Bandung pushes to host Asia-africa golden jubile

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

The West Java provincial government and the Bandung municipal government have asked the central government to decide on Bandung as the host city for the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Asia Africa Conference (AAC) next year.

West Java Governor Danny Setiawan and Bandung mayor Dadang Rosada have said that the people of Bandung and the local governments were ready to host the Golden Jubilee.

"We are ready. But, the problem is that the central government has not yet determined the site of the event," he told reporters recently.

Danny argued that, from a historical point of view, Bandung deserved to host the jubilee. "The first Asia Africa Conference was held in Bandung in 1955," he said.

The first meeting was historic, as it was the first time many countries in Asia and Africa convened in a meeting after World War II, to voice opposition to colonialism.

Bandung, Danny went on, was ready to host the conference, as it has many facilities, including hotels that can accommodate guests from countries all over Asia and Africa.

But, he admitted that several things had to be spruced up for the event if it were to be held in Bandung.

The Husein Sastranegara Airport, the main gateway for arriving foreign delegates, the completion of the Pasteur-Surapati flyover to reduce traffic in the area and the building of a convention hall are among the preparations needed.

Renovation and construction of supporting facilities for the conference must be completed by February 2005 or two months ahead of the event which would be attended by at least 102 heads of state from AAC member countries.

Mayor Dada said that until now, the central government was still unsure whether Bandung was equipped to run the event, especially in view of the absence of an international class convention center, which could accommodate over 3,000 people and the small number of presidential suites there.

There are only seven presidential suites among all the hotels in Bandung, while there would be more than 100 heads of state coming.

"The events could be held in the Merdeka Building or Sasana Budaya Ganesha Building here, they are big enough to accommodate the participants of the conference.

Regarding hotels, not all of heads of state would necessarily stay in presidential suites," he said.

Bambang Budi Asmara, head of the Asia Africa Foundation, said the hesitancy of the central government would make investors reluctant to build five-star hotels and a convention center near Merdeka Building on Jl. Asia-Afrika.

He revealed that two five-star hotels and the Asia-Africa Twin Tower would be build in front of the Merdeka Building, while a convention hall with a capacity of 2,500 to 3,000 people would be built next to it.

He said that the investment funds were available to start construction and acquisition of land in several places in the city by the end of February but so far no activities had started because no companies had submitted proposals to carry out the projects.

"They are waiting for the green light from the central government," he said.

Separately, H.S. Hermawan, head of the Bandung chapter Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), said it would be a disappointment if Bandung was not named host for the AAC just because of not having many suite facilities.

"Bandung already has international-class hotel facilities usually frequented by foreign tourists," he said.

He anticipated that the Golden Jubilee celebrations would open opportunities and promote tourist attractions and boost business in the area.

"All this while, we only hear of Bali, Jakarta and Yogyakarta," he said.