Megawati's flying visit disappoints thousands

Megawati's flying visit disappoints thousands

SORONG, Irian Jaya (JP): Thousands of residents were left
disappointed on Sunday after a long wait to meet Vice President
Megawati Soekarnoputri ended fruitlessly here.

The Vice President's visit began and ended on the outskirts of
town and lasted just 20 minutes.

Thousands of anxious residents had gathered at the airport in
anticipation of the Vice President's arrival. Many had also
lined-up along the main streets leading to the airport expecting
that she would be passing by.

It is unclear whether they were misinformed or whether there
was a change in the schedule, but there seemed to be an air of
expectancy of her arrival.

But Megawati did not even set foot in Sorong. The helicopter
taking her from Manokwari transported the vice president directly
to an out-of-town transmigration site about 10-kilometers east of
Sorong.

During the brief stopover, she met with a few transmigrants
who lived in three run-down houses that had neither electricity
nor running water.

After saying a few sympathetic words, she was again up in the
air and heading for Biak.

Residents in Sorong claim that she was due to spend the night
here. There was no explanation from officials on the Vice
President's schedule.

Failing to even get a glimpse of the Vice President, thousands
of residents here vented their frustration by wrecking a car
parked near the airport.

The situation was not allowed to deteriorate as police quickly
moved in to quell any further outbreaks.

"We only wanted to get a glimpse of her face. We fell let
down," said one Javanese transmigrant who had moved to Sorong.

A. Sewa, a local tribal leader, said residents had even
prepared a special welcoming ceremony for her in an open field.

"We had prepared a traditional ceremony and many of us had
donned out traditional clothes. There was going to be a complete
ceremony," he said.

"We're all so very disappointed," he said, adding that
"Papuans wanted to greet her as a mother and express their
grievances."(eba)