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City life disrupted as protesters go on rampage
Stopped in their tracks: Vehicles are forced to a halt as police temporarily close down a toll road in Slipi, West Jakarta, on Wednesday to prevent mass rioting from spreading further
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topped in their tracks: Vehicles are forced to a halt as police temporarily close down a toll road in Slipi, West Jakarta, on Wednesday to prevent mass rioting from spreading further. The crowd control measures caused a severe traffic jam.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)
The usually jam-packed roads in the capital have become deserted, as many workers decided, or were forced, to work from home for security reasons after election result protests in Central Jakarta turned ugly late on Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon.
Workers were allowed to depart their offices early as the protests in the capital intensified.
Start-up employee Balthazar Isra, who works in Mega Kuningan, South Jakarta, more than 10 kilometers away from the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) office that was the center of the protests, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that he had to work from home after the office building’s management announced that the people inside the building had to leave at around 12 p.m.
The 26-year-old cited the management’s procedures for instructing people to leave if there were any concerning events taking place within a 5-km radius of the building.
“I thought the situation would be peaceful today as protesters from Tuesday’s rally had dispersed,” he said, explaining why he went to the office on Wednesday morning.
Thousands of supporters of Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno held a rally in front of the Bawaslu office on Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta on Tuesday, after the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the elections result late on Monday, two days earlier than scheduled on May 22.
The initially peaceful protests in front of the Bawaslu office on Tuesday night went without incident despite the police telling protestors to disperse at around 9 p.m.
However, according to the police, at around 11 p.m., a mob with an unknown affiliation arrived and started to vandalize security barriers in front of the Bawaslu office.
The police then drove the crowd, which had started to throw projectiles such as rocks and Molotov cocktails at security forces, toward Tanah Abang.
After the police had largely subdued the crowd, another group of people appeared and started attacking the National Police’s Mobile Brigade dormitories in Petamburan, Cental Jakarta, setting the building on fire.
The riots spread to other locations in Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta and Jl. KS Tubun in Slipi, West Jakarta, on Wednesday afternoon.
The National Police confirmed that six people had died during the riots and said they were investigating the deaths.
“Mega Kuningan was empty when I left the building,” Balthazar said, adding that he would keep himself updated on the situation before going back to the office to avoid the aftermath of the protests.
Pedcawanto, who works for a private company in Blok M, South Jakarta, more than 20 km away from the Bawaslu office, shared a similar experience.
“The announcement [for workers to leave the office early] was released at around 12 p.m. [Workers] were also suggested not to go outside of their houses,” he said.
He added that his employer had provided workers emergency contact details “as there might be employees or expatriates who need assistance during uncertain circumstances like this”, he added.
In addition, several government organizations allowed civil servants to leave early in response to the unrest, such as civil servants in the Finance Ministry’s office on Jl. Dr. Wahidin Raya and the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister on Jl. MH Thamrin.
The mass protests also affected vendors of Southeast Asia’s largest textile market Tanah Abang, where a riot occurred late on Tuesday in its vicinity.
The market was shut until further notice.
Around 14,000 vendors were unable to open their stalls as access to the market was blocked, which resulted in approximately Rp 200 billion (US$13.77 million) in losses, city-owned market operator Pasar Jaya president director Arief Nasruddin said.
The riots also disrupted traffic in the city with many public transportation services adjusting or halting services.
The MRT was operating normally on Wednesday, but trains will stop at Dukuh Atas Station as the last stop at Bundaran HI Station was closed from 1:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. for security reasons, said corporate secretary division head of PT MRT Jakarta, Muhamad Kamaluddin.
All MRT stations were guarded by six security personnel and passengers had to undergo checks at the entrances.
Commuter trains have also adjusted services and will not stop at several stations, including Tanah Abang, a major transit point.
The modified route has resulted in passengers being left stranded at stations.
In addition, state-owned train operator PT KAI operational region (DAOP) 1 Jakarta has modified 33 departures passing Gambir Station. The modification was implemented from 5:25 a.m. until 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
Despite the riots, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan called on people to carry on as usual, saying that the capital was relatively safe as tensions were isolated in a few areas.
