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.