Muhammad Nursam, Makassar – Being of the view that council members are no longer able to accommodate the aspirations of the people, hundreds of demonstrators that are part of the Makassar Student Alliance (AMM) threw garbage into the courtyard of the South Sulawesi Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) building in Makassar on the afternoon of Thursday March 6.
AMM public relations officer Anwar told Fajar that the action in which garbage was thrown into the DPRD compound was done as a form of disappointment.
They are disappointed because council members are no longer able to be friends who channel the aspirations of the ordinary people. They believe that the council members only go out into the field to conduct blusukan (impromptu visits) when they want to be reelected.
"Throwing garbage into the DPRD grounds, we did this because the DPRD is no longer able to accommodate the aspirations of the ordinary people", asserted Anwar at the location of the rally.
Anwar said that rather that the DPRD having no use whatsoever, he thinks it would be best if it was used as a people's rubbish dump.
"Rather than having no use for the people, yeah, better if it just becomes a people's rubbish dump. So it's more useful", he continued.
Anwar said that during the action they took up the demand that the welfare of the people as a whole could be achieved in Indonesia.
"And, that we reject all forms of regulations produced by the DPR [the House of Representatives] and the government. Because we believe that they are not in line with efforts to [improve] the people's welfare", he asserted.
Anwar said that the main issue they took up along with hundreds of other protesters was the government regulation in lieu of law on the Job Creation Law (Cipta Kerja) that was recently enacted by the DPR.
"That's the main [issue], actually the Cipta Kerja Law is one thing. [The thing at] our action that was most important is the accumulation of anger over the many instances of the government disappointing the people", he said.
The protesters also wrote a number of messages on the banners that they brought including "The world is deceived, the people are deceived". Another message read, "The DPR is no longer the Council of People's Representatives but has become the Council of the People's Traitors". (Muhsin/Fajar)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Buang Sampah di Kantor DPRD, Mahasiswa: Ketimbang Tidak Berguna, Mending Jadi Tempat Sampah Rakyat".]
