Security Tight in Nusa Dua for APEC Summit

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana,  October 1, 2013

Tourists in Nusa Dua, which will host the APEC summit, watch military helicopters
patrol the area on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)

Denpasar. Bali on Monday started implementing maximum security across the island as it gears up for the arrival of heads of state and prominent business leaders from across the world for the 2013 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit set to commence this week in Nusa Dua.

Lt. Col. Kadek Arya, the deputy commander for the event’s VVIP security detail, said on Monday that entry into the Nusa Dua resort area would be tightly controlled, with visitors required to show their identity cards and report the purpose of visit to security officers and police posted at the entrances.

Additionally, guests will also be required to have in hand a special ID issued both by the organizers of the APEC summit and the Bali Tourism Development Center, which operates the Nusa Dua area.

Arya also said that vehicles would also be barred from the resort area throughout the APEC summit, which starts today and runs through Oct. 8.

Only vehicles categorized as VIP or VVIP, or those with special stickers issued by organizers, will be allowed into the Nusa Dua premises.

“The stickers will have to be places on each car’s windshield,” Arya said.

He added that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had also issued a warning against all kinds of air activities by both residents and tourists, which on a normal day would include paragliding, parasailing, kite flying and model airplane flying.

“The prohibition applies for the Nusa Dua area as well as the airport and its surrounding areas,” Arya said.

Col. Wing Handoko, a spokesman for the Udayana Military Command, which oversees the TNI’s operations throughout Bali, said high security would also be in place at every entry point into Bali, including Ngurah Rai International Airport, Gilimanuk and Padangbai seaports, and dozens of traditional fishing ports.

Wing said that with world leaders including US President Barack Obama and China’s Xi Jinping due to arrive for the main summit this weekend, the situation in Bali remained safe.

He said there had been a text message circulating among the public calling for organized protests against the summit.

“It is not clear who the sender is and we see that as mere provocation. However, we are working with the police to track down [the original sender],” he said.

Wing added that protests would be allowed, but only in designated areas.

The TNI and police will deploy a combined 11,000 personnel to Bali for the APEC summit, working in collaboration with the island’s traditional village watchmen known as pecalang .