Hermawan Mappiwali, Makassar – Protesting students, who have been demonstrating since earlier this afternoon, continued to hold their ground on Jalan Sultan Alauddin in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar into the evening. They have now commandeered several trucks and blockaded two stretches of road.
According to Detik News' observations at the location on Thursday October 28, the protesters have been demonstrating since 3 pm and have highjacked at least five trucks which are being held in the middle of the road.
As a consequence, traffic along Jalan Sultan Alauddin was totally paralyzed with police forced to redirect traffic to alternative routes such as Jalan AP Pettarani and Jalan Mannuruki Raya.
In addition to highjacking the trucks, the students also piled rocks on the road and have begun to set fire to tyres.
Students in Makassar are holding protest actions at a number of different points in the city to coincide with the anniversary of the Youth Pledge on October 28, 1958.
The moment was used by the protesters to evaluate two years of the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin.
A number of issues over the last few years were criticised, with demands for the Omnibus Law to be revoked, resolving human rights violations, an end to attempts to silence civil society and calling for accelerating national economic recovery as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. (hmw/nvl)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Mahasiswa di Makassar Demo hingga Malam, Sandera 5 Truk-Tutup Jalan".]