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City Hall security strengthened after hoax bomb threat
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Members of Jakarta Police's bomb squad guard City Hall following the bomb threat on Wednesday, July 20. (Kompas.com/Alsadad Rudi)
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fter Wednesday’s bomb threat, security at City Hall is being strengthened, with visitors now having to pass through a metal detector when entering any building in the office complex.
An official said that the system was actually long-standing standard procedure at City Hall.
However, before the police received the threat, visitors were often seen entering freely without passing through any security checks. “I have never been checked by security officers since the first time I entered City Hall,” a regular visitor of the office complex said on Thursday.
Police officers on Wednesday checked all corners of City Hall after the police received a phone call from someone, who claimed to be one of the office’s internal security personnel, saying that he had received a bomb threat.
The police found nothing during their search and later, a City Hall official denied there was a bomb threat.
City Hall Security unit head Sony Cahyadi said on Thursday he would implement the existing security procedures following the bomb threat, although it had turned out to be a hoax.
He said both visitors and employees were required to pass the metal detectors when entering the City Hall complex and each building within it, adding that it was long-standing standard procedure.
“We are requiring civil servants, other employees and visitors to pass through the metal detectors based on the existing procedure. We are not making any changes,” Sony told The Jakarta Post.
Meanwhile, other regular visitors said they felt relieved after the bomb threat was proven to be a hoax. Employees, vendors and visitors arrived on Thursday as if it was a normal day.
“I was frightened when I heard about the bomb threat. Thank God, the threat was only a hoax,” said Harningsing, a food vendor at City hall. (rez/bbn)
