[Kabar-indonesia] Indonesia Actions, Demos, Protests: June 12-18, 2006

[Joyo at aol.com]

Indonesia Roundup #19 - June 12-18, 2006
[Posted: June 22, 2006]

Actions, Demos, Protests...

[Indonesia Roundup is a weekly compilation of actions,
demonstrations and protests taken from Indonesian
language news sources. Please note that actions
already covered by English language media sources are
generally omitted. Compiled and translated by James
Balowski.]

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Victims of Ambon riots demand compensation funds

Thousands of displaced people who were victims of the
Ambon riots became angered during a protest at the
Maluku Public Works Office on June 13. They accused
the office of fooling them over delays in the payment
of compensation funds valued at 1.8 million rupiah.
The public works office had earlier promised to
immediately disburse the compensation funds for
repairs to the resident's houses. (Liputan 6,
13/6/2006)

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South Kalimantan truck drivers strike

Fifty drivers of trucks transporting basic goods and
construction materials bound from the East Java
provincial capital of Surabaya went on strike at the
Trisakti Banjarmasin Port in South Kalimantan on June
13. The strike only ended after the state-own port
management company Pelindo placed a temporary
cancellation on government fees. According to Pelindo
the fees were based on a decision issue by the
director of PT Pelindo. (Liputan 6, 13/6/2006)

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Victims of river abrasion protest in Cirebon

Hundreds of residents from the village of Rawa Urip in
the Kalibangka Block demonstrated at the Pangenan
sub-district in the West Java regency of Cirebon on
June 13. The protesters were demanding that the
government pay attention to their problems they are
facing as they had already lost a number of homes as a
result of abrasion to the Cimanis River. As a result
of the abrasion, which has now been going on since
1998, seventeen of resident's homes have been damaged
and dozens of others are under threat.

(Liputan 6, 13/6/2006)

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Lebak residents demand connection to electricity grid

Residents in the Lebak regency of Banten provinces
blockaded a road in protest over the Banten provincial
government's sluggishness in providing electricity to
four villages in the Penggarangan sub-district of
Lebak. The protesters said they had repeatedly
submitted requests for connection to the electrical
grid but to this day, some 700 families living in the
villages have yet to receive electricity. (Liputan 6,
13/6/2006)

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Pulo Aceh residents protest Catholic Relief Services

Hundreds of tsunami victims from the Lampuyang village
in the Pulo Aceh sub-district of Greater Aceh
protested at the representative offices of the
Catholic Relief Services in Banda Aceh on June 13.

The head of Lampuyang village, Muhammad Ismi, said
that they had come to the CRS office in Banda Aceh to
demand that CRS fulfil its commitment to build some
300 houses in their village. "We want to know if the
CRS will build the houses or not", said Abubakar, one
of the residents. "Don't just make promises", he said.

In response to the resident's complaints, CRS Aceh
director Scott T. Chambell admitted that there had
been delays in the construction of the houses but this
was because the CRS was looking for a new contractor
to do the work. Chambell added that the CRS is still
committed to constructing the houses.

(Aceh Kita, 13/6/2006)

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Tanah Karo residents protest plans to slaughter
livestock

Hundreds of Tanah Karo residents in the North Sumatra
provincial capital of Medan protested by drinking
chicken blood in front of the offices of the North
Sumatra governor on June 13. The action was in protest
over plans to destroy livestock in Tanah Karo after
the spread of Avian Flu resulted in the death of seven
residents in May.

The residents said that the order to destroy all
livestock in Tanah Karo would cause significant
financial losses to traders and breeders. Moreover
they said, the health department and the World Health
Organisation had yet to prove the origin of the Avian
Flue virus that killed the seven residents of Kubu
Simbelang village.

A representative of the governor said that the
destruction of the birds was the only alternative in
order to contain the spread of the virus. He also
added that they would be given compensation. The
protesters however refused to accept his offer and in
addition to drinking the chicken blood also fried
dozens of chickens, which were then offered to
government officials to eat. (Liputan 6, 14/6/2006)

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Aceh students protest over corruption

Around 100 students from the South Aceh Social Concern
Alliance (AMPAS) held a protest at the offices of the
governor and the Aceh chief public prosecutor in Banda
Aceh on June 15. The were demanding that an
investigation be conducted into the growing number of
corruption cases in South Aceh.

Arriving at the governor's office at 9.30am, the
students took turns in giving speeches saying that
although corruption has been going on in South Aceh
for some time now, not one case has been solved or
brought before the courts.

"We hope that the governor's commitment to wipe out
corruption will really be carried out. Don't just talk
about it in the mass media, we want evidence from you.
If not we will return with even more demonstrators",
said action coordinator Zulfikar.

The demonstrators did not come empty handed. "We have
brought strong evidence of the regent's involvement in
a number of corruption cases in South Aceh. We hope
that you will immediately investigate these cases",
said one of the speakers.

Following this, Zulfikar and the chairperson of the
South Aceh Students Association Sudirjo, handed over a
dossier of evidence including corruption cases
involving deductions to block grant funds and mark ups
in infrastructure improvement projects. After meeting
with regional secretary Husni Bahri TOB, Bahri said
that they would send a team from the Regional
Monitoring Agency to South Aceh to investigate the
students' report. (Aceh Kita, 15/6/2006)

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Anti-Debt Coalition protests CGI meeting

The Anti-Debt Coalition has continued its protests
against the government's plan to submit a request for
new loans from the Consultative Group on Indonesia
(CGI). During an action on June 13 the protesters
warned the government that over the decades the
foreign debt burden on the state has continued to
accumulate.

Demonstrations by the coalition have been becoming
more frequent in the lead up to a meeting between the
government and foreign lending institutions that will
take place on June 15. Over the last three years,
total government loans from the CGI have reached US$
billion made of US$3.3 billion in bilateral loans and
US$5.7 billion in multilateral loans. (Liputan 6,
14/6/2006)

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Anti-CGI protesters demonstrate in Jakarta

Dozens of protesters from the People's Alliance
Against the CGI demonstrated in front of the Bank
Indonesia Building on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta
on June 15. They were demanding that the government
rejects new loans, cancel the existing debt and
dissolves the CGI because foreign loans have not
improved the welfare of ordinary people.

The protest was held in conjunction with a meeting
between 21 donor countries and eight international
financial institutions in Jakarta. The government
plans to submit a request for new loads valued at
US$2.53 billion that is made up of US$1.53 billion for
project loans and US1 billion for loans programs.
(Liputan 6, 15/6/2006)

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Demonstrators demand government stops accepting new
loans

Demonstrations against accepting new loans from the
CGI also took place in Medan on June 15. Actions were
held at the Majestik roundabout and the Regional House
of Representatives (DPRD). The protesters were urging
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President
Jusuf Kalla to resolve the long-term debt and to stop
accepting new loans.

(Liputan 6, 16/06/2006)

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Transmigrants demand repatriation

Hundreds of transmigrants from the village of
Pusanggula in the South Konawe regency ran riot during
a dialogue at the South Sulawesi Provincial Labour and
Transmigration Office in the city of Kendari on June
17. The protesters kicked over desks and attacked
transmigration officials.

The incident was trigged by a transmigration official
who suggested that they return to their transmigration
site, whereas the protesters were demanding to be
repatriated to Java because the transmigration site
has been inundated by one metre floods since early
June.

The 140 transmigrants are currently staying at the
West Sulawesi DPRD building and say they will remain
there as they are determined not to return to the
transmigration site. (Liputan 6, 17/6/2006)

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Students clash with police in Bone

Dozens of students from the Indonesian Islamic
Students Movement (PMII) in South Sulawesi clashed
with police in Bone on June 16. The incident occurred
when the students were protesting on the grounds of
the Bone municipal police headquarters.

The demonstration was triggered by an incident that
occurred the day before when a student was given a
ticket for a traffic violation. The students condemned
the actions by police who they said had harassed the
student.

Police were unable to contain their emotions when
students forced their way into the grounds of the
police headquarters and raised their organisation's
flag. A clash was unavoidable. A number of students
were injured during the incident. Fortunately, the
clash was diffused when one of the police officers was
able to pursuade his colleges to fall back.

(Liputan 6, 17/6/2006)

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Workers blockade PT Arnott Indonesia

Around 1,000 PT Arnott Indonesia workers from the All
Indonesia Workers Union (SPSI) have been protesting
since yesterday against the dismissal of a union
leader and 14 other workers. PT Arnott Indonesia is
currently restructuring the company in order to
improve efficiency.

Sutopo, a worker from the production section, said
that the worker protest turned into a massive
demonstration after a SPSI union official from the
advocacy division, Petrus Sarian, was also sacked.

Since then negotiations with the company have stalled.
(Tempo Interactive, 17/6/2006) 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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