rp 55,000 in daily rent to the owner of this remarkably uncomfortable means of transportation.

Meanwhile, a survey in January by a magazine stated that with all the other "security guarantees" the thugs forced on people working within the area, which includes shop owners, roadside vendors and prostitutes operating in nearby slums, their income can amount to Rp 10 million a month.

That is why, when the war against these criminals was declared, many city residents were at a loss as to why the government had waited so long to declare war on hoodlumism.

The people also asked why security authorities had announced their intention to crack down on the thugs instead of striking out against them in secret operations? Would the publicity not make the operation more difficult? This announcement may be the reason why police officers have only managed to apprehend 16 thugs up to yesterday.

After a bloody clash between two criminal gangs in the Tanah Abang area last January, many law experts and criminologists became convinced that a mafia-style underworld was emerging here.

Then the market almost became a killing field for members of both gangs who armed themselves with various deadly weapons, such as swords, machetes, axes and iron bars. The situation was soon brought under control then, because security forces arrived on time.

At that time, a retired police general, a lawyer and a city legislator warned that the hoodlums would become stronger and be very difficult to crush if security forces failed to take stern action against them once and for all.

A member of the House of Representatives said the existence of hoodlums was mainly due to weak control from the police. But many others believed that these criminals amassed their power through powerful backers, which made the police powerless.

This was perhaps why this week the victimized drivers first went to the district military office to register their complaints and not to the police station.

So, the Tanah Abang problem is both a challenge and a disgrace for the security authorities. They must combat the hoodlums to the end, especially as the 260-year-old market is located in Central Jakarta, the seat of the central government. If the authorities fail to overcome the problem here, how can they bring other market areas, where hoodlums are also ruling supreme, under control?