Authorities can't find runway lamps

Authorities can't find runway lamps

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

While airport runway lights are crucial to passenger safety, it
has taken about three weeks for the authorities at Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport to discover that some 160 bulbs from the
Terminal I runway had been stolen.

One ton of steel wire was also missing, an airport official
said.

"The theft of the runway guiding lamps and the wire took
place some time after Sept. 27 ... it was just discovered this
week," Basuki, the airport security chief who is heading the
investigation into the thefts, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

As there are thousands of lamps along the runway, it was not
so easy to see that some -- at random locations -- were not
light, he argued.

Despite the fact that no incidents had been caused by the
missing lamps, Basuki admitted that there was a heightened risk
for planes landing at night.

The police have named four suspects in the theft. One of them
is an airport technical maintenance employee, while the other
three are employees of a contractor hired by the airport
operator, PT Angkasa Pura II, to carry out engineering work on
the runway. The work has been underway since Sept. 27.

"The theft must have been carried out during working hours
with the help of an airport official who is authorized to enter
restricted areas," Basuki surmised.

Airport Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Tejo Subagio confirmed
that the police had just detained two suspects over the theft,
but declined to disclose their identities.

"We don't want to warn off possible suspects by revealing the
suspects' identities now," he said.

PT Angkasa Pura II has been responsible for guarding all vital
installations and equipment at the airport since it was opened in
1985.

Even police officers need special permission to enter
restricted areas.

The police are only responsible for providing security in
public areas at the airport.

To ensure security during the Idul Fitri exodus, which usually
starts seven days before the holiday, which falls on Nov. 3 and
Nov. 4 this year, the Airport Police are preparing 265 officers,
as well as dog police and a bomb squad.

The police have also established security posts in the two
main terminals to improve passenger surveillance, Tejo said.