T

he Jakarta administration is calling upon all citizens to help the authorities safeguard Christmas celebrations, which will fall at the end of the week.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said over the weekend that Jakarta residents should help administration officials maintain security and order during the Christmas holidays.

“The Jakarta administration and the people of the city will be cautious against potential security threats — threats that come from those who don’t want to see us live in peace,” Fauzi said.

The governor further said that he had ordered administrative officials at all levels to beef up their guard ahead of the holidays.

Fauzi said that the authorities and citizens should be especially wary of threats against peaceful relations among religions in the capital.

“Law enforcers will be at the front line of safeguarding measures, but the Jakarta people should also contribute to the efforts,” he said.

He asked churches to cooperate with local people on security during the holidays.

Separately on Sunday, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Untung S. Rajab also made a similar call for public participation.

“The police will cooperate with the people: Christians, Muslims — we need to maintain unity,” Untung said.

The police chief was also asking for participation from non-Christian religion-based organizations to help safeguard the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Untung said that the city police would launch a special operation to secure Christmas from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2.

“We have yet to decide how many personnel to deploy, but we will definitely guard churches and public places,” he said.

In April, around 20,000 police officers were deployed to guard houses of worship in Jakarta to secure the Easter holiday period. There are a total of around 1,100 churches across Jakarta.

Untung also urged Jakartans to stay alert, even though there were no indications of any potential terrorist activity.

“The police have yet to detect any potential terrorist threats, but we remain on alert,” he said.

The North Jakarta Police have called upon churches in the municipality to install surveillance cameras in anticipation of any unexpected incidents and also to register the congregation so that it would be easier to identify any strangers.

A bomb squad was deployed to Tampak Siring Indonesia Bethel church (GBI) in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, in October, following a bomb threat to the church phoned in by an unidentified caller. The threat turned out to be a hoax.

The city’s Public Order Agency is set to deploy 1,780 officers to secure the Christmas and New Year’s
celebrations.

The agency will deploy 1,500 officers to guard public places and churches throughout Greater Jakarta, while 280 officers would be assigned to patrol the city between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2.

On Christmas Eve 2000, simultaneous attacks struck more than 25 churches in 11 cities across the archipelago. Jakarta suffered the worst from the attacks, with six churches targeted and three people killed, along with dozens injured.