RIOT RECAP

Morning! It’s the day after machete-armed protestors tore up bodies and vehicles in North Jakarta. I wouldn’t say the dust has settled, as black smoke and ash from burned trucks is still blowing around in the air near the port, but the vibe today is distinctly more sedate, with throngs of shutterbugs and auto salvagers making up most of the crowd.

People packed into the access road where protestors yesterday dismembered public order officers, squeezing between the smoking carcasses of overturned police vans and excavators. Vendors wandered around selling cigarettes, soda and ice cream. One guy even had his durian cart set up.

It wasn’t until I had picked my way past a wall of burned-out trucks and was more or less stuck between that barrier and the holy tomb people had rioted hours earlier to protect that I realized I had not seen a single cop, security guard, or firefighter since I arrived at Koja Port. The paper I work for reported that hundreds of officers had been dispatched to the area to keep order today, but if they arrived, they were staying well out of sight.

I did see blackened transmissions and engines lying out on tarps, and a group of dudes dragging away a truck frame tied to the back of two motorcycles. You can get 5,000 rupiah a kilo for scrap metal of this size and caliber. About 55 cents US.

The protestors who kicked off yesterday’s riot were there to defend the tomb of Mbah Priok, which they see as sacred, from demolition by the city. City officials claimed they had no intention of tearing down the tomb, but today it was easy to see why locals didn’t take them at their word.

“It was a misunderstanding,” a man who called himself Mr. Dody told me, just outside of earshot of a devout knot of people praying at the tomb. “They wanted to tear down the tomb, but to us this is a holy place.” I told him it seemed the two sides understood each other pretty well. “No,” he said. “It was a misunderstanding. They just want to expand the container yard.”

The site of the now-empty but still-holy tomb abuts the wall of a container yard operated by state-owned PT Pelindo II, separating it from a few acres of open space. Getting rid of the tomb would mean the company could expand its operation by a pretty large percentage, filing pockets in city hall along the way.

The government’s line is that it only meant to demolish all the buildings around the tomb. Of course, this same body has also promised to build a working public transit system, get a handle on pollution, and eradicate graft. So far it’s 0 for three, and most of the folks running these projects have second homes.

On the other hand, an Indonesian friend of mine who was also on the scene today said the militant cleric at the tomb was telling the crowd the riot was clearly the fault of the Jews and the United States. So these guys aren’t necessarily channeling righteous rage.

ADAM MARTIN