Central Jakarta Satpol PP: Congregants Who Are Not Registered Online, Cannot Attend Christmas At Church

Church in Central Jakarta/ Photo: rmol

JAKARTA - To secure the Christmas celebrations, 53 churches in Central Jakarta have begun to be closely guarded by the Central Jakarta Civil Service Police Unit during the 2021 Christmas celebration.

Head of the Central Jakarta Civil Service Police Unit, Bernard Tambunan, said that from today, Friday, December 24 to December 25, he has helped maintain church security and monitor health protocols (prokes) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In Central Jakarta there are 111 churches, but 53 that hold Christmas. Some churches have been combined with other churches for Christmas celebrations," Bernard said when contacted by VOI, Friday, December 24.

Later, there will be 4 Satpol PP officers stationed in each church celebrating Christmas. The strength of the Central Jakarta Satpol PP deployed to protect Christmas reached 410 officers.

"We also ask for help from the kelurahan, FKDM, LMK to participate in Christmas security. Later we will also join the Police and TNI," he said.

Bernard said the church administrators had also issued regulations for the congregation who wanted to participate in the Christmas celebration service. The congregation had previously registered online to be able to attend Christmas worship at the church.

"Like the Cathedral and Immanuel churches, those who do not register online cannot attend Christmas at the church. Online registration aims to limit the number of congregations that can attend," he said.

Bernard said his party would reprimand the church if the number of their congregation was not limited. The reason is that currently the church congregation's capacity is not 100 percent because it is still PPKM level 1.

"There must be a capacity limit for the number of people attending the church," he said.