On the backstage of high-profile ASEAN Summit
On the backstage of high-profile ASEAN Summit
The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
The organization of the high-profile Association of Southeast
Asia Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Indonesia has been shown to be
wanting.
The high-profile gathering of the region's leaders has been
months in the planning but when the big day came, no one expected
so many incidents to have occurred, both minor and major.
One of the most embarrassing moments happened during the
opening of the 9th ASEAN leaders meeting on Tuesday morning.
During the official leader's photo session, the heads of state
were shocked when the official photographer's light exploded,
while another cameraman fell over attempting to find a better
camera angle.
And this is the tip of the iceberg. Many delegates have had to
argue over and over again with security officials as they have
been denied access to certain areas for unclear reasons.
Security checkpoints at the Bali International Convention
Center (BICC) have upset a number of delegates, many of whom have
been left stranded.
Another major blunder has been the absence of documents for
the media.
Most of the journalists have had to spend a great deal of
their time searching for documents, including the Bali Concord II
and President Megawati Soekarnoputri's farewell speech to
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
"I cannot believe this, we had Mahathir's speech as soon as he
finished delivering it, but we cannot found your President's
statement. Indonesia is the host right?" one of the foreign
journalists was overheard asking a media officer.
The excessive security has also hindered the media's ability
to do its job as they cannot enter most parts of the venue and
the organizing committee has not provided television monitors at
the press center.
"This is a poorly managed Summit, the worst that I ever
covered," said a journalists, who was sitting with colleagues
complaining about the debacle.
For the sake of security, the Summit has brought about
problems, not only for delegates and the media but the public as
well.
Starting from Oct. 5, traffic jams have blocked the streets of
Denpasar, Kuta, and Nusa Dua as police have closed roads as
delegate's motorcades pass through.
Thousands of people work in Nusa Dua and its adjacent areas,
but because of the traffic jams, few have managed to get to work
on time. "I was trapped in Kuta for 2 hours. This summit benefits
only the government, but not us," said Ngurah Adi, a hotel worker
at a hotel in Jimbaran.
A number of areas, including the road leading to the Nusa Dua
resort compound, have been almost entirely closed. Overnight
Tuesday, all streets connecting Nusa Dua and Tampaksiring palace
in Gianyar were closed to clear out any possible threats that
might endanger the head of states dinner at the palace.
"Bali is now like Aceh. We see police and members of the armed
forces standing on every street corner," Duddy said.
To ensure the safety of the delegates, the Indonesian
government has deployed more than 7,000 security officials
equipped with sophisticated weapons. Some of the state guests
also have their own security.
India, for example, has asked for an armored car for Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, while Japanese security has asked
that its security be allowed to carry weapons.
Indonesian authorities have rejected all of the extra security
measures, saying that according to diplomatic protocol the host
country provides the security, with the exception being that
three members of each of the delegations' security attachments
can bear arms.
So far, no major security threats have occurred.
On Monday morning, protesters were prevented from holding a
rally in front of the Summit venue by hundreds of security
officials.
Ngurah Karyadi, one of the coordinators of the demonstration,
said they could not express the people's views.