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Security increased as many houses left empty for holidays
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A security officer at a residential complex in Palmerah, West Jakarta, stands guard on Tuesday. (JP/Ivany Atina Arbi)
H
ouses left empty during the Idul Fitri holiday period are a big concern for their owners, as the unoccupied properties make an easy target for thieves.
To prevent such crime, many house owners in Greater Jakarta employ people to guard their home while they are out of town for several days.
Hafsah Hannan, a mother of two living in Palmerah in West Jakarta, said she was planning to go to Bogor in West Java for three days after Idul Fitri this year. She had asked an acquaintance of hers to watch over her house.
“I usually ask Joko, a friend of my husbands who lives nearby, to guard my house when we leave for a long trip. He often sleeps at my house at night just to make sure that it is safe from theft,” Hafsah said in Palmerah on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, for Merry Wati, 42, leaving her house empty for several days during the Idul Fitri holiday means she needs to report to the security officers of her housing complex in Pamulang, Tangerang.
“Every time my family and I go to our hometown in West Sumatra for Idul Fitri, I entrust the house to the security guards of our housing complex,” Merry told The Jakarta Post recently, adding that she would stay in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, for about two weeks over Idul Fitri this year.
Jakarta Police have geared up for increased crime, including theft on empty houses and terrorist attacks, during the holy month of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri in Jakarta, the capital city of the country with the largest Muslim population, by deploying hundreds of officers to tighten security.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Awi Setiono said Tuesday via phone that the police had registered people leaving their houses empty during the Idul Fitri holidays and would increase the number of personnel in areas where many houses were left vacant.
Meanwhile, Nurdiansyah, a security guard at a residential complex of some 43 homes in Palmerah, told the Post that he and his two partners had also tightened security at unoccupied houses by checking on the properties every two hours.
“We are more alert when families entrust their empty houses to be guarded by us, so we conduct regular inspections on every house left empty,” Nurdiansyah said, adding that almost half of the house owners in the residence complex had left their homes for the holidays this year. (vny/dmr)
