Megawati to travel overland to Soe

SOE, East Nusa Tenggara: President Megawati Soekarnoputri will have to make her planned trip from the provincial capital Kupang to the Southeast Timor city of Soe by land, instead of by helicopter, due to bad weather, said a local official on Thursday.

"President Megawati has expressed her willingness to travel by land because she also wants to distribute aid directly to the schools and the poor along the route," said spokesman of the East Nusa Tenggara administration Johanis Kosapilawan. The land trip from Kupang to Soe would take about three hours, he added.

Chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle Megawati will be attending her party's 30th anniversary celebrations in Soe, the capital of Southeast Timor regency.

During the one-day visit, she will also launch a nationwide greening project to encourage people to plant trees. The local government plans to plant 100,000 trees in the village of Nifukoli in Soe. -- JP