URGENT: arrest of Jakarta pedicab activists

[SUSTRAN Network Secretariat]

More from the Jakarta Post on the Becak issue. The arrests on Monday and
the uncompromising attitude of the Jakarta government have provoked an
angry response on the streets.
-----------------------

The Jakarta Post
City News     
March 02, 2000 

Unbowed Sutiyoso says 'becak' must go

JAKARTA (JP): Undaunted by strong resistance from becak (pedicab) drivers,
Governor Sutiyoso said on Wednesday that the city administration would
soldier on with its plan to clear the three-wheeled vehicles off the
capital's streets. 

"We'll continue the operation to net the pedicabs, as mandated in the 1988
Bylaw No. 11 on Public Order," Sutiyoso said in Ciracas, East Jakarta, on
the sidelines of a ceremony commemorating the City Fire Department's 81st
anniversary. 

He condemned drivers who went on the rampage following a clash with city
public order officials on Tuesday evening. At least six vehicles were
damaged and four city officials sustained injuries. 

"I'm concerned that my residents could do such a thing to city officials,"
he said. 

Residents reportedly ran amok in areas of West and North Jakarta when city
officials began the operation to impound pedicabs. 

Angry pedicab drivers burned a garbage truck from the City Sanitation
Agency, an Isuzu Panther pickup of the City Public Order Office and a fire
truck on Jl. Mangga Besar, West Jakarta. Four officials were reportedly
injured in the incident. 

Another clash occurred on Jl. Pademangan III, North Jakarta, when a mob
burned the Pademangan district office. They continued on to Jl. Gunung
Sahari, where they burned a public minivan and smashed the windows of two
Metro Mini public minibuses. 

The governor admitted it was difficult to tell if the pedicab drivers were
responsible for all of the destruction. 

"I've been told that not all of the rioters were becak drivers, some of
them were members of the community. There were provocateurs in the
incidents," he said, urging city residents not to be easily provoked by
rumors. 

Sutiyoso said later at City Hall that he was in a difficult position
concerning the handling of the pedicabs. 

"When I was going easy on the drivers, city councilors asked me to uphold
the city bylaw. On the other hand, residents have violently protested the
city administration for conducting the operation." 

Interviewed separately, Deputy Governor for Administrative Affairs Abdul
Kahfi said the residents' violent actions against city officials were
considered crimes. 

"I urge the city police to thoroughly investigate these incidents." He said
the operation would continue despite the drivers' opposition. 

City records show there are 1,967 pedicabs remaining in the capital, of
which 318 are in Central Jakarta, another 418 in West Jakarta and the
remaining 1,231 in North Jakarta. South and East Jakarta have been declared
free of the vehicles. (nvn) 


All contents copyright © of The Jakarta Post.
webmaster at thejakartapost.com 
----------------------------------------


Distributed for the purpose of education and research.

A. Rahman Paul BARTER
Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia
and the Pacific (the SUSTRAN Network)
P.O. Box 11501, Kuala Lumpur 50748, Malaysia.
E-mail: sustran at po.jaring.my
URL: http://www.malaysiakini.com/sustran (under construction)

Ask about our SUSTRAN NEWS FLASHES - news updates on
people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport
with a focus on countries in the global 'South'.