Jakarta beefs up security ahead of summit<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
At least 24,701 personnel from the Jakarta Police, military and
\ncity administration will be deployed to safeguard vital places
\nand public areas in the city ahead of and during the upcoming
\nAsian-African Summit.<\/p>\n
Residents are also advised to check carefully the identities
\nof people who rent houses or rooms in their respective
\nneighborhoods.<\/p>\n
"We specifically call on the owners of rental car companies to
\ncheck the identities of those who rent their cars," Governor
\nSutiyoso said at City Hall after a coordination meeting on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
Jakarta will host the Asian-African Summit on April 22 and
\nApril 23, which will be attended by 56 heads of state. The summit
\nwill move to Bandung on April 24.<\/p>\n
Police investigation into recent bomb attacks in the city
\nshowed that terrorists often used rented homes to prepare their
\nattacks and rented cars to transport bombs.<\/p>\n
"We want to ensure that security remains under control during
\nthe summit. We don't want to miss a thing, including possible
\n(bomb) attacks," he emphasized.<\/p>\n
Owners of shopping malls, entertainment centers and other
\npublic places, which could become the targets of terrorist
\nattacks, are also advised to upgrade their security by deploying
\nmore guards to check incoming visitors.<\/p>\n
Also present at the coordination meeting was Jakarta Police
\nchief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani and Jakarta Military commander Maj.
\nGen. Agustadi Sasongko.<\/p>\n
The joint personnel comprise 10,854 police, 6,388 Army, 1,449
\nAir Force, 610 Navy and 5,400 city public order officers.<\/p>\n
"We will carry out a rehearsal on Apr. 15 in Kemayoran,
\nCentral Jakarta to check the readiness of the personnel,"
\nSutiyoso said.<\/p>\n
According to Firman, the police intelligence division has not
\nyet received any significant information about possible bomb
\nattacks in the capital.<\/p>\n
"There is no report of possible attacks so far. However, we
\nwill still launch a special police operation ahead of the summit
\nfrom Apr. 9 to Apr. 30," Firman said.<\/p>\n
Bomb attacks remain the city's top security concern since
\nMalaysian fugitives Dr. Azahari and Noordin M. Top, believed to
\nbe masterminds of past bombings in the country, are still at
\nlarge. The last bomb attack on the Australian Embassy on Jl.
\nRasuna Said, South Jakarta claimed 11 lives.<\/p>\n
Security personnel are also anticipating other possible
\ndisturbances, including the sabotage of the city's power or food
\nsupplies, mass rallies and traffic jams.<\/p>\n
Some of the personnel will be uniformed but others will wear
\nplainclothes.<\/p>\n
The administration has assigned the City Parks Agency to
\nbeautify roads and median strips in the capital with flowers and
\ntrees.<\/p>\n
"We will also ask street vendors, who are currently occupying
\nroad shoulders on main arteries in the city to tidy up.
\nOtherwise, we will use force to rid them from the roads,"
\nSutiyoso said, adding that each mayor would be in charge of
\noperations in their respective municipalities.<\/p>",
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