Police launch massive effort for Idul Fitri
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Semarang/Surabaya
The National Police are planning to beef up security this week ahead of the Idul Fitri holiday by deploying more than 33,000 officers across the country to ensure the safety of holidaymakers.
The number of officers deployed for this year's Idul Fitri will be far less than 70,000 reported to have been mobilized in 2004. However, unlike in previous years, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said the police would dispatch 20 helicopters, 30 patrol ships and 560 patrol cars to assist the many stationary officers in the operation.
The security operation is also part of efforts to search for suspects in the latest Bali bomb attacks that killed 23 people on Oct. 1 and two Malaysian fugitives Azahari bin Husin and Noordin M. Top blamed for previous blasts.
Soenarko said most of the extra personnel would be stationed in Java because it had the largest number of Idul Fitri travelers.
Many officers would also be stationed on Java's boarders to closely watch the movement of suspected terrorists, he said.
Soenarko said the security mobilization would focus on all provinces in Java, on Bali and in Lampung, southern Sumatra.
"Apart from ensuring public safety during the holiday, the officers will have the extra job of searching people suspected to be connected with terrorist activities," Soenarko said.
"They will watch out for any suspicious people in their patrol areas as well as guard places and roads in areas highly prone to terrorist activities."
Officers would also be assigned to guard public places such as mosques, bus terminals, railway stations and major highways, he said.
"The National Police chief Gen. Sutanto has ordered us to do the best in securing land, sea and air areas across the country," he said.
Police were also tasked with protecting holidaymakers from possible floods and landslides during their travels to their hometowns around the fasting month.
The extended police operations will begin on Wednesday and continue through Nov. 11, a week after the celebrations of Idul Fitri -- the most important festival on the Islamic calendar.
Over 17 million people are expected to journey to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri, which falls on Nov. 3 and 4, with their families.
The exodus is predicted to start later this week. Many of the holidaymakers usually travel on overcrowded buses, trains, ships and planes.
In Semarang, Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Chaerul Rasjid said he would assign 16,000 officers to secure the province, where an estimated 3.1 million people would be traveling.
He warned the travelers against likely traffic jams along Central Java's north coast road as certain obstacles in nine trouble-spots had not yet been removed.
Meanwhile, Surabaya Police chief Sr. Comr. Sutarman said officers would provide an escort for people traveling with motorcycles to the outskirts of the country's second biggest city.
A similar escort was provided last year.
The escort service was aimed at preventing road accidents and other crimes such as robberies, Sutarman said in Surabaya on Saturday.
More people are expected to travel on motorcycles during this year's Idul Fitri for economic reasons following soaring fuel prices that have forced public buses and minivans to raise their fares.