Ujungpandang still tense after students protest

Ujungpandang still tense after students protest

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi (JP): The massive student
protests against a public transport fare increase which began on
Monday and led to three deaths, started to die down yesterday
although the situation remains tense.

Smaller groups of students from four private universities were
still seen staging sporadic demonstrations, burning tires, and
setting up roadblocks. Their protests, however, was not as
formidable as on the first day of the protest when 10,000
students took to the streets simultaneously.

Although traffic was still paralyzed in many parts of the
city, a number of public transport vehicles, known locally as
pete-pete had started to ply some alternative routes. It was the
planned increase of the pete-pete fare, from Rp 300 (13 U.S.
cents) to Rp 500 (21 cents), that the students were protesting
against.

Scores of police and other security officers were still seen
guarding the campuses of Hasanuddin University, the Indonesian
Moslem University, the Muhammadiyah University and the Alaudin
Institute for Islamic Studies.

All of the universities in the city yesterday held a shalat
gaib, a special prayer for Syaiful, Sultan and Adnan, the
students at the Moslem University who died in police raids on
their campus. Syaiful died on Wednesday, while Sultan and Adnan
died on Thursday.

A witness said that students panicked when security officers
stormed the campus and chased them with rattan sticks. It was
during the confusion that the students fell into the Pampang
River just behind the campus, and drowned.

The river is about 10 meters wide and does not have strong
current, but is very muddy. "All of the other students were in
too great a panic to help them," said a resident.

Sultan and Adnan were buried yesterday in Panaikan Cemetery,
but only after their bodies were carried in a long procession
through some of the jammed city thoroughfares.

Reports of fatalities vary, with some organizations such as
the Ujungpandang office of the Indonesian Legal Aid organization
saying that six people have died.

There were also reports that some students were shot dead by
the military. The local military headquarters, however, has
denied this.

The South Sulawesi provincial government has responded to the
unrest by declaring on Thursday that it was canceling the
Ujungpandang mayor's decree on the fare increase.

Governor Zainal Basri Palaguna, who is currently on haj
pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, held a meeting with a number
of officials in his entourage, including Mayor Malik B. Masry, to
discuss the situation. Palaguna conveyed his condolences to the
relatives of the three students who died.

In Jakarta, legislators deplored the fatalities in the student
protests, warning that harsh action against peaceful
demonstrators only worsens such situations.

Oka Mahendra and Sabam Sirait, House members from Golkar and
the Indonesian Democratic Party respectively, called on the
students and the authorities in Ujungpandang to avoid violence.

"Security authorities should not overstep their authority in
their efforts to restore order," said Oka Mahendra from House
Commission II on domestic political affairs.

"If the authorities use violence to put out violence, the
result will be predictable."

Meanwhile, House member Sabam Sirait said authorities' harsh
action would only heighten political tension in the run-up to the
1997 election.

"The public needs a sense of security," said the House
Commission I overseeing defense and security.

Sabam said the root of the problem was the government's
inability to organize a transport strategy for the common people
which is cheap and reliable.

He pointed out that countries like India and the Philippines
do not have oil but have better transport concepts.

In Denpasar, Bali, Armed Forces Chief for General Affairs Lt.
Gen. Soeyono said the military would take firm action against
anybody found behind the protests.

"We will punish whoever masterminded the protests," he was
quoted by Antara as saying yesterday. (20/imn/16/pan)

Editorial -- Page 4