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Fishermen in Indonesia riot

Source
Agence France Presse - February 1, 1998

Jakarta – Fishermen angered by a poor catch and rising prices of basic commodities have rioted in Indonesia's Central Java province, a report said Monday.

Police in the northern coastal district centre of Rembang arrested 21 people over the unrest there and in several other nearby towns some 300 miles east of Jakarta, the Jakarta Post added.

"They were just a few desperate fishermen," Rembang police chief Lieutenant Colonel Sukamto was quoted as saying of the violence in his town late last week.

"Life has been hard because of the unfriendly weather in the seas, while prices of basic commodities such as kerosene were rumoured to soar.

"But, because demand was too high, stores naturally ran out of stocks. People could not believe what was happening and went on a rampage," he said, adding the fishermen attacked and looted shops.

Calm had since been restored and shops had reopened, Sukamto said. However, hundreds of police and troops were on standby to deal with any further unrest.

Disturbances had also broken out in the nearby towns of Lasem and Sarang, he added, with mobs targetting shops owned by ethnic Chinese. Those incidents followed rioting in the adjacent towns of Kragan last Monday and Tuesday and Sluke last Wednesday.

Social unrest is on the rise in Indonesia as the economic crisis gripping the country forces price hikes and mass lay-offs.

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