UN Secretary General, Mahathir to Visit Quake-Hit Palu

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto answers reporters’ questions at the office of Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Jakarta, Tuesday (9/10). (Photo by: Public Relations of Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs).

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad are scheduled to visit quake-hit Palu in Central Sulawesi province, between 12, 13 or 14 October 2018 on sidelines of their schedule to attend the 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group.

“Their visit is to show concern over the earthquake and tsunami that hit a number of regions in Central Sulawesi province on 28 September,” Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto said in Jakarta, Tuesday (9/10).

“Only two of them made the visit request at this time,” Wiranto said.

Due to many Palu-inbound flights because of the amount of assistance to the city, Wiranto continued that an arrangement must be made to ensure smooth trips of the two leaders.

Wiranto further said that because there is still in emergency period in the city, there will be heavy equipment so he had held a meeting to discuss the visit sequence.

“We will ensure security during their visits,” Wiranto added.

In the meantime, Deputy Chief of the Indonesian National Police Commissioner General Ari Dono Sukmanto said that special security measures had been in place by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Presidential Security Detail (Paspampres).

There will also be security preparations to sterilize certain areas so that the visit on certain routes can run smoothly, he added.

“There is still a lot of damage in the affected areas, especially the roads. We must ensure the safety of our guests on the location,” Ari said. (Biro Hukum dan Hublem Kemenko Polhukam/ES) (GWH/EP/Naster)