Police upgrade security at Soekarno-Hatta airport
Police upgrade security at Soekarno-Hatta airport
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Fears of another terror attack have prompted city police to upgrade the status of its office at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from a subprecinct to a precinct.
City Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara said on Friday that police had already appointed an acting airport precinct chief and a deputy chief to lead the new precinct.
"The appointed chief is Adj. Sr. Comr. Firman Soetrisno while his deputy chief is Comr. Sri Suari," Makbul told reporters at Jakarta Police Headquarters.
Firman is a son of former vice president Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno.
The new police precinct, Makbul said, would become operational once construction of its building was completed.
"The construction will be carried out by the airport operator Angkasa Pura II and the police will provide the personnel," he said.
He also said police were planning to build houses for the policemen assigned to the precinct on a nearby plot of land in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.
"Building the houses will save much as compared to spending money to transport personnel from Jakarta to Cengkareng everyday," he said.
Security at the airport has become a major concern following a bomb attack at the airport on April 27 in which one woman was severely injured and another eight people injured.
The attack highlighted major security weaknesses, including the fact that most of the security cameras did not work.
The airport is a vital strategic asset.
Police arrested two suspected bombers in Bekasi on Aug. 6.
With the upgraded status, the airport police office has become the tenth police precinct in addition to those in South Jakarta, East Jakarta, Central Jakarta, North Jakarta, West Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang, Depok and Tanjung Priok Port (KPPP).
Each precinct has around 1,200 personnel.
The airport serves an average of 750,000 passengers monthly.
With the celebrations of Idul Fitri on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26, airport management expects passenger numbers to hit 1,250,000 this month.
Around 2,000 personnel from the police, military and airport management have been deployed to secure the airport during the festivities.