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)