Security business booms in terror era

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

As the Idul Fitri holiday came to an end, Taryana ordered his wife to quit her job attending customers at a bookshop. Taryana, who earlier ran a small food stall attached to his house, no longer wanted his wife shouldering the family burden as he had just got a very promising job: as a security guard in a large mall in Bandung. Soon after he took the job last month, his wife abandoned the bookshop and is now focused full-time on taking care of their two children.

Taryana, 35, was one of a group of seven men hired by a mall in Bandung last month after the group won a tender run by the mall management. The group was chosen to back up existing security guards because they possessed skills in martial arts. Taryana said the additional security guards were needed because the building management was increasing concerned about security threats since the Bali bombings of Oct. 1.

Iskandarsyah Berian, a director with a security guard provider company, confirmed the increasing demand for security guards following the last Bali bombings.

In the past month, demand has been increasing, said Iskandar, president director of BodyGuard Security Service (BOSS). Normally, the firm got less than 10 clients a month, but in the past month alone, it got 13 clients, with most signing one year contracts, said Iskandar. The clients were mostly owners of office buildings, night spots, malls and hotels.

The Bandung-based firm acquired a security providers license from National Police Headquarters on February 22, 2001. For safeguarding a building, the company charges clients Rp 1.25 million (US$125) a month per security guard, while for safeguarding a person it charges Rp 2.5 million a month per security guard. The tariff can be much higher, depending on the person or the type of the building. "We normally deploy 10 guards in malls, but four are enough for hotels or office buildings. However, whether we deploy more or less people, it depends on the agreement with the client," said Iskandar.

The security guards have skills in martial arts including Wushu, Kick Boxing and traditional pencat silat, with the training being provided by the firm. Iskandar said the firm also ran contra terror training to improve services to clients.

"The intensive training distinguishes our employees from the common security guard," said Iskandar.

In the contra terror training program run by the police over three months, security guards are provided with skills to detect bombs and incapacitate terrorists. In day-to-day operations, the security guards are also equipped with metal detectors, walkie- talkies and handcuffs. The company now has 300 employees and they have been deployed in various malls, hotels and night spots in various cities, including Bandung, Jakarta and Yogyakarta.

Although Bandung is relatively safe from terror attacks, the security threat in the city can not be ignored. Last year, a large fire cracker exploded in front of Bandung Super Mall that was packed with people. Four years earlier, a bomb went off in a Bandung church, the first bomb to explode in the string of bomb attacks on Christmas night targeting churches across the nation. Last but not least, top terror suspects Azahari and Noordin M. Top reportedly wandered around Bandung last year. Azahari was killed in a police raid in Malang, East Java, but his compatriot Noordin is still at large.