Demand for security equipment on the rise

Arif T. Syam, Contributor, Jakarta

Not long ago, the Australian government of John Howard issued another travel warning to its citizens, listing a number of countries, including -- once again -- Indonesia, to be avoided.

With several bomb tragedies taking place in Indonesia during the past several years, the recent travel warning was not a surprise. The United States has frequently made similar appeals.

From the bombings in Bali in October 2002, the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta in August, 2003, the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in September last year, to the latest blasts in Bali, foreigners, particularly Americans and Australians, were clearly the prime target.

So it is quite understandable that the U.S. and Australian governments were concerned about terrorist threats in Indonesia.

Nonetheless, Americans and Australians keep coming to Indonesia, notably Bali. "Which country in the world is now safe from threats or bombings by terrorists?," an Australian tourist told a TV station recently when he was asked about the reasons why many tourists ignored the travel warning.

It's logical, then. Even America, with its sophisticated intelligence and security systems, could still be penetrated by terrorists when both towers of the World Trade Center in September 2001 were totally destroyed by terrorist attacks. If a nation the caliber of America's cab be caught unaware, what chance do countries like Indonesia have?

It does not mean that we have no way of preventing acts of terror in Indonesia. Security equipment of every degree of sophistication and from numerous countries can now be easily found in the country's major security equipment stores.

Datascrip Indonesia and Axindo Humaperdana are among the hundreds of companies operating as security apparatus distributors in Indonesia.

Datascrip supplies CCTV equipment, fingerprint instruments and lately, wireless alarms. Axindo is a provider of electronic security system services with various devices that are imported from all over the globe.

The series of terror attacks over the past several years has contributed to a significant increase in the demand for security tools, especially for office buildings, apartments, hotels and shopping malls.

In addition to the growing concerns over the terrorist threats, the surge in demand for security equipment has also been due to the government's appeals.

No less than Jakarta governor Sutiyoso instructed that all hotels and office buildings in the city equip their properties with adequate security equipment, following the bomb attack in front of the JW Hotel Marriott. He even issued specifications of standard security gadgets that have to be provided by hotels and office buildings.

The standard specifications concern metal detectors (mobile and entrance sensors) and CCTV (for installation in strategic places). And at present, almost no office buildings or hotels in the city are without these security devices.

Marketing Manager of Secure Datascrip Indonesia Yenni Suhartanto said that the demand for security equipment, especially fingerprint, CCTV and wireless alarm equipment, had showed a sharp growth in recent years.

Yenni even expressed optimism that in 2006, the growth of the Datascrip's security tool sales would even bigger thanks to the recent launching of a new wireless alarm system.

"I'm optimistic that the new wireless alarm system will sell well and jack up the company's total sales," she added.

Like Yenni, operations manager of Axindo Humaperdana, Christian Tarigan, acknowledged that there had been a significant increase in the sales of his company's security equipment in the past few years.

Christian explained that most business establishments were now already aware of the need for security devices. Both Christian and Yenni recognized the need to educate society on the importance of security equipment to support security conditions as a whole.

Both Yenni and Christian noted that although there was an improvement in people's awareness to the need for security protection, most Indonesians still regarded security tools as second priority.

"Generally, Indonesians will think of the importance of security equipment only after a disaster has happened," Yenni said.

The Indonesian public is indeed accustomed to anything instant or quick yielding. Therefore, for security equipment distributors, educating the public on the importance of security devices would play an important factor for their future growth.