Two injured in Senen clash
Two injured in Senen clash
JAKARTA (JP): A clash erupted near the Senen Atrium shopping
center on Friday between local residents and street vendors in
Central Jakarta, injuring at least two traders, an officer said.
Deputy chief of the Senen police precinct, Capt. Sutrisno,
said no one had been arrested so far in connection with the
clash.
Based on a preliminary police investigation, the angry
residents rushed to the trading site of the street vendors to
close down their kiosks under the Senen flyover for reasons which
remained unclear to the police.
"We're still probing the case. But the traders said the
residents might be still unhappy with their presence even though
the vendors had earlier moved -- under the request of the locals
-- from their previous site in a park right in front of the
Atrium building," officer Sutrisno said.
The traders said that the residents armed themselves with
weapons during the clash.
"The vendors said they had no choice but to face off with the
angry residents," he added.
One of the vendors, A. Nainggolan, said the clash was the
second of such incidents in two months.
"At the time they came here with sharp weapons and wooden
sticks. They injured one of my colleagues and tried to ruin our
kiosks," Nainggolan said.
The vendors then agreed to the locals' demands and moved their
kiosks to the site under the flyover.
"We thought the issue had been settled," Nainggolan said
sadly.
Nainggolan emotionally accused the management of the Senen
Atrium of having paid the residents to conduct the attack, saying
that the vendors' operation in the area had affected business at
the shopping center.
"We are indeed suspicious about their role in the attack," he
added.
The vendors, selling pirated VCDs and various items of
apparel, agreed to resume their business under the flyover on
Saturday, he said.
"We'll welcome the locals if they want to sit with us and
peacefully talk in order to resolve the matter. But they cannot
come here and ruin our kiosks," Nainggolan said. (06)