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)