Govt defends arrangements for Bush visit

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 11/13/2006 12:05 PM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda asked the public Saturday to respect the upcoming visit of U.S. President George W. Bush, saying he was a state guest and the trip would benefit Indonesia.

Hassan said the 10-hour visit would be positive for the country, given the importance of the issues President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would pursue during the meeting on Nov. 20 at the Bogor presidential palace.

""If you scrutinize the visit, not only will it increase the bilateral relationship but also the fact that the issues to be discussed concern directly the public's needs,"" he was quoted as saying by Antara in Cirebon, West Java.

Hassan said the meeting would not focus on terrorism or military cooperation, but on educational cooperation, in terms of providing scholarships, health and combating avian influenza, disaster mitigation, the tsunami early warning system and biodiesel development.

Hassan was responding to escalating demonstrations, ranging from shouting anti-Bush slogans to burning his image, against the visit, which is Bush's second. In 2003, during Megawati Soekarnoputri's administration, he came to Bali.

There are also criticisms that the U.S. has been demanding too much in the way security arrangements, including the construction of two helipads, at a reported cost of Rp 6 billion (some US$659,340).

However, Bush's national security adviser Stephen Hadley said Friday that Bush would push for joint efforts to battle terrorism during his visit to Southeast Asia, where he will also visit Singapore and Vietnam.

In Jakarta, presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal criticized the press for ""failing to capture the essence of the visit"" and the advantages Indonesia stood to gain in terms of business opportunities, investment, education and health.

""We see the media coverage putting much focus on artificial issues such as the construction of helipads, security and telephone signal jamming,"" he said, adding that the visit would not be the time for the U.S. to press Indonesia with its agendas.

Dino also said reports that the government would spend some Rp 6 billion on the Bush visit contradicted finance ministry data.

Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said that the security arrangements were still appropriate.

""I think we should all understand the role he plays in global terms and that he represents a (huge) economy. So it is only proper that we make security arrangements befitting the leader of a globally influential country,"" he said.

He said protecting the personal safety of the two presidents would be the responsibility of their respective presidential guard units while the Indonesian police would secure the areas around wherever the two leaders happened to be.

Juwono added that the visit would show that predominantly Muslim Indonesia was not afraid of globalization.

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