KAI and West Java step up security for rail traffic<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung\/Cirebon<\/p>\n
On the eve of the Idul Fitri holiday and Christmas, PT Kereta
\nApi Indonesia (KAI), the state-owned railway company, has
\nlaunched a joint effort with West Java authorities against an
\nincrease of sabotage and vandalism of local railway traffic.<\/p>\n
A team of 264 KAI special police personnel, the provincial
\npolice, the military, local boy scouts and private radio stations
\nhave coordinated to monitor railway traffic from Jakarta to
\nCirebon on a 24-hour basis.<\/p>\n
\"The team will regularly patrol the railway traffic three or
\nfour times everyday to ensure the safety of trains going through
\nthe province,\" Suhartono, a spokesman for KAI, told The Jakarta
\nPost in Cirebon on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Besides conducting a regular patrol, he said, the team would
\nalso make a regular check on areas in the province prone to
\nflooding and landslides.<\/p>\n
\"The operation is launched in line with increasing security
\ndisturbances to the railway traffic over the last two months, and
\nin anticipation against possible sabotage and vandalism on the
\neve the Idul Fitri holiday and Christmas,\" said Suhartono, who
\ndeclined to specify the amount of money used to finance the
\nsecurity operation.<\/p>\n
He predicted that, as in the previous years, millions of
\npeople from Jakarta, Sumatra and the province are expected to use
\nthe rail transportation to go home to Central and East Java and
\nBali to celebrate Idul Fitri which falls on Dec. 15 and Dec. 16.<\/p>\n
\"We want to make sure the safety of the railway traffic at
\nleast seven days before and after the Idul Fitri,\" he said,
\nadding that the operation is also aimed at winning people's
\nconfidence in KAI following a series of train accidents in the
\nlast three months.<\/p>\n
Suhartono predicted sabotages and vandalism will increase this
\nmonth, following the explosion of a handmade bomb on a rail track
\nbetween Cikampek and Tandjung Rasa in Karawang regency last
\nMonday during the beginning of the exodus of people from Jakarta
\nto Central and East Java.<\/p>\n
The exodus was expected to reach its climax seven days before
\nIdul Fitri and Christmas.<\/p>\n
Therefore, KAI has drafted eight special mobile carriages
\nalong the railway to handle any disruption and vandalism of
\npassing trains. The special cars are available for contacts
\nthrough 34 small and big stations in the province.<\/p>\n
The special cars contain necessary equipment for repair works
\nto rail tracks damaged by sabotage, vandalism and natural
\ndisasters.<\/p>\n
KAI has identified a number of problem points.<\/p>\n
Babakan-Losari line is prone to track thefts
\n Luwung-Cileduk line is prone to flood and wire thefts
\n Cikampek-Cirebon line is prone to sabotages and vandalism<\/p>\n
Brig. Gen. Dedi S. Komarudin, deputy chief of the West Java
\nProvincial Police, hailed the joint operation, saying security
\nforces would give more serious attention to the railway traffic,
\nalong with public areas such as worship places, bus terminals and
\nshopping centers.<\/p>\n
\"This step is in taking after learning from a series of
\nexplosions in Bandung last Christmas,\" he said, after attending a
\ncoordination meeting with Governor R. Nuriana and other
\nauthorities in the city on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
He said police have deployed 15,000 personnel who were backed
\nup by 8,000 personnel from the local military to step up security
\nin the province along this month.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kai-and-west-java-step-up-security-for-rail-traffic-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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