Bali police chief calls for fresh security focus
DENPASAR – The brutal murder of an Australian woman and a series of other recent attacks on tourists have caused Bali’s Chief of Police, General Paulus Purwoko, to shine a spotlight on Bali’s tourism associations, operators and the provincial tourism office.
Bali Update (www.balidiscovery.com) reported Purwoko?s view that tourism operators are reluctant to part with their hard-earned capital when it comes to security improvements.
Australian Heidi Murphy, 34, was found dead in a rented villa in the Tibubeneng area of Canggu on February 10.
Murphy, who worked in the island’s garment sector, was found dead with 37 stab wounds by household labourers
The chief complained, “if it comes to spending money to add room there’s no problem, but try to suggest that anyone build a coordinated security post and everyone becomes reluctant.”
Bali’s top policeman is concerned that if there are no improvements made soon in villa or café ³ecurity, criminality and related robberies will only increase.
Bemoaning the lack of security professionalism on the island, Purwoko said the current inability to confront and oppose armed robbers is encouraging thieves to become bolder in their criminal acts.
Quoted in Bali Post, Chief Purwoko said, “I have raised this issue several months ago before a gathering of tourism stakeholders in Ubud, but until now there has been no significant change in security at local hotels and villas.
?As a result, that which I feared has been visited upon Australian Heidi Murphy in Canggu. Earlier, a robbery also made victims of a South Korean couple in Ubud.”
Purwoko called for the establishment of coordinated security posts in all tourism areas with each villa donating the services of one security guard for shared patrol duties.
The chief said that if security duties were shared the morale of watchmen and security guards would be improved, bolstering each communities readiness to go toe-to-toe with robbers and extortionists.
At the same time Purwoko called on the Provincial Tourism Office to levy security requirements on new villas before granting them operating licenses.
Commenting on the recent murder of a young Australian woman in Canggu, Purwoko said that his team is still busy gathering evidence in the case.
Ian Jarrett
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