Traffic on Jalan Mayjen Sutoyo Returns to Normal After UKI Student Protest

Traffic on Jalan Mayjen Sutoyo has returned to normal after a student demonstration in front of the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) Cawang, East Jakarta, which temporarily caused congestion on Wednesday afternoon. “Jalan Mayjen Sutoyo in front of the UKI Campus is now flowing smoothly. Earlier there was indeed a traffic jam due to the expression of aspirations,” said East Jakarta Metro Police Chief, Senior Commissioner Alfian Nurrizal, in front of UKI Cawang, East Jakarta, on Wednesday. Alfian stated that public and vehicle activity along Jalan Mayjen Sutoyo returned to normal after the protesters dispersed. The congestion that occurred was a result of the aspiration-conveying activity carried out by UKI students. The protest began around 4:30 PM Western Indonesian Time and lasted for just over an hour. Alfian explained that the demonstration concluded with the reading of demands by the students at 5:45 PM Western Indonesian Time. After conveying their demands, the protesters immediately dispersed and returned to the campus grounds. Alfian confirmed that the protest took place in a safe and conducive atmosphere. No disturbances or actions potentially disrupting public security and order were found. “Alhamdulillah, they conveyed their aspirations well and did not cause unrest. We provided services to the UKI students to express their aspirations. We also express our gratitude because the protest was safe and conducive,” Alfian stated. According to Alfian, the freedom to express opinions in public is a democratic right of citizens protected by law. During the protest, students also briefly burned tyres as part of expressing their aspirations. As a result, a plume of smoke was visible around the protest site. “They did burn tyres, but we immediately extinguished it using light fire extinguishers (APAR). There was indeed a little smoke, but the situation remained under control,” said Alfian. Furthermore, Alfian confirmed that joint officers from the TNI/Polri, the 0505/East Jakarta Military District Command, and the East Jakarta Metro Police carried out situation cooling, cleaning of the protest area, and traffic flow management to accelerate the normalisation of vehicle flow. Observations at the location showed that vehicles from the Cawang direction and vice versa were already able to pass smoothly. Police officers also remained on standby to ensure there were no further disturbances following the student demonstration.