Jakarta/Batam – Warned they were unwelcome in Singapore, the site of an upcoming World Bank/International Monetary Fund annual conference, hundreds of NGO activists from 40 countries chose nearby Batam to host an opposition forum.
But the 700 participants are receiving a similarly frosty reception there as well, with the local authorities rejecting their request to hold the gathering. It was planned for the Haj Dormitory.
Opposition also is coming from an unexpected quarter: their local counterparts and other groups.
The latter, including the Independent Political Watch (IPW), Cinta Anak Negeri, the Marginal People Forum, DPD Formasda, GP 27 Juli, Mapan, BP7KR and youth group Pemuda Pancasila, made their opposition to the event public by jointly placing a half-page, ad in Tribun Batam daily on Monday.
In the ad, they argued a big gathering of NGO activists would undermine the investment climate on the island, which was recently declared a special economic zone, with support from Singapore.
On Tuesday, Riau Islands Police chief Brig. Gen. Sutarman, who has voiced opposition to the gathering, hosted a lunch at the Sanur Batam Center with representatives of about 20 NGOs also opposed to the event.
"I don't know for sure what they were talking about, maybe they discussed their common stance regarding the planned gathering of foreign NGOs in Batam," Riau Islands Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anggaria Lopis told The Jakarta Post.
Speculation is rife about the reasons for the NGOs' opposition. Some observers claim the NGOs have been paid off to take the authorities' side. They say they saw posters on side streets in Batam, with the message: "We provide people for demonstrations, price negotiable."
The deputy director of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development, Dian Kartika Sari, assured local authorities that the gathering would be peaceful and there was no reason to ban it.
"Moreover, we will just have meetings, meetings and more meetings, with some cultural shows at night. Maybe, there will be some art events, but nothing rowdy, let alone violent."
She warned that barring the holding of the event would diminish Indonesia's international reputation.
[With additional reporting from The Jakarta Post contributor Fadli in Batam.]