Thugs attack striking drivers, students

Thugs attack striking drivers, students

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

A group of unidentified people attacked bus drivers and students
here on Monday hours before they went ahead with a planned strike
to protest the recent rise in fuel prices and electricity rates.

The attack took place at about 2:30 a.m., shortly after the
victims had distributed leaflets at bus stations announcing the
strike.

At least eight bus drivers and four students were injured in
the violence.

Two of the drivers -- Arifin Sembiring and Morisi Situmorang
-- sustained serious head injuries and are being treated in the
intensive care unit at Pirngadi Hospital.

The protesters had received threats on Saturday night after
they announced plans to stage a massive strike on Monday.

Nasrun, one of the attacked drivers, said the victims believed
the attackers were supervisors from rival bus operators.

He said a group of unidentified people stopped the victims as
they were returning to the headquarters of their public
transportation owners association (Kesper-AU), led by Victor
Nainggolan.

"After being held for about 90 minutes in the street by their
accomplices, several other people arrived and beat us. We could
not identify them all," Nasrun told The Jakarta Post.

The assailants reportedly called the drivers and students
"provocateurs" for distributing leaflets calling for a strike.

Authorities believe the attack could be linked to an internal
conflict within Kesper-AU, which in 1998 split into two factions
-- one led by Victor Nainggolan and the other by Manahan
Hutagulung.

Despite the attack, thousands of drivers pushed ahead with the
strike on Monday. No violence was reported during the protest,
which also involved hundreds of students from various
universities in the province.

The protesters condemned the "repressive action" by the group
of attackers who tried to prevent the strike.

There were no reports of commuters being stranded by the
strike, as thousands of other drivers from the Manahan-led
Kesper-AU went about their work as usual.

O.K. Chaidir, who chairs the Medan branch of the land
transportation owners' organization, said the strike was
"political motivated" because it involved students.

"Based on our monitoring, strikes took place in at least 20
spots with protesters stopping buses to join in," he said.

Victor Nainggolan said the strike was organized because bus
drivers were looked on as mere "cash cows".

"The increases in fuel prices and electricity rates, the hike
in the price of spare parts and rampant extortion have caused
drivers further suffering.

"Tragically, the government and other agencies do not try to
resolve the problems, but even add more burdens on the drivers by
deploying more buses and issuing new operational licenses," he
said.

A statement issued by the strikers said bus earned about Rp 8
million per day just from a Rp 1,000 fee charged to about 8,000
drivers every day.

Victor said the strike would continue until Wednesday, which
local police said could place a burden on commuters.