Excited Bandung prepares to greet leaders<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post\/Bandung<\/p>\n
There was a definite air of excitement and anticipation as the
\ncity of Bandung made the final preparations ahead of Sunday's
\ncommemoration of the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference. This quaint
\ncity is out to impress.<\/p>\n
Streets and Art Deco buildings in the vicinity of the Merdeka
\nBuilding, the venue for the commemoration activities, have been
\ncleaned up. Newly planted flowers and fresh coats of paint are
\nnoticeable. Giant white canvases have been deployed to cover up
\nthose buildings that could not be helped with a quick makeover.<\/p>\n
Walking along the main thoroughfare Jl. Asia-Africa, the
\nsounds of angklung (traditional bamboo musical instruments) and
\nother instruments are heard drifting out of buildings as children
\nand musicians practice their welcoming performances.<\/p>\n
\"We took at least Rp 80 billion out of the city's coffers to
\npay for the preparations,\" Bandung Mayor Dada Rosada proudly told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"That does not include renovations to the airport and Merdeka
\nBuilding, which were paid for by the provincial and central
\ngovernments.\"<\/p>\n
The highlight of Sunday's commemoration will be a historical
\nwalk by the Asian and African leaders along Jl. Asia-Africa to
\nthe Merdeka Building. Once inside, the leaders will adopt a
\ndeclaration on a new strategic partnership between the two
\ncontinents.<\/p>\n
Dada is nervous. Eager to put on a good show, he says he is
\nlosing sleep because of anxiety over the preparations. At night
\nhe patrols the streets looking for anything that might reflect
\nbadly on his city.<\/p>\n
\"You know, Bandung looks beautiful at night. But some of the
\nunsightly things that are not noticeable during the day also
\nbecome apparent when there are not so many people bustling
\nabout.\"<\/p>\n
But the \"beautification\" of the city is not without its
\ncritics. The city has used the opportunity to push thousands of
\nhawkers and vendors off the main streets of the city into the
\nalleys. Couples caught in the city's parks at night are being
\nstopped and asked to show identification cards to prove that they
\nare married.<\/p>\n
\"There are those who reject these efforts. But that is
\nnormal,\" Dada said. \"Our aim is to make the city pretty again,
\nand that is for the benefit of the majority of residents. Just
\nlook at the main streets, they are all clean and the parks look
\ngorgeous.\"<\/p>\n
The head of the provincial organizing committee for the event,
\nNu'man Abdul Hakim, said everything was set to go. \"The airport
\nis ready, the venue is ready for use and the roads are all
\nsmooth. Only a few streets beneath the Pasteur-Surapati flyover
\nneed a bit more work.\"<\/p>\n
The provincial government, with financial assistance from the
\ncentral government, has also expedited the completion of the new
\nCikampek-Purwakarta-Padalarang (Cipularang) toll road. Delegates
\ntraveling by bus from Jakarta to Bandung on Sunday will be among
\nthe first people to use this new toll road, which will cut the
\ntravel time from Jakarta to Bandung from 3.5 hours to two hours.<\/p>\n
Despite these assurances it is clear that the preparations are
\nalso overwhelming the city. The devil is in the details, and as
\nof Thursday evening it was evident that many devilish details
\nstill had to be worked out.<\/p>\n
A decision on how to accommodate the thousands of delegates is
\nstill being ironed out. For now organizers are planning to shut
\ndown completely Jl. Braga beginning on Friday night in order to
\nset up a 200-meter-long air-conditioned tent to seat delegates.<\/p>\n
\"All the hotels near the venue are full,\" Nu'man said on
\nThursday afternoon. Adding to his concern was the sudden change
\nin the travel arrangements made by the national organizing
\ncommittee for ambassadors and delegates, who were originally
\ngoing to travel between Jakarta and Bandung by train on Friday
\nnight and Saturday morning. However, he has been informed that
\nthey will now all be traveling by bus on the new toll road.<\/p>\n
One can only imagine that Nu'man's headache is as bad as those
\nof Bandung drivers who must quietly suffer for a few days as
\nstreets are shut down and traffic rerouted for the benefit of
\ntheir international guests.<\/p>",
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