New Year convoys OK, but no parking

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakartans will still be allowed to participate in convoys along the capital's streets on New Year's Eve, but they will not be allowed to stop or park their cars on the major thoroughfares, Jakarta Police announced on Thursday.

City Police chief of operations Sr. Comr. Oegroseno said that the restriction was to avoid traffic jams along the city's main streets as many Jakartans, especially the young, often participated in convoys to celebrate New Year.

"We will still allow Jakartans to celebrate the New Year but they must comply with the law, including the wearing of helmets and seat belts. Otherwise, we will punish them accordingly," he said.

To intensify their monitoring and to safeguard the capital, as many as 14,000 personnel, including 1,000 traffic police officers, will be deployed.

Oegroseno said that police officers would be concentrated in important locations including hotels, embassies, churches, mosques and other public places in anticipation of possible terror attacks.

"We will be assisted by the military and security guards at these places," he added. "We hope the military will be active in reporting if they detect anything suspicious."

City Police traffic division chief Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo said that 1,000 traffic policemen would be focused on patrolling the major thoroughfares of Jl. Thamrin, Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto as well as public places including the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta and the Ancol Dreamland Park in North Jakarta.