TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Jakarta-owned bus operator PT Transjakarta President Director Sardjono Jhony Tjitrokusumo claimed he witnessed the burning of bus stops during the students’ rally against the Job Creation Omnibus Law on Thursday, October 8, 2020.

Jhony recalled that at that time, a group of people carried gasoline and poured it on the Tosari bus stop.

“I saw people who burned down [the bus stops] were not part of the protesters,” said Jhony to Tempo on Friday, October 30, 2020.

The former CEO of Merpati Nusantara Airlines was sure that the people who set the fire was not part of the protesting mob after observing their movements. He added these people did not wear university alma mater jackets like other protesters.

The people started pouring the gasoline on the public facilities at around 6.20 p.m. and the fire broke out at 6.33 p.m. “I saw the seconds of the burning myself.”

Jhony added that he could not do anything as there was no guard around the bus stop. From data collected, the burning of the Sarinah bus stop began at 4.20 p.m. and the HI Roundabout bus stop at 5 p.m. “The burning process lasted for around two hours. Seven bus stops including one in Senen were set ablaze.”

Johny mentioned that 46 Transjakarta bus stops were damaged following the anti-omnibus law protest on Thursday, with 17 of them being severely destroyed. The estimated losses reached around Rp65 billion. “Seventy two hours after the burning, the bus stops are ready [to serve passengers].”

Read: 11 Transjakarta Bus Stops Sustain IDR 25 Billion-worth of Damages

IMAM HAMDI