Fadli, Batam – After threatening to break up any gathering of foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Batam, the Riau Islands provincial police on Monday agreed to abide by a National Police decision to allow the NGOs to meet.
Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Sutarman told The Jakarta Post that the local police actually stood by their decision to ban the NGOs' activities, which are timed to coincide with the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Singapore this week.
"However, because the authority to issue any permits for such international activities is in the hands of the National Police Headquarters, we cannot do more than that," Sutarman said.
"The National Police Headquarters possibly has its own considerations," he added. "As (the NGOs) hold a permit, their activities are legal, so local police have no authority to disperse them."
The meeting is to be attended by 700 representatives of 74 NGOs from 40 countries under the coordination of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (Infid). In preparation, the Riau Police held a meeting to discuss security.
Meanwhile, the management of the haj dormitory in Batam acknowledged receiving a down payment from Infid to lease the dormitory's facilities for the meeting.
The caretaker of the dormitory, Lili Ramli, told the Post on Monday that her office had received a 15 percent down payment, or Rp 100 million (US$10,526), from Infid a week ago.
"We have also extended the time limit for Infid to arrange permits from the police. We had earlier given them until Thursday, but we extended it until tomorrow," said Lili.
She said Infid had submitted an agenda for the meeting to run from Sept. 15 through 17. According to the contract, the dormitory will provide accommodation and meals for 700 participants.
"We've heard that Infid has acquired a permit from the National Police Headquarters. However, we're waiting for written consent and are still keeping in touch to make arrangements for the event," said Lili.
The dormitory, which has rooms for 960 people, was quiet Monday. Some dormitory staff members and officers from the Batam Industrial Development Authority's security directorate guarded its perimeters.
The rooms and auditorium were still locked, even though the schedule specified that Infid should have begun preparations there.
"Members of the organizing committee should have already arrived on Monday to arrange for the event, but there's still no news as of this moment. We must also wait for written approval from the police, who are still confused over the matter. Reports in the newspapers are different from reality," said Lili.
Lili added that her office would return the down payment if Infid failed to obtain permission from the Riau Police.