From beaches to malls, Indonesia tightens security

JAKARTA LIFE'S STYLE. Indonesia's main tourist island of Bali was busy with foreign tourists this week, although armed police patrolled beach resorts after last week's deadly suicide attacks on two luxury Jakarta hotels.

The bombings on the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton in Jakarta killed nine people and wounded 53. The hotels were popular with foreign business executives and diplomats and considered to be among the most secure buildings in the capital.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday his country could guarantee security following the attacks.

Last Friday's bombings bore the hallmarks of Jemaah Islamiah , the radical Islamist group responsible for a string of deadly attacks in Jakarta and Bali from 2002 to 2005.

A German tourist, who has been staying in the popular Kuta area of Bali, which has suffered bomb attacks in the past, urged police to improve security after the Jakarta attacks.

"I am a little bit afraid. I just need the security to be tightened more," said Heide Winzenburg.

Kuta was the site of nightclub bombings by JI in 2002 that killed 202 people, many of them foreign tourists and devastated the island's key tourism industry for a time.

Officials in Bali said hotels and restaurants had been urged to tighten security and people had been asked to report suspicious behaviour.

Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, the head of Bali's tourism board, said the tourism industry was holding up so far. "There are no cancellations in big numbers, and the occupancy rate is about 75 percent," said the official.

He said, however, that a U.S.-flagged cruise ship, the Sun Spring Princess, that had planned to dock in Bali Tuesday had cancelled its visit.

Tourism accounts for about 3 percent of GDP in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, but some areas, including Bali, are heavily dependent on tourism for jobs and growth.

Tourism minister, Jero Wacik, said at the weekend that the number of tourists to Indonesia could drop to about 5.5 million this year from 6.4 million last year after the bombings.

In another popular Bali beach area, Jimbaran, which was hit by suicide bombers in 2005, the manager of a beach-side cafe said it was business as usual.

"The bombs in Jakarta had no affect on us because our cafe is full every night, as well as other cafes along the beach strip," said the manager of the Menega Cafe, who gave the name Robin.

He said security had been reinforced using local guards and guests entering the complex went through a metal detector.

Indonesia's state energy firm Pertamina said it had raised security at its refineries and oil depots after the attacks.

Shopping malls in the capital Jakarta, which already check cars and bags of visitors, were also carrying out more checks.

Daniel Ford, Asia-Pacific director of public relations at the Ritz-Carlton, said that the group would look at any ways needed to upgrade security once police had established how the attackers had got through in Jakarta.

Ford noted that the hotel already had elaborate security in place, including metal detectors, bag screening and car checks.