TNI to leave vital facilities within a year
TNI to leave vital facilities within a year
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is finishing a decree that will
give the Indonesian Military (TNI) one year to leave vital
installations across the country.
During a limited Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Megawati
approved the proposal that would leave security arrangements in
the vital installations to the respective companies.
"The main point of the decree is that security is the
responsibility of the respective owners of the installation and
we expect a transfer of authority (from TNI) within one year,"
interim coordinating minister for political and security affairs
Hari Sabarno said after the meeting.
There are 66 installations categorized as vital across the
country, half of which belong to the energy sector, including
mining sites, oil wells and refineries.
Hari said TNI soldiers could return to the installations only
at the request of the National Police, who will have to deploy
personnel to the installations in the event of security
disturbances.
"We will prioritize security at the installations, because if
anything happens to them it will affect national stability," Hari
said.
The draft decree also requires that the police improve their
capability in maintaining security at the vital installations.
Earlier in the day, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
said the police could not take over the job from the TNI due to a
lack of personnel.
Since the economic crisis in 1997 security problems across the
country have worsened. TNI soldiers were then placed at strategic
sites such as mines, oil refineries and other vital
installations.
United States-based PT Freeport Indonesia admitted last year
to have allocated funds for the TNI to protect company assets and
personnel.
However, last year TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto
requested a withdrawal of all soldiers from the strategic sites,
saying their placement had tainted the image of the TNI. The
request came on the heels of an attack on Freeport employees by
unidentified gunmen, in which two Americans and one Indonesian
were killed.
The proposal was only recently approved by the government.
"The point is that these companies have neglected their
responsibility for security in their own compounds since the
deployment of the TNI soldiers," Endriartono said after the
meeting.
He underlined that the companies should improve the skills of
their security guards.
"It is not the responsibility of the police, nor the TNI. It
is their own responsibility to secure their sites, although the
security forces will still watch out for them," he remarked.
Deputy secretary of the Cabinet Erman Radjagukguk said the
decree would need further discussion as the Cabinet had not yet
clearly defined vital installations.
"But the President has instructed that it should be completed
by next week. Maybe we will be able to issue it on Monday," Erman
told The Jakarta Post.