Week kicks off with more protests, police urge motorists to be patient

Detik.com – March 17, 2008
Preparatory Committee for the Formation of the Aceh Leuser Antara (Merdeka)
Preparatory Committee for the Formation of the Aceh Leuser Antara (Merdeka)

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta – As many as five protest actions will enliven Jakarta for the start of the new week. One protest in particular will have the potential to cause traffic congestion because it will involve as many as 500 participants.

Based on data from the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre (TMC) for Monday March 17, the first action will take place at 9 am by around 500 people from the Preparatory Committee for the Formation of the Aceh Leuser Antara (ALA) Province, who will be holding a demonstration in front of the House of Representatives building on Jl. Gatot Subroto in Central Jakarta.

At around the same time, students from the Indonesian Saviours Institute for the Eradication of Corruption (LPKPI) will be protesting at two locations, the Jakarta provincial National Education Department offices on Jl. Kampung Melayu Timur in East Jakarta and the Jakarta chief public prosecutor’s offices on Jl. Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta.

The next action will take place at the Central Jakarta District Court on Jl. Gadjah Mada between 9am and 12 noon. The Gamasmart Partners Association (HIMIGA) will be calling on the court to act professionally in its handling of a customer embezzlement case involving the company PT Gamasmart Karya Utama.

The forth protest will be at 10am at the Attorney General’s Office on Jl. Sisingamaraja in South Jakarta. Around 150 students from the non-government organisation Friendly For Future (LSM F2) will be calling on the AGO to seize the assets of Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support Scheme corruption suspect Anthony Salim.

The final action will be held at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) offices on Jl. HR Rasuna Said between 10am and 2pm. Members of the State Assets People’s Saviours Movement (GRPHN) will be calling on the KPK to take over the Wiltop Trade Centre Water Bomb corruption case at the Jambi Representatives Mess Development project in Jakarta involving Jambi province Governor Zulkifli Nurdin.

The TMC is appealing to road users to be patient if they are passing through stretches of road where protest actions are taking place. This is because protesters often try to attract the attention of passing road users resulting in the flow of traffic becoming congested. (bal/ptr)

[Translated by James Balowski.]