Thousands of police and military personnel are going to ensure precautions against COVID-19 are being observed, police said, as hundreds of malls in the Greater Jakarta Area are reopening today.
In a press conference today, Jakarta Metro Police spokesman Yusri Yunus said a joint force of 2,702 police and military personnel have been deployed to 243 shopping centers.
“They consist of 1,293 military personnel and 1,409 police personnel. They will be guarding [malls] including inside the buildings,” Yusri said.
“They will be enforcing discipline on the public in accordance with health protocols, including wearing face masks and avoiding crowds. They will be persuasive but also humane in their approach.”
The police did not specify any possible sanctions for violations by the public.
Instead, Governor Anies Baswedan previously warned that shopping centers could face temporary closure if they violated or didn’t do their part in ensuring that visitors observed health protocols.
Ellen Hidayat, who heads the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Shopping Center Management Association (APPBI), said last week that the majority of malls in Jakarta will be open from 11am to 8pm daily, also highlighting that leisure facilities such as cinemas, fitness centers, karaoke places, children’s playgrounds and course centers are still being considered to reopen in the next phase of the Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) protocol.
In addition to standard COVID-19 protocols, several leading malls in Jakarta have adjusted their facilities to the new normal way of living. Malls such as Pondok Indah Mall and Senayan City, for instance, have installed touchless elevator buttons to minimize the risk of transmission.
The reopening of malls is part of Jakarta moving into a “transitional” period of PSBB in June, which involves easing restrictions on public facilities and activities. It remains to be seen if the policy would be reversed considering Jakarta recorded its highest daily COVID-19 cases spike recently.
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