The Jakarta Post, November 29, 2004
Maluku residents say no to returnees
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
Not all Maluku residents have responded positively to the government's efforts to
restore infrastructure and security in the formerly riot-torn province.
Residents of Lisabata subdistrict in West Seram regency, for example, recently
opposed a government plan to allow hundreds of refugees from three neighboring
subdistricts to return to their homes.
The residents told a group of visiting Maluku administration officials on Friday that
they were not ready to live side by side with residents of the three neighboring
subdistricts -- Nuniali, Wokolo and Patahue.
Jaida Kaisuku, a Lisabata resident, said that he did not trust residents in the three
neighboring Christian subdistricts, accusing them of having attacked Lisabata during
sectarian clashes in Maluku, back in 1999. Lisabata is a Muslim subdistrict.
Prior to the sectarian conflict, some "irresponsible" people from the three subdistricts
had prevented traders from Lisabata selling cloves in Taniwel, sparking minor clashes,
said Umri Hatumena, another resident.
Taniwel is the capital of Taniwel district, where the four subdistricts are located.
"We want to live in peace, but it is the residents in those three subdistricts that
caused conflicts in our area," said Umri.
Also before the conflict, residents of the three neighboring subdistricts had damaged
clove trees belonging to Lisabata residents, causing a poor harvest, said another
resident Marawiah, 68.
"If the government pushes ahead with its plan, we cannot be held responsible if other
clashes occur in the future," said Jaida, supported by dozens of Lisabata residents
attending a meeting with Maluku provincial administration officials in Lisabata
subdistrict hall.
There are 34 subdistricts in Taniwel district, three of them are Muslim subdistricts.
Residents in Lisabata clashed with the neighboring residents of Nuniali, Woloko and
Patahue in October 2000. The Lisabata residents proved to be the stronger group,
forcing their rivals to take refuge in safer places.
Meanwhile, responding to the Lisabata resident's rejection, Maluku Deputy Governor
Muhammad Abdullah Latuconsina said that the government would proceed with its
plan.
"We have laws and live under the Unitary State of Indonesia. The government will
protect the rights of every citizen," said Latuconsina, a Muslim.
The government ruled that all problems related to refugees had to be settled before
2005, Latuconsina added.
To appease Lisbata residents, Latuconsina said the administration would pay
attention to development in Lisabata subdistrict, including the construction of a
75-kilometer highway from Piru, the capital of West Seram regency to Taniwel and
Lisabata subdistrict.
He asked Lisabata residents to bury the hatchet and forget past bitter experience, for
a better future.
Responding to the statement, Ma'ruf Pattiiha, also a Lisabata resident, said that the
government should not push for its target to be accomplished this year. He said that
the dispute among residents should be settled first, before the repatriation of the
refugees.
The sectarian conflict began in Ambon in 1999 and spread rapidly to other areas of
Maluku, including West Seram regency. Thousands of people were killed and
hundreds of thousands of others took refuge after the clashes, which largely subsided
in 2002.
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