Jakarta Garrison has new chief of staff

JAKARTA (JP): Brig. Gen. Achmad Yahya was installed yesterday as the new chief of staff of the Jakarta Garrison, replacing Maj. Gen. Adam R. Damiri.

The ceremony was led by Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin at the Jakarta Garrison Command headquarters on Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur, Central Jakarta.

Sjafrie said after the ceremony that Armed Forces personnel deployed to safeguard the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) held earlier this month are being withdrawn in stages.

He said 25,000 personnel were deployed, including 16,500 fully armed police officers. The servicemen will return to their units in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

"The withdrawal will be completed on June 30," he said.

The MPR General Session, held from March 1 to March 11, reelected President Soeharto and appointed B.J. Habibie Vice President for the 1998/2003 term.

Sjafrie also said that 300 additional personnel from the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) would be sent back to their headquarters in West Java.

Adam Damiri has been promoted to Commander of the Strategic Reserve Command, replacing Maj. Gen. Sang Nyoman Swisma, who has taken over the Tanjung Pura Military Command which oversees Kalimantan.

Yahya is a 1971 graduate from the Military Academy and his predecessor, Adam, graduated in 1972.

At the ceremony Sjafrie also installed Lt. Col. I Nyoman Wangsawan, the former commander of Diponegoro Military Police which oversees Central Java, as the new Commander of Military Police in the Jakarta Garrison.

He replaces Lt. Col. S. Jiwa Praja who has been appointed Deputy Commander of Brawijaya Military Police Command, which oversees East Java. (09)