City readies for mass rallies

Authorities in Jakarta are bracing for the worst-case scenario when protests to mark the first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration spring up across the city Thursday.

“We’ve prepared for any possible disruptions,” city spokesman Cucu Ahmad Kurnia said Wednesday after a meeting between Governor Fauzi Bowo, Jakarta Police chief Gen. Insp. Wahyono and others.

Cucu said 114 organizations would take part in the rallies, gathering together 30,000 people.

However, he said it was unlikely that anywhere near that number of people would show up, pointing out the previous highly touted protests on anticorruption day, which had fizzled out.

The city will also deploy officials from the fire department, the transportation agency and the health agency, Fauzi said. The health agency will send out 12 ambulances.

“We hope the protesters will behave,” the governor said.

As of Wednesday, Jakarta Police had received reports from 62 groups that planned to hold rallies today.

“Around 50 of them will take part in the Clean Indonesia Movement, or GIB, while the rest include the People’s Opposition Front, the Street Parliament Alliance and the United University Students Movement,” said city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar.

Boy said the police were also preparing to reroute traffic to deal with the expected congestion caused by the protests.

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