No more excuses for Bali crimes: Police

Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

Bali Police spokesman Sr. Comr. A.S. Reniban on Saturday said eight people had been questioned over a bomb attack in Denpasar the previous night, including two victims.

Komang Suparmadi and his driver Dewa were heading to the Queen Karaoke club on Jl. Kebo Iwa when a homemade bomb was hurled at their car.

The two are being treated at Denpasar's Sanglah General Hospital for massive burns.

The blast left about 20 holes in Komang's car and an eight centimeter wide, nine centimeter deep crater next to the car.

It also caused damage to a garage located just a few meters behind the car.

Police are not jumping to any conclusions.

"It is a criminal case and definitely not a case of terrorism. But we must admit to not having pinpointed the motive," Reniban said.

He listed gang violence, a business disagreement or "personal issues" as possible motives.

In the last two weeks, there have been two serious crimes on the island: a bomb went off in a garage on Jl. Gatot Subroto in north Kuta and an Australian tourist and a Filipino tourist were killed in a robbery in Ubud. No suspects have been named in either case.

When asked about security conditions in Bali, Reniban said police were doing their job and that security was also the responsibility of the city administration and the tourism board.

He said many of the people who had been implicated in crimes on Bali had turned out to be newcomers who did not have proper identity documents.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but we constantly remind these agencies (the city administration and the tourism board) of the need for each area, starting from the banjar (smallest neighborhood unit), to be proactive and to prevent suspicious characters from entering Bali. Don't put all the responsibility on the police's shoulders," Reniban said.

He said the police would, once again, approach the city administration and the Bali Tourism Board to address recent security issues.

"We will coordinate with the Bali Tourism Board and the city administration to tighten their monitoring, especially of newcomers, and to encourage the owners of cheap hotels to hire security guards collectively. I hope there will be no excuses -- that they don't have security guards because they don't have the money -- in the future," he said.

Police are continuing to investigate Friday night's bombing but have yet to name a suspect.