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Many lose livelihoods, public facilities damaged after riots
Jakarta has always been a magnet for people to come and try their luck in the capital
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Jakarta has always been a magnet for people to come and try their luck in the capital.
However, two days of postelection riots in Jakarta was a sad turn of events for many, not only because eight lives were claimed and at least 700 others were injured but also because it took a toll on the livelihoods of small-time vendors.
Most of them operated on Jl. KH Wahid Hasyim, which intersects with Jl. Agus Salim in the popular Sabang culinary center.
Among them was Usma, 64, whose kiosk on Jl. KH Wahid Hasyim in Central Jakarta was broken into and items he sold such as cigarettes and beverages were stolen by rioters.
“I lost around Rp 20 million [US$1,382]. They took the cigarettes and drinks that I sold. Only two packets of cigarettes remain,” Usma said on Thursday as reported by kompas.com.
He said the looting happened on Wednesday close to midnight, when unrest escalated after demonstrators at the Sarinah intersection were driven back by security personnel toward Gondangdia in Central Jakarta.
He said he had anticipated a riot and closed his kiosk at 11 p.m., but the rioters broke into it.
“I had locked the kiosk. When I returned the next morning, the kiosk was almost empty,” Usma said while looking at the kiosk he had operated for decades near the Sabang Police station, which was set ablaze by rioters on Wednesday.
Usma also lost cash and clothes that he kept in the kiosk.
“None of my clothes were left [at the kiosk]. None at all. I’ve decided to go back to my hometown,” he said. Usma said he had reported the incident to the police.
Rajab, who owned a cigarette and beverage kiosk in the area, said all of his merchandise was gone, including Rp 8 million of his savings.
“There’s not a single penny left,” he said, adding that he would have to rack his brain on how to get capital to start business again.
“It’s just not my day. I’ll let it go,” said Rajab.
Suhama and Ismail, also small-time instant noodle sellers, found their kiosk burned to the ground.
“Initially they [rioters] just broke the window panes. Protesters pledged not to set fires, but another group of people came and rampaged,” said Suhama.
The fire at the Sabang Police station spread to their kiosk adjacent to the building, leaving only a pan and stack of bowls remaining.
They said they suffered Rp 20 million in losses.
Both of them have decided to leave the capital and temporarily return to their hometown in Sumedang, West Java.
“We’ll leave today. We’ll wait for the station to be rebuilt before starting the business again,” said Suhama.
All of them expressed hope that normalcy would return to Jakarta and that deadly riots would never happen again.
The Jakarta Police are making a record of police stations and police traffic posts damaged in the riots.
Meanwhile, city-owned bus operator PT Transjakarta has recorded two damaged bus shelters: one in Bidara Cina in East Jakarta and one in Slipi Kemanggisan in West Jakarta. (ami)
