Padang ready for Beatrix

PADANG, West Sumatra: Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during her brief visit here next month is expected to stop by Padang City Hall to take a picture by a big tree that her grandmother Queen Yuliana planted last century, Antara reported.

Padang Mayor Zuiyen Rais said he has commissioned a small team to decorate the area around the 15-meter-high tree.

He had also asked the team to find out the name of the tree, which the locals know only as "the big tree in City Hall," he added.

The team has also been assigned to prepare other areas likely to be visited by the Queen during her trip to the province, he said.

Queen Beatrix is scheduled to begin her visit in honor of Indonesia's 50th independence anniversary on Aug. 20. (emb)