Operation to continue without police backup

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso said he had ordered Jakarta's five mayors to carry on with the planned public order operation in the city despite inadequate back up from the police.

"I told the mayors to be independent and not to rely on other institutions in upholding public order," he told The Jakarta Post at City Hall on Wednesday.

"We can't restore public order in the city if we wait for the back up to arrive. We'll do the operation with all the personnel we have," he said, when commenting on the mayors' complaints at a meeting to evaluate the operation earlier in the morning.

In their reports, the mayors said their public order operations were hampered without the presence of adequate numbers of police officers despite a pledge of support aired by their commanders earlier.

It was reported that police officers were reluctant to move their personnel because there were no agreements reached on the financial matters of the operation during a recent leadership- level meeting.

"Actually, it's police responsibility to finance the officers as it's their duties to safeguard the city," Sutiyoso said.

"City administration, however, will always provide additional budget to support the personnel, such as their dinner and supper during late night operations," he added.

At the recent leadership-level meeting, security-related institutions pledged a commitment to support the operation.

"I have to admit that establishing coordination with the agencies isn't such an easy task," Sutiyoso admitted.

No police officers showed up at the meeting while the military was represented by Col. Tri Tamtomo, commander of Wijayakrama Military Resort overseeing the western part of Jakarta and Tangerang. According to the schedule, the Jakarta Police should have been represented by chief of Police Operations Command Sr. Supt. Nono Suprijono.

Commenting on Nono's absence, Sutiyoso said he had no idea why the senior superintendent was missing.

"I'll have to call City Police chief Insp. Gen. Nurfaizi first on the absence of his representative here," he said.

The military, Sutiyoso added, is standing by to provide additional reinforcement at critical stages.

Interviewed after the evaluation meeting, deputy governor for administration affairs Abdul Kahfi said the city administration was preparing a special use of the 2000 City Budget to finance the operation.

"We have listed that there are security-related budget items worth some Rp 23 billion (US$2.4 million) in the budget. We can use and consolidate these items to finance the operation," he told reporters at a media conference. (nvn)