Operation to continue without police backup
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)