TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Police Spokesman Com. Gen Setyo Wasisto announced yesterday that his institution will send thousands of its personnel to secure the annual international labor day or May Day on Monday, May 1.

“We will deploy roughly 17,000 personnel,” he said.

The May Day security personnel will consist of a number of police units, according to Setyo, and will not only be provided by Indonesian mobile police brigade (brimob) to secure the often massive May day rally.

Police will be securing two main locations, namely the state palace, as well as the road nearby Jl. Merdeka Utara, and the House of Representatives (DPR) building.

“For the state palace, the rally participants will be centered at around Horse Statue in Jl. Merdeka Selatan. As for the security at DPR, we’ll coordinate with their internal security first,” Setyo said.

The police predict that there will be around 30,000 - 40,000 people present at the rally. The number will potentially increase considering that labors outside Jakarta will also come to participate. “We hope that it won’t disrupt public activities,” he said.

May day rally participants are expected to gather in Jakarta starting from 09:00 am. Their activities will be limited to 18:00 pm.

ISTMAN MP