Indonesian protests spread as anger grows over death of motorcycle driver hit by police car
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-30/indonesia-protests-spread-as-anger-grows-over-taxi-rider-death/105715278
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Protests have spread across Indonesia amid anger over the death of a young man hit by a police vehicle at an anti-government rally.
Rallies started earlier this week in Jakarta after reports that MPs were receiving a housing allowance of 50 million rupiah ($4,739) per month to stay in the capital — about 20 times the monthly minimum wage in impoverished areas, and nearly 10 times the minimum wage in the capital.
Protests continued into Thursday, when 600 people were arrested and motorcycle driver Affan Kurniawan was hit by a police car.
Videos circulated on social media showing a black tactical vehicle running over him, sparking significant backlash online.
He later died in hospital.
President Prabowo Subianto urged calm on Friday and promised an investigation into the death of Mr Kurniawan.
But angry Indonesians amassed hours later outside the headquarters of the paramilitary police unit they blame for his death and threw firecrackers.
While hundreds watched on waving Indonesian flags, a group of protesters tried to tear down the gates and successfully pulled a sign from the building’s facade.
As scenes grew increasingly chaotic, there were fires made by burning tyres and cardboard boxes.
.....The week’s protests were the most violent since Mr Prabowo took office in October, and mark an early challenge for the president who has pledged fast, state-driven growth.
But some of his policies, including widespread budget cuts announced this year to fund his flagship free meal programme for school children and a new sovereign wealth fund, have sparked public discontent.
Police shouted through megaphones demanding they stop throwing objects and go home, accusing the crowd of launching rocks and Molotov cocktails.
Protests also spread beyond Jakarta to other major cities in Indonesia, including Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra province.
Hundreds of drivers, many dressed in their signature green and black jackets, hurled objects at the local police headquarters in both cities.
Jakarta police did not respond to AFP’s request for data on arrests in the protests.
Thousands of drivers gathered near the police mobile brigade headquarters in Jakarta on Friday, demanding accountability for Mr Affan’s death, as officers cordoned off a stretch of road nearby.
Police fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse protesters, mostly motorcycle taxi drivers known locally as “ojeks”.
“I joined the protest because I’m very concerned about the death of my fellow driver,” 52-year-old Muzakir told AFP.
“We demand justice for Affan, for the perpetrators who ran him over to be tried as fairly as possible, and to be fired from their institution.”
Authorities are questioning seven officers in connection with the incident, police said.
“We have agreed that the seven suspected violators have been proven to have violated the police ethics codes,” the National Police’s head of internal affairs division Abdul Karim told a press conference.
He said the officers would be detained for further investigation.
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‘Lap of luxury:’ Section 8 covering Arizona rents up to $6,020
https://www.thecentersquare.com/arizona/article_3a65f31d-61ed-478b-a097-937019c81985.html
Excerpt:
Taxpayers are covering rents of up to $6,020 per month in Arizona, leading taxpayer advocates to question the growing duration of federal Section 8 housing choice voucher (HCV) usage.
“Section 8 needs to focus on lifting people out of the trap of poverty, not putting them into the lap of luxury,” said National Taxpayers Union president Pete Sepp in an interview with The Center Square. “It’s unfair to ask taxpayers who can’t afford mortgages or rents of six thousand dollars per month to foot the bill for subsidies amounting to that much.”
HCV recipients remain in the program for an average of 15.1 years — that’s up from an average of 12.4 years in 2000, according to a 2024 federal report.
When asked about a 2026 budget proposal from the Trump administration that would limit Section 8 assistance to two years, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner recounted his meeting with a recipient whose family had been housed by the program for multiple generations.
“She’s 52 years old, she’s been living there since 1973. She’s able-bodied, able-minded. She was raised there. She lived there. Now she’s raising her children there,” said Turner in a video his office posted to X on August 25, recounting a meeting with a multi-generational federal housing recipient. “That’s three generations living on government subsidies that are able bodied, able minded.”
“Time limits are kind of an encouragement, like ‘hey, you can do this,’” continued Turner. “We’re not just telling you to work, we’re going to have workforce training around you, we’re going to have skill training around you to get out of government subsidies, to live a life of self-sustainability.”
While the NYU Furman Center warns the change could push 1.1 million households out of the program, taxpayer advocates say some kind of time limits are necessary to prevent intergenerational dependency on the program.
“Congressional overseers are right to ask a question about whether there needs to be a rational time limit,” Sepp said. “It may not be two years, but it can’t be two or three generations.”
The federally funded Section 8 housing assistance program covers up to 110% of 40th percentile rents in the local area, with recipients’ out-of-pocket costs capped at 30% their aggregate gross income (with an additional 10% if the rental includes utilities). The income can include taxpayer-funded welfare payments.
Once admitted to Section 8, a household may use their vouchers for the program anywhere in the country, with the goal of providing recipients with “greater ability to move into ‘Opportunity Neighborhoods’ with jobs, public transportation, and good schools.”
There are now 4.6 million housing units funded by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, including 2.4 million housing units in the HCV program, which houses 5.3 million Americans.
In Arizona, the HCV program covers rents up to $6,020 per month for six-bedroom homes in the Maricopa County ZIP codes of 85298 and 85331.
Of the three available six or more bedroom homes listed for rent in these ZIP codes on Zillow, all were below the $6,020 payment standard.
In 85298, the sole six-bedroom home is on the market for $3,495 per month, and comes in at 3,266 square feet with its own swimming pool and a three-car garage.
In 85331, both available six-bedroom properties are on the market for $6,000 and are two-acre, horse stable-equipped, multi-structure, luxury compounds.
If a family with the average HCV household income — estimated by HUD to be $18,558 per year, or $1546.5 per month, including other welfare payments — were to rent this home, the household’s out of pocket cost for the home $463.95 per month. This would leave taxpayers on the hook for the other $5,536,05 per month in perpetuity, or until the recipient exits or is removed from the program.
According to Sepp, keeping out-of-pocket costs fixed, while allowing for portability encourages households to seek out the most expensive home they can secure, instead of trying to save taxpayers money, or choosing a home they could more easily afford on their own some day.
By fixing the out of pocket exposure, the program is defeating one of its own purposes of encouraging responsibility in housing — if you’re going to pay the same amount of money, why bother with getting somewhere that costs less?” continued Sepp.
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Coupled with welfare there is no incentive for these people to work. They are living the life on taxpayer money. Intergenerational, where have I heard that before?