Embassy security chiefs told Jakarta is now safer to live

JAKARTA (JP): City police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi told the security chiefs of dozens of embassies here on Thursday that the capital is now a safer place to live and is also safe for foreign investment.

"We want to assure the chiefs that the crime rate here is not as high as it was before, and that the city is a safe place to live in... that foreigners are free to come here and invest," City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said after a meeting between city police top brass and the security chiefs.

He said the meeting, held at the city police's operational control center, was done in an effort to help persuade foreign embassies that conditions in the capital were much safer today than they were three years ago.

"Pak Nurfaizi and several other top city police officers informed the security chiefs of foreign embassies that, for instance, the total number of crime incidents had declined from a staggering 20,157 incidents in 1997 to 18,603 in 1999," he said.

"We also invited the security chiefs to ask the police for assistance in any matter concerning security, including updates on conditions in the capital."

Zainuri added that police officers present at the meeting also informed embassy security chiefs of "the minimal non-violence technique," taken up by police officers to deal with street protests, which have become common lately.

Several parts of the city, mainly the National Monument (Monas) area, the House of Representatives/People's Consultative Assembly (DPR/MPR) compound, and Jl. Cendana in the elite Menteng area where former president Soeharto now resides, all in Central Jakarta, have been the popular spots for protesters to express their views.

Demands for better welfare for teachers and factory workers, and serious and thorough prosecution of alleged corruption, collusion and nepotism by Soeharto, his family and cronies, have been the main themes of the protests.

When asked if the security chiefs were informed about the kinds of crimes being committed today -- incidents of vigilantism where people are murdered or burned alive over the theft of a goat, a pair of sandals, or a hen -- Zainuri just laughed.

The security chiefs who attended the meeting, included representatives of Vietnam, Yemen, New Zealand, Austria, Palestine, Iraq, Spain, the United States, Singapore, Laos, England, Russia, Myanmar, Croatia, Malaysia, Turkey, Sudan, Germany, Cambodia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Jordan, Japan, South Africa, Pakistan, Peru, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Sweden, the Philippines, Mexico, Czech Republic, France, Mali, Syria, the European Union, Algeria and the Netherlands. (ylt)