125,000 civilians to help safeguard MPR meeting
JAKARTA (JP): The city security authority, short on personnel and weighed down by a mounting workload, has enlisted 125,000 civilians to help safeguard next week's Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman said on Wednesday that members of youth organizations, security guards and civilian defense units would be posted at the MPR/House of Representatives (DPR) complex, strategic sites around the city and other public places.
There was no alternative to meet all the security duties, he said.
"We're facing a shortage of personnel. On one hand, we have to serve the public every day and we could not quit the task," he told reporters after leading a ceremony officially assigning 5,000 officers from the Jakarta Military Command to the Jakarta Police for the duration of the session.
"Besides, we also have to secure the MPR's Special Session to ensure that it will be carried out successfully."
The troops are part of 10,000 personnel from the Marine, Air Force Special Command Unit (Kopaskhas), Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) and Army's Engineer Regiment (Menzikon) who are assigned to reinforce the Jakarta Police ahead of the session.
The first 5,000 were assigned last week.
On Tuesday, Noegroho, who has been appointed chief of the Jakarta Operational Command in charge of security for the city and the MPR session, said 20,000 military and police personnel were deployed to maintain security in the capital.
The civilians have been dispatched since Monday until Nov. 14, the day after the closing of the Special Session.
Their ranks include members of the Nahdlatul Ulama youth organization Ansor, Pemuda Pancasila, Pemuda Panca Marga and Warga Jaya, Noegroho said Wednesday.
He insisted the security authority would not provide them with any weapons.
"We are not even equipping them with bamboo sticks. Imagine how much it would cost to buy the sticks?
"It would be much better if the money could be allocated for the meals of our personnel."
The civilians are allowed to arm themselves with rattan sticks, he added.
"It's like in the neighborhood patrol, where some people carry sticks for protection. It's OK with me."
Civilian groups at the MPR/DPR complex are positioned at various sites.
Carrying one-meter-long rattan sticks, they wear military- style uniforms, with white bands on their upper arms bearing the word "Pamswakarsa" (self-initiative neighborhood security).
"We were asked by the city police to help safeguard the upcoming MPR special session," Wawan, a member of the Warga Jaya civilian group's Penjaringan branch in North Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"They gave us the white bands and these rattan sticks."
Wawan said that they arrived on Wednesday morning and immediately positioned themselves in the rear grounds, about 300 meters from the back entrance.
Umar Antion, secretary of the group, said: "We're ordered to prevent demonstrators from entering the building. If they become violent, we will arrest them and hand them over to the police."
Umar said members of his group were traders or employees.
"If they are employees, they receive dispensation from their office," he said.
The police distribute meals twice a day.
Wawan, another group member, said: "The police also promised to give us money later, but the amount is still under consideration."
Umar said that they had been deployed since last Friday following an orientation at a youth stadium at Sunter Podomoro in North Jakarta and a mass gathering at the Senayan stadium in Central Jakarta on Sunday. (ivy)