There have been numerous reports of looting in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu and surrounding areas after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck last Friday, and it appears that the looters took much more than basic necessities.
In a press release issued this morning, the National Police’s Head of Public Relations Dedi Prasetyo said local police have arrested 45 looters so far in Palu.
“The suspects number 45 people from five different locations,” Dedi said in the release, as picked up by CNN Indonesia.
Dedi added that 28 of the 45 were caught looting in a mall, while seven others raided an ATM center. Among the stolen goods that the police confiscated include a BNI ATM machine, motorcycle, LCD monitors, printers, ACs, microphones, as well as sacks of shoes and clothes.
The 45 suspects were each charged with theft under Article 363 of the KUHP (criminal code), a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Several supermarkets and convenience stores have reportedly been targeted by looters in the city, some of which have since been guarded by military personnel.
One possible reason as to why looting has been reportedly widespread in the disaster zones was a possibly misinterpreted government announcement made right after the earthquake and tsunami purportedly saying that locals are free to take goods in supermarkets and convenience stores and that the government will pay for them later. Home Affairs Minister Tjahjo Kumolo on Sunday clarified that information, saying that the government’s actual intention was to purchase goods from retailers and then distribute them to locals for free.
But by Monday, the government, through Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto, decided to allow locals to take goods from retailers for free after all and that the government will pay for them later. He said this measure is “better than wild looting.”
PT Midi Utama Indonesia, the company behind the Alfamidi convenience store chain, estimated to have made losses of up to IDR27 billion (US$1.8 million) from their 41 stores and one warehouse in Palu as of Monday.
The cities of Palu and Donggala in Central Sulawesi, as well as the surrounding areas, were devastated by both a massive 7.5 earthquake and a 3-meter tall tsunami that struck on Friday. The latest official death toll is 925 but that number is expected to rise significantly.
If you’d like to help the victims of the disaster, you can make donations through this list of trustworthy charities.
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