Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Hundreds of residents of the mainly Muslim Rawa Buntu village and Kencana Loka housing complex in Serpong staged a rally Friday to protest the construction of the St. John Catholic School in the area.
Protesters left on a march to the construction site about 6:30 a.m., and on arrival placed signs and banners outside the compound. One read: "Local residents order the halt of the school construction and this site is now 'sealed'."
They gave speeches objecting to the school's establishment as others repeated chants of "halt the school construction".
Police tightly guarded the protest, which lasted for two hours, before the demonstrators dispersed peacefully without meeting school management.
Protest coordinator Sadat Ali said there was no religious motivation for residents' objection to the school. There were already several private schools in Serpong and their presence had caused worsening traffic in the area, he said.
"Residents are afraid that if a new school is built here, it will further disturb the environment and the traffic will become more chaotic," he said.
He said he believed the developers of the school had yet to obtain an environmental permit to construct it.
No one from the school could be contacted to confirm Sadat's claim or comment on the protest.
Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex corporate communications manager Dhony Rahajoe would not comment on the residents' protest. The ongoing construction of the school had nothing to do with BSD management, he said.
"The school management probably bought land from residents of Rawa Buntu village, which had direct access to the BSD housing complex, so they could build the school right next to the Cikal Harapan school," he said.
In 2004, Muslim residents in Tangerang walled off the entrance to the Catholic Sang Timur school because they said it was illegally being used as a place of worship.
Advocates of religious tolerance criticized the protest, which they said was unfairly targeting the city's minority Catholic faith.