"It has all gone peacefully, and no untoward incident has occurred," National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti stated.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The New Years eve celebrations have gone peacefully across Indonesia with no untoward security incidents.

"It has all gone peacefully, and no untoward incident has occurred," National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti stated while visiting the Hotel Indonesia roundabout to observe the celebrations there on Friday.

Haiti said he had cross-checked with his men, deployed from the western to eastern regions of the country, regarding the security situation in their respective areas.

"I have checked with all ranks of the police in the eastern and central Indonesian regions, and the situation in all regions was peaceful," he affirmed.

Regarding some incidents that had occurred, the police chief clarified that they were only minor cases of excessive drinking and brawls.

General Badrodin hoped the people would welcome the new year with renewed spirit and commitment to make Indonesia more advanced, self-reliant, and peaceful.

"We hope more progress would be achieved, we would be more self-reliant, and (Indonesia) would remain peaceful. The police will also bring about changes and strive to offer better security in the new year," he emphasized.

Indonesians celebrated three important events in the past few days: the commemoration of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, Christmas, and New Year.

Ahead of the events, Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on Indonesians to help maintain security to safeguard against the threat of terror acts during the commemoration.

"We have to guard each other as security should be maintained not only by the police but also by the people and societal organizations," he remarked on the sidelines of a celebration to observe the birth of Prophet Muhammad at the Istiqlal Mosque on Dec. 24.

Kalla affirmed that threats not only existed in Indonesia but also across the world. Therefore, we need to guard each other, so that security threats do not materialize.

Haiti had announced an alert for possible terror acts in the country. He believed that the terror acts that took place abroad could spill over to Indonesia during the celebrations of Prophet Muhammads birthday, Christmas, and New Year 2016.

"The shooting attacks on civilians in Paris, the suicide bombing in Bangkok, and ISIS threats have had an impact on the security situation in the country," he noted in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The police general also expressed hope that terror acts by armed radical groups would not take place in Indonesia as they could destroy the nations stability.

The Indonesian police have deployed 80,197 personnel across the country to maintain security in the run-up to the advent of New Year 2016.

Badrodin said the police personnel were deployed under a security operation codenamed "Operasi Lilin 2015" (Operation Candle 2015). The operation will be carried out from December 25, 2015, to January 2, 2016.

As part of the operation, the National Police are being assisted by 20,681 military officers and 49,670 personnel from other agencies, such as the Public Order Security Forces (Satpol PP), the transportation services, and fire brigade, the police chief noted during a roll call on the pacification of Christmas and New Year 2019 on Wednesday.

He said the police had also put up a total of 998 CCTV units to help monitor the security situation in areas prone to breaches in law and order during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The police have arrested several suspected terrorists from various locations ahead of the three events.

President Joko Widodo attended a Christmas celebration held at the residence of the East Nusa Tenggara governor here on Monday.

In his message, the president urged the audience to bring about positive changes within themselves in keeping with the spirit of Christmas.

Jakartas Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo had expressed gratitude to all law enforcers and the government for their efforts to ensure that the Christmas services were held smoothly and peacefully.

To celebrate New Years Eve, President Widodo joined "a peoples party" in the Raja Ampat District of West Papua province on Thursday evening.

The president was accompanied by First Lady Iriana, who arrived at the location at around 10:20 p.m. East Indonesia Time.

Several people expressed their happiness on seeing President Widodo in Raja Ampat.

"The head of state is giving attention to Indonesias eastern region," Winda, who specially came from Manokwari to the location to celebrate New Years Eve, stated.

She hoped the conditions in 2016 would be better than in 2015.

President Widodo and First Lady Iriana arrived at the Mopah Airport in Merauke, Papua, on Tuesday evening to visit Indonesias eastern provinces of Papua and West Papua.

This was the presidents third visit to Papua and West Papua following his first visit to the eastern provinces on December 27-29, 2014, and the second visit on May 8-11, 2015.

President Widodo expressed belief that by paying frequent visits to the region, the conflicts in Papua could be settled.

"I will visit Papua often," he said at the Waringin Sports Stadium in Jayapura on December 27, 2014.

Before visiting Papua, the president had also paid a visit to several other provinces, including South Sulawesi, East Kalimantan, and East Nusa Tenggara, to inspect infrastructure development in the regions.

The visits are testament to the fact that Indonesia is now moving from a Java-centric orientation to a nation-centric vision, as President Jokowi had also remarked on Heroes Day in Surabaya on November 10.

"The nation is moving towards an Indonesia-centric vision and not a Java-centric vision. Not just Java but the entire nation will become prosperous," he affirmed at the time.

Speaking in connection with the new year, President Widodo expressed belief that the nations foundation is strong enough to meet the challenges in 2016 in terms of budget policy, infrastructure growth, and country-centric development.

"In 2015, we have built a good and strong foundation," he stated while opening a plenary cabinet meeting at his office here on Wednesday.

With regard to the budget policy, he explained that the government had shifted the fuel oil subsidy to programs that directly benefit the people.

The government has also expedited infrastructure development, including of toll roads, railway lines, airports, and seaports, he added.

"We have also altered the orientation of development, which is no longer centered in Java but in Indonesia as a whole, starting from the outermost and the most backward regions," he remarked.

With such a strong foundation in place, he hoped Indonesia would progress faster and strive harder as the challenges in 2016 are more difficult compared to those encountered in 2015.

President Widodo affirmed that 2015 was a year full of challenges for Indonesia ranging from the global economic slowdown, the plummeting commodity prices, forest and peatland fires in various regions in the country, and depreciation of the countrys rupiah against the US dollar.

He stated that the global economy would not fully recover next year, and it would be a challenge in itself.

He, however, hoped that the economic slowdown would not worsen next year.

"We will also face an era of competition, and at the regional level, we are all aware that we will enter the era of the ASEAN Economic Community," he added.

Vice President Kalla enjoyed the New Years Eve celebrations with his family members in the small town of Yogyakarta in Central Java.(*)

Reporter: Yoseph Hariyadi
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016