Jakarta urgently needs joint security force

JAKARTA (JP): The city urgently needs a joint security force to handle major disasters, a senior police officer said yesterday.

The recent series of bomb hoaxes at dozens of buildings in the city might one day be a spate of actual devices, Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata said.

"I can't imagine what the outcome would be if there was a big fire in a skyscraper, or if a plane crashed in the heart of the city," he said Monday.

Hamami was addressing a meeting of 350 security managers of state and privately-owned institutions and buildings. He said the presence of such a joint force is among the city's urgent needs.

"We should immediately discuss how to develop a qualified integrated force," the two-star general said, "and not wait until an inferno razes high-rise buildings leading to the loss of many lives and much material damage."

The force, for example, could consist of medical crews, firefighters and police, similar to teams found in many large cities overseas, Hamami said.

In a big fire, for example, medical crews would be expected to be ready to rescue injured victims.

Police would immediately secure the scene for investigation, he said.

Hamami, who has mostly served in Jakarta and East Kalimantan, said the capital is lucky given the relatively few fires the have occurred in high-rise buildings and that there has been only one serious flying accident here.

The latter was the crash of an Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane on Oct. 5, 1991 which slammed into a vocational training center in Condet, East Jakarta.

The 13-year-old, ill-fated plane was carrying 135 troopers and cadets who were taking part in a military parade as part of the Armed Forces celebrations, when it crashed a few minutes after taking off from the Air Force base at Halim Perdanakusuma. All on board and a watchman on the ground died.

Hamami said a similar accident would be quite complicated to handle if it occurred in the center of the city.

Among buildings destroyed by large fires here were the Pasaraya Department Store which experienced two fires in the busy Blok M shopping area in South Jakarta.

Hamami noted that the handling of the fire and ensuing examination took a long time despite the deployment of hundreds of security officers. Preparations for the quick evacuation of possible victims also looked inadequate, he said.

Luckily, no fatalities were reported in either fire. (bsr)