Truck drivers strike against extortion

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Truck drivers who use the Banda Aceh- Medan road have staged a strike since last Thursday in protest against rampant illegal levies along their routes, paralyzing the local economy and distribution of food into and out of the province.

"We are tired of the levies demanded by officers and hoodlums along the road. Every day we have to spend millions of rupiah to pay these levies," Tengku Supe, one of the drivers, said on Friday.

The drivers have yet to set a deadline for their strike to end and said they will continue with it until the authorities take concrete measures to protect them.

It is reported that the worst areas with rampant illegal levies are in the Banda Aceh-Medan road passing the East Aceh and South Aceh regencies.

"In each regency there can be 10 to 15 posts and the drivers have to stop and pay at every post ... and sometimes there are posts which have set a certain price, such as Rp 20,000 per trip," a driver said.

In many cases the trucks loaded with logs of wood or heavy equipment have to pay Rp 200,000 to certain police/military personnel to pass the road, he added.

"We cannot stand this anymore," the driver said.

As a result of the strike and reduced flow of goods to Aceh, the price of food commodities has shot through the roof. People were seen rushing to the market to stockpile food supplies just in case the strike went on for a while longer.

"The price of a 'gallon' of mineral water has increased to Rp 12,500 from Rp 8,500," a local journalist said. Tomatoes are Rp 10,000 per kilogram from the previous Rp 3,000 and some kinds of vegetables such as carrots have also became rare in the market.

Spokesman of Cinta Meunasah Sr. Comr. Kusbini Imbar urged the drivers not to continue the strike as it would only cause the people to suffer.

"Please do not burden the people with more problems ... we believe that the drivers were forced to stage the strike by Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatists since the rebels have been frustrated by an intensive law and order operation along the Banda Aceh-Medan route," Kusbini said on Friday.

The officer, however, did admit that the practice of illegal levies took place in several posts and promised to handle the matter properly.

GAM's Abu Sofyan Daud refuted the accusation, saying, "We don't have anything to do with the strike."

Reports said that police and military assigned along a restive section of the Banda Aceh-Medan route "were suffering from financial difficulties since their salaries and food allowances were very small and sometimes not even received at all".

Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh urged the drivers not to provide any reasons which might enable the officers to collect levies and for the police/military to stop such illegal action.

Meanwhile, after days of calm in Aceh, violence resurfaced on Friday in two separate incidents which took place in North Aceh. Three people were killed, including an officer and two rebels.

Some 100 shops and fish market were burned in the incident.

"At 10 a.m. Brig. Ade Firmansyah and Brig. Nanang Suhendra were patrolling in Lhoksukon market when suddenly a gunman on a motorcycle sprayed bullets at them.

"Ade was killed instantly while Nanang was rushed to Lhokseumawe General Hospital, some 30 kilometers from the incident," North Aceh Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Abdi Dharmawan said later in the day.

In a separate incident, two alleged rebels identified as Jafar Ujud, 38 and Lukman Mustafa, 30, were killed in a gunfight at Simpang Leupe village in Blang Mangat district, about 15 kilometers north of Lhokseumawe, the capital of North Aceh, Abdi said.

Around 10 a.m. the joint forces were patrolling the area and suddenly they were ambushed by five gunmen. "The two died in the process while the other three fled," the officer said.

The flow of Banda Aceh-Medan traffic was totally stopped for over two hours due to the incidents.

Also on Friday, 1,000 police's Mobile Brigade arrived in Aceh through the Malahayati Port of Krueng Raya in Aceh Besar on board the KRI Teluk Parigi, a Navy battleship. (50/edt)