Companies make standby plans ahead of polls

Companies make standby plans ahead of polls

JAKARTA (JP): The trauma of the May riots, in which hundreds
of people were killed and many buildings damaged, has led major
companies to formulate contingency plans ahead of the upcoming
general election.

The plans include improved telephone communications,
stockpiling of food stuffs and medicines and an obligation for
employees to keep a spare change of clothing and other daily
needs at their workplaces.

"We have strengthened our communication systems to enable us
to inform as many employees as possible, should a major riot
erupt," the security manager of IBM World Trade Corporation's
agent PT Usaha Sistim Informasi (USI) Jaya on Jl. Sudirman, Jaya
Yan Poluan, said on Tuesday.

Under the system, security staff were expected to inform all
employees directly, either at their fixed telephone or mobile
telephone numbers, at home or at the office, he said.

Each security officer was assigned to contact a certain number
of employees in case of emergency, he said.

Poluan, also a member of the company's crisis management team,
said the firm had stocked up on essentials.

"Indomie instant noodles and some medicines are (in storage)
here," he said.

Poluan said the company had provided members of the team with
security guidance books.

Cynthia Wirantini, a secretary at chemical substance
manufacturing company PT Petrokimia Nusantara on Jl. Rasuna Said
in South Jakarta, said her company had urged employees to prepare
for any possible crisis during the upcoming polls.

"Employees have been urged to keep spare private articles such
as towels and clothes at the office."

The recommendation was to enable employees to stay at the
office, should an untoward situation arise, she said.

The company has adopted the system used by PT USI Jaya in
which some of its security officers are equipped with lists of
employees' mobile and home phone numbers.

Wulan, a public relations staff member at PT Satelindo, said
her company did not have special provisions, but "we have had a
security agreement with the West Jakarta Military District
Command since July 1996".

Under the agreement, several soldiers are deployed daily to
guard the office on Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta.

Abdul Lukman, another public relations employee of the company
in charge of employee safety, said the company maintained close
communication with the security officers.

"The command's personnel always inform us about the latest
developments via walkie-talkies," he said.

The political situation in the capital is becoming tense as
increasing numbers of party supporters hold street convoys and
rallies. No fatalities have been reported, but the campaigning
has alarmed many Jakartans.

The National Commission on Human Rights reported last May that
at least 1,188 people died in the May 14 riots, with thousands of
shops, vehicles and homes attacked, burned or looted.

Some embassies, however, said they had made no special
preparations for the June 7 polls.

"We've given our citizens advice on security matters here
through our home page. They can also contact us if they need
advice," said Craig J. Stromme, a press attache at the Embassy of
the United States of America on Tuesday.

Ralf Schroer, a staff member at the German Embassy, said the
embassy had issued messages on security matters through both its
home page and travel advice bulletins to about 2,500 German
citizens living in Indonesia. (01)