Masses Return To The East Jakarta Otista Intersection, Burn Bans And Firecrackers

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the intersection of Jalan Otto Iskandar Dinata (Otista) - Jalan Otista III, Jatinegara District, East Jakarta, Friday (29/8/2025) night. ANTARA/Donny Aditra

JAKARTA The masses consisting of a combination of residents and online motorcycle taxi drivers (online/ojol), again protested at the intersection of Jalan Otto Iskandar Dinata (Otista) - Jalan Otista III, Jatinegara District, East Jakarta (Jaktim).

The demonstrators began to block the road from the direction of Kampung Melayu and Cawang, by burning tires and items right at the crossroads.

The crowd, which is dominated by residents and ojol, even damaged the traffic signs on Jalan Otista III.

Some demonstrators were also seen burning firecrackers and firing fireworks up.

A protester, Dedi (not his real name), admitted that he came to the location because he wanted to participate in the demonstration, in order to demand justice.

"I just want to demand justice for the poor in this country," he said as quoted by ANTARA, Friday, August 29.

Another protester, Agus (not his real name), admitted that he was concerned about the incident that happened to the late Affan Kurniawan.

He considered that the incident that killed fellow ojol drivers should not have happened.

"Security shouldn't have to be like that," said he, who lives around Kampung Melayu.

Meanwhile, until 18.05 WIB, the police have not been seen securing the location of the demonstration.

The location is actually guarded by a number of TNI officers. Meanwhile, the traffic flow was increasingly jammed because it was hampered by a crowd standing at a crossroads.

Earlier on Friday morning, the Jalan Otista area was paralyzed due to the widespread chaos of demonstrators from the Central Jakarta area.

In fact, traffic lights were burned by protesters.

The crowd also closed the road while throwing stones at the security forces, disrupting the flow of vehicles from the direction of Kampung Melayu to Cawang and vice versa.

Chaos broke out as police fired tear gas at the crowd.

It was seen that hundreds of residents, dominated by youths, also threw stones and other objects at the officers.

The action disrupted the flow of traffic around the location and caused long traffic jams.

Two-wheeled and four-wheeled riders who passed were forced to turn around and look for other alternative routes because the road was closed. In fact, Transjakarta buses cannot pass on the road.

Police officers who were on guard at the location at that time immediately carried out security and tried to calm the crowd so that the situation would not get hotter.

At the time of the riots, the police also appealed to people who have no interest in avoiding the area for the sake of smooth traffic and security together.