Jakarta-Bali car rally starts

JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief and his wife, Mrs. Banurusman Astrosemitro, officially flagged off the second biennial police-sponsored Jakarta-Bali car race at the City Police headquarters yesterday.

A total of 74 cars are participating in the race, which is expected to reach Bali on Sunday.

However, the ceremony, which was held during peak hours and took place in the heart of the city, created bumper-to-bumper traffic for about two hours around the Semanggi cloverleaf.

Further traffic congestion was caused along Jl. Gatot Subroto and Jl. Tulodong Bawah because public vehicles were barred entry into the police headquarters until all officers had left the ceremony site.(bsr)