Rahmat, Makassar – Angry students in Makassar ran amok on Monday, destroying rooms in the South Sulawesi legislature building, prompting locals to complain that police should have done more to stop them.

The students and members of nongovernmental organizations initially staged a rally in front of the council building demanding councillors address allegations of bribery in the province's land agency, which they said issued a fake land certificate for a businessman.

They claimed the 2.3-hectare plot of land belonged to Amiruddin Pase, who also owns a certificate for the land. The students accused land agency officials of taking bribes to issue the fake certificate for businessman Welly Engriwan.

"We ask the council and [land agency] to examine the falsification of the certificate," said Hasri Jack, the protest coordinator.

The group then demanded that members of the council's Commission A, which oversees governance, legal issues and information, meet with them. However, as no Commission A members were present, some councillors from Commission B met with the protesters.

As their anger grew, the students refused to talk with the councillors and broke into the Commission A meeting room, looking for the councillors. As the meeting room was empty, they started to destroy items including chairs, desks, door and windows.

Outnumbered and with no police officers on the scene, the council's security officers stood aside. Satistified with their action, the protesters moved to Welly's house. This time, however, police officers stopped them, arresting 13.

South Sulawesi Police Chief Insp. Gen. Muji Waluyo did not say why his officers failed to guard the council building. "We will enforce the law. They should be responsible for the destruction," he said after the arrests.

Students in Makassar are notorious for their use of violence in protests, with many criticizing the police for not being tough enough on them.

In March, students attacked the governor's office, pelting windows with rocks and shaking the office's main gate until it collapsed. A day earlier, hundreds of students attacked police stations and an auto showroom with Molotov cocktails.

Several days before, other students armed with rocks, slingshots and Molotov cocktails attacked a police station and burned down a police post, starting a fire that nearly spread to an Islamic high school before local residents were able to extinguish it.