Hotels must report guests to police

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police are requiring all hotels across the capital to report the identities of their guests to police as soon as they check in.

"We already require newcomers in all neighborhoods to report within 24 hours of their arrival. Now, we want hotels to report their guests' identities to us," city police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Wednesday.

Firman said the requirement was one of the security measures adopted following reports that terrorists may launch fresh attacks in the capital to avenge the killing of top terrorist suspect Azahari bin Husin last month.

Earlier, Jakarta Police issued a circular requiring all newcomers here to report their presence to the neighborhood chief or nearest police station within 24 hours.

General Crimes Unit chief at the city police, Sr. Comr. Moh. Jaelani, said many hotels were still reluctant to ask their guests to show identity cards or passports, even though this was required by the regulations.

"We will go around hotels in Jakarta to check whether they are recording their guests' identities when they check in. We just want to make sure that the capital is secure," Jaelani told The Jakarta Post.

Jaelani said that hotel managements should quickly notify police intelligence when foreign citizens checked into their hotels.

Jakarta has been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks, including one at the JW Marriott Hotel that claimed 12 lives in 2003.

Several foreign embassies, including the U.S., Australian and Canadian Embassies, and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) have warned that terrorists may launch attacks around Christmas and New Year.

Suspected members of Jamaah Islamiyah bombed 11 churches on Christmas Eve in 2000, killing at least 19 people.

City police have deployed around 17,000 officers to guard 2,152 churches and strategic places across the city during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.