"Please contact the police if you see any suspicious people in your neighborhood. By doing so, we can anticipate any unwanted eventuality," a spokesman of the police headquarters, Senior Commissioner Suharsono, said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Paris may be thousands of miles away from Jakarta, but the terror attacks that hit the French capital on Nov 13, have pushed the Indonesian government to step up security to thwart any such terror acts.

"We have asked the Commander and the TNI to be more alert and careful, and keep on protecting strategic assets or places such as airports and crowded areas," Vice President M Jusuf Kalla said at the Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base, in Aceh Darussalam on Nov. 15.

He said stepped-up security measures around vital assets and border areas could minimize the entry of strangers wanting to commit terror activities in Indonesia.

"In the border areas, too, if foreigners come, check them carefully. Because terror attacks like those (that happened) in Paris could happen anywhere in this world. Therefore, we must increase the level of alertness," he said.

Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti has also ordered that the security be beefed-up at the French and other foreign embassies and consulates in Indonesia.

"The national police chiefs instructions to the provincial police chiefs to tighten the security around the French and other foreign premises was made on the very day when the Paris attacks happened," a spokesman of the police headquarters, Senior Commissioner Suharsono, said.

General Badrodin Haiti also instructed his men to anticipate and detect beforehand any security threats to vital assets, including shopping malls and entertainment centers, by intensifying routine security patrol there, he said.

Suharsono, however, called on the people in Indonesia not to be affected by the Paris attacks that killed at least 129 people and left 352 others injured.

"Please contact the police if you see any suspicious people in your neighborhood. By doing so, we can anticipate any unwanted eventuality," he said.

The Police are investigating if there was a link between the Paris attacks and terrorist networks in Indonesia.

"We are coordinating (to find out) if there is a link with (terrorist) networks in Indonesia," Haiti added.

Furthermore, Chief of Staff of the Army, General Mulyono, has urged every Indonesian to help anticipate terror attacks.

"Everyone must become the nations eyes and ears to monitor situations and anticipate (any act of) terrorism," he said in Magelang, Central Java, on Nov. 17.

"Every element of the society must play a role in anticipating the presence of terrorists, since it is not only the job of the police or the military," he stated.

He particularly ordered all military personnel to be on alert to anticipate, detect and prevent terror activities.

In East Java Province, for instance, the local police have intensified security arrangements around foreign consulates.

"In our territories, there are several (foreign) consulates that have now become the focus of our security measures," Head of the East Java Police Office, Inspector General Anton Setiadji, stated in Tulungagung, on Nov. 17.

The East Java Police have increased the number of security personnel at each of the consulates, he added.

He, however, stated that in general, the situation in East Java is safe, and there is no potential terror threat in the province, despite indications of the presence of ISIS-like outfits.

"As for East Java, it is safe for now. No particular measure have been imposed regarding the threat of terrorism," he remarked.

In Jakarta, Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (Ahok) has urged that every building in the capital city must install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

"For a long time, we have urged every building to install CCTV cameras. By having these cameras, everyone and every visitor could be monitored continuously," Ahok said.

CCTV cameras could also help anticipate criminal activities, he added.

In the meantime, Syaiful Bahri Anshori, a legislator from the Islam-based Nation Awakening Party (PKB) asked the government to learn a lesson from the Paris attacks.

"Even France, which is peaceful and has tight and sophisticated security systems, could be penetrated. I hope Indonesia can learn a lesson from it," said.

On the other hand, he also reminded European and Western countries to be introspective and stop being hypocritical by discrediting Islam on the pretext of fighting terrorism.

"Do not use this as a reason to create a mess, and demean Islamic countries and the developing countries. If they do, they are the same as terrorists," he said.

He said the attack in Paris could be an act of desperation by certain groups in countries that have been victims of invasions by European and Western countries.

The lawmaker believed that Indonesia would not become a target, like France. "Indonesia follows a non-aligned international policy and, so far, the country has never disturbed the peace of other nations and has befriended all nations, and so everything will be fine," he said.

Earlier, the Indonesian government had issued a travel advisory for the countrys citizens intending to travel to or within France following the attacks.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) joined the world leaders in condemning the terror attacks that were claimed by the extremist group IS and that killed 129 people in Paris.(*)

Reporter: Fardah
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015