TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Jakarta Metro Jaya police led a large-scale police operation on Sunday evening targeting public mass-gatherings of people to enforce the governor’s instruction to remain at home and prevent the coronavirus (COVID-19) from spreading any farther.

The Metro Jaya police general crime director, Grand Commissioner Suyudi Ario Seto said in today’s press release that the operation involved 250 police personnel.

According to the commissioner, police operated around Jakarta areas that are known to be ‘hangout’ spots such as Bulungan - Melawai - Blok M - Kemang - Pejaten - Mampang Prapatan. Fortunately, he said that the operation went well as places such as Bulungan, where city youths often gather, was empty of streetside food sellers.

However, police still came by groups of people who gathered at Lamandau Park, which was then disbanded accordingly.

He said that groups of people gathering can still be seen at the Blok M area, which mostly consist of online motorcycle taxi drivers, conventional taxi drivers, and streetside food sellers. However, they were too told to clear the area.

Other areas that remained to be hotspot gathering areas such as Pejaten, Mampang Prapatan, and Gajah Mada were also cleared. The Jakarta governor Anies Baswedan said last week that the city has commenced the COVID-19 emergency protocol in an attempt to cut down the chain of transmissions.

M YUSUF MANURUNG