Undercover police shuttle stranded minibus passengers

JAKARTA (JP): Forty undercover officers from the Central Jakarta Police precinct stood in for striking M-11 minivan drivers yesterday, picking up stranded passengers along the Tanah Abang-Kebon Jeruk route.

The officers, who drove 20 minivans, were assigned to encourage drivers of the M-11 and M-09 minivans -- which ply the Tanah Abang-Kebayoran Lama route -- to return to work. The drivers have been on strike since Monday but M-09 minivans began operating again early yesterday.

The strike, which has left many passengers stranded, was launched by the drivers to protest against the ongoing extortion rackets of preman (hoodlums) in Tanah Abang.

The police drivers helped return minivan services around the Tanah Abang market to normal and the streets were once again lined with the vehicles. Drivers of the M-11 minivans gradually returned to work yesterday.

Maj. Edward Pernong, chief of the intelligence section of the Central Jakarta Police precinct, said yesterday: "The situation is under control now. There's nothing to worry about. We're just monitoring."

A police mobile brigade truck was parked near the Tanah Abang Railway Station's gate but no officers could be seen in the area.

Thirty-five officers from the city police mobile unit have been on alert since 4 a.m. yesterday to back up the undercover officers, Edward said.

They were dispatched to safeguard several locations near the railway station which are known for unrest and potential riots, he said.

Once the situation is back to normal, officers are expected to crack down on hoodlums who extort money from drivers, he said.

A police officer, who did not want to be named, said the Tanah Abang hoodlums had built their own empire.

"We can't trust anyone here because they might be the ones behind the crimes but are trying to blame their enemies," he said.

Edward declined to accuse Hercules R. Marcal, the unofficial leader of the Tanah Abang hoodlums, of being behind the extortion.

"He did come to our station Tuesday, reporting that the extortion was not being conducted by him and his boys."

The head of the City Land Transportation Agency, J.P. Sepang supported yesterday the abolition of illegal levies imposed by hoodlums on the minivan drivers in Tanah Abang.

"This is wrong. The drivers must be brave enough to stop paying such levies. Any order to collect levies on behalf of Hercules or other hoodlums is considered illegal," he said after a meeting with the governor at City Hall.

Sepang also denied reports that his agency collected levies from drivers.

"My agency never issues permits to collect levies from minivan drivers. That's crazy. The bottom line is, if drivers experience such things, they must report it to the city's Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda).

"Organda will file a reports with the Jakarta Police and Jakarta Military Command, which will in turn take further action against the extorters."

Sepang urged the drivers to join forces to prevent them from being easy targets for hoodlums.

"That is why it is important to keep in touch with Organda as their mentor on this matter."

According to the agency, there are 350 minivans plying the Tanah Abang-Kebayoran Lama route and another 300 minivans serving Tanah Abang-Kebon Jeruk route.

The agency also dispatched 12 buses to transport stranded passengers during the minivan drivers' strike.

City Councilor Rusjdi Hamka said authorities should not just say what they mean, but mean what they say about the crackdown on hoodlums in the city.

"There is a huge network of hoodlums in Tanah Abang and there is somebody powerful behind them. It's up to the authorities. They have to be brave enough to fight the practices of hoodlums in the city," he said.

"We always brag about the National Disciplinary Movement. What really happens in reality is very contradictory. Hoodlums are running Tanah Abang and other areas, while the authorities cannot do anything to really abolish them. This is dangerous and I am really concerned about this matter."

Hamka said action was the only solution for the municipality and other related parties.

"Hoodlums have won all this time because they use force. To fight them, the military forces must be involved too," he added. (04/07)