Drizzling Monas Area, Mass Of April 21st Demonstration Hasn't Been Seen

The atmosphere of the Jakarta Monas area before the April 21 Demo/ Photo: Diah/VOI

JAKARTA - The National Monument and State Palace area, Central Jakarta, became one of the locations for student and labor demonstrations today, Thursday, April 21.

Based on the notification received by Polda Metro Jaya, the participants of the action will arrive at the location at 10.00 WIB. However, as of 11.20 WIB, there was no mass present. The road access from the Horse Statue area to the State Palace has not been closed.

Meanwhile, the drizzle still covered the Monas area, after the rain that had fallen since this morning. Some motorcyclists wore raincoats to protect them from getting wet, others broke through the drizzle and left their clothes damp.

On Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Medan Merdeka Utara, Medan Merdeka Selatan, to MH Thamrin, the traffic was quite heavy but not creeping.

Police officers have been on standby since morning. Water cannons and barracudas have also been parked near the location of the action. Barbed wire has also been placed on the side of the road to later be stretched to close access to the State Palace.

A total of 9,915 joint TNI-Polri officers were deployed to guard student and labor demonstrations in the National Palace or Monas and DPR RI areas today. It is estimated that today's demonstration will number between 800 and 1,200 people. This estimate is calculated based on seven notices of action received by Polda Metro Jaya.

During today's action, Polda Metro Jaya will filter the participants in the action. This filtering aims to detect crowds and prevent intruders from joining the elements of the marchers.

Later, mass groups who will go to the location of the action will be asked to show a letter of notification of demonstration activities, before finally being allowed to enter the location of their gathering point.q

For information, the University of Indonesia Student Executive Board (BEM UI) and the Indonesian Student Alliance (AMI) plan to hold a demonstration today.

Polda Metro Jaya will implement a traffic scheme during student demonstrations in the State Palace and DPR/MPR areas. Under the scheme, several roads were closed.