Australia’s Travel Warning Not Yet Abolished

The Australian government have stuck to it’s travel warning informing it’s citizens to stop any non-essential journeys to Indonesia. “It has been the state’s duty to uphold the priority of its citizens’ security,” The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer claimed following the 6th meeting of Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Forum in Jakarta, Tuesday, 11 March 2003.
Australia has persisted in warning it’s citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Indonesia, following Bali’s Bomb. Although this travel warning stopped for a short time, it became valid again during Christmas and New Year based on a forecast of a probable recurrence of bomb attacks in Indonesia, including Bali.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government, mainly through its spokesman, Minister of Culture and Tourism, I Gde Ardika, has repeatedly requested Australia to dismiss the latter’s travel warning to Indonesia.
Such demand has also come from a tourism business meeting arranged among Indonesian and Australian officials and entrepreneurs at The Sanur Beach Hotel at the end of February. A large scale of promoting Bali in Australia is necessary in order to restore Australian confidence in the safety of Bali during these times.
One way of promoting this is through Australian celebrities such as Nicole Kidman and Paul Hogan who recently visited Bali. There has also been an advertisement by Garuda Indonesian Airways showing Australia’s charming model, Elle McPherson.
At the same time, a proposal has been given to The Head of the Investigation Team for Bali’s Bomb, Police Inspector General Made Mangku Pastika, requiring that he must visit Australia to give first hand information on the terrorism affairs in Bali and on other problems of security.
Australians are the second most popular visitors of Bali, after the Japanese. The number of Australian tourists to Bali is usually 275 thousand people per year. (dp)

Australia and Indonesia Work Together

JAKARTA – The Australian government is handing over ten million dollars in aid to Indonesia for the cooperation program of both countries to control terrorism, including securing some places of tourism, as said during the press conference with The Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer and Indonesia Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hassan Wirayudha, in Jakarta , March 11 2003.
Australia has shown it’s commitment to aid Indonesia in preventing terrorism since the Bali bomb last October. Thus, the agreed cooperation and aid will enforce the prior ones before the investigation of the tragedy. Minister Downer once again thanked Indonesia for the good teamwork in order to cope with threats of terrorism. The bomb, which destroyed The Sari Club and Paddy’s, seized more than 200 lives, of which 88 were Australian.
Since the blast, Bali Police Force has doubled their officials to keep places secure such as malls and tourist places. There is a real effort to secure feelings of safety among the local people and visiting tourists. (*/dp)

Monkey Forest
A Tourism Object and also a Frequent Location of Research

Mandala wisata wahana Wana or better known as the Monkey Forest has not only been recognized as a tourism destination but also as a place of research, by both domestic and overseas primate experts. The Forest which occupies eight hectares wide of land is home to 250 monkeys since 1990s and is managed by the traditional village of Padang Tegal , Ubud that authorizes the area.
One of the monkey Forrest management staff, Wayan Suwarjana, responded to a particular result of a research, saying that genetical closeness between human and monkeys could bring an impact to both sides if they have contacts with one another. He said that the result has not yet caused any negative influence on the flow of the visitors to the Monkey Forrest. “If we do have a reduction, it will be the impact from the Bali bomb blast,” he explained. “The research result has nothing to do with the recent reduction”
The owner of Batik Sekar Bali explained that the Monkey Forest is safe and proper to visit since annually Monkey Forest receives certificates giving adequate proof that the monkeys are not dangerous to visitors from various research organizations. The research bodies that conduct routine researches on the monkeys and their environment are not only that of Indonesian but also some overseas bodies, such as The Research Center of University of Washington DC, primate experts from University Alabama and Faculty of Veterinarian of University Udayana, Bali. “So far, we have never had any reports on the monkeys attacking visitors.”

Post Bombing Reduction
Particularly on the tourists’ visits, like other recent Bali tourism industry, the monkey forest is also suffering from a significant reduction in tourist visits. From a normal number of 500 people visiting per day, it has fallen to only 100 – 150. If the situation continuous, the monkeys will also be directly influenced due to the high cost of food and maintenance. “We look forward to aiming a new market such as Russian, Japanese and domestic who actually contribute not less than the previous prime markets: Australian, American and European,” said Suwarjana.
It is said that every guest who visits the Forest would sense a unique atmosphere which according to Wayan Suwarjana is a result of good harmony between the monkeys and the environment. Besides, The Kahyangan Tiga temple which settles in the deep of the Forrest vibrates a magical inkling which somehow makes the hair on the back of the back of the tourists’ neck stand on end. (Poll)

 

 

 

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