Government ups security for public, vital facilities

Government ups security for public, vital facilities

Budianto Hananto, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

In anticipation of further terrorist attacks, the government
has tightened security in all vital and public facilities across
the country while encouraging the public to be vigilant and
inform the police of suspicious behavior.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Sunday that the National Police,
backed up by the Indonesian Military (TNI), had taken the order
to secure the energy plants in particular.

"We have some information that energy plants may be the next
target of terrorists ... We have tightened security in many areas
such as (oil and gas mining in Aceh) Arun, Kalimantan's Total and
for Freeport in Irian Jaya, as well as buildings in major cities
in the country."

Susilo was speaking to reporters before leaving for Jakarta to
hold an official press conference over the bomb blast late on
Saturday in Bali which killed some 200 people and injured more
than 300 others, as well as another blast in Manado, North
Sulawesi, that hit the Philippines consul general's office but
left no fatalities.

The blasts should be a turning point for the people here to
"change their ignorance" of the presence of terrorist groups in
Indonesia, Susilo stated, while adding that the limited
intelligence personnel would be unable to detect other attacks.

"I ask the people to cooperate by submitting any information
on paramilitary-like training in remote places. Nothing is
ordinary about such things. Don't take it as a democratic
activity," Susilo remarked.

The government refused to reveal if it had any leads, and
would wait until the conclusions from the State Intelligence
Agency (BIN) on the bombings, as well as evidence from the sites
of the blasts.

Susilo claimed that the terrorists could be Indonesians or
foreigners, or possibly Indonesians cooperating with foreigners.

He did, however, seem to believe that the Bali blasts were
connected to the 1999 Christmas Eve bombings, the explosions in
Atrium shopping mall, Central Jakarta, the Jakarta Stock Exchange
in Central Jakarta, as well as this year's bomb attack on the
military-owned Graha Cijantung shopping center, but refused to
reveal why he had made such a connection.

Susilo made it clear that the people of Indonesia should fight
against terror out of self-interest and nationalism, while not
necessarily aligning itself ideologically with countries it had
had recent spats with. "We should take action (against
terrorism), not to serve the interests of other countries, but
ours ... to protect our own people from such incidents," he said.

In Bandung, the provincial police were planning to tighten
security at 17 vital facilities, including the main office of
state telecommunications firm PT Telkom, railway stations, bus
terminals, shopping centers, the provincial office of Bank
Indonesia, hotels, worship buildings and entertainment spots.

Bandung police chief Sr. Comr. Hendra Sukmana quoted by Antara
as saying on Sunday that the police also would give special
protection to several prominent facilities in West Java, such as
the oil refinery in Indramayu and the power plants in Suralaya,
Saguling and Cirata.

While in Surabaya, the police force had intensified
intelligence operations in public facilities and the U.S.
consular compound since Sunday night, East Java police's chief of
operational control Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Kusnadi said.

"We also deployed reinforcements to secure public facilities
such as bus terminals and entertainment spots but we will focus
on covert operations for early detection on terrorist attacks as
well as information from the people," he told Antara.