Warning shots fired to stop protest in Batam
Warning shots fired to stop protest in Batam
JAKARTA (JP): Police on Batam island fired warning shots on
Monday to disperse a rowdy crowd protesting the government's
decision to impose value added tax and luxury sales tax on the
island earlier this month.
Antara reported some 200 protesters vandalized and stoned the
Harmoni hotel and several nearby buildings, including a police
station, and vehicles and shops in the downtown Batam area of
Jodoh after they saw security guards beating a man in front of
the hotel.
The man was mistakenly thought of as one of the protesters,
the news agency said.
Some of the protesters took away Rp 2 million in cash from the
hotel.
They also paraded across the town on dozens of motorcycles,
cars and trucks.
Waldy, 36, an employee of the hotel who was reportedly
suffering heart problems, was shocked by the incident and later
died in the Harapan Bunda hospital.
The news agency quoted police sources as saying that the
organizer of the rally, Ahmad Mipon, turned himself in to the
police later in the day.
Ahmad, Antara said, had placed an advertisement in a local
newspaper calling on the locals to join the street rally.
Many businesses and shops were closed on Monday and the city
remained tense until late in the evening, the news agency said.
Local authorities have said that the new tax regulations have
not only affected business people, but also local residents
because they have caused the price of consumer goods to rise.
In an attempt to attract investors to Batam, the government
turned the island, some 19 kilometers south of Singapore, into an
industrial bonded zone in 1978. Later, several islands near
Batam, including Karimun and Bintan, were included in the bonded
zone.
According to the previous policy governing the area,
businesses on Batam and the other islands in the zone were free
from all import duties and "other government levies".
However, the government waived the tax incentives in 1998 at
the prompting of the International Monetary Fund.
Under the new regulations, export-oriented companies will
receive refunds for VAT and luxury good tax payments only after
they show proof they export their products. (byg)