Minister not to revoke airport yellow status yet after attacks

Transport minister Ignasius Jonan has said he would not as yet revoke the current "yellow" status put on all airports in the country following terror attacks in Jakarta last Thursday.

"Security at airports is beefed up and I will not as yet revoke the status," he said to newsmen after inaugurating new air traffic control system "Top Sky" at the Air Traffic Service Center of the airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi here Saturday.

He would only revoke it after the conditions are better and conducive, he said.

PT Angkasa Pura I, the operator of the Sultan Hasanuddin airport in Makassar, has imposed a yellow status following a circular from the Directorate General of Air Transportation in connection with threats on airports in the country.

Apart from imposing a yellow status, security as well as safety at the airport has been increased by tightening checks on passenger cars and goods entering the airport, the companys security manager Sugiono said.

Regarding a number of incidents of passengers at the Hasanuddin airport as well as other airports in the country joking that they were carrying bombs, the minister said his office would continue seeking a legal process of the case.

"They will be legally processed. We will take a legal avenue including a judicial process to have the court decide over it," he said.

Regarding personnel from TNI (military) and the police as well as a civil servant that have been involved in the incidents, the minister said that he would refer them to the military police for further process, and to a civil servant prosecutor to deal with the civil servant.

Article 344 of Law Number 1 of 2009 on aviation states anyone found spreading false information to threaten flight safety will be sentenced to a year in prison.

On the occasion, chief of the Operation Command II First Marshal Dody Trisunu said he would back up the airports Avsec (aviation security service) to increase security in the airports region.

"The number of security personnel will certainly be adjusted to the needs. I cannot give details here. What is clear is that security will be increased," he said.

Based on the monitoring, a number of fully armed personnel from the police has been stationed on guard at the arrival and departure gates, while a number of personnel from the army and the air force are also standing guard at several other points. 

Five cases of bomb hoax cases were recorded in 2015 and all of the cases are still being processed.
Source: ANTARA