RI to co-host Brunei int'l off-road event

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Off-road Federation (IOF) will co-host the 5000-kilometer Brunei Four-Wheel Drive International Challenge 2001 as part of the Visit Brunei Year 2001 program.

A number of IOF officials told The Jakarta Post during a post- Ramadhan gathering in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, that the event was a great opportunity to promote Indonesia's tourism potential, especially in the areas in Kalimantan and Sulawesi that will host the event.

"The race will pass through parts of Brunei, the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Brunei's Ministry of Tourism is to finance the event while the Brunei Four-Wheel Drive Association will act as the main organizer," IOF secretary Justinus Shalim said.

"It is a great advantage for our side because 85 percent of the itinerary is in Indonesia. We will do our best to promote tourism.

The event starts on April 5 in the Brunei capital of Bandar Seri Begawan. The participants will then head to the Sarawak capital of Kuching before entering Indonesia on the way to Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

They participants will then cross the Kalimantan jungle heading for Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, and Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, before going by ferry to Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The event will then pass through the Toraja tourist area on the way to Poso Lake in Central Sulawesi. The Sulawesi section continues through Palu and ends in Toli-toli.

The participants will be then shipped back to Kalimantan en route to the Sabah city of Tawau before reaching the state's capital of Kota Kinabalu.

The event ends in Bandar Seri Begawan on April 23.

The IOF's official in charge of the event, Harry Suhari, said he would contact local tourism agencies to provide their own cultural attractions.

"The event is such a big opportunity for the provinces because there will be some 20 foreign journalists covering the event. By providing cultural attractions at the event's checkpoints, these regions will be widely promoted," he said.

"The only concern is that local clashes may erupt, especially in Poso. It will be such a loss if we have to skip Poso Lake and take another route to reach Palu," he added.

For the 2001 calendar, the IOF has also prepared several events in the adventure, racing, and rock-crawling categories.

Meanwhile, IOF Chairman Harry Irawadi said the federation, founded last year, had currently 30 institutional members nationwide.

"We don't take individual memberships. Those interested can join local off-road clubs. The club can then apply for membership of the federation," he said.

"Workshops providing off-road modifications can also apply for membership as well as specialized stores selling off-road equipment," he added.

"Currently, we are also considering the possibility of accepting mountain motorbikes and bikes in the federation. We have invited them to take part in some of our events and to try out our off-road tracks," he said.

The federation is a member of the England-based Four-by-Four World Council for the adventure category and the US-based Score International for the racing category. (nvn)