Police Chief: Recheck Identity of All Airport Staff

(9/14/2009)

Bali's Chief of Police, General Sutisna, has instructed Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport to re-survey and review their staff as a preventative step against terrorism.

As reported in BisnisBali, when General Sutisna recently toured the airport as part of precautions for the expected crush of travelers over the Idul Fitri 1430 H period he took the opportunity to underline the importance of checking the veracity of all personal and biographical for everyone working at the airport.

Insisting such a data review must be done without exception and include all those working at the facility, General Sutisna said: "Beginning from gardeners, cleaning service staff up to and including 'bosses' – everyone must be re-checked and their personal data verified. This is important in order to anticipate and prevent an 'insider' from playing a role in potential terrorist acts."

Sutisna also told the airport to not only review the identity of all those working at the airport but to also pay attention to the manner in which they perform their duties. He went on to add: "The management (of the airport) must work to create a compact team, avoiding situations where a supervisor doesn't know the name or face of one of his workers."

The Bali police chief's warnings come in the aftermath of two bombings at Jakarta Hotels on July 17th in which one hotel worker was determined to have taken a role and the recent discovery of a former Garuda maintenance worker's membership in a terrorism cell.

Because of this, Sutisna hopes that all the security staff working at the airport, both from the private sector and form the police, will remain eternally vigilant against criminal and terrorist acts.

In order to keep Indonesia's airways safe Sutisna reminded, "officers must not become slack, but remain vigilant in increasing security measures already in place and coordinating their activities with other departments."