As explained by The Jakarta Post recently, that the US President Barack Obama is expected to arrive in Bali next week for a night’s sleepover on the Island of the Gods – Bali.
The trip has been delayed from March 18-24 to March 21-26 and Obama reportedly has canceled his plan to bring the first lady and his two daughters here.
But holidays in the Presidential Suite are not exactly the sort of relaxing holiday the average chap dreams of. For one thing, Barry quite possibly does not yet know if he is going to get his Bali sleepover after all. By late Friday last week there was still no confirmation of his visit.
You can bet your bottom dollar he needs a rest, what with the financial crisis and universal healthcare in the United States on the domestic front and Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran possibly, and Israel and Palestine’s problems overseas, just to mention a few of the issues Obama must wrestle with before breakfast
A quick call to the US Embassy in Jakarta turned up nothing on Barry’s weekend away from it all, “The White House has not yet announced President Obama’s schedule,” US Embassy press attaché Paul Belmont said.
Mahadi, the press secretary for Bali’s governor, Mangku Made Pastika, was also in the dark on Thursday. “Today the governor is in Australia with SBY [Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono], we expect he will meet with President Obama, but we do not yet have a schedule,” Mahadi said via telephone.
Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar was yet to receive confirmation of Obama’s Bali trip, however, one source, who requested anonymity, said Barry’s Bali holiday was definitely on and the airport was in full preparation for his arrival.
“Just this morning at 7:20 a.m., a Galaxy C117 transporter landed to offload a Blackhawk helicopter for President Obama. It’s the biggest plane that has ever landed here to my knowledge,” the airport source said.
He added that aircraft parking bays 16 through 32 would be closed for the president’s arrival on March 21. “The president’s arrival is a massive exercise. The aircraft bays will be used for the president’s helicopter and other aircraft. This is a big problem, because so many other aircraft will not be able to land in Bali and may have to land at another airport. We have very limited [airplane] parking space at Ngurah Rai,” the source said.
Whether Obama will travel on Airforce One or another carrier is still under wraps, according to the source.
“We know nothing of his aircraft. It’s a secret plane,” said the source, who remembers former US president George Bush’s Bali arrival in 2003.
“I worked in another [airport] position then so I had a different set of concerns to what I have today. With the George Bush visit there was very high security and we had US fighter planes over Bali. Nobody let our air traffic controllers know, but our radars were full of spots – 18 [US fighter planes] were counted,” said the source, adding that he expected a security lockdown island-wide for the Obama visit.
The Galaxy C117 arrived again Saturday morning, said the source, to offload weaponry and possibly ground staff.
Obama is expected to fly directly from Jakarta to Bali, then on to Canberra.
On top of the airport’s security and White House security staff, more than 2,400 police will be deployed in Bali. That’s a lot of protection.
So when you are a president going on holiday to Bali just what do you pack? The security probably takes up most of your luggage allowance, White House staff and international reporters would fill up the last couple of kilos, so it’s maybe just a pair of board shorts and a T-shirt for Barry this time in Bali.
Not that he will get much time at the beach. He will be staying in Nusa Dua, again according to the source from Ngurah Rai Airport.
The presidential couple reportedly lived in Bali back in the early 1990s while Barry finished his first book, Dreams From My Father; that earlier visit will bear little resemblance to returning to the island as president of one of the world’s largest nations.
And how will Barry compare Bali almost two decades on is something to ponder. Back in the ‘90s the island was much quieter and the jungle of signage lining the road away from the airport didn’t exist, there were trees and gardens instead. He may have enjoyed evenings in roadside warung, dinner by kerosene lamp. He will get that today if they’re lucky, when the power goes off, as it does regularly. Fishing the rivers and seas will be off the holiday plans, as these are now choked with plastic. He will buy water in bottles, well, their aides will buy water in bottles for them, drinking from the tap is a long-past pleasure.
But this presidential visit might inspire others to walk on cleaned beaches and plant a few trees for posterity as well, says the head of the Bali Tourism Board, Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya. “America is a big country and not many travelers come from there, this visit may encourage them to visit Bali too,” Wijaya said.
“I think the spotlight [of Obama’s visit] is good for Bali. It’s good for our image. He will be coming here with all the journalists and TV media to cover his travels to Indonesia. This is very good for Indonesia. It shows Indonesia, and within that, Bali, is so safe every US president since Reagan has come to Bali. Reagan, Clinton, Bush and now Obama,” said Wijaya, who hopes there will be time in the president’s schedule to see a traditional dance and to plant a tree to highlight the environment.
“The dance would expose our culture and tree planting would point to a green Bali. We have problems all over Bali, especially in the southeast with electricity, garbage, traffic and water. There is no master plan for these four issues. Tourist arrivals are very good, we have broken records every year for the past three years, but we don’t want arrival numbers to keep growing if the [provincial] government does not put in the needed infrastructure,” said Wijaya, perhaps hoping the issues now facing Bali will be highlighted and addressed by this presidential holiday among the Gods of Bali.
