Jakartans called on to greet Games torch
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja yesterday asked Jakartans to welcome the 14th National Games flame, which is scheduled to cross the city's boundary in front of the University of Indonesia campus in Depok on Sunday morning.
The flame will be kept in the City Hall after touring the city's five mayoralties on the eve of the Games, which run from Sept. 9 to Sept. 20.
Jakartans are expected to line the streets through which the flame will be carried and welcome the procession with miniature national flags.
A West Java deputy governor will pass the flame to a Jakarta deputy governor, who will in turn pass it to the South Jakarta mayor in a ceremony. The flame will then be carried by runners to East Jakarta.
The torch will start its South Jakarta tour in front of the Kalibata Mall and its North Jakarta leg in front of the Honda motor factory on Jl. Yos Sudarso.
Its trip from North Jakarta to West Jakarta will begin in front of the Fatahillah museum in Kota area. From there it will cross the boundary between West and Central Jakarta in front of Lotus Best Boy. A short journey passing along Jl. Merdeka Barat and Jl Merdeka Selatan will take the flame to its final destination, the City Hall.
Ministers
Three cabinet ministers are to run with the torch from the fountain on Jl. Thamrin to the City Hall. The VIPs are Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman, Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo and Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad. Three Jakarta deputy governors will accompany the ministers.
The flame is scheduled to be handed over to the Jakarta Governor in a twilight ceremony.
President Soeharto and Vice President Try Sutrisno will witness the country's 51-year-old archery legend Donald Pandiangan, nicknamed Robin Hood, light the cauldron in the opening ceremony.
Yesterday the flame toured East Priangan in West Java. The tour covered the regencies of Ciamis, Tasikmalaya and Garut.
Drizzles welcome the flame when it entered Tasikmalaya, a town in the foot of Mount Galunggung. But the crowd remained enthusiastic. Despite the shower they came out of their houses and line the streets to cheer the flame.
The torch reached Garut in the dusk and received another warm welcome from the town residents. Until then, the flame has covered a distance of about 1,400 kilometers.
This morning the flame will set off to Bandung, the capital city of West Java, covering a distance of 75 kilometers. From Bandung, the flame will go to Bogor and from Bogor to Jakarta. (arf)