Police put on high alert for Idul Fitri holidays

Nana Rukmana , The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

Thousands of police are to be deployed along the busy northern coastal highway area of Java to ensure a safe holiday season and guard against possible terrorist attacks around the Idul Fitri celebrations.

The extra 3,000 police, including police marksmen and bomb squad officers, would come from five regions in West Java, police said.

The officers would secure the roads for people returning home before the Idul Fitri holidays and safeguard vital facilities in the area, including oil stations and power plants.

"We have been instructed by the chief of West Java police, Insp. Gen. Edy Darnadi, to stay alert during the Ramadhan holidays and make sure the holiday goes ahead without incident," Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Muktiono said.

No police would be allowed to take leave this Ramadhan, he said.

The officers would work in shifts and some would be deployed in police outposts along the highway, which runs through five different regions.

Others, including marksmen and plainclothes officers, would move around the regions.

PT Pertamina's Balongan Oil Refinery in Indramayu, buildings belong to cigarette maker PT British American Tobacco and the PT Gas Indonesia plant would all be tightly guarded.

Police would also watch several areas deemed to be crime spots along the highway.

The security measures would begin on Nov. 4 and end on Christmas Day.

Separately, in Denpasar, Bali, a official said on Tuesday the government would station vehicle weighing stations and mobile medical clinics on roads around the island to ensure tourists were safe.

Transportation office head IGN Winaya said the weighing stations would test public buses and minivans to ensure they were not overloaded during the holiday period.

The clinics and stations would operate between Nov. 8 and Nov. 23, Winaya said, as quoted by Antara.