City to establish center to prevent terrorism
City to establish center to prevent terrorism
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In an effort to prevent further terrorist attacks, the city
administration has set up an intelligence center staffed by
representatives from various institutions.
Established by Gubernatorial Decree No. 2646/2003 dated Aug.
6, the center, known as the Strategic Studies Forum (Forkais),
held its first meeting on Friday at City Hall.
Offices on Jl. Gunung Sahari in Central Jakarta have been
assigned to the intelligence center.
"All institutions that have intelligence units are
participating in the center. All activities undertaken by the
center will be reported to me," Governor Sutiyoso told reporters
after speaking during the inaugural meeting.
Sutiyoso said the forum would serve as a place for
intelligence officers from the relevant institutions to exchange
information and discuss issues connected with their work.
The institutions involved included the city police, the
Jakarta Military Command, the immigration office, the National
Intelligence Agency (BIN), the Air Force and the Navy.
According to Sutiyoso, the forum, chaired by Deputy Governor
Fauzi Bowo, is also aimed at improving coordination among the
institutions.
"It is not easy to gather together the representatives of all
these institutions if there is no forum to facilitate them in
exchanging views and information," said Sutiyoso.
He admitted that the Marriott blast had been the catalyst for
the setting up of the center, which would be funded out of the
2003 city budget.
The bomb blast at the JW Marriott Hotel in Kuningan, South
Jakarta, killed 12 people, including the reputed bomber, Asmar
Latin Sani, and wounded 147 others.
Many have criticized a lack of coordination among police and
intelligence bodies as being the reason they have been unable to
prevent a string of terrorist attacks in recent years.
Sutiyoso said that his decree was issued based on Presidential
Instruction No. 5/2002 on coordination between the institutions
responsible for intelligence activities.
The gubernatorial decree assigned four main functions to the
center, including ensuring coordination between the relevant
agencies, early detection, and analysis of the public order and
security situation.
The intelligence center also had the task of assessing
possible security threats and analyzing their potential impact on
Greater Jakarta.
The center would conduct continuous evaluation on the public
order and security situation and coordinate the work of the
relevant agencies so as to ensure prevention, and quick and
appropriate responses.
Sutiyoso stressed the need for better coordination between the
relevant institutions as so far each institution had tended to
work on its own. Therefore, whatever information they possessed
was rendered less effective in preventing terrorist attacks.
"Prior to this, information could only be exchanged through
official forums. This meant that the necessary responses often
came too late," said Sutiyoso, adding that the forum would hold
regular meetings.
He revealed that the intelligence services had warned the city
to be on full alert for further terrorist attacks in the near
future.
He said the police had received information about plans for
more terrorist attacks in the city.
"Therefore, we should always remain fully alert so that we can
act in a timely fashion to thwart their plans," said Sutiyoso.
Sutiyoso also revealed on Friday that he intended to press
ahead with his plan to seek the help of the military in guarding
the city, saying that manpower constraints meant that the police
needed military support.
He said that he had sent letters to both the Jakarta Military
Command and the Jakarta Police about his intention of involving
the military in maintaining security in the city.
He added that soldiers had already been deployed in a number
of places. He refused to give further details.