50,000 civilians to help secure special session
50,000 civilians to help secure special session
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration announced on Thursday
its plan to recruit some 50,000 civilians to help safeguard the
city during the special session of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR), scheduled to begin on Aug. 1.
Speaking after the City's Collective Leadership Meeting at
City Hall, Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said the civilian force
would consist of local residents, including Pendekar Betawi
(martial arts experts indigenous to Jakarta).
Sutiyoso, who was a former Jakarta Military commander, said
the residents would be backed up by 25,000 military and police
officers officially assigned to secure the special session.
He said police have promised to deploy 40,000 officers if the
situation worsens, with the number extending to 100,000 in the
event of a crisis situation.
"So I hope Jakarta residents will not worry about security and
continue their daily activities as normal. Let the security be
handled by the police and the administration," he added.
Sutiyoso also guaranteed the security of foreigners in the
city, hoping that they would not leave because of the special
session.
Most of the civilian security force will comprise of jobless
people and hoodlums, locally known as preman. The city
administration categorizes those people as potmas, or potensi
masyarakat, which literally means the community's potential.
The city's five mayoralties have currently assigned hundreds
of citizens to help public order offices. Wearing official
uniforms and armed with sharp weapons, they recently conducted a
campaign against street vendors and buskers.
Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Yacob, who attended the
meeting, said the police have also assigned 100 sharpshooters,
members of the National Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob), to
safeguard the city prior to the special session.
"The sharpshooters are deployed in 17 key locations throughout
the city, including shopping areas in Glodok, West Jakarta, and
Pasar Baru in Central Jakarta. They commenced their duty as of
yesterday until Aug. 1," Sofjan told reporters.
He said the sharpshooters, who ride motorcycles, are also
equipped with small fire extinguishers to extinguish fires lit by
rioters.
"The sharpshooters are able to ride their motorcycles up
stairs to the third floor of a shopping center when chasing
rioters," Sofjan claimed.
Asked about the possibility of having an expedited special
session, Sutiyoso admitted that he, personally, supported the
possibility.
"The sooner, the better. I don't want to suffer too long," he
said.
He said that waiting for the special session was like a test
of spirit, saying it would not be healthy to conduct such a
stressful test over a long period of time.
However, he insisted that this should no be viewed as a
supporter or opponent of President Abdurrahman Wahid. "We shall
follow the Constitution," he added.
It is almost inevitable that the President will be impeached
during the special session. (jun)