Troops remain on alert in Bagansiapi-api

Troops remain on alert in Bagansiapi-api

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of security personnel were on standby
in the fishing town of Bagansiapi-api in Riau province on
Wednesday after a riot erupted there the previous day.

Bengkalis Police chief Lt. Col. Luther Harefa said the riot
erupted on Tuesday evening following rumors that Chinese-
Indonesians had killed a native Indonesian following a minor
accident.

"The rumor said that the man died at the hospital in
Pakanbaru," Luther said, referring to the provincial town some
200 kilometers southeast of Bagansiapi-api. The indigenous man
was reportedly hit on the nose with a piece of wood, Luther said.

He said that about 400 houses, shops and buildings were burned
and 31 looters and three alleged agitators were arrested during
the riot. The violence began at about 8 p.m., he said.

Luther also said that Bukit Barisan Military Commander Maj.
Gen. Ismed Yuzairi visited the town on Wednesday afternoon and
met with local community and religious leaders.

Antara reported that 300 security personnel from Pakanbaru and
Dumai were deployed to the town early on Wednesday to control the
situation.

Riau Police spokesman Maj. S. Pandiangan said the
reinforcements were from the regional police, the police's Mobile
Brigade and the Army.

Pandiangan also said there were no reports of injuries and
that the authorities had yet to estimate the material losses
resulting from the riot.

The local leader of the Communication Forum for National
Unity, Candra, was quoted by the news agency as saying that on
Tuesday evening people ran amok throughout the city damaging
shops, houses and buildings.

Some of the people were seen carrying sharp weapons.

Candra said that the mob then began throwing plastic bags
filled with gasoline on the roofs of houses and shops along the
streets.

He said that security personnel could not control the
situation as they were outnumbered by the rioters.

Owners of the burned shops were sheltered by their relatives
in the nearby towns of Dumai, Bengkalis and Pakanbaru.

Some of them were also reportedly holed up in the subdistrict
and deputy regent's offices.

Candra also said that the riot was triggered by a brawl
between Chinese-Indonesians and indigenous Sumatrans following a
traffic accident. But he said the accident was on Sunday, not
Tuesday.

"Actually the incident had been settled, but on Tuesday there
was a rumor that one of the natives died when he was rushed to
the hospital in Pakanbaru," he told Antara.

In Samarinda, East Kalimantan, hundreds of public
transportation drivers went on strike to protest the skyrocketing
prices of automotive parts. Similar protests by public transport
drivers had triggered riots in Medan, North Sumatra on Tuesday.

Hundreds of school children, housewives and employees had to
walk to their destinations or scramble on board the few minivans
that dared to operate.

The striking drivers gathered in a parking lot of the Segiri
sports hall under the watchful eyes of dozens of security
personnel.

State television station TVRI reported that the strike ended
peacefully later in the afternoon after a dialog with the mayor.

In Parepare, South Sulawesi, thousands of people reportedly
damaged five houses owned by the administrators of a local
cooperative, Kospin, on Wednesday which had allegedly cheated on
people.

The angry mob broke down doors and looted valuables from
inside the houses, from which the administrators fled. Roofs and
windows were shattered.

Security personnel did not try to stop the rampage as they
were only seen guarding the area to prevent the unrest from
spreading.

Shop owners throughout the town some 250 kilometers north of
the provincial city of Ujungpandang, however, immediately closed
their businesses.

It was the latest incident in South Sulawesi after thousands
of people clashed with security personnel preventing them from
forcing their way into the same cooperative in the nearby town of
Pinrang on Tuesday .

The violence was reportedly triggered by people's anger over
the Kospin cooperative's failure to return their money.

Wirabuana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Suaidi Marasabessy said
people had been tempted by Kospin's promise that they could get
50 percent interest per week if they deposited money with the
cooperative. (21/30/byg)