Life in Jakarta now back to normal

JAKARTA — Almost three months after the terror attack where seven people died, Indonesians are back to their normal lives refusing to live in fear, government officials said.

Jakarta Gov. Ir. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said they have further enhanced real time monitoring of the entire city through CCTV and deployed snipers who are ready to respond to any eventuality.

He refused to comment on reports that the guns the attackers used were bought from the Philippines saying police authorities are handling the matter.

The Philippine STAR is one of the two media organizations from the Philippines invited by the Indonesian government to be part of its 2016 Journalists Visit Program, which runs from April 10 to 21 and designed to establish good media relationship in the ASEAN region. Other participants came from Malaysia, Timor Leste, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand.

Siti Sofia Sudarma, Media and Information Directorate of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) director, said security units have been on heightened alert since the Jan. 14 blast as the government continue to call for public vigilance.

“Everything is back to normal. In fact, people in Jakarta went back to their work four hours after the incident. We refuse to live in fear,” Sudarma said.

Bob Tobing, deputy director of the MID-Indonesian MFA, said residents went to the blast site just hours after the attack and displayed placards with messages “we are not afraid.”

Indonesia and the Philippines marked its 65th anniversary of bilateral relations in 2014.

The two founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have moved towards constant dialogue and closer cooperation through high-level diplomatic ties.

Sudarma said the media tour program, which is done almost yearly for five consecutive years, is meant to establish person-to-person relationship since Indonesia is an active member of the ASEAN.

“As part of the ASEAN, it is our goal to establish good relationship with each member country through the people and through media,” Sudarma added.

The ASEAN News Agency Summit will be held in Jakarta next month.