Embassies ask for extra security

Embassies ask for extra security

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The day after a bomb exploded outside the Australian Embassy on
Jl. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta, the Jakarta Police
have been inundated with calls from embassies requesting
assistance in securing their premises.

However, in general, the city was quiet on Friday, which also
may have had something to do with the long weekend coming up.

"Almost all embassies have requested our assistance in
securing their premises," the city police director of vital
security, Sr. Comr. Johnny R. Hutajulu, told The Jakarta Post on
Friday. "It was completely expected and a normal reaction."

Most embassies belonging to European countries have asked the
police to increase patrols around their premises as an extra
precaution.

"It would be a burden for those embassies if we stationed our
officers there because they would have to provide a post and some
standard logistics," Hutajulu said.

Following the explosion, there was little activity at
embassies along Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman.

The German Embassy on Jl. Thamrin had closed off the slow lane
running in front of the building.

Several star-rated hotels in the capital have also beefed up
security, particularly at their entrances.

The Sahid Hotel on Jl. Sudirman reinstalled a metal detector
gate in its lobby entrance. It originally installed the metal
detector soon after the Marriott hotel bombing on Aug. 5, 2003,
which claimed the lives of 12 people and injured 147 others.

The Da Vinci Tower apartments on Jl. Sudirman also installed a
metal detector gate in its lobby entrance.

The area around the Australian Embassy itself was crowded with
people wanting to get a look at the bomb site.

With the road in front of the embassy cordoned off, traffic in
the area was backed up all day.

People crowded along the median strip in front of the embassy,
peering through the gaps between wooden planks covering the
scene. Some of the onlookers took pictures with mobile phone
cameras, digital cameras and video cameras.

Vehicles passing along the road also slowed down as passengers
tried to get a glimpse of the bomb site.

Traffic police officers stationed at the scene were busy
shouting through megaphones, ordering passersby and drivers to
move on.

"Please, Bapak in the black car, move on, don't stop there," a
traffic police officer shouted.

In a tent erected by state electricity company PT PLN near the
blast site, people came to pay their condolences and write
messages in books located in the tent.

Tap water operator Palyja announced it was repairing the water
pipes damaged in the explosion, and that areas along Jl. Rasuna
Said and Jl. Supomo would be affected.

The Glodok and Mangga Dua electronics centers in West Jakarta
have been quiet since the bombing.

"The number of customers has dropped since yesterday, but so
far our prices are the same," said Athung, a vendor in Harco
Glodok, as quoted by Antara.