Traffic to be detoured during APEC meeting

CIGOMBONG, Bogor (JP): A number of roads in the city will be closed and traffic routed for several days before, during and after the upcoming Asian and Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting next month, city Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochamad Hindarto said yesterday.

"We hope the public will understand because we all have to make the meeting run smoothly," Hindarto said after the dedication of a six-month training course for 107 low-ranking police officers at the Lido State Police School here yesterday.

City Police Headquarters have yet to announce which roads will be closed and for how long.

These closures will apply on roads to be used by heads of states, as well as their delegations, moving between the meeting site in Bogor and their hotels.

"We realize such a change could possibly inconvenience many people," Hindarto said. "We hope motorists will make note of and obey the changes."

He advises motorists to take alternate roads in an effort to help ease the traffic congestion which could occur when certain roads are closed and alternate routes applied.

APEC groups Canada, China, Japan, the United States, Mexico, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, which currently chairs the forum.

The forum's heads of states are scheduled to gather on Nov. 15, at the Bogor Palace, to hold their second meeting. This meeting follows the inaugural APEC leaders meeting on Blake Island, Seattle, last year.

City police will deploy 75 percent of its 15,000 officers during the conference to keep order and security.(bsr)