Days off planned for Jakarta, Bogor during APEC summit

Days off planned for Jakarta, Bogor during APEC summit

JAKARTA (JP): In gearing up for the APEC Economic Leaders'
Meeting (AELM) on Nov. 15, the government is considering
declaring a holiday in Jakarta and also in Bogor, the summit
venue, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said yesterday.

"We are considering the possibility of giving Jakarta days off
on Nov.14 and 15 and Bogor on Nov.15," he told reporters.

Moerdiono said that on Nov. 13, most of the 17 economic
leaders who make up the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation)
forum will arrive in Jakarta through the Halim Perdanakusuma
airport. Only three of them will land at the Soekarno-Hatta
International Airport.

Seven heads of state are scheduled to hold talks with
President Soeharto on Nov. 14 at Merdeka Palace in Central
Jakarta.

In accordance with the protocol procedures, the roads that the
leaders will pass through on their way to the palace will be
closed temporarily.

"As you can imagine, with seven heads of state holding talks
with the President on the same day at the palace, the event will
be very hard on traffic," he said.

The heads of state and the other leaders, who are to be
accommodated in different hotels, will also attend a welcoming
banquet at the Hilton Hotel on Nov. 14.

The main thoroughfares to be closed include Merdeka Timur and
Semanggi clover leaf and the toll road heading to Bogor.

Moerdiono did not go into details on the planned holidays but
it is believed that workers, particularly civil servants and
schoolchildren, will be given two days off.

"If this decision is made, it will be for the comfort of the
people," he said. "People can't do very much when the roads are
closed during state visits."

Second

Traffic congestion in Jakarta, a city of about 9 million
people, is considered second only to Bangkok.

APEC groups the six member countries of the Association of the
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)--Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei
Darussalam, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand-- with
Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Mexico,
New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, and the United States.
Chile will become the 18th member at the summit.

Moerdiono also asked the Jakarta and Bogor administration
officials to refrain from making decisions which have nothing to
do with the staging of the meeting.

"For instance, they should not use the APEC meeting as a
reason to expel street vendors from main roads," he said.

While acknowledging that the government was concerned about
the recent shooting at the White House by a former American
military man, Moerdiono dismissed the suggestion that the
incident would prompt the committee to take extra safety and
security precautions and measures for the APEC meeting.

"We are using normal security procedures," he said. (swe)