Demanding Road Repairs, Batang Demo Residents To Regency Government: Ojo Mung Tok Office, Dalane Thought Le

Hundreds of residents of Batang Regency held a demonstration demanding the repair of the northern coast road which has now been badly damaged, in Batang, Thursday afternoon (13/2/2025). (ANTARA/Kutnadi)

JAKARTA - The police deployed 150 personnel to escort demonstrations by residents asking the Batang Regency Government (Pemkab) to intervene to repair road damage on the northern coast route.

The demonstrators also demanded compensation for accident victims on the northern coastal road in the Batang area, which had many potholes.

"We received a notification letter from Omah Opositian Wong Batang who will hold a demonstration to the district government. We are just securing the action so that it will be safe and smooth," said Head of Operations Section of the Batang Resort Police Kompol Abdul Fatah in Batang, Thursday, February 13, quoted by Antara.

The demonstration started from Jalan Veteran followed by a longmarc to the Horse Statue and they conveyed several speeches containing demands for repairing the northern coast road. In addition, they also unfurled a number of posters reading such as "Ojo Mung Kantor Tok, Dalane Didimpat Le (Don't just Go to the office, think of Le), "The Government Lacks Sat Set", and "Pay the People to Protect the People".

Action Coordinator Rizal Apriyanto said demonstrations were deliberately carried out so that the Batang Regency Government heard and was sensitive to repairing the northern coast road so as not to add casualties on the highway and provide compensation to the families of the victims who died and those undergoing hospitalization.

"Actually, the improvement of the northern coast road can be repaired by the local government, not fully charged by the central government. In the Batang Regency Government there are funds that are not suspected of disasters so that they can be used to repair the road," he said.

Rizal assessed that the local government was irresponsible and insensitive to the condition of damage to the north coast road which had caused many casualties, both death and treatment at the hospital.

"We hope that the district government will not only lip service or "strengthen" residents in an effort to repair the severe damage to the northern coast road. We demand that everything be repaired and ask for compensation from the district government for residents," he said.