Thousands to guard city over holiday
Damar Harsanto and Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Tangerang
In order to secure the capital during Idul Fitri, police and the military will deploy a total of 15,174 personnel at public places prone to terrorist attacks and crimes.
City Police acting spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Eddy Ihwanto said on Tuesday that the troops would guard shopping centers, malls, bus terminals, railway stations, the airport and the sea port which are expected to be teeming to the gills with travelers.
"The joint operation named Ketupat Jaya 2003 starts on Tuesday and will go until Dec. 3," he said.
The security contingent will comprise 11,449 policemen, 3,125 military soldiers and public order officers and 600 security guards and civilian security guards.
City Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara said the joint operation would also involve regular patrols at housing complexes to secure the vacant houses left by holidaymakers during the Idul Fitri exodus.
An estimated 2.11 million out of 8.3 million Jakartans will leave the city for the holiday, which marks the end of Ramadhan, on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26. Most families begin their holidays a week in advance and stay away from home for up to two weeks thereafter.
"We'll be informing the respective neighborhood unit chiefs to tell the police which houses are vacant," said Makbul.
Besides the annual increase of burglaries at vacant houses, Makbul also warned of an increase in robberies targeting people who are withdrawing money from banks and recommended bank customers ask for a police escort.
Separately, an official at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport operator Angkasa Pura II said 2,000 security personnel would guard the airport compound.
Risman Nuryadin, head of the airport branch of the company, said that they had established four security posts at Terminal I, three at Terminal II and one post at Terminal III for greater monitoring.
He predicted a jump in the number of passengers from the usual 750,000 on average per month. "The number will soar to 125,000 passengers during the peak of holiday season alone, between Nov. 18 and Dec. 3," he told The Jakarta Post.
The airport operator would also open a new gate as alternative access to the airport to help reduce traffic congestion along the toll road heading to the airport and provide buses to pick up passengers should traffic congestion occur, Risman said.
However, he said, many of the 490 monitoring cameras at the airport were broken due to improper maintenance, but he quickly added that there was no money allocated from the budget to replace them.
"We won't replace them in the near future, so we'll be doing regular patrols instead."
Makbul also said the police were still on alert in anticipation of another bomb attack in the city.
He asked the public to help by reporting any strangers residing at boarding houses or rental houses in the city, citing that "they (suspected terrorists) would prefer boarding houses as their hideouts", referring to fugitive terrorist suspects Dr. Azahari, Noordin Mohammad Top and Dulmatin.