Residents, weather welcome APEC to Bogor
Residents, weather welcome APEC to Bogor
BOGOR (JP): About one thousand Bogor residents cheerfully
welcomed APEC delegations here as their leaders snaked through
city streets in one procession after another.
The cloudy day also looked to welcome the meeting as prospects
of rain feared earlier went unfounded, though it rained the day
before as well as on Saturday evening here.
Hundreds of students, government officials and members of
youth organizations lined the streets where APEC leaders passed.
A line of residents stretched for a kilometer down Jl.
Pajajaran, which is in front of the Jakarta-Bogor tollgate, to
Jl. Jalak Harupat and Jl. H. Juanda, in front of the Bogor Palace
gate.
Dressed casually, some still in jogging suits, they started
gathering at 6 a.m. and dispersed gradually after all the leaders
entered the palace around 8.30 a.m.
Bogor authorities announced early on that the town's central
area, where the palace is situated, would be off limits to
vehicles and pedestrians from 6 a.m to 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
The people waved their hands excitedly every time a procession
of vehicles passed by, though it was never clear who was on
board.
"Has Clinton passed by?" people asked one another after the
procession was over, some believing he came by chopper instead.
Many in attendance were there on their own accord, but most
were ordered to come.
"We are here at the instruction of our teachers," said
Nurhasanah, a local private high school student.
She and several schoolmates walked one kilometer from their
house to the road site.
Each of them carried a yellow card, issued by the Bogor police
intelligence service. Under the initial plan, security officers
would have checked on the cards but, as it turned out, none of
them did.
The students reportedly had been provided with red and white
Indonesian flags which, according the initial plan, they would
wave at each procession of APEC leaders. But, at the last minute
the plan was canceled by the officials for reasons unknown to
most.
"I have no idea why it has been canceled," said Sgt. Syafrul
Husein.
Deserted
While APEC leaders were holding their meeting at the palace,
most Bogor residents looked more interested in staying home,
watching television or doing household jobs.
Shops were all closed on Jl. Surya Kencana, the main business
thoroughfare. Some food stores were still open, hoping to lure
customers from the visiting APEC crowd. Banners reading "Welcome
APEC delegates" were still hanging in front of the stores.
The Baranangsiang bus terminal, which was situated in front of
the Jakarta-Bogor tollgate was closed since midnight. Streets
were very much deserted as most public bus drivers called it a
day-off.
"I think more than half of the drivers are sleeping at home,
waiting for all the presidents (APEC leaders) to leave," said bus
driver Dadang, who acknowledged that he wasn't terribly informed
about APEC.
"So far, the authorities have not given clear information
about it," he argued.
Over 700 officers, recruited from the police corps and the
West Java agency of traffic and land transportation, were
standing on guard at almost every intersection.
Dozens lingered near the famed Bogor Botanical Garden, which
is adjacent to the palace ground, to watch the officers chat
about the weather and the rumors circulating about authorities
having hired shamans to ward off the rains.
Bogor Mayor H.E. Gunardi strongly denied the rumor, saying the
officials had only held prayers with clerics at mosques for that
purpose, which they did routinely for several weeks before the
APEC meeting.
"We believe in God and, God willing, hope the weather will be
good," said the mayor.