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.