Jakarta police identify high-risk zones

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police have identified certain areas and streets that have the potential for clashes and traffic congestion during the official outdoor campaign period starting on March 26.

Such areas include Jl. Mampang Prapatan in South Jakarta, Jl. Salemba Raya and Jl. Matraman Dalam in Central Jakarta.

Other conflict-prone areas are Jl. Daan Mogot in West Jakarta, the Pulogadung area and Jl. Raya Bogor in East Jakarta, Jl. Yos Sudarso in North Jakarta, Jl. Margonda Raya in Depok and Jl. Imam Bonjol in Tangerang.

These areas have the potential for clashes and traffic jams as they are close to congested residential areas.

A number of clashes have occurred to date, including an attack by university students on Golkar Party supporters passing by the university campus on their way to an indoor rally on March 17.

Another incident occurred when some students burned the flags of three major parties on their campus. The flag burning did not lead to any clashes but the police detained University of Indonesia freshman Edward Noya and charged him with destruction of property.

Despite the peaceful campaign over the last two weeks, the police say they will still beef up security for the outdoor campaign period, which runs until April 1, in order to preempt any clashes, particularly in the high-risk areas that had been identified.

"We will heighten security measures if necessary ... of course, during the outdoor campaign phase, we will be faced with larger crowds," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said on Wednesday.

The force had deployed 4,000 officers to provide security during the indoor campaign phase, which kicked off on March 11. Additional personnel have been deployed all over Jakarta, Depok, Bekasi and Tangerang.