Bali hotels need training to detect terror

International News, National News

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The police have urged people working in the hospitality industry of Bali to help in the early detection of terrorist threats and thereby secure Bali’s status as a global tourism destination.

Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Sugeng Priyanto called for the preparedness of all human resources at hotels and restaurants on the popular holiday island.

“A security force must be trained for the early detection of any situation potentially creating disruptions,” he said at a terrorism-related seminar in Bali on Sunday, as quoted by news agency Antara.

Bali Police would provide training for civil security personnel of tourism facilities at the Police School in Singaraja.

Security officials had to be on alert at all times to conduct checks on visitors, including hotel guests, Sugeng said, adding that hotels and restaurants also had to cover their respective perimeter with CCTV for better security and monitoring.

CCTV footage had helped to investigate many cases, for example the bomb attack on the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta in 2003, he explained.

Sugeng also urged hotels and restaurants to complete their security measures with metal detectors and security gates. Assigning Bali’s traditional security personnel, called Pecalang, to secure a location was also an option to prevent unwanted acts in the world-renowned tourism destination, Sugeng said.

Concerns about terrorism in Indonesia have risen following coordinated terrorist attack in Jakarta in January, which killed eight people, including four suspects, and injured dozens more.