Village heads quit en masse
Village heads quit en masse
Bernie K. Moestafa and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
The war in Aceh is taking its toll on village chiefs with 76 in
Bireuen regency resigning on Sunday after complaining about the
pressure they had to face in dealing with both the Indonesian
Military (TNI) and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.
"Keucik (village chiefs) cannot run the administration under
such pressure," Rajali, one of the village chiefs from Jeunib,
told reporters. "They cannot stand the conflict between TNI and
GAM anymore." .
The 76 chiefs come from villages in the Peudada, Jeumpa,
Jeunib and Juli subdistricts in Bireun regency, which is known as
a stronghold of GAM.
Rajali said that the keucik decided to tender their
resignations following a meeting at Blank Sepang village on
Sunday.
Indonesia's largest military operation since the 1975 East
Timor invasion is in its fourth week in Aceh, where control over
the population through the villages has long been a crucial part
of the military strategy.
"Much is focused on the keucik," Rajali said.
Last week reports surfaced about 30 village chiefs seeking
refuge in the Samalanga area in Bireuen due to fears of GAM
retaliation after the TNI indoctrinated them about the Unitary
State of Indonesia. In the Bireuen village of Lawang, keucik
Hamdani was beaten by soldiers of the 144th Battalion late last
month.
The soldiers said that Hamdani failed to cooperate properly
when they raided his village in search of GAM members. The
incident the subject of a trial with seven soldiers named as
suspects, three of whom will hear their verdict on Monday.
According to Rajali, village chiefs need not report their
resignation because they have been elected by their respective
villages.
Aceh Military Operation spokesman Lt. Col. Achmad Yani Basuki
said he had yet to receive the reports over the village chiefs'
resignation. But he added that such reports needed to be
verified.
"We must see whether the reason for their resignation matches
with the situation in the field."
Such mass resignations, he said, could not be taken lightly.
The keucik play a pivotal role in supporting the integrated
operation in Aceh in particular relating to the empowering of the
local administrations, Yani explained.
As part of the operation to restore the administrative
function in Aceh, the government plans to replace district chiefs
with retired military or police officers. Administrations in many
districts have been paralyzed due to the continuing conflict,
even before the integrated operation and martial law began on May
19.
Separately, visiting Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar
Chamsyah said the government would focus on development of GAM-
free areas, apart from providing humanitarian assistance for
displaced people.
"Empowerment of people in safe areas is one of our top
priority programs. Only people who live in poor conditions will
be prone to GAM's provocation," Bachtiar said.
Areas considered as GAM-free include Aceh Island and Nasi
Island in Aceh Besar regency, some four nautical miles north of
the Aceh capital of Banda Aceh.
In those safe areas, the government will focus its program on
the provision of jobs and capital for residents, Bachtiar said.
Meanwhile, Chief Pvt. Yenformase died and 18 other soldiers
were injured after their truck fell off a bridge and into a river
in an accident in the Aloe Papen village in North Aceh's Nisam
area on Sunday afternoon.
The soldiers were part of a 25-man joint strike force
detachment of three battalions. The accident occurred when their
truck tried to pass a narrow wooden bridge during a rainstorm.
The TNI has now lost 13 soldiers since martial law was
declared. According to military sources, government troops have
shot dead 150 separatists, captured 88 others while 95
surrendered, and 50 different types of weapons have been seized.
Spokesman for martial law administration in Aceh Col. Ditya
Soedarsono said the military would intensify the search for GAM
arsenals, using special detectors.