Comment: Notorious groups tough task for next governor

Paper Edition | Page: 8

July 3, p. 2

Jakarta is home to hundreds of civil society organizations whose activities range from community empowerment to disturbance of the peace.

On paper, the visions, missions and purposes of the various organizations — some of which are registered — clearly set them apart from street gangs.

However, the behavior of these organizations on the street blurs the line between activism and thuggery.

Your comments:

Some youths in my neighborhood have built an ormas-flagged “guard post” on the sidewalk and are extorting money from small shops (warung).

Neighbors tell me that they gather there at night to smoke pot, as has happened before.

Two youths died of drugs on the same spot in the past. So, it looks like having an income does not guarantee good behavior. How gullible can future governors be?

Aysha

It’s called organized crime however respectable they look — Indonesian mafia, pure and simple. It’s all about easy money and using power and terror to get it.

Joe