City to allow thicker walls at embassies

City to allow thicker walls at embassies

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A week after the bombing outside the Australian Embassy, Governor
Sutiyoso will allow at least three embassies in the city to build
thick outer walls as an effort to heighten security -- but he
stressed these structures would only be temporary.

The call for stronger walls was made during a meeting between
Sutiyoso and American Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce, British
Ambassador Charles Humphrey and Australian Ambassador David
Ritchie on Wednesday at the governor's residence in Menteng,
Central Jakarta.

"We should allow them to build the strong walls. We must do
our utmost to make them feel safe here," Sutiyoso said at City
Hall.

"We have learned from the recent bomb attack outside the
Australian Embassy last week that the embassy's iron fence and
strong wall managed to protect the building from major damage,"
he said.

The large bomb shattered windows at nearby high-rise buildings
in a 300-meter radius around the embassy. However, the blast only
dented the embassy's meter-high concrete wall, while it caused
more damage to about 2.5 meters of its outer iron fence. The
embassy's windows, which were coated with a bomb-proof substance,
only received minor damage.

However, Sutiyoso said the embassies would only be temporarily
allowed to erect the thick outer walls.

"It (the policy) is only temporary... When the situation here
has become safer, the walls must be taken down," he said.

The wall would contravene Bylaw No. 11/1988 on city public
order, which allows outer walls with a maximum height of 1.5
meters.

Sutiyoso said ambassadors in the city were also looking into
the possibility of moving their embassies to safer places. "They
will consult with their respective security authorities first."

The U.S. Embassy press attache Max Kwak confirmed the meeting
but declined to make any comment.

"I suggest you to talk to the governor's office about the
issue," he told The Jakarta Post.

Later on Wednesday, Sutiyoso also met with municipal and
regional officials from Tangerang, Bekasi, Depok and Bogor in
Greater Jakarta along with representatives from West Java and
Banten. The meeting discussed necessary security measures to
prevent more acts of terror.

Bogor Deputy Mayor HM Sahid said his administration would
intensify its monitoring of rented houses in Bogor.

"Jakarta has been tightening its monitoring of rented and
boarding houses in the aftermath of the bombing. We assume that
the bombing suspects will hide in less-monitored areas on the
capital's outskirts," he said.

Police have named three suspects -- Akbar, Kobra and Sudadi --
in the bombing that killed at least nine people and injured more
than 180 victims. Police believe Malaysian suspects, Azahari bin
Husin and Noordin M. Top, masterminded the bombing.