The Head of Bali’s Civil Service has confirmed that security measures will be increased over the Christmas and New Year holidays. In preparation for a massive surge in tourist arrivals, the civil service and another security team in Bali, including the police and army, are increasing surveillance, patrols, and even traffic management.
Speaking to the press on Friday, 23rd December, the Head of the Bali Saptol PP, Dewa Nyoman Rai Dharmadi, said that increased security operations are essential to ensure that Bali remains a safe and comfortable place for tourists.
He explained that over the Christmas and New year holidays, known locally as Nataru, the civil service police, army, and local pecalang, traditional Balinese community-based security, will all work to “form an integrated team in synergy”.
Dharmadi explained to reporters, “We will also carry out patrols by empowering…security. We will continue to monitor the development of tourist objects that have the potential to disturb order and security”. He was clear that the increased security operations are designed to ensure public order is maintained at all times, reducing the risk of riots or crowds getting out of control.
He said, “Sometimes the rules exist but are misinterpreted so that it can have consequences we don’t want. This is when we will conduct patrols”. Dharmadi also reiterated that border security, both at the airport and ports, will remain at increased levels of alertness over the holidays. Bali increased its terror alert following a bomb attack on the Astanaanyar Police HQ in Bandung City, on 7th November.
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Dharmadi explained that the increased surveillance at borders doubles as a check of new migrant residents from other parts of Indonesia.
He said, “We will also carry out inspections of migrant residents by targeting pockets of non-permanent residents, and including conducting patrols to places of worship. However, the surge in tourist visits has also triggered many residents to come to Bali to look for work. This is what needs to be recorded so that the administration is orderly”.
Speaking separately, the South Kuta Police Chief Commissioner, I Nyoman Karang Adiputra, told community officials that security operations on a local level must be increased and must include greater traffic management efforts. He ordered his teams to cooperate with village leaders and to conduct supervision of community-based celebrations. He also shared that additional traffic management will be enforced over the New Year festivities, including additional traffic police posts.
He said, “This post will later be prepared at the Unud campus intersection in order to make it easier to monitor community activities, including traffic jams that are predicted to occur.” He also called on local people to park their vehicles responsibly over the holiday period, as this can contribute substantially to traffic jams.
The Secretary of South Kuta District Offices, I Wayan Sujaka Arianta, told attendees at the meeting, “Don’t let the implementation of Nataru become uncomfortable so that it will harm tourism recovery efforts. I hope that every community will work together and maintain the conduciveness of implementing Nataru”.
Officials in Ubud confirmed last week that they would be increasing security efforts around tourist attractions and churches over Christmas. The Gianyar Police Chief, Kompol I Ketut Tomiyasa, conducted site visits to several churches and tourist attractions to assure business owners and faith leaders that they have the support of the security services.
Kompol Tomiyasa told reporters, “In securing Christmas and New Year, in addition to the sprint [of patrols] from the Gianyar Police, the Gianyar Police will assist with security at every church in the Gianyar District area as well as security at tourist destinations, and until now the situation remains conducive.”
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Exp
Monday 26th of December 2022
"Head of the Bali Saptol PP, ... , said that increased security operations are essential to ensure that Bali remains a safe and comfortable place for tourists"
Is that so? In my area (south Denpasar) the locals are racing at high speed back and forth on the roads on their extremely noisy motorbikes (with racing exhausts, knalpot brong). There is no sign of any police or other officials to stop this menace. Not very "safe and comfortable" at all! Are they waiting for some foreigner to be run over before taking action?
Randy
Tuesday 27th of December 2022
@Exp, what are you so afraid that they will run you over?? Come to the US where car drag racing is a repeat occurrence. And cops nowhere in sight.
Randy
Monday 26th of December 2022
Haven't heard of any bad news over Christmas in Indonesia?
Those foreigners who live in Indonesia or those who are pessimistic about the outcome during the holidays with taking advantage and manipulating the news in Bali, there is one thing to say, stop your fear mongering and blame the Muslims in general as if you are an expert of security and intelligence sharing.
Jwest
Sunday 25th of December 2022
The last time the Muslim community decided to attack Bali they came unnoticed like sniveling snakes . Two bombers were disguised as non Muslim women, one car bomb in the street and a suicide vest was already inside the nightclub were hundreds died. But now that lighter sentencing for cowardly murderers is the ‘law of the land we can expect more violence from the still active Jeremia Islamiah ( Muslim Community) and their ISIS partners alive and well in Aceh , Java , Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chechen, Yemen and SOLO. Sleep with one eye open friends. Global jihad is alive and re-energized by news of early release .
jackson
Tuesday 27th of December 2022
@JWest, Funny stuff. LOL I have met and befriended many Muslims in my life. None of them have considered me "unclean" nor have I been treated "subhuman" in any way. Perhaps you should expand your social circle instead of believing whatever you read. It may be humbling to reflect on our history; Europeans/Whites/Anglo Saxons/Christians are the ones who have done the most destruction/conquering/colonizing/subjugating/enslaving (even until now) of other nations and races and still have the audacity to virtue signal, pointing at others' flaws. If that's not an indication of treating others different from us as "subhumans," I don't know what is. As for the Bali bombing, I personally believe there were many things we were not told. There were huge antiwar protests in Australia prior to the Sari Club bombing. It didn't benefit Muslims, but it certainly stopped all the anti-war protests in Australia. How convenient.
And speaking of the war, Iraq didn't have WMD's. John Howard should have been charged, tried and jailed for taking the nation into that illegal war, killing countless innocent lives. Instead, he is now on JP Morgan's payroll (like Tony Blair). Look it up. Well, as they say, all wars are bankers' wars. They are now well-rewarded. And more than two decades on, what are the US and allies still doing in Iraq, huh? Helping them/themselves with their oil?
Randy
Tuesday 27th of December 2022
@JWest, yeah whatever..you certainly don't know the Hadith and what else written in the quran. Do you think the Bible is no different than the Quran.... Calling me a snowflake?? Hardly offended. Just surprised by your ignorance. Just like in any religion there is always a person wearing a fake facade, pretending to be a faithful but actually a bigot.
You are so wrong on all level. You can enter a mosque in Paris and The Istiqlal in Jakarta. The Catholic grand cathedral is right across of the Mosque. Don't put all Muslims in one basket. Any non Muslims can enter a Mosque as far as I know in Indonesia. They are welcome to learn and ask any questions.
What message would that be broadcasting at each calling of the prayer and each on Friday?? Do you actually understand Arabic?? It's inviting all faithful to pray together. Indonesian Muslims are not stupid and they can choose what sermons that fit them and what not at the Mosque.
You know nothing and you will know nothing until you get rid of your hate toward all Muslims. Face it. Face it.
We can go on arguing if you like but you will not win on here. What you are trying to do is to denigrate Indonesian Muslims and Indonesia, and worst to start an animosity among the faithful and the Indonesians for that matter.
JWest
Monday 26th of December 2022
@Randy, Nice snowflake 'knee jerk'...from someone who's obviously never read Quran. Muslims are required to Jihad. It's an obligation.Look at the statistics of attacks on non Muslims spike whenever populations of Muslims exceed 20%, whether in Asia, Africa or Europe. BTW....'Jerimiah Islamia' translates as '.The Community of Islam'. You can hear their massage every Friday at any mosque. Oh...excuse me...you're not allowed into a mosque as you are considered " unclean" and "subhuman" as described in Quran.
Randy
Monday 26th of December 2022
@Jwest, instead of focusing of a few bad apples why don't you think of what the Muslims have done to help their neighbors, poor and the elderly in their community. Furthermore if you know them more, and understand the Islam Indonesians may be practicing then you would not be such a "Grinch" especially during the holiday. Sigh
Randy
Sunday 25th of December 2022
@Jwest, what are you trying to insinuate in "general" with a referral to the last time the Muslim community?? Are you saying that Muslims are all terrorists?? And All Muslims are murderers. So you may want to watch carefully what you have written in your sentence...
What is the definition of a community: "a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common."
Hey by the way dude, you know that there are more heinous crimes, mass shootings, drugs, rape, child molestations, etc in a majority Christian nation like the US for example. And Canada trailing not far behind. Christian teachings must have failed the Western society, don't you think?? Do you hear of mass shootings and heinous crimes in a majority Muslim country like Indonesia?? Never...
Furthermore the far right white Christian nationalists are emerging ever more in the US and Europe. Anti-semitism is on the rise and US Domestic terrorism involving white extreme far right ideology.
So let’s not have a double standard. One standard will do just fine.
Wayan Bo
Saturday 24th of December 2022
Peoples Republic of China reporting 500k new Covid cases on daily bases❗️
Jwest
Sunday 25th of December 2022
@Wayan Bo, Est, 35 million cases weekly and reports of mass death according to eye witnesses managing to get video of stacked up morgues and bursting hospitals . If Chinese start traveling and spreading the newest variant it could be chaos. Last time the Golden Week exodus of Chinese went global millions died. Good luck.