The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Sunday, October 05 2014,
The recent power struggle among political elites may have spilled out onto the street on Friday, as a hardline group with informal ties to defeated presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto held a rally in front of Jakarta City Hall that erupted into what police believe was a coordinated riot.
The Jakarta City Police have arrested at least 20 members of the group, the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), following a protest at the City Hall compound on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan in Central Jakarta on Friday.
More than 10 police officers, including the Gambir Police Precinct chief, were injured, while a number of cars were damaged after hundreds of protesters waving FPI flags threw rocks of considerable size toward the City Council building.
A nearby Transjakarta bus shelter was vandalized and several luxury cars belonging to city council members were damaged.
The FPI had rallied in opposition to Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, objecting to his religious affiliation and ethnic background. Later this month, Ahok will replace president-elect and outgoing Jakarta Governor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
FPI chairman Habib Rizieq apparently refuses to turn over alleged ringleaders
Gerindra thanks FPI for the rally
The FPI has publicly repudiated Ahok, claiming to speak for all Muslim Jakartans when they said they did not wish to be led by a Christian leader — a tenuous claim as the group has no credibility to speak for the larger Muslim community in Jakarta or elsewhere.
The group also took issue with the fact that Ahok, as governor, would automatically head a number of Islamic organizations in Jakarta.
Jokowi was not present at City Hall during the protest and Ahok was in South Korea attending the closing ceremony of the Asian Games.
Jakarta City Police chief Insp. Gen. Unggung Cahyono said that the FPI had engineered the rally to end in violence as the protesters — several of whom had traveled from Bandung, Majalengka and Tasikmalaya in West Java to attend — arrived with rocks in their trucks.
“It’s not a spontaneous [violent protest],” said Unggung, who later led at least 200 officers to cordon off FPI headquarters on Jl. Petamburan in Central Jakarta to locate Habib Shahab Anggawi and FPI secretary-general Novel Bamu’min, the alleged coordinators of the violence.
FPI chairman Habib Rizieq apparently refused to turn over Shahab and Novel to the police, instead giving up their assistant, Irwan.
“We’re still negotiating with Habib [Rizieq],” said Unggung, who was installed as police chief in early September.
The FPI has acquired a reputation for carrying out violent vigilante acts to “reinforce Islamic teachings”.
Gerindra Party Jakarta chairman and council deputy speaker M. Taufik, who once served several years in prison for graft, thanked the group for holding the rally and promised that he would do whatever was necessary to end Ahok’s career. “Ahok is to blame for this violence,” Taufik said.
The FPI supported Prabowo, Gerindra’s patron, during the recent presidential election.
Gerindra’s anger toward Ahok stemmed from the latter’s recent decision to resign from Gerindra in protest at the party’s support of a regional election law that scrapped direct elections for governors, mayors and regents.
Prabowo and his brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, have vented their resentment at Ahok publicly, calling him a “jumping louse” for his purported penchant for changing parties.
The FPI protests, however, may not be limited to a repudiation of Ahok’s background and fitness to lead, as the group demanded Ahok retract a statement calling councilors who supported indirect elections “extorters”. The Prabowo-led Red-and-White Coalition are staunch supporters of indirect elections.
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"FPI usually talks with Gerindra before rallies, says party official"
Gerindra Party official Fajar Siddiq regretted the recent Islam Defenders Front (FPI) rally that turned violent, saying that the violence was unnecessary and would have been avoidable if the hardline group had spoken with Gerindra Party officials first, as they normally do before such events.
Fajar said the FPI would always talk with them first before hitting the streets.
“That is why I am confused. Why didn’t they do that this time?” Fajar said Saturday, as quoted by kompas.com.
He added that everything would have run smoother and there would have been no violence, had the FPI come and talked to them first. He said he suspected that there were agents provocateur who wanted to defame both the FPI and Muslims by turning the peaceful rally into a violent one.
On Friday afternoon, the FPI demonstrated in a bid to express its rejection of Deputy Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent who will replace outgoing Governor and president-elect Joko Widodo, who is a Muslim of Javanese descent.
The rally turned into a violent confrontation against police personnel after hundreds of protesters bearing FPI banners threw stones and rocks at the council building. More than 10 police officers were injured -- two were rushed to hospital -- while a number of cars were also damaged during the protest.
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The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Saturday October 04 2014, 4:22 PM
Substantial flooding is affecting several districts in Medan, North Sumatra, engulfing hundreds of houses and paralyzing traffic along a number of roads.
The floods were caused by the banks of the Babura and Deli rivers bursting, as heavy rain had fallen for hours on the city from Friday evening to early Saturday morning.
The worst flood hit Aur subdistrict, Medan Maimun district, where the water was almost shoulder height.
Meanwhile, in other districts such as Padang Bulang subdistrict and Medan Baru district, water reached one meter high.
“The water hasn’t receded for 10 hours. Our houses are still submerged,” Usmarlin, one of residents, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday afternoon.
Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Medan chapter head Hendra Suwarta forecast that heavy rain would continue to fall from October to November.
Therefore, he said residents had to increase their awareness because heavy rain would like cause heavy flooding again.
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Construction to start ongiant sea wall
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Saturday October 04 2014,
Jakarta: Construction of a giant sea wall in Jakarta Bay is set to start, the Coordinating Economic Ministry said on Friday. The project is part of the National Capital Integrated Coastal Development (NCICD).
“The plan is to begin erecting the sea wall on Oct. 9,” said Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung, as quoted by kontan.co.id.
The project will be included in the state budget for many years to come and is intended for the long term. The development of the embankment anticipates increased incidence of floods caused by the subsidence of Jakarta’s land while sea levels rise.
“When [the sea wall] has been built, it could also serve as a reservoir for Jakarta. So it will have many functions. Other developments are also in the pipeline,” said Chairul.
The meeting was also attended by West Java Governor Ahmad Heryawan, who said that the NCICD project would start development in Jakarta before spreading projects to the surrounding areas of Bekasi, Banten and Tangerang.
Aside from the embankment development, the NCICD project will also work on island reclamation, with 17 artificial islands projected to be established in Jakarta Bay.
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The Jakarta Post, BANYUMAS, Saturday October 04 2014,
Blackout hits Central Java,Yogyakarta
BANYUMAS: Blackouts struck many parts of Central Java and Yogyakarta on Friday due to damage to the steam-fueled power plant PLTU Tanjung Jati in Jepara and a main power grid in Klaten.
The spokesman for state-electricity company PT PLN’s Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces, Supriyono, said that the damages had decreased the electricity supply by 500 megawatts.
Supriyono added that to overcome the shortage, the company had scheduled blackouts to conserve power.
He said he was unsure when the scheduled blackouts would end, saying the company was still repairing the two facilities.
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za 4 okt 2014 - 23:22