Jakarta, Dec 20: Indonesian police will launch an operation to protect worship places from possible terrorist threats during Christmas and New Year holidays, an official said Friday. The Candle Operation was ordered by Indonesian National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Jakarta Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector General Karyoto said during a ceremony for the preparation of the operation at the National Monument Park compound.
The Candle Operation was aimed at preventing terrorist actions during the performance of worship service by followers of the Christian religion, he added. The operation will start on December 22 and end on January 2, according to Karyoto.
One of the steps was to check every religious follower coming to the worship place with an X-ray to prevent dangerous items from entering the room for worship, Xinhua news agency reported.
In recent years, Indonesia experienced several terrorist attacks during year-end, including suicide bombings in churches, leaving dozens of casualties. The country has been preparing to face an influx of travellers during the Christmas and New Year holidays as millions of people are expected to jam the roads and cities across the Southeast Asian archipelago.
According to a recent survey by the country’s transportation ministry, around 110 million people, or about 43 per cent of the country’s population, plan to travel during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The figure is higher than the number of travellers during the same period last year. Some 45 per cent of the figure, according to the ministry’s estimation, travel for tourism, while around 32 per cent travel to celebrate Christmas and New Year with families in their hometowns.
The ministry also mentioned that the outbound Christmas traffic is expected to peak on December 21, while outbound traffic for the New Year is projected to peak on December 28. Authorities have ensured that transportation facilities and infrastructure are ready to serve the mobility of holidaymakers during the holiday period, Xinhua news agency reported.
“We hope that all the facilities and infrastructure which have been well-prepared can help and serve the people on their trips. We also call on all travellers to be cautious of weather conditions,” Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi said recently.
The ministry has prepared measures to prevent traffic congestion, particularly in regions expected to see increasing travellers, such as imposing contraflow traffic schemes with the police on several toll roads.
A travel ban for cargo trucks on national and toll roads in some days of the holiday period will also be enforced. However, it would not apply to trucks carrying food, fuel and other essential items.
Furthermore, security preparations for the year-end holiday season are now in full swing, with the police and military personnel already set up in various locations such as airports, seaports, and shopping malls, the country’s National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo told reporters recently. During Christmas, the police will safeguard churches across the country. IANS