Beggars banned at Air Show

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is determined to keep street vendors and beggars from roaming city streets during the 1996 Indonesia Air Show scheduled for next month.

A city public order official said over the weekend that the "clean-up operation" will start 14 days before and last until the one-week show, which opens on June 22, closes.

"The operation will be focused on the city's main streets and the roads leading to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport where the show will take place.

Streets around hotels where participants will be staying are also targets of the raids," Toha Reno, the head of the entertainment department of the public order office, said.

The participants and other guests for the air show will stay at 27 hotels, such as the Hilton, Sahid Jaya, Atlet Century, Travelodge Ancol, Regent and Omni Batavia hotels.

He said that the people carrying out the operation will dismantle illegal billboards and shanties. Parking and traffic flow will also be managed.

"The operation will involve a total of 2,160 personnel and cost Rp 284.7 million (US$80,304)," he added.

A new segment of toll road linking the west and east parts of the city is expected to be in use before the air show starts. This is expected to facilitate the traffic flow to and from the international airport, which is located in West Jakarta. (yns)