The National Police Chief Forms A Special Task Force To Anticipate Disasters During Christmas-New Year

National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo (right) together with the TNI Commander General Agus Subiyanto (left) led the 2024 Candle Operation Forces in Bali on Friday (20/12/2024). ANTARA/HO-Division of Police Public Relations

DENPASAR - National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo formed a special task force in the 2024 Candle Operation to anticipate potential disasters during the 2024 Christmas and 2025 New Year (Nataru) holidays.

"We are preparing personnel to anticipate high rainfall that can trigger disasters. For this reason, we formed a special task force in the 2024 Candle Operation to deal with the situation," he said, Friday, December 20.

The task force consists of various agencies, including the TNI, Polri, Basarnas, and the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). According to him, it is important for these agencies to strengthen synergy and solidity to ensure that the security of holidays during Nataru runs smoothly.

"The synergy and solidity of all stakeholders is the main key to ensuring that security and services during the Nataru series of operations are carried out properly," he said.

It is predicted that the homecoming flow will occur in two waves. The first wave is December 21, 2024, while the second wave falls on December 28, 2024. In addition, it is also predicted that the peak of backflow will take place on December 29, 2024 and January 1, 2025.

To anticipate the surge in people at the peak of homecoming and backflow, the National Police together with several agencies have prepared various strategies to overcome it.

"We have mapped the potential for congestion on main routes, such as toll roads, arteries and sea crossings. Traffic engineering and cross-sectoral coordination efforts have been prepared to anticipate a surge in vehicle volume," he said.

The National Police Chief hopes that with these various anticipatory steps, the public can carry out worship, homecoming, and the celebration of the New Year safely and smoothly.

"We want to ensure that the entire series of Nataru activities can take place safely, orderly, and conducively," he concluded.

Operation Lilin 2024 is scheduled to last for 13 days from December 21, 2024 to January 2, 2025.

This operation includes securing places of worship, centers of crowds, and regulating traffic flow. Technological-based approaches such as cyber monitoring and the role of Interpol will also be optimized to support the maintenance of security and public order (kamtibmas).

The operation involved 141,605 joint personnel and the establishment of 2,794 posts consisting of security posts, service posts, and integrated posts.