Special forces to be deployed for PON

Special forces to be deployed for PON

JAKARTA (JP): An army special forces team will be among the
4,000 soldiers and police to be deployed to maintain order at the
14th National Games (PON), scheduled for Jakarta from Sept. 9 to
Sept. 20.

The security chief for the Games Organizing Committee, Brig.
Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, said Wednesday that the idea to involve
20 of the elite troops came from Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal
Tandjung.

"It shows that the chief pays full attention to the National
Games," Sjafrie said.

President Soeharto is to open the games at the Senayan
Stadium.

Sjafrie, who is also the Jakarta Military Command chief of
staff, denied criticism that the organizers were engaging too
many military personnel.

"The number is standard. There are 73,000 military personnel
around Jakarta and 4,000 is quite normal for the security job
during PON," he said.

More than 13,000 athletes and officials will come to the
capital city for the 12-day sporting event.

The city police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna said his
personnel would form a quarter of the games security force.

The city police to be involved include mobile brigade squads,
bomb squads and riot squads.

Iman said the city police would also deploy special patrols
around the Senayan Sports Complex.

Iman said the city police have been surveying the sports
venues for days before the event and have guaranteed that there
will be no security problems at the venues.

"We have drawn up a security map in accordance with the real
conditions on the field," Iman said. (yan)