Embassies pressed to remove barriers
Embassies pressed to remove barriers
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The city administration has reiterated its calls for the American
and Australian embassies to remove protective barriers erected
outside their premises that are blocking traffic in South and
Central Jakarta.
City secretary Ritola Tasmaya said that there was no reason
why the barriers had to stay on Jl. Rasuna Said and Jl. Medan
Merdeka Selatan. Jakarta Police had advised the embassies that
clearing the barriers would not affect security there.
"There is no need to exaggerate (the danger). Besides causing
severe traffic jams, the presence of the roadblocks and barbed
wire in the middle of the streets tarnishes the image of the city
as it suggests that we are in a permanent state of emergency,"
Ritola said at City Hall.
Jakartans already suffered enough problems commuting in the
city and these extra barriers would only make people resent the
presence of the embassies, he said.
Ritola said that the two embassies had earlier promised to
remove the blocks within specific time frames, something that
embassy officials are disputing.
"The U.S. Embassy had promised three weeks ago to remove the
barrier within a week and now they are two weeks overdue," he
said.
The Australian Embassy, meanwhile, had promised remove the
barriers after it finalized the construction of a bomb-proof wall
in May, Ritola said.
However, both embassies denied they had made such promises.
"We have only ever been able to give an estimate when the road
would be ready to be opened. This has always depended on an
estimate of when the substantial construction and repair work of
the embassy would be finished ... In our discussions and ongoing
consultations with the Jakarta government, we have advised them
that we expect that the road will open in the next couple of
months," Australian Embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth O'Neill told
The Jakarta Post.
O'Neill said the embassy would not open the lane until it
could guarantee the right level of security for all Indonesian
and Australian staff working there despite the police's high
standard of protection.
U.S. Embassy spokesman Max Kwak also denied the embassy had
made any time-specific promises to the administration.
"We have told the government that we were looking forward to
moving the barrier and reopening the lane to traffic at the
earliest opportunity after we and the government have made
suitable arrangements for security at the embassy," he said.
The city administration has sent a letter to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs to help press for the removal of the roadblocks
at the embassies.
Spokesman Yuri Oktavia Thamrin confirmed the ministry had
received the letter and was following it up.