FIVE MILY COMPANIES READIED TO LOCALIZE KOJA RIOT

Jakarta, Apr 15 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian military (TNI) has prepared five companies of troops to help police prevent Wednesday's clash between public order officers and residents in Koja, North Jakarta, from spreading.

"We are always on the alert and have prepared five companies of personnel from the Jakarta regional military command," TNI Chief General Djoko Santoso said here on Thursday.

Djoko said the TNI personnel would safeguard a number of vital facilities around the scene of the conflict which left at least three people dead and 134 others injured.

The effort to safeguard the vital facilities accorded with the mandate of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who had ordered the TNI chief to help safeguard the vital facilities, he said.

Djoko said the military would keep monitoring developments at the scene and help persuade local residents to prevent the conflict from spreading.
The clash broke out on Wednesday morning when about a thousand public order officers (Satpol PP) marched to the graveyard complex built on land belonging to port company PT Pelindo II where there was a former tomb of respected Muslim scholar, Habib Hasan bin Muhammad Al Hadad also known as Mbah Priok, who spread Islam in North Jakarta in the 18th century.

According to the Jakarta regional government, the public order guards were mobilized to the complex to demolish illegal buildings erected within the complex.

The dead victims were identified as M. Tajudin, W. Soepono and Israel Jaya, all of them public order officers. The injured consist of 10 police officers, 69 public order officers, and 55 civilians.

Besides human victims, 46 vehicles belonging to public order officers and the police had been burned in the riot.

The Jakarta provincial administration said they will resume a dialog with local residents to resolve the case.