Spotlight on Indonesia
Massive public transport strike
A strike of some 10,000 public transport drivers paralysed North Sumatra's capital city, Medan, on August 21. The strikers were demanding cheaper spare parts, subsidised fuel and an end to illegal fees.
The Drivers and Owners of Public Transportation (Kesper), which initiated the three-day strike, allege that gangs of youths and officials collect illegal fees from them. "At every point [on a journey] we have to pay extra money, with each driver having to pay levies of between 500 and 10,000 rupiah per day", Kesper chairperson Manahan Hutagalung told the Jakarta Post.
Four peasant activists abducted
Four peasant activists from the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) who were on a hunger strike during the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) last week are still missing after they were taken away in an ambulance on August 14.
The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Munarman, told the Detik news service, "It's possible that thugs were hired by some of the tycoons who took land away from locals during the Suharto era. They may have feared the activists would help the people to reclaim their properties." The police had claimed that students had faked the kidnapping to tarnish the reputation of the MPR.
Police kill three activists in West Papua
Three people were killed and seven injured on August 22 when police clashed with a crowd defending a separatist flag being raised in West Papua. The clash broke out after about 500 people hoisted the Morning Star flag outside a church in the coastal town of Sorong. Four police and several civilians were also wounded.
The Indonesian government has allowed the raising of the Morning Star flag only on the condition that it be alongside, and lower than, the Indonesian flag. The clash came one day after some separatist leaders threatened all-out war if their calls for independence continued to be ignored.
Riau farmers rally for loans
Hundreds of members of the Riau Farmers Association (SPR) demonstrated on August 22 outside the main branch of Bank Rakyat Indonesia in Pekanbaru, Sumatra, demanding the disbursement of US$805,000 in rural assistance loans. The farmers marched to the bank after rallying at the provincial legislative assembly building.
SPR secretary Eva Dewiwati said the farmers desperately need the loans because the planting season is fast approaching and they have to buy seeds and pay for tilling. She said the farmers have fulfilled all of the requirements stipulated by bank. The disbursement of the loans has been held up by government red tape.
Sources: Jakarta Post, Detik news agency and Indonesian Observer.
[For more information on political developments in Indonesia, East Timor and West Papua, visit the web site of Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor at <http://www.asiet.org.au>.]