Poso buses restricted to daylight

Poso buses restricted to daylight

PALU, Central Sulawesi: Head of local transportation office
Moehammad Soeseba has told all bus companies not to operate in
volatile Poso regency after 5 p.m.

"The instruction is issued for the sake of people's safety,"
he said on Tuesday.

Soeseba added that the policy did not necessarily mean that
the situation in Palu was unsafe. It was only a preventive
action, he added.

"Based on our past experiences, security disturbances often
change from time to time. It will be better to be safe than
sorry," Soeseba said.

He disclosed that there were joint patrols by National Police
and the Indonesian Military (TNI) officials at several
checkpoints.

But, if the criminals or religious militants stopped the bus
between the checkpoints at night, it would be difficult to
anticipate, he added.

Poso has been wracked by Muslim-Christian conflict over three
years. A fragile peace is in place now, since the announced
disbandment of the Laskar Jihad, which was fomenting much of the
violence there including several bus bombings. -- Antara