Nusa Dua, Bali. The UN Department of Safety and Security over the weekend said some hotels in Bali still had security weaknesses that should be addressed to prevent possible terrorist attacks.
The department’s representative in Indonesia, George Matie, said some security personnel at hotels on the island continued to have trouble implementing technical security measures, such as checking guest identities or vehicles used by guests. He said there were also front-office workers and housekeeping staff members who were not really sensitive, or even apathetic, about guest activities.
Speaking at a workshop on Saturday on training to anticipate terrorist threats, Matie said knowledge about terrorism prevention was important because the threats always changed and were difficult to detect.
“The Al Qaeda network, for example, no longer uses many people to carry out a terrorist attack, but just one or two people. They are also not always bearded and wearing turbans,” he said.
Matie gave the participants tips for hotel security based on his department’s standard operating procedures. He said staff members should be aware of people making observations around the hotel, and that they should ask questions if a person seemed to be testing the security system.
The Bali Police’s chief of intelligence and security, Adjutant Chief Comr. Dekananto, who attended the workshop, urged hotel management to make sure information on workers was complete, including fingerprint identification if necessary.
“Every hotel should also be equipped with CCTV and have dogs for detecting anything suspicious,” he said.
Perry Markus, the Bali secretary general of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), said regulations existed to sanction hotels that did not have sufficient security systems.
“We ask security teams to report if their hotel management does not pay attention to security in their area of the hotel,” he said.
The workshop followed the discovery of a new armed group linked to the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah training in the mountains of Aceh.
Bali has been the target of two deadly terrorist attacks by JI. On Oct. 12, 2002, three bomb explosions in Kuta killed 202 people, 152 of whom were foreigners. On Oct. 1, 2005, another series of bombings in Jimbaran and Kuta killed 20 people.
Though none of the attacks in Bali have targeted hotels, JI has been known to do so elsewhere. Last July 17, the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta were hit by two bomb blasts, five minutes apart.
The National Police said on Thursday that the JI-linked group in Aceh had surveyed several targets it planned to attack, including the UN office in Aceh as well as police stations and army posts across the province.
On Friday, a spokesman for the UN said it had issued a temporary travel ban for foreign staff to Aceh because of police operations there against Islamist militants.
The travel restriction does not apply to Indonesian staff and will stay in place until the situation has stabilized, UN spokesman Michele Zaccheo told The Associated Press. Foreign staff already based in Aceh have not been told to leave but additional UN workers will not be allowed to travel there, Zaccheo said.
“This is a temporary security measure while National Police operations are ongoing, and it is currently limited to travel by international staff,’’ he said.
UN personnel working in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, are following basic precautions, such as limiting travel outside the city to essential journeys, he said.
There are 300 UN staff members in Aceh, with foreigners accounting for about 10 percent.
The UN workers are in Aceh to help the province rebuild after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit in 2004. (Made Arya Kencana)
Additional reporting by Associated Press
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com
The department’s representative in Indonesia, George Matie, said some security personnel at hotels on the island continued to have trouble implementing technical security measures, such as checking guest identities or vehicles used by guests. He said there were also front-office workers and housekeeping staff members who were not really sensitive, or even apathetic, about guest activities.
Speaking at a workshop on Saturday on training to anticipate terrorist threats, Matie said knowledge about terrorism prevention was important because the threats always changed and were difficult to detect.
“The Al Qaeda network, for example, no longer uses many people to carry out a terrorist attack, but just one or two people. They are also not always bearded and wearing turbans,” he said.
Matie gave the participants tips for hotel security based on his department’s standard operating procedures. He said staff members should be aware of people making observations around the hotel, and that they should ask questions if a person seemed to be testing the security system.
The Bali Police’s chief of intelligence and security, Adjutant Chief Comr. Dekananto, who attended the workshop, urged hotel management to make sure information on workers was complete, including fingerprint identification if necessary.
“Every hotel should also be equipped with CCTV and have dogs for detecting anything suspicious,” he said.
Perry Markus, the Bali secretary general of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), said regulations existed to sanction hotels that did not have sufficient security systems.
“We ask security teams to report if their hotel management does not pay attention to security in their area of the hotel,” he said.
The workshop followed the discovery of a new armed group linked to the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah training in the mountains of Aceh.
Bali has been the target of two deadly terrorist attacks by JI. On Oct. 12, 2002, three bomb explosions in Kuta killed 202 people, 152 of whom were foreigners. On Oct. 1, 2005, another series of bombings in Jimbaran and Kuta killed 20 people.
Though none of the attacks in Bali have targeted hotels, JI has been known to do so elsewhere. Last July 17, the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Hotels in Jakarta were hit by two bomb blasts, five minutes apart.
The National Police said on Thursday that the JI-linked group in Aceh had surveyed several targets it planned to attack, including the UN office in Aceh as well as police stations and army posts across the province.
On Friday, a spokesman for the UN said it had issued a temporary travel ban for foreign staff to Aceh because of police operations there against Islamist militants.
The travel restriction does not apply to Indonesian staff and will stay in place until the situation has stabilized, UN spokesman Michele Zaccheo told The Associated Press. Foreign staff already based in Aceh have not been told to leave but additional UN workers will not be allowed to travel there, Zaccheo said.
“This is a temporary security measure while National Police operations are ongoing, and it is currently limited to travel by international staff,’’ he said.
UN personnel working in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, are following basic precautions, such as limiting travel outside the city to essential journeys, he said.
There are 300 UN staff members in Aceh, with foreigners accounting for about 10 percent.
The UN workers are in Aceh to help the province rebuild after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit in 2004. (Made Arya Kencana)
Additional reporting by Associated Press
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com
