Trauma haunts West Kalimantan, governor says

Trauma haunts West Kalimantan, governor says

JAKARTA (JP): Life is slowly returning to normal in the towns
and villages of West Kalimantan which were rocked by ethnic riots
early this year, provincial governor Aspar Aswin said yesterday.

But Aspar said people were still haunted by the trauma of the
riots.

"We have not yet fully eliminated their apprehensions,
concerns and fears that they (the riots) will recur," he said
after meeting President Soeharto at Bina Graha, Jakarta.

On March 21, some 14,000 people, or about 4,000 families, were
still living in temporary shelters. They could not return to
their homes because of fear, or because their homes had been
reduced to ash in the riots, he said.

The riots, between indigenous Dayak tribespeople and migrants
from Madura, East Java, from Dec. 29 until early March had left
200 dead on both sides, he said. "That's a provisional figure.

"We're still making an inventory. There were victims who were
not reported and were buried by their friends," he said.

The West Kalimantan provincial administration had asked the
National Commission on Human Rights to help assess casualties
from the riots, he said. "We want to do everything in the open,
without hiding anything," he said.

There had been 11 clashes between the two groups within three
months, including five major ones, the governor said.

Almost 2,500 houses were razed, 93 others were damaged. The
first riot caused Rp 13.5 billion (US$5.8 million) in material
damage, he said.

"It was encouraging to see that not a single house of worship
was touched.

"One school had caught fire, it was not set on fire," he said.

President Soeharto, Aspar said, had ordered that efforts to
restore normalcy continue. "He told me that the provincial
administration must be impartial and treat the Dayaks and
Madurese equally."

Aspar rejected the notion that deteriorating relations between
the two ethnic groups had caused the riots.

"Overall, that's not true. If we look at their daily lives,
there are no problems between the Dayaks and Madurese.

"On the contrary, during the riots, Dayak people protected the
Madurese when they were attacked, and Madurese people did
likewise when the Dayaks were attacked.

"So relations have been good, they are assimilating, there are
camaraderie and brotherhood," Aspar said.

The riots, he said, had been started by people with personal
motives.

He dismissed the idea that economic disparity sowed envy and
hatred between the two communities. "The economic welfare of the
Dayaks and Madurese are not all that different."

The authorities were holding 174 people, including 158 Dayaks
and 23 Madurese, for questioning over the riots, he said.

On the likelihood of the riots recurring, Aspar said all the
tribal and community leaders in West Kalimantan had met on March
15 to pledge to avoid a repetition.

"This is a relief for me, and we're holding onto this
(pledge)," he said. (emb)