CRIME : Law in Pople's Hands

Will vigilantism change the police?

The Jakarta Post CITY News
By Multa Fidrus

TANGERANG (JP): Angry residents in Tangerang have mobbed at least 42 people to death during the last nine months, while police turn a blind eye as they regard it an effective way to curb crime.

Jaelani, a morgue assistant at Tangerang General Hospital told The Jakarta Post that from January to early September this year, the hospital morgue had received the bodies of 42 criminal suspects delivered by 15 police subprecincts. Some 12 out of the 42 corpses could not be identified due to serious burns.

He said that last year there were no corpses of vigilante victims delivered to the hospital.
According to Jaelani, Curug subdistrict was the area with the most active vigilantism with eight criminals having been mobbed to death, followed by Cipondoh and Batu Ceper subdistricts with six cases respectively.

"We're sick of criminals who do not hesitate to hurt their victims. Moreover, the criminals are usually lazy individuals who just want to enjoy their lives without working hard," Agus Mulyadi, a plant vendor who joined in beating up two criminals last month.

"We can no longer trust the police to settle these cases," Agus added.

Since the vigilantes are regarded as effective at curbing crime, police seem to have turned a blind eye and appear to applaud the bravery of residents who kill criminals.

Tangerang Police chief Adj. Comr. Affan Richwanto admitted that, as of September this year, none of those who had provoked a mobbing incident had been held since the police tolerate the actions of vigilantes in a bid to curb crime.

Affan denied that the police were afraid of dealing with angry mobs. But, he said if police arrest any suspects who have provoked vigilantes, angry locals will attack police headquarters and demand they be released.

"We regret the action of residents who take the law into their own hands. But such vigilantes bring positive results to our crime-busting efforts. Unlike in the past, residents are now becoming braver at facing criminals," he told the Post in an interview.

"If you were a police officer, what would you do if you found an angry mob beating up a criminal?," he asked.

When asked whether the vigilantes are a result of the fact that people no longer trust the police, he said, "If you claim people have lost trust in the police, why are residents of Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex, Cikupa and Teluk Naga willing to build police stations in their areas," he said.

"Anger and a lack of legal awareness have prompted people to kill criminal suspects on site," he said, adding that usually motorcycle thefts, robberies or burglaries encouraged people to mob criminals to death.

He admitted that vigilantes were unable to eradicate these kinds of crime. "As long as the country's economy is depressed, then there will always be criminals," he said.

But he noted the important role of public and religious figures in preventing vigilantism. "As people still respect them, they are effective in keeping people from taking the law into their own hands," he said.

People here are still willing to listen to public figures. But the problem is that public figures are not able to monitor the vigilantes on site as very often they operate far from housing complexes, he said.

Criminologist Erlangga Masdiana of the University of Indonesia said police should not just wash their hands of street justices. He noted that in the long run, they will have to reform the police.
"There must be political will from top executives within the police to reform its institutional structure and culture right to the lowest level," he said.

Erlangga also said that in the next ten years, it would be better if the chief of the National Police was a civilian, so that they could be considered credible, independent and complete reform could be materialized. (September 17, 2001)

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DISCIPLINE : Public Minivan Drivers

Why drivers ignore traffic signs

The Jakarta Post : CITY News
By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): When the traffic light turns right, he sometimes does not stop; but he often stops at busy intersections or where a no-stopping sign is displayed.

Herman, 29, a driver of a public minivan serving the Kampung Melayu-Pasar Minggu route, acknowledged that he had violated traffic regulations many times. He realizes that he has often caused traffic congestion when stopping on a busy street to wait for passengers, but he refused to take the blame.

"Passengers are usually reluctant to get into the van at the right place since they are too lazy to walk," he told The Jakarta Post while waiting for passengers at Cawang Bawah intersection, East Jakarta. He did not move his vehicle, even when the light turned green.

Herman blamed the passengers, saying they played the main role in prompting public transportation drivers to violate traffic regulations.

"They stop minivans at any place for practical reasons, while we are looking for money and we don't want to lose them. That's why we pick them up from wherever they wait," said the father of three children.

He said not only him, but many other drivers did the same thing when there was no police officer around.

He said he had been ticketed by the police several times for breaking traffic rules. However, he was not afraid, and said he did not even have to go to the police station.

"There is a middleman specializing in dealing with the matter, to the return of our driver's license when it is held by the police," he said, adding that he just needed to tell him at which police substation his driver's license was being held.
He pays Rp 10,000 for the service.

Slamet, 38, a driver of a Metromini bus plying the Pasar Minggu-Cililitan route, said he had been repeatedly ticketed and had no problem in getting his driver's license back. He displayed no guilt, saying that all urban public transportation drivers were the same. He and other drivers always stop and wait for passengers at a narrow interchange after passing the railway crossing near Kalibata Railway Station in South Jakarta, where a no-stopping sign stands.

"We are waiting for passengers from the trains," he said, adding that there were no police at the site.

Vehicles behind the buses are unable to move. Sometimes motorists get stuck on the railway crossing -- a very dangerous position to be in as a train can pass at any time.

Violations of traffic regulations happen in all parts of the city. Mustofa, 44, a Metromini bus driver, always stops and waits for passengers at the traffic light across from the East Jakarta Police station on Jl. Matraman, while police officers turn a blind eye to the situation.

Half of Jl. Matraman is occupied by street vendors, so there is only one lane left for motorists heading toward Jatinegara from Jl. Matraman. Since Metromini buses and minivans heading to destinations in East Jakarta from the Kampung Melayu bus terminal stop and wait for passengers there, heavy traffic congestion happens daily.

Mustofa said the traffic light was the most strategic point to wait for passengers boarding his bus. Another spot where Metromini bus drivers frequently wait for passengers is the traffic light at Prumpung intersection near the Jatinegara Railway Station, he said.

Iswadi, 49, a driver of a bus serving the Kampung Melayu-Grogol route in West Jakarta, seldom pulls over to the side of the road to pick up or drop off passengers.

"It takes more time to stop on the roadside. Yet, I have never been ticketed by the police for doing so," he told the Post while driving the bus.

While there are obviously undisciplined passengers who stop buses anywhere and a lack of bus stops in the city, Meizir, 41, a commuter who always uses public transportation, complained about drivers' attitude.

"They usually argue that they have to rush in order to get money to cover the bus rental when they violate regulations, but they intend to break the law anyway," said Meizir, who lives in Rawabunga subdistrict, East Jakarta.

He also blames public transportation companies who never upgrade their drivers' skills.
He suggested that the police cooperate with operators of public transportation to regularly run courses for drivers in a bid to improve their discipline and awareness of the rights of other road users.

Meanwhile, a Mobile Brigade police officer assigned to help direct traffic in front of the East Jakarta Police Headquarters said last weekend that both public transportation drivers and commuters were equally at fault.

"They both just want everything easy and practical without considering the impact of their deeds," said the second inspector, who asked not to be named.

He said that the behavior of drivers and commuters "complimented" each other.

"If passengers waited for public vehicles at designated stops, drivers would follow them.
"If drivers did not stop at inappropriate places, passengers would move to the right place," he said.

"It is impossible for the police to watch drivers all the time. Police control is no solution, but improving the drivers and holding discipline campaigns for the community may help improve their discipline and awareness," he said.

He said nothing about unscrupulous traffic police officers who take bribes from undisciplined drivers, which also does not help curb traffic violations. (July 07, 2001

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Waste businessman gets six years for murder

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Saturday, December 29, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang District court sentenced on Friday a businessman to six years imprisonment for killing another businessman who he suspected was having an adulterous love affair with his wife, in addition to trying to extort money from the woman.

Presiding judge Sitinjak told the hearing that the defendant Tang Tion Keng, popularly known as Eeng, 41, a resident of the Modern Land housing complex in Tangerang, was only proven guilty of "assault that resulted in the death" of Rudiyanto, 37, a resident in the same complex, on Sept. 15 this year.

"The six-year prison term was the maximum punishment for the charge of assault because his actions resulted in death and created suffering for the victim's family," he said.

Sitinjak also cited several mitigating factors which kept the court from trying him for murder; that the defendant was still young and could still be a productive member of society, that he had given honest testimony, that he was polite during the trial, that he had apologized to the victim's family and that the defendant regretted his actions.

The case drew quite a bit of speculation that the prosecutors, who had often met with the defendant prior to each trial session, had been influenced by bribes to file the lesser charge of assault.

Earlier, prosecutors M. Adam and Victor Silitonga charged the defendant with second-degree murder, assault and illegal possession of a firearm.

The charges, combined, would have meant a maximum punishment of 41 years in jail, effectively a life sentence. But, on Wednesday, prosecutors sought only the 6-year term for the assault charge.

Rudiyanto's widow, Veronica Megarana told The Jakarta Post that the defendant was driven to kill by his blind rage resulting from jealousy, but that he had killed the wrong man, and then got off with a very light sentence.

"Of course, such punishment is unjust and the defendant will never be reluctant to kill others in the future. My husband was an honest man who had never betrayed me. Moreover, the defendant's wife had testified before the court that she did not know my husband," she told the Post, adding that the murder of her husband had been premeditated and therefore the defendant should be charged with Article 340 of the Criminal Code on premeditated murder, which carries a life sentence.

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DISCIPLINE: Public Minivan Drivers 1

Ticketed drivers need middleman

The Jakarta Post CITY News
By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): Violating a traffic regulation here does not always mean that you will be ticketed as the police officer might prefer to settle the case "amicably" with the traffic offender having to fork out tens of thousands of rupiah.

But even if you are ticketed, you do not have to go to court to attend the hearing and get your driver's license back as it is likely that the officer would be more than happy to get it for you.
And in the case of public minivan drivers in Pasar Minggu terminal in South Jakarta, they know whom to turn to when they are ticketed.

Meet Agus Arief, 38, a former thug at the terminal who now acts as a middleman to help drivers dealing with officers at police substations or with the district courts to get their licenses back.

"I have done this job since 1990. Most police officers and minivan drivers around the Pasar Minggu area know me and so do the (South Jakarta) district court staff," he told The Jakarta Post.

Agus is actually an employee of Purimas Jaya Cooperative, one of public minivan operators in the city. All minivans passing the Pasar Minggu terminal are members of this cooperative and each time they pass the terminal they have to pay Rp 300 to the cooperative.

"This is the fee for using the name of Purimas Jaya," Agus said.

Every day, he has to stand and walk back and forth under the burning sun, approaching public minivan drivers one by one just to collect the fee.

"Most minivan drivers are reluctant to enter the terminal, that's why I have to wait for them one by one outside the terminal," he said.

Purimas Jaya sets a target of Rp 70,000 a day to be collected from the drivers. If Agus is able to collect more, he is allowed to pocket the rest.

So, in addition to receiving a monthly salary of Rp 225,000 from Purimas Jaya, Agus can also augment his income by some Rp 35,000 daily as the money he collects always exceeds the target.

He works from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except when ticketed minivan drivers ask for his service to get back their licenses.

He said that dealing with police officers needed a high degree of patience since he had to be humble to beg the officers to return the drivers' licenses.
Moreover, most police officers are authoritarian, he said.

"When I meet a police officer, I have to be ready to listen to every bad word they say to me," he said.

He said that he took on this extra job because he took pity on the drivers.
"I just help the minivan drivers who later give me Rp 1,000 when I return their licenses," he said.

He said that if a policeman sends the license to the court, the driver must pay a fine of at least Rp 31,000. If the police officers cancel their tickets, drivers just need to pay between Rp 5,000 and Rp 7,000.

However, not all police officers are willing to compromise with drivers.
"Drivers sometimes resist and offend the officers, so that it becomes difficult for me to change the officer's mind," said Agus.

When the officers refuse the bribes, he has to go to the district court.

Holding eight licenses to be returned to drivers, Agus said that he could handle an average of 25 licenses a week.

M. Jaelani, a minivan driver, was thankful to Agus.

"We, minivan drivers, are lucky as long as Agus is still with us. His services are required by all drivers here," Jaelani told the Post.

Jaelani said that in a week, he was ticketed an average of three times, for violating traffic regulations.

He said that he asked for Agus' help because if he had to go through the correct procedures, he would have to spend up to Rp 150,000 out of his weekly earnings of only Rp 210,000.
He said that a public minivan driver could bring home Rp 35,000 a day at the most.

An officer at Pasar Minggu Police subprecinct said that if a policeman canceled the ticket, this was merely for humanitarian reasons, not because of the money.

"We realize that minivan drivers cannot earn much money. We even know most of them share one vehicle with others. But we cannot just let drivers violate traffic regulations," said the officer, who requested anonymity. (August 08, 2001)

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IMPLOYMENT : More Workers Jobless

Thousands of workers lose jobs in Tangerang

Multa Fidrus

The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Due to a continuing decline in business orders, at least 1,640 workers from several companies in Tangerang have been fired over the last two months and many of them are already in a condition of near starvation.

Nurul, 23, a senior high school graduate, told The Jakarta Post last week that she lost her job with PT Kencana Indah Garment, a garment producer in Cikokol, Tangerang.

She said she had been evicted from her boarding house in Cikokol because she could not pay the monthly rental fee. "Luckily, a friend of mine is letting me stay in her house for a while. But I don't have enough money to buy food," she said.

"I can eat once a day because of the assistance of fellow activists of the Leather, Garment and Sandal Labor Association (SPTSK) who collect money from others to supply food for all dismissed workers," she added.

She said that, when she was fired on Oct. 13, the company only gave her Rp 180,000 (US$18), which it claimed was severance pay. "But in fact, the money was actually my salary for the last two weeks before the company management declared the factory's closure and the mass dismissal of its 879 workers," she said.

Nurul said she actually wanted to go back to her hometown and meet up with her parents in Purwokerto, Central Java, but she did not have any money to buy tickets.

Saidah, 21, a worker at photo album producer PT Star Album in the Karawaci area, who together with 120 other workers lost her job at the company, explained that, without the help of her friend, she would have died of starvation.

PT Star Album has reported that it had to dismiss its 120 workers last month due to declining orders over the last few months.

"I now live in a friend's boarding house. I have sent many applications to other factories since I lost my job. I hope one of them will employ me soon," she told the Post at the Tangerang manpower agency last week.

"I have sent my wife and my two children back to my home town in Wonosobo, Central Java, because I've run out of money to support them," 34-year-old Suyono, who lost his job at PT Fajar Sun Master last month, told The Jakarta Post last week.

PT. Fajar Sun Master, a company that produces household devices under the Cosmos brandname on Jl. KH. Agus Salim, Batu Ceper reportedly dismissed 200 workers in October due to its declining product orders.

Suyono, a former mechanic at the factory who is now staying in his friend's rented house in Batu Ceper, said that, while waiting for a new job he spent his days working as a cigarette peddler in the city.

"Fortunately, I still have some savings that can be used as a small amount of capital to sell the cigarettes," he said.

PT Jaya Gunung Agung, a paper producer on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Karawaci, also dismissed 183 of its 308 workers this month. As a protest against the alleged unfair dismissals, the workers staged a rally at the council's offices last Wednesday.

PT Koinus Jaya, a jacket producer on Jl. Imam Bonjol in the Karawaci area, has also seen its business orders declining. It has decided to fire 250 workers from its total workforce of 500.

The dismissed workers organized a rally last Wednesday to protest the company's step and eight of them were detained by the police for vandalism.

Head of Tangerang manpower agency, Achmad Kosasih, admitted that his agency could not do much to prevent such mass dismissals by the companies.

"As business has been worsening recently, we understand that the companies have to take such a step. How can the companies pay their workers if they do not receive orders?" he said to the Post in an interview at his office last week.

Achmad said that as far as he knew, no company had sent reports about such mass dismissals because the planned dismissals by the five companies were still being handled by the Central Committee for Settling Disputes between Workers and Companies (P4P). (November 20, 2001)

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Foreigner faces possible death sentence for drug smuggling

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Thursday, November 08, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A Pakistani is facing a possible death sentence for allegedly smuggling 1,050 grams of heroin from Pakistan into the country in June.

Prosecutor Ferry Silalahi on Tuesday asked Tangerang District Court to sentence Mohammad Abdul Hafeez, 32, to death as he had been proven guilty of illegally taking the drugs from Karachi to Jakarta on June 26.

"The death sentence should be imposed on him as there were no mitigating factors to forgive him," Ferry told the court.

Ferry said that the action taken by the defendant, a garment businessman, might not only create a negative image that most people in Indonesia were drug users, but it could have ruined future generations of Indonesians. He also added that the defendant had given an inconsistent testimony during the trial.

Clad in a white sports shirt, dark jeans and slippers, the defendant just bowed his head as the prosecutor read out his demands, which ran to 15 pages.

"I accept the prosecutor's charges and demands because I realize that I am guilty. It is up to the panel of judges to decide whether they will impose the death sentence or a life sentence for me. But I have a wife and a 16-month old baby. Who will feed them if I am dead?" he told The Jakarta Post.

Hafeez was arrested minutes after he arrived on Pakistan Airlines flight PIA 896 at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on June 26 this year.

According to Ferry, customs and excise officer Donny Dumpang Harahap was suspicious of the defendant as he only carried a travel bag, despite such a long distance flight.

Donny then told another officer Yudi Darma Nauli to search the defendant's bag and they found three packets wrapped neatly under a jacket.

"When asked by the officers, the defendant said the packet contained special food from Pakistan. To convince the officers, the defendant then opened one of the packets containing popcorn-like pieces and immediately ate two of them," the prosecutor said.

Since the defendant looked nervous when answering questions, the officers then took him into a special room for further questioning and examined the packets. It turned out that the food contained heroin.

Hafeez later confessed that he bought the heroin from a man called Amin Khan in Pshawar city for US$1,000.

Presiding judge M. Soleh Mokoginta adjourned the session for a week when the defendant's lawyer Husein Tuhuteru is scheduled to read out the defense.

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Thai woman tried in drug case

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The trial of a 21-year-old Thai woman, charged with attempting to smuggle 850 grams of heroin from into the country from Thailand, began Monday at Tangerang District court.

The defendant, Nonthanam M. Saichon, a Bangkok masseuse, arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Sept. 1 on Thai Airlines' Flight TG-433, prosecutor Asran Harahap said in his five-page indictment.

When customs and excise officer Ristola Naiggolan searched her bag, he grew suspicious, as the suspect appeared confused and nervous.

Finding nothing, Ristola asked two female officers to search her body. They found six plastic packages containing 600 grams of pure heroin attached to the defendant's underwear and bra, Asran testified. The estimated worth of the amount was more than Rp 1 billion.

After the police handed over dossiers along with the suspect to the Tangerang prosecutors' office on Sept. 12, the suspect was transferred to the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary.

While searching the defendant's luggage, the warden found another 250 grams of heroin hidden in a vibrator in her purse.

Prosecutor Asran explained that the airport officers did not find it because "the defendant might have inserted the penis-like toy into her vagina as she arrived at the airport."
The defendant, however, denied the speculation.

"As I was arrested, customs and police officers only opened my purse, but they did not look into the contents of the purse," she told The Jakarta Post.

Presiding Judge Prim Haryadi adjourned the hearing until Dec. 26, when the court will hear other witnesses.

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Tangerang, Bogor say no to city's gabage Wednesday

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Wednesday December 12, 2001

Multa Fidrus and Theresia Sufa
The Jakarta Post, Tangerang/Bogor

Dozens of garbage trucks that had traveled from Jakarta to unload trash in Tangerang and Bogor were forced to return to the capital on Tuesday after encountering strong resistance from the administrations and local populations in the two municipalities.

Residents near the Rawa Kucing dump site in Tangerang even threatened to set fire to the trucks and burn their drivers alive if they attempted to dump garbage in the area.

They became angry after 12 garbage trucks from Jakarta managed to dump their loads on Monday night. Another 24 trucks were forced to return to the capital.

A total of 15 trucks belonging to the city administration that had planned to dispose of garbage in the Gunung Sindur district in Bogor were also ordered to return to Jakarta by the district head.

The Tangerang Sanitary Agency chief Daryanto said that, although Mayor M. Thamrin had ordered his officers to block three entry points to the Rawa Kucing dump, nine garbage trucks still managed to unload there on Monday night.

Several residents in Kedaung, which is not far from the dump, said three other trucks delivered garbage in front of Kedaung Sakti animal farm on Monday evening, while three other trucks were stopped by residents.

According to Daryanto, the city garbage trucks entered Tangerang from Jl. Daan Mogot. All of the vehicles were covered so that the officers did not realize they contained trash.

"Several city sanitary officials who surveyed the dumping site on Saturday said the city would begin disposing trash there on Tuesday. But in fact, they began disposing on Monday evening," he head.

Quoting mayor M. Thamrin's statement on Tuesday morning, Daryanto said that the municipality remained strongly opposed to accepting the garbage, no matter how much compensation Tangerang might receive from the city.

Earlier, Tangerang had rejected the city's plan to use its land in Ciangir as a garbage dump.
Daryanto also said that, after the closure of the Bantar Gebang site in Bekasi, several officials from the West, South and Central Jakarta sanitary agencies had approached a resident named Erwin, who owns a two-hectare former sand mining plot in Kedaung Wetan subdistrict.

One of the man's neighbors said that Erwin had agreed to the agencies' plan to dispose of garbage on the site, but that he had faced opposition from other locals.

The city officials then appointed a local resident named Acan to collect some 100 local residents' signatures on a statement approving the plan to use the site as a city garbage dump.
The statement was even approved by the subdistrict chief Teddy.

Acan allegedly promised residents between Rp 3 million and Rp 5 million for adding their signatures.

Suhandi, head of the Gunung Sindur district in Bogor, said that the Jakarta administration should not dispose of the city's garbage in the area without a permit from the Bogor authorities.
Meanwhile, a local councilor, Iyus Kusnadi, said the council would oppose any plan to dump the garbage in Bogor even if it had been approved by the administration.

Jakarta has reportedly secured a permit to use a plot of land in Bojong, Bogor as a garbage dump, but locals are against the plan.

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Tangerang halts illegal levies Saturday

The Jakarta Post CITY News
October 20, 2001

Multa Fidrus
The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang municipal administration agreed on Friday to temporarily stop collecting a road use levy imposed on truck drivers following the attacks on 16 collection booths by angry drivers.
"The levies have been halted for an unspecified amount of time. The administration will reevaluate the system and the security factors," administration spokesman Hery Kusnady told The Jakarta Post.

The administration imposed the levy starting last month based on Bylaw No. 3/2001 on the use of public roads.

Truck drivers had repeatedly complained about the levy, and hundreds of angry truck drivers vandalized 16 collection booths across town on Monday.

"The administration only thinks about revenue and they have turned a blind eye toward people's suffering," Marwan, 34, one of the protesting truck drivers, said.

A truck driver had to pass several collection booths in a day, and each time he was charged between Rp 2,500 and Rp 7,500.

Meanwhile, Tangerang Police chief of detectives Insp. Chandra Sukma Kumara said the police had yet to receive any complaints from the agency in connection with the vandalism.
However, Chandra did not blame the drivers.

"It's understandable if truck drivers become angry and run amok. Can you imagine, they must pay between Rp 2,500 and Rp 7,500 at each booth they pass. How much money can they bring home to their families?" he said.

Separately, the head of the municipal Land Transportation and Infrastructure Subagency, Ato Nuryanto, said the agency had collected Rp 239.1 million out of the Rp 1.5 billion estimated to be collected until December this year.

He said that the drivers had severely damaged 11 of the 16 collection booths in town, and destroyed one of the agency's minivans. They also mobbed two officers, he said, adding that one of the officers had lost his cellular phone and Rp 650,000 in cash during the incident.

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Tangerang garbage left uncollected Friday,

The Jakarta Post CITY News
November 16, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Untransported garbage is a complex problem that remains unresolved here.
Take a look in front of the Harmoni Mas shops along Jl. Gatot Subroto, Cimone, Tangerang, where piles of garbage are always to be found. Worse, an offensive odor hangs in the air, harmful to both human health and the environment.

"We have repeatedly filed complaints with the subdistrict chief, district chief and even with the mayor about the garbage," M. Said, a store owner, told The Jakarta Post recently.

He said there were only two dump trucks that transported the trash from the site twice a day to the municipality's final dumping site in Rawa Kucing, Neglasari subdistrict. Half of the garbage was left untransported.

Tangerang has a population of over 1.3 million, according to the latest census conducted in April this year. Referring to the World Bank's estimate that individuals produce an average of 2.5 liters of trash per day, the head of the municipal sanitary office, Daryanto, estimates that the population of Tangerang is creating 3,290 cubic meters of waste daily.

He told the Post that only 1,080 cubic meters (32 percent) of the waste could be transported to the Rawa Kucing dump each day, while the remaining 2,210 cubic meters were left untransported.

Daryanto said the office had only 79 dump trucks and 11 armroll trucks with a capacity of six cubic meters each to transport the waste to Rawa Kucing twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.

The municipal administration had promised to provide 10 new dump trucks this year, he said.
The sanitary office had earlier proposed purchasing 100 container units at a cost of Rp 1.2 billion, which would be able to transport about 3,000 cubic meters of waste a day.
Daryanto also complained about undisciplined local residents who threw away their garbage indiscriminately.

"People from various places throw the waste in front of the Harmoni stores in Cimone and several other places at any time, giving the impression that the garbage is not being transported," he said.

Daryanto added that about 130 cubic meters of commercial garbage produced by five large markets in Tangerang, namely Anyar, Cikokol, Cileduk, Ramadhani and Malabar, were handled by private companies that collected Rp 500 daily from traders.

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Tangerang administration ignores traffic chaos: Locals

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Friday, October 12, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A passenger in a public minivan looks frustrated as her 10-month-old baby cries despite the various attempts to calm the child. Three other female passengers try to soothe the baby, but to no avail. Meanwhile, two men, in a show of irritation, decide to get out and move to another vehicle.

This is a scene that happened in a minivan plying the Cikokol-Serpong route. The minivan was trapped in heavy congestion at the Kebon Nanas junction on Jl. Thamrin heading to Serpong and Jakarta-Merak toll gate.

Yuliana, the mother, said her baby was crying because of the heat, noise and pollution.
The minivan had been crawling for about 45 minutes in the one-kilometer-long line of traffic.
"The authorities in this town have turned a blind eye to traffic congestion problems along this road for a long time," said Yuliana, 36, who lives near Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex.

Several police officers are assigned to direct traffic at Kebon Nanas, but they cannot do much as public vehicles stop and block part of the road to take on passengers right at the junction. The situation is aggravated by street vendors and pedestrians crossing the street or boarding public transportation.

On the other side of town, Iskandar, the driver of an air-conditioned bus that serves the Jl. Imam Bonjol route, was heading to Perumnas public housing in Karawaci when the bus got stuck in traffic. He was mad not only because of the traffic jam, but because another bus suddenly changed lanes and tried to get in front of him.

Iskandar was also upset because the longer he was trapped in traffic, the less money he earned.
"We used to complete five trips a day, but the traffic congestion has become worse and worse. Now we can just make four trips a day," said the 43-year-old driver who serves the Cimone-Blok M route said.

Traffic along Jl. Imam Bonjol is also bad as every vehicle heading to Jakarta has to make a U-turn near the Karawaci toll gate, which is quite narrow.

Traffic jams also occur every day on Jl. Sudirman. It may take a commuter 40 minutes to get through traffic that is tied up for 300 meters. The main cause of traffic jams along Jl. Sudirman is construction of the Cikokol overpass as the work takes up half of the road.

But the major cause of heavy traffic on Jl. Imam Bonjol and Jl. Thamrin is the narrow road, which is only about 10 meters wide.

The Tangerang Development Planning Agency recently hosted a discussion to find out the best way to overcome traffic problems at these three points. One of the most important suggestions was to widen the road.

But local administration spokesman Hery Kusnadi told The Jakarta Post last week that the municipal administration did not have enough funds.

The comment upset Eddy Roeskanedi, a local public figure. "It is ironical that they claim to have no funds to widen the road, but they have enough to finance the administration center construction project, which cost Rp 60 billion.

The local head of the land transportation agency, Engkan Lengkana, said his office had planned to build a crosswalk at the Kebon Nanas junction and fence off the median to prevent pedestrians from crossing at all points along the road. But he added that the best solution to deal with traffic on Jl. Sudirman was to accelerate the construction of the Cikokol overpass.

Unfortunately, Cikokol flyover project manager Sulistiyo said that the project may not be completed before the target deadline of May 2002 due to technical problems.

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SOURCE OF LIFE: Sreet Tailors

Street tailors offer cheap, speedy services

The Jakarta Post CITY News
By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): If you have just bought a brand new dress or shirt, only to find that it is a bit too long or too tight, don't worry -- you can have it fixed within minutes at a very low price if you take it to the Prumpung area in Jatinegara, East Jakarta.

Of course, that is only if you don't mind braving the heat and the vehicle pollution.

As the city administration has not yet provided a permanent site to accommodate them, some 50 tailors are scattered around an area stretching from the Jatinegara railway station to the Prumpung flyover. Some tailors occupy the sidewalk, some the park, while others even run their business on sections of the road.

This situation not only looks bad, but also exposes both the tailors and their customers to the thick black smoke of passing vehicles.

Idol Parwita, 43, one of the street tailors working on the road told The Jakarta Post he has to commute from Bogor to the site every day and serves his customers with a very old sewing machine.

He admitted that the location was hazardous to his health and safety.

"If the city administration built a location dedicated to accommodating street tailors around this area, we would not be spread out like this," he said.

Idol worked for several textile manufactures in the capital before resigning in the early 1970s to become a tailor.

He has run his business in the same spot since he became a street tailor in 1974.
He related how, in the 1980s, public order officers frequently conducted raids, causing him to lose two sewing machines, which were never returned.

"Thank God, the city's public order officers no longer raid street tailors and confiscate our sewing machines," he said.

Idol is quite happy being a street tailor. Earning between Rp 30,000 and Rp 50,000 a day, he is able to meet his family's needs, including sending his three children to school. In the third week of the fasting month of Ramadhan, when the Idul Fitri holiday draws near, his daily income can double to as much as Rp 100,000.

"I can no longer do other kinds of work as I am getting older. I have decided to stick to this job until the end of my life because this job is relaxing," he said.

He said that a street tailor usually charges a customer Rp 3,000 for shortening a pair of trousers, Rp 5,000 for tightening or loosening and Rp 10,000 for more complicated work.
Another street tailor, Zamhuri, 36, a resident in Cipinang Besar Utara, starts working at 8 a.m. and finishes at 6 p.m..

He said his customers come from as far away as Bekasi, Ciputat, Depok and Bogor. On average, he earns Rp 30,000 a day.

He frequently receives orders from hotels in the Jatinegara area to make curtains, bed covers, pillow slips and other items.

Meanwhile, Mustanto, 19, a resident of Pasar Ciplak in East Jakarta, who had Idol mend his denim jeans, said he visited the area upon the recommendation of a friend who was satisfied with the quality of work.

"That's why I wanted to try here. In addition to the cheap price, I can wait until my jeans are finished," he said.

Similarly, Acih, 53, a resident of Kelapa Gading, East Jakarta, who was waiting for Zamhuri to complete his bed covers and pillow slips, said he had enjoyed the service of street tailors since the early 1980s.

He said he was reluctant to go to "formal" tailors.

"Street tailors offer much quicker service and cheaper rates than formal tailors," said the father of four children who runs a motorcycle repair shop in Rawamangun, East Jakarta. (August 27, 2001)

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Smuggling attempt foiled at airport

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Friday, November 02, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Customs and excise officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport managed to foil an attempt to smuggle 1,010 grams of heroin from Katmandu into the country late on Wednesday, an official announced on Thursday.

Airport Customs and Excise chief Jusuf Indarto said the suspect was a former migrant worker in Taiwan, Merri Utami, 27, who was a resident of Sukoharjo, Central Java.

According to Jusuf, the suspect, who arrived at Terminal D of the airport at 11:30 p.m. on Singapore Airlines flight SQ 166, had inserted two plastic bags containing the heroin into the sides of her handbag, which appeared unusually thick.

As officers questioned the suspect, an unidentified man called her cellular phone, telling her to take the heroin to Hotel Acacia in Central Jakarta.

Escorted by customs officers and the police, the suspect headed to the hotel. But the man called again, telling her to meet him at Hotel Mega Matra on Jl. Matraman, East Jakarta. As the man still did not appear after a wait of an hour, the suspect was finally taken to the National Police Headquarters for further questioning.

The suspect said she had obtained the drug from her Canadian boyfriend, Jerry, with whom she had become acquainted three months ago.

In June, the authorities arrested another woman, Edith Yunita Sianturi, 24, for attempted drug smuggling. In August, a Thai woman, Nonthanam M. Saichon, 21, who inserted nine packets of heroin, weighing 600 grams in total, into her underpants and bra, was also arrested.
Saichon's case is still being processed at the National Police Headquarters.

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ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR: sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment common on local commuter trains

The Jakarta Post : CITY News
By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): For those who have to jostle their way onto the electric trains plying the Jakarta-Bogor-Tangerang-Bekasi route to get to and from work every day, strange odors and the unusual behavior of their fellow passengers have become commonplace.

Long-time passengers know better than to expect a comfortable or pleasant trip. The number of passengers always exceeds the capacity of the cars, leaving those without seats to fend off vendors, street singers, beggars and pickpockets.

Passengers are forced to survive the daily obstacle course of thieves and perverts, with seemingly no one to turn to with their complaints.

"Forget about getting a seat, just having the opportunity to stand comfortably during rush hour is rare," a woman told The Jakarta Post as she boarded a train at the Depok railway station last week.

Most women passengers are at one time or another subject to some form of sexual harassment on the trains, from leers and comments, to being groped and pressed against.
While some women may brush off these incidents as an unpleasant part of life in the big, bad city, others are traumatized by their experiences.

Yurike (not her real name), a mother of two from Bojong Gede, Bogor, takes the train to work every day. She teaches at a private university in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta.

She said she was frequently subjected to harassment. "Almost every day a man will try to press his body against me. But what really disgusts me is when their hands brush against my breasts," she said.

"If I get angry, they just say 'if you don't want to get touched, don't take the train,'" she said.

"As a lecturer, sometimes I have to wear a skirt to work. The other day, I had trouble getting on the train at Bojong Gede railway station because of my skirt. I asked a man to help me up onto the train, and after he gave me a hand he sneeringly thanked me. I realized he thanked me for touching my body," she said.

She also recounted being robbed on the train. Three men crowded around her as the train neared Lenteng Agung railway station. One of the men grabbed her necklace and the men jumped off the train and fled. "Now I feel frightened whenever a man comes near me on the train."

Anita (not her real name) tells a sadly similar story of harassment. The employee of a private bank in Central Jakarta said she had to wear a miniskirt to the office every day. "The boss reprimands me whenever I don't wear a miniskirt."

During the trip from her home in Citayam, Bogor, to Cikini railway station, she often shouts at men for trying to grope her.

"But my anger never gets a response. Nobody helps me. I even become an object of curiosity for the passengers on the train. It is really embarrassing," she said.

She said she has had numerous upsetting experiences on trains. One morning a young man pressed against her in a crowded coach, and a few seconds later she felt something wet on her skirt.

"I shouted hysterically, but everyone just looked at me. I was really embarrassed."
She said this type of conduct was not restricted to men. "Once, I saw a woman pressing her chest against a man on the train."

Anita is upset that these types of incidents are accepted as commonplace by most train passengers. Despite her experiences, she suggests that women be assertive but polite when dealing with men on the train.

"The men will feel awkward if they are met with a polite and friendly attitude," she said.
Sugandi, 28, a janitor at a mall in South Jakarta, said with no apparent shame that he used the opportunity provided by crowded trains to sexually harass women.

"Where else can I enjoy those pretty women? Trains are the right place," he told the Post.
He said he encountered pretty women on the train every day, all with their own styles and looks. "I know I can only dream of holding a pretty woman. It's impossible a beautiful woman would ever look at me, but I can touch and even kiss them on trains."

Arief Rifky, a student at a private university in Depok, said he felt disgusted whenever he saw men rubbing up against women on the train.

"I want to do something to stop it, but I can't do anything. The car is always packed with people, especially during rush hour, so it's impossible to move. I think the best way to stop this harassment is to provide special compartments for women," he said.

The chairwoman of the Indonesian Women's Association for Justice, Rita Serena Kolibonso, said sexual harassment was a crime and women should report it to the police.

But she admitted most women were reluctant to go to the police, so she suggested they immediately confront their harassers.

"A woman must immediately berate the man who is trying to harass her on the train, or these types of incidents will be seen as common and lawful occurrences," she told the Post by phone.
"And the reaction should not come from just the victim, but also from the other people on the train," she added. (March 10, 2001)

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LIFE : Squatters

Railway tracks are home to many poor Jakartans

The Jakarta Post CITY News
By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): If you happen to travel by train from Jatinegara station heading toward Senen, take a look toward the left-hand side just before you pass the train depot. You will see a line of non-permanent houses made of bamboo or plywood and somber middle-aged women -- some carrying their baby -- passing the time and chatting, while washing or sewing torn clothes.

"All residents along this railway are poor families that mostly work as scavengers," one of them, a 46-year old woman named Nursangidah, said.

This resident of Pisangan Baru, Matraman, East Jakarta, lives with her 60-year old husband Saiyan and a 16-year old daughter in a 2 meter by 3 meter house. She claimed that she had been living there for 26 years. Such a long period somehow seems too short for most migrants to the capital to settle down to a modest way of life.

Peep inside the house: there is no sofa, chair, table, bed or cupboard. It is actually hard to call this dismal structure a house. It is more like a hut or a cage. Behind these approximately 20 cages is a small, filthy stream.

Shabby clothes are hanging on string washing lines in front of the house, requiring any visitor to bow before entering the cage, which has a door and one window facing the stream. Water pumps are also a common sight here on the land adjacent to the railway, belonging to PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the state railway company.

"We residents alongside this railway pay Rp 5,000 per month to PT KAI for the land we occupy," said Nursangidah.

The thin and dark-skinned woman had, along with her husband, left her hometown in Wonosobo in Central Java, for a better life in the city.

But it turned out that life is really hard. Her husband has no fixed job, and she has to earn money by washing the neighbors' clothes or looking after their baby, or doing anything else she is asked to. She usually receives between Rp 5,000 and Rp 10,000 for washing clothes, and between Rp 2,000 and Rp 3,000 for baby-sitting.

"But this job is not permanent, although I need money to send my daughter to senior high school this year," she said, adding that the family received financial support from her husband's relatives for the daughter's school fees.

Despite the hard life, Nursangidah said the family would only return to their hometown if they were forced to leave the area someday.

"There is nothing I can do there. In Jakarta I can still earn at least Rp 2,000 per day to buy rice," she said.

Once she followed her relatives to Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, but she soon returned to Jakarta, as she could not make any money there.

Despite being poor, she said, Jakarta is still a better place to live for her family.
Another person, Ajeng, a 40-year old divorcee, shares this view.

Ajeng lives in a 2 meter by 3 meter bamboo house located alongside the railway line in the Gunung Antang area, right behind the Urip Sumohardjo Army housing complex in Jatinegara. She lives happily in the "cage" by herself.

Ajeng, who has been married six times, said that she lived with her last husband in Tanah Merdeka, Kali Baru port, North Jakarta. Seven years ago, her husband, a fisherman who owned two motorboats, married another woman, so she left him and began earning money by selling food along the railway, such as fried noodles, fried bananas and coffee.

"There's no problem being poor and living in this bamboo cage as long as I can eat," she said with a smile.

She had no children from her last marriage, while her two children from her fifth husband were already married and lived with their families, respectively in Sumatra and West Java.

There are many other similar stories of poor people in the capital who do not depend on government assistance to survive. Yet their social, economic and cultural rights have always been denied by city bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order. The bylaw authorizes the city administration to take action against street vendors or anyone -- usually in the informal sector -- deemed to be disturbing public order.

Coordinator of the Urban Poor Consortium (UPC) Wardah Hafids defined poverty from two perspectives: economic and social. Economically, she said, people were regarded as poor if the earnings of a family comprising three to five members were less than Rp 35,000 per week or Rp 150,000 per month. Socially, the poor were families that worked in the informal sector, such as pedicab drivers, street vendors or casual laborers. They did not have rights over land and usually lived along river banks or near railway lines.

She said it was necessary to empower the poor in handling economic problems and encourage them to have self-esteem. For these people, the skill to make money and the improvement of their self-esteem were more important than financial aid. (July 14, 2001)

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Pornography among students leaves parents worried

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Wednesday, October 17, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A man was telling a colleague that his wife was so shocked that she lost her appetite for two days after finding a copy of an erotic tabloid and two pornographic VCDs in their son's school bag.

"It is hard to believe that our 17-year-old son confessed that he and his fellow students could easily obtain pornographic VCDs and such magazines being sold outside the school at low, bargain prices," the 45-year old man told his friend while having lunch.

The talk was overheard by The Jakarta Post at a food stall next to the Tangerang General Hospital last week.

Lukman, the father, told the Post later that his son studies at Yupentex senior high school on Jl. Veteran.

He said the rampant circulation of pornographic material was a major factor contributing to juvenile delinquency.

"What makes us parents most concerned is the long-term effects of pornography, which could ruin the minds and morality of our children," he said.

Relevant institutions in the municipality of Tangerang should take stern measures against vendors selling pornographic material, especially if they operate near schools, he said.
He also blamed teachers for having failed to control the students.
Teachers say that it is beyond their control.

"We can only control students at schools. What they do outside schools is fully beyond teachers' control," a teacher at Yupentex senior high school told the Post.

However, the teacher added that, as pornographic VCDs and bawdy tabloids were freely offered for sale near schools, the private school conducted random searches of students at least once a week.

Meanwhile, Tangerang Police said they had conducted a series of raids against VCD vendors at Pasar Anyar earlier this month.

"Even though the police managed to seize hundreds of pornographic VCDs from street vendors, this effort will only reduce the number of porn VCDs in the market," police chief Adj. Comr. Affan Richwanto said.

VCD vendors take precautions against the possibility of police action, with many of them hiding pornographic VCDs for sale elsewhere, he said, adding that vendors who target students often moved from one place to another.

As for the tabloids, they were still tolerable, he said, referring to the various publications with pictures of semi-naked women and sex stories.

A VCD vendor operating his business on the sidewalk in front of a state vocational high school across from the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary on Jl. TMP Taruna, admitted that he had sold many pornographic VCDs to school students. He said he would move from his current location to another place soon.

"Police confiscated my merchandise at Pasar Anyer twice and I lost Rp 500,000 along with 96 VCDs. That's why I prefer to move from one place to another," he told the Post.
A VCD costs Rp 5,000 while a copy of a hot tabloid is available for around Rp 3,000.

Tangerang Municipal Education Agency head Nana Sukarna said that, earlier this month, a hearing with the council's commission E on educational matters recommended mayor M.

Thamrin issue a regulation banning the sale of pornographic VCDs and erotic tabloids near schools.

To date, the mayor has yet to respond to the recommendation, while administration spokesman Hery Kusnady failed to provide any clarification regarding the issue.

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One killed, two injured in prison brawl

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Thursday, November 01, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

One inmate was killed and two others were severely injured in a mass brawl at the Tangerang Youth Detention Center on Wednesday afternoon.

The detention center's warden, Sugeng Paulus, said the fatal brawl involved inmates from Block D and Block F of the facility.

He said the detention center had received 49 inmates from Selemba Penitentiary on Oct. 30. Half of those prisoners had been placed in Block D, which was occupied by many inmates, known as the west gang, from Tangerang, Serang and Rangkas Bitung. The other inmates were put in Block F, which was mostly occupied by inmates, known as the north gang, from North Jakarta.

Nana Suryana, an inmate from Salemba who was serving a 10-month jail sentence for stealing a container, refused to be placed in Block D even though he was born in Rangkas Bitung.

"Nana's refusal offended a lot of the inmates in Block D and he was mobbed for it," Sugeng said.
He said prisoners from Block F rushed to his aid, and inmates from both blocks were soon fighting.

Meanwhile, Tangerang District Police chief Insp. Sumanto identified the dead victim as M. Yusuf, a resident of Jl. Pintu Air III/28, Central Jakarta, who was transferred from Salemba Penitentiary on Oct. 1 and was serving a three-year jail term for a drug offense.

The injured inmates were Nana Suryana and Imron bin Mursa, alias Oyon, who was serving a two-year jail term also for a drug offense.

Head of security at the detention center Raja Grand Syahputra denied that M. Yusuf was killed in the brawl, saying that the victim died from tuberculosis.

He complained that the detention center had a capacity of only 600 inmates but was currently housing 817 prisoners.

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Madrasah teachers complain of low salaries

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Thursday, October 25, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Some 1,772 madrasah (Muslim school) teachers employed on a noncontractual basis in Tangerang complained that the city administration had given no attention to the fact that they received a very low salary.

Casual teachers of 96 Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (Muslim elementary schools), 45 Madrasah Tsanawiyah (Muslim junior high schools) and 32 Madrasah Aliyah (Muslim senior high schools) only receive an average of about Rp 150,000 (US$15) per month, far below the monthly minimum wage of Rp 426,250 in Greater Jakarta.

Maswandi, 34, who has been teaching at a private Madrasah Ibtidaiyah on Jl. Maulana Hasanuddin in Cipondoh district of Tangerang for five years, noted that he only received Rp 80,000 per month from the school. To make ends meet, he moonlighted as a motorcycle taxi driver.

"Fortunately, I can use my old motorcycle as a taxi. After school, I can ngojek (take passengers on his motorcycle) until evening. My salary as a teacher is just not enough to support my family," he told The Jakarta Post here last week.

He said that his salary as a casual teacher was only about one-tenth of that earned by state teachers.

"At the Islamic school, teachers are paid Rp 3,500 per hour. We can teach for 10 hours, on average, within a week. In a month, we teach for 40 hours on average. So, we only get Rp 140,000 every month," a teacher, who asked not to be identified, also told The Post.

The 40-year old teacher, who has been teaching for three years at a Madrasah Tsanawiyah on Jl. KH. Hasyim Asyari, said that he had not decided whether to get married yet because he was not sure if he would be able to support a wife and family on such a low salary.

Separately, Romdony, the secretary of Communication Forum for Casual Madrasah Teachers in Tangerang, said the forum had presented a proposal early this month to the Tangerang Administration for an additional incentive for the teachers.

He said that casual teachers at state schools received a monthly incentive of Rp 75,000 from the Ministry of National Education.

The 28-year-old father of a two-year-old daughter, who has been teaching for eight years at Buaran State Madrasah Ibtidaiyah in Babakan, Tangerang, confirmed that he also received a salary of Rp 150,000 per month, which he claimed was only enough to cover transportation expenses.

"Fortunately my wife Halimah Sadiah also works. To meet my family's daily needs, I also teach at Cikokol state elementary school and earn another Rp 150,000 per month," he told The Post last week.

Romdoni, who can only afford to rent a simple house for Rp 160,000 per month, also moonlights as a book supplier for four schools in Tangerang. He could gain Rp 1 million from the book sales each quarter.

In addition, he also has two private students, whose parents pay him Rp 75,000 each per month.

"We, madrasah teachers are just like state school teachers who are dedicated to the future of children in Tangerang, therefore we expect the administration to pay attention to us," he said.

In contrast to madrasah school teachers' poor wages, local councillors who enjoy a monthly salary of Rp 12 million seem unconcerned about improving the teachers' welfare.

Tangerang Council's Deputy Chairman, Burhanudin, said that the budget allocation for the teachers' incentives was dependent on Tangerang's local revenue, which he said had been allocated for other purposes.

"But when the councillors demanded an additional allowance recently they were very brazen and they never related it to local revenue," Nursaiyah, 25, a teacher of Cikokol state elementary school remarked.

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Heroin courier gets death sentence

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Friday, December 28, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

A 24-year-old woman cried hysterically as a Jakarta court sentenced her to death for attempting to smuggle one kilogram of heroin from Thailand.

"Aduh, mama, I don't want to die, Mama. I am not guilty, I was deceived by the black man, Mama, I knew nothing Mama, please help me Mama...," defendant Edith Yunita Sianturi shouted as she rolled on the floor of the Tangerang District Court on Thursday.

Presiding judge Maha Nikmah said that the defendant, a resident of Jl. Wijaya Kusuma IX, Pancoran district of Depok, West Java, was found guilty of smuggling the drug into the country through the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on June 4 this year.

Nikmah said that there was no mitigating factors to give her a lighter sentence since the impact of the crime could endanger the nation's future and could kill thousands of people.

Clad in a long-sleeve white shirt and long black skirt, Edith, a former cosmetic counter sales girl at Pasar Raya Sarinah, bowed her head during the hearing but became hysterical as the sentence was red out in front of a packed gallery.

One of her relatives watching proceedings also began crying loudly.
Four officers from the prosecutors' office helped Edith to her feet and carried her to the waiting minivan.

However, Edith continued crying and screaming in the minivan. "Help me please, Mrs. Prosecutor, I don't want to die," she begged prosecutor Siti Zahara, who also accompanied her to the minivan.

"You can still appeal to the high court," Zahara replied as the minivan took Edith back to the Tangerang Women's Penitentiary where she was being held.

Over the past two years, the district court has sentenced to death 14 out of 15 defendants in similar cases.

The only drug smuggler to get life imprisonment, Malawian Namaona Dennis, sentenced in September last year, appealed his sentence to the high court, which last week sentenced him to death instead.

The other 14 defendants were four Nigerians, five Nepalese, a Pakistani, a Zimbabwean and three Indonesians.

Despite the harsh sentences, the number of abusers continues to increase, because the law enforcers do not prosecute major drug traffickers.

Prosecutor Siti Zahara earlier charged the defendant with violating Article 82 of the law No 22/1997 on drugs and asked the court to give her life imprisonment and pay a Rp 100 million fine.

The Article carries a maximum punishment of death.

According to the prosecutor, the defendant was working as a sales promotion girl for the Poppy Dharsono cosmetics counter at Pasar Raya Sarinah in Manggarai, South Jakarta when a Nigerian named Abu William introduced himself.

Several months later, William proposed to Edith, but her mother rejected the offer.

Edith then fled home and lived in a boarding house with her Nigerian lover who later asked her to hand over US$4,000 cash to his friend called Brother in Thailand in May this year.

After spending one week in Thailand, Edith then flew to Jakarta on Thai Airways flight TG 413 and arrived at the airport on June 4.

Custom and excise officers found three brown packets containing one kilogram of pure heroin in her purse.

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Garbage, a source of rags and riches

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Wednesday, December 05, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Garbage, though unsightly and smelly, is not without its uses; indeed it can, if handled properly, be a source of money.

Take the efforts of the Tangerang-based Cooperation for Developing the Economy of Indonesian People (Koperi).

With 14 workers, Koperi produces an average of 1,000 kilograms of organic fertilizer per day. This fertilizer is, in turn, sold for between Rp 400 and Rp 700 per kilo, according to Koperi chairman Gusri Effendi Simanjuntak.

Gusri, 36, an activist of Communication Forum for Small and Middle Businessmen (FKPPI), started out making organic fertilizer two years ago in small amounts in the Cileduk market.
There, he noticed plots of land across the capital city and Tangerang, which had been neglected by developers still reeling from the economic crisis. Gusri, while cultivating the plots for vegetable farming, tried out the organic fertilizer.

In all, he explained, the composting process takes one week.

As garbage trucks unload the trash, workers separate the organic from the nonorganic. The organic garbage is then put onto vessels, and mixed in a semi-micro bioactivator, which converts waste, be it liquid or solid, into useful material.

After successfully studying how to transform waste into organic fertilizer, Gusri has also tested its usefulness on several local farms across the municipal town over the past two years.
In the time since, Koperi has grown into one of the main organic fertilizer producers in Tangerang.

"The present garbage handling system, as applied across the country," he said in an interview, "is merely removing problems from one place to other new places."

In February 2001, Koperi got a significant boost when the Tangerang municipal administration entrusted the company to compost garbage at Rawa Kucing. Administration officials supplied Gusri with a warehouse, 15 fermentation vessels and a rototiller modified to shred trash.

It is estimated that Tangerang's 1.3 million people produce 3,290 cubic meters of household garbage per day. But only 1,080 cubic meters can be transported to Rawa Kucing dump.

"The problem now," he said, "is that we need more vessels for fermentation process, and more machines which destroy trash."

Gusri said Koperi's target next year is the production of 15 tons of compost daily. That fertilizer would then be transformed from 150 tons, or 1,500 cubic meters of wet garbage.

Koperi has also developed several business units as an urban waste management consultant, while conducting workshops on farming business development and machinery supplies for farming.

These all take place at the Rawa Kucing dump, Jl. Sewan, Benda district of Tangerang. He has also built a new compost maker in Sibolga, Central Tapanuli, North Sumatra.

Gusri is now also managing its second organic fertilizer pilot project on a one-hectare onion farm in Satahi Nauli village, in the Kolang district of Central Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra.
So far, it has absorbed 70 tons of the fertilizer produced in Tangerang.

In the first harvest last September, it produced 10 tons of onion, while a similar farm without organic fertilizer in Karo and Simalungun regencies could only produce four to five tons of onion per hectare.

Meanwhile, Nuriman Machjudin, the municipal head of the Tangerang health agency, said her administration had trained residents in Mekarsari subdistrict, near the Rawa Kucing dump, how to make compost.

Although the dregs of trash can be turned into organic fertilizer, the liquid produced by the trash is dangerous and threatens the environment, she said; it must be disposed of.

"We are developing a technology," said Nuriman, adding that the agency is also working on a method of turning bones into compost.

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Ex-leprosy patients brave heat to beg for a living

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Saturday, October 06, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

Disgusting. That might be the comment that most people would make when seeing them begging on the street or at other public places here.

About 15 recovered lepers with dry skin, large open sores and blood seeping from their knuckles, wrists or amputated legs sit orderly in five rows at the intersection of Jl. Veteran and Jl. TMP Taruna, Tangerang. Braving the heat of the sun, they stretch out their hands to passing motorists, asking for money.

"This intersection is a safe site for us to beg, otherwise, we would not be able to survive," said 37-year old Kalim, who contracted leprosy when he was seven years old.

"I tried begging at road intersections in Jakarta on three separate occasions, but each time I was caught by city public order officers who then sent me to Kedoya Quarantine in West Jakarta," said Kalim, referring to the shelter belonging to the city's social agency.

Kalim, from Karawang, West Java, lives with some 450 other recovered lepers at Lorong Lima in a complex provided by Sitanala Hospital, located behind the hospital in Neglasari subdistrict, Tangerang.

Kalim said recovered lepers used to receive monthly food supplies from the hospital. But, since the hospital opened its doors to patients suffering from other diseases a few years ago, each of the recovered lepers only receives 10 kilograms of rice a month, Kalim said, adding that he heard the supply would be halted next December.

"Who is willing to employ a disabled and disgusting man like me?" said Kalim, who is married to a healthy woman and is a father of a 16-month-old baby.

Nurhasanah, 19, who lost her left leg, said she contracted leprosy when she was 10 years old. All her family members, who live in Bogor, had not visited her during the past six years.

"This is my fate and I have to face it alone. I feel sad when I remember being rejected by my family when I once returned home. I have decided to never return to them. I enjoy living as a beggar in Tangerang," said the woman who had married a recovered leper.

Diman Sudarno, 46, who caught the disease in the early 1980s said that he had to beg for money to buy medicine and to feed his two healthy children and his 35-year-old wife called Umi.
He rents a small makeshift house for Rp 65,000 per month in the leprosy complex.

All recovered lepers who become beggars deny the allegation that they are organized by certain people or a certain group to beg.

They said that on average they were able to bring home Rp 6,000 after spending eight hours begging at the intersection.

"We have to spend Rp 4,000 to rent a becak (pedicab) for transportation. If the rain pours down we have no choice, but to return home because there is no shelter," 52-year old Maah, a mother of six children, who had spent five years at Sintanala Hospital said.

"Rain is the only thing we are afraid of as lepers cannot stand cold weather," she added.

She said all her children live in Pademangan subdistrict, North Jakarta. Although her children do not reject her, Maah realized that her presence would only bring embarrassment to her children.

Meanwhile, Samsul Ma'arif, head of Tangerang Community Empowerment Office, which is responsible for the handling of beggars, alleged that the beggars were used by certain groups to make money.

"They are purposely dropped by a certain group of people to beg for money on Jl. Veteran-Jl. TMP Taruna traffic lights," Samsul told the Post.

He said the Tangerang municipal administration had no money allocated for beggars even though Mayor M. Thamrin had given a positive response to the budget proposal made by the office in August.

"The only thing we can do now is to curb the increase in the number of beggars," he said. But he failed to elaborate on the measures to do so.

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Eight garment workers arrested in protest

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Thursday, November 15, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

After firing five warning shots, the police successfully broke up a rally on Wednesday and arrested eight workers of PT Koinus Jaya Garment who had been demonstrating, along with some 250 others, to demand severance payment from the company.

About 200 officers from Tangerang Police precinct were deployed to disband the rally on Jl. Imam Bonjol, Karawaci.

Police deputy detective chief Insp. Kustanto told The Jakarta Post that the eight workers - all females - had been identified as Nurfiqoh, Siti Suryati, Fitri Andriyani, Sri Hayati, Puji Astuti, Lucia, Rita and Agustina and were detained for violating Criminal Code Articles 170 and 160 on vandalism and incitement to violence.

"The workers were detained because they had vandalized the factory's entrance gate, fences, an announcement board as well as a number of shoe racks," he said.

The remaining protesters then gathered at police headquarters to demand the release of their colleagues.

Ninda, 21, one of them, told The Jakarta Post that some workers had suffered wounds during a clash with police officers who had forced their way into the factory to pick up the eight workers, who were suspected of organizing the protest.

Ninda said the workers staged the rally to demand their rights, asking the company to settle their case soon and pay them their severance payment.

She said that 250 out of 500 workers at PT Koinus, a garment company that produces jackets, were laid off due to the declining sales of its products.

But Ninda also suspected that the company's management had decided to dismiss the workers because they had joined the Karya Utama Labor Union Federation.

The workers organized a rally on Saturday at the factory. Because the company management had not yet responded to their demands, the workers conducted a five-kilometer-long march from the factory to the municipal council on Monday to conduct a joint rally, along with over 800 former workers of PT Kencana Indah Garment.

As of Wednesday, the workers, who had been laid off by PT Kencana last month, were still refusing to vacate Tangerang municipal council's office. They urged councillors to order the company's management to make a fair settlement by providing the workers with severance payment.

Despite having spent two nights at the council offices, none of the factions nor any of the councillors had yet met with the workers.

The workers were dismissed on Oct. 13 after the company's management closed down the garment factory.

"The company did not pay any compensation to workers. We are ready to be dismissed, but we demand severance pay," a worker said in a speech on Monday at the council's hall.

She said that the company had given them Rp 180,000 each on Oct.8 to pay for their wages for two weeks.

"We have no more money to buy food. My boarding house has kicked me out me because I was not able to pay the fees," said another worker called Yayah.

Many export-oriented companies in Tangerang and other places across the country have had to lay off workers or even close down their businesses due to the lack of orders, in particular from the United States.

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Drug dealer gets death

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Thursday, November 29, 2001

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang district court sentenced to death a Pakistani man on Wednesday for smuggling 1,050 grams of heroin from Pakistan into the country.

Presiding judge M. Soleh Mokoginta said defendant Muhammad Abdul Hafeez, 32, was proven guilty of attempting to smuggle the drug through Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on June 26.

The judge said he had rejected the lawyer's argument that the defendant had been forced to bring the drug to Indonesia because he was suffering from economic difficulties.

Wearing a white sports shirt and dark jeans, the defendant, a father of a 16-month-old baby, said he would follow the advice of his lawyer, Husien Tuhuteru, who insisted on appealing to a higher court.

"I accept the punishment, but let me think about my lawyer's advice on whether or not to appeal to a higher court within one week," Hafeez told The Jakarta Post.

The defendant was arrested minutes after he had arrived by Pakistan Airlines flight PIA 896, which landed at the airport on June 26 this year.

According to prosecutor Ferri Silalahi, customs and excise officer Donny Dumpang Harahap was suspicious, as the defendant only had hand-carried luggage with him, despite the long-haul flight.

Donny then told another officer, Yudi Darma Nauli, to search the defendant's blue bag. When the defendant was ordered to reveal the contents of his bag, the officers found three packets wrapped neatly in the folds of a jacket.

The defendant said the packets contained Pakistani special food. To convince the officers, the defendant then opened one of the packets, containing popcorn-like pieces, and immediately tasted two of them.

When tested, however, the food was found to contain heroin.
Hafeez later testified that he had bought the heroin from a man named Amin Khan in Peshawar for US$1,000.

Earlier this year the district court sentenced to death three Nigerians, a Nepalese and a Zimbabwean for drug smuggling, while a Malawian was given life imprisonment, also for a similar drug offense in September this year.

Last year, the district court passed the death sentence on nine defendants, including three Indonesians.

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Being reluctantly exiled is foreigner's worst nightmare

The Jakarta Post CITY News
Saturday, February 03, 2001

By Multa Fidrus

JAKARTA (JP): No one expects to find themselves stranded in a foreign country, far from home, without friends or relatives to share their sorrow But this is the bitter reality of life in the immigration quarantine center in Kalideres, West Jakarta.

Seventy-six foreigners, including two women, are currently being held in the center Most of them are waiting and hoping the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will find third countries that will accept them, while others just want to be sent back to their home countries.

Like birds, many of them are locked in four-meter-by-four-meter rooms with barred doors। In these small rooms they sleep, eat, wash and dry their clothes, bathe, pray and go to the toilet. With only 56 cells, some of the detainees must double up.

The corridors were filled with unpleasant smells when The Jakarta Post visited the center last week। Most of the cells were dirty and the walls covered with graffiti. The majority of the foreigners in the quarantine center are from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and different African countries.

A 20-year-old, handsome Afghan, Zahid Khan, stood behind the bars of his cell and flashed a friendly smile as the Post approached हिम.

"There is too much fighting in my country I don't want to go back there," he opened the conversation in English.

Behind Zahid, a football coach from Pakistan, Najib Karim, seemed troubled. He was standing, looking out the window and talking to himself while pointing at something outside, beyond his bars.

Meanwhile, in a cell across the corridor, a 27-year-old man asked the Post to call him Jim Morrison Jr. He said he had spent 12 years in his cell. "I just want papers to write," said the young man who claimed to hail from Jupiter.

He repeatedly referred to a Linda Goodman. "Linda wakes up again, Linda is my teacher," he said, adding that he loved Indonesia and wanted to stay here forever.
It was obvious he suffers from mental illness, and he is not the only one.

A 45-year-old man from China, Chen Lik Chon, was standing in his room holding his penis. He has been detained at the quarantine center since January 1995. He did not speak, but made a gesture to ask for a cigarette.

Jamaican Joseph Horrison, who has been detained since March 1995, did not stop shouting and banging on the door of his cell.

Another detainee, a 21-year-old Croatian named Danco Jiavic, sat quietly in his cell and stared blankly at the door. He has spent three years in the cell. "I want to go back to my country, but I don't have a ticket," he said, adding that he only had the T-shirt and shorts he was wearing.

"I am very sick now and my teeth are becoming soft. I cannot sleep for weeks," said the man, who claimed to be an orphan. He said he was caught by immigration officers at Tanjung Priok Port in early 1998.

Other detainees have complaints about their health. A 41-year-old Iraqi who has been held for eight months said he was suffering from kidney and prostate problems. Before he was taken to the quarantine center, he was hospitalized twice in Jakarta.

The man said he had a wife and child in Iran, and he wanted UNHCR to relocated him to a third country. "I don't want to go back to Iraq. There is always war, bombs, gunshots until I can do nothing."

Three Africans from Sierra Leone -- Benjamin Norman, 25, Melvin Valentine, 24, and Abu Kamara, 18, also are seeking the help of UNHCR. "We don't want to die here. Please tell UNHCR that we think of our future," they told the Post.

A Sri Lankan, Gengatharan, said he would leave the quarantine center next week because he had received refugee status from UNHCR. He does not want to go back to his country because of the war there.

Jamaludin, 47, the only Malaysian in the center, said he lost his passport last month and hoped to return home soon.

All of the detainees are being held at the center for immigration violations. Those who have travel documents can be deported with the help of their respective embassies here. But problems arise when they do not have any papers to prove their citizenship.

John Charles Sawor, 75, is the oldest detainee and he said he has been quarantined since 1955. He claims to be an American journalist from a reputed paper who was assigned to cover the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung in 1955. He said he lost his passport and the United States refused to accept him because he had no documents.

John said he wanted to die here. Holding a small radio, he said he had no more hope for life. It is difficult to understand him because he mumbles his words. His tearful eyes were almost closed. His room was squalid and packed with dirty clothes. "I am alone in this world," said the Native American.

John is one of a number of foreigners who do not have to remain in their cells. He has gained the trust of the immigration officers and has the freedom to walk by himself around the quarantine center, or even in the surrounding neighborhood.

Help

According to the head of the complex, Hatomy, the quarantine center is facing numerous problems. "The main problem is funding. The government does not allocate funds to treat those detainees who have mental problems," he told the Post by phone on Monday.

He said the center can only afford to take detainees to a nearby medical clinic for treatment or to a hospital in Tangerang for those who are seriously ill.

"For a long time, we have been expecting the government to provide a medical doctor to treat the sick. We also expect foundations or non-governmental organizations to lend us a hand to cope with the problems," he said.

Hatomy said caring for the foreigners posed a heavy burden. "We want to send them back to their countries, but we don't have the money to buy them tickets."

The embassies of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq also have financial problems that prevent them from helping return the detainees to their countries, he said.

Indonesia currently houses about 880 illegal immigrants who entered the country without proper documents.

According to a report issued last month, UNHCR has granted refugee status to 386 foreigners and is processing 368 others. The status of the other detainees remains unresolved.

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