Tangerang deploys 600 troops for polls
Tangerang deploys 600 troops for polls
TANGERANG (JP): At least 600 troops and police officers will
be deployed to ensure security during campaigning and voting in
the June 7 poll here, a military official said on Friday.
Tangerang Military District Commander Lt. Col. Meris Wiryadi
said the 400 soldiers and 200 police officers would remain on
duty from May 19, the first day of the campaign, until the
General Assembly of the People's Consultative Assembly in
October.
"I've handed over my 400 personnel to the police," Meris said,
adding that soldiers included in the force were from a cavalry
battalion in Serpong, the Air Force special force, the 203rd
battalion and other units.
Meris said he has asked 17 hospitals in the area to give free
first-aid treatment to wounded supporters of all political
parties contesting the general election.
"There are no funds for health care, therefore we ask that the
17 hospitals do their best to help the public," he said.
Wounded civilians, he said, would first be sent to Tangerang
hospitals, while soldiers would be rushed to the Army's Gatot
Subroto Hospital in Jakarta, a 45-minute drive from Tangerang.
Unlike in many areas, the Tangerang military district has yet
to name places thought to be vulnerable to rioting during the
campaign period and voting day, Meris said.
He said he hoped that political parties would not send large
numbers of their supporters out onto the streets in boisterous
convoys.
He added that his office had no plans to put extra troops on
duty at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport given that no
significant increase in the number of passengers passing through
the airport has been recorded in the run up to campaigning.
"The situation is still normal. But we have placed officers to
monitor the situation at the airport," he added.
Meanwhile, Tangerang Mayor M. Thamrin said on Friday that his
administration planned to conduct a joint campaign with the local
chapters of political parties to try to maintain unity between
their respective sets of supporters.
He said some areas near Jakarta would be vulnerable to
rioting, but said that he had met with local residents in these
areas in an attempt to ensure good relations as the campaign and
polling day draw nearer. (41/jun)