Acting Jakarta Governor Asks Protesters Not to Encroach on Garden

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Acting Jakarta Governor Sumarsono has urged people wanting to join the planned December 2 rally to keep the environment clean and not to encroach on garden around the National Monument (Monas).

“I’m asking as the acting governor, don’t encroach on the garden because it belongs to all of us,” Sumarsono said after attending a gathering to celebrate the 45th birthday of the Indonesian Civil Servant Corps (Korpri) in the Monas area on Tuesday, November 29, 2016. “It’s a public space, we are only tasked with taking care of it.”

Jakarta administration has prepared anticipatory measures in relation to the upcoming December 2 rally in Monas, which is expected to bring together hundreds of thousands of people.

“For the safety and security of those wanting to enjoy a vacation, we will close the Monument, through which people can to get to the top [of the structure],” Sumarsono said. “But, the area around Monas will still open as the rally site has been shifted.”

Rally initiator the National Movement to Save the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Edicts (GNPF-MUI) and the National Police have agreed that the protesters at planned December 2 rally will be centered on Monas area during which they will hold communal prayer.

The rally was initiated in response to the legal proceedings against inactive Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama alias Ahok.

REZA SYAHPUTRA | EZ