`ADB meeting will not be another Pattaya'

Indah Setiawati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Tue, 04/28/2009 12:54 PM  |  Bali

A high-ranking military officer and the chief of Bali Police stated Monday both the army and the police were ready to secure the Asian Development Bank's upcoming 42nd Annual Governors Meeting (ADB-AGM), which will be held May 2-5 at the island's tourism enclave Nusa Dua.

Both generals were also convinced the possible presence of protesters during the event would not escalate into another Pattaya, a reference to the aborted ASEAN Summit in Thailand, in which thousands of protesters stormed the conference venue and forced the evacuation of ASEAN leaders.

"Indonesia does not have such a culture. According to the recent intelligence report, there is no indication chaos like in Thailand will happen here," Maj. Gen Supiadin A.S. said.

Supiadin is the operation assistant to the Indonesia Military commander. On Monday, he inspected the Udayana Military Command's preparations, which supervises Bali and West Nusa Tenggara, in securing the event.

He observed as hundreds of soldiers stood in formation at Puputan Margarana Square in Denpasar. Later on, a squad from the Raider battalion performed a hostage rescue simulation.

He declined to mention the number of personnel to be deployed during the meeting, which will be attended by leaders from Georgia, Palau, Cambodia, Fiji, Tonga and the Cook Islands, as well as finance ministers from 67 ADB member countries.

"It's a lot. It's not the number of personnel that is important, but how the meeting can be safe," he told reporters.

Later in the afternoon, the Indonesian National Police's operations deputy, Insp. Gen. SY Wenas, conducted a similar inspection of hundreds of officers from the Bali Police.

Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. T Ashikin Husein said he had heard a number of NGO activists would hold a meeting at Udayana University, Badung regency, which aimed to criticize the ADB loans.

He said he was aware of the possible protests, and said the police would focus on the criminal actions.

"It's okay to stage a protest. They can express their opinions or disagreements. But don't try to disturb the event," he said, adding the police would deploy 1,100 officers. *

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