PM ignores floods for Indon tour
From AAP
04feb02
PRIME Minister John Howard wants to proceed with his visit to Jakarta aimed at finding solutions to people smuggling despite recent floods devastating the Indonesian capital.
Heavy rains were again falling today after flooding over the past week left at least 20 people dead, thousands homeless and large areas of Jakarta without telephone lines or electricity.
Australian officials were looking for new accommodation for Mr Howard after the basement ballroom of the Regent Hotel, where he was due to stay, was flooded and the hotel surrounded by at least one metre of water.
Before departing New York, where the Prime Minister attended the World Economic Forum, Mr Howard said he hoped the three-day trip would not be cancelled.
"I'm not wanting that to happen and I really want to be there," he told reporters.
"I want to go, and all systems are go at present."
Sources said the Indonesian government was keen for Mr Howard not to cancel his visit, despite the flooding disaster which has blocked major highways.
Mr Howard was scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday and immediately meet with President Megawati Sukarnoputri for one hour of bilateral talks at the Presidential Palace.
It would be Mr Howard's second visit to the Palace following a diplomatic coup last August when he became the first foreign leader to meet with Mrs Megawati after she won the presidency.
Within weeks of the visit, Mrs Megawati was refusing to take Mr Howard's calls, having taken offence at his failure to consult with her government before he refused to accept more than 430 asylum seekers rescued in the Indian Ocean by the Norwegian freighter Tampa.
Mrs Megawati also refused to hold bilateral talks with Mr Howard at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Shanghai in October.
All was forgiven after Mr Howard was returned to power in November.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda proposed the two governments co-host a regional conference on transnational crime, which would take in people smuggling.
Talks with Mrs Megawati would address illegal immigration only in broad terms during their meeting.
Diplomats are pinning more importance on a meeting Thursday between Mr Howard and Mrs Megawati's Security Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Mr Howard was not expected to push the issue of terrorism, a sensitive political issue in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim nation.
But the issue was expected to be raised by Mrs Megawati, who would point to plans by ASEAN countries to improve information sharing about security threats.
Mr Howard was scheduled to meet with the speakers of the National Assembly and Parliament, whose Commission on Foreign Affairs last week called for his visit to be delayed.
The call was spurred by claims amongst its members that Australians supported independence for the easternmost province of Papua, despite Canberra's policy of opposing secession for the former Irian Jaya.
Mr Howard would also meet with the Indonesian Council on World Affairs, a moderate Islamic group, in a bid to promote Australia's image as a culturally tolerant society.
He was scheduled to travel to Java's cultural capital Yogyakarta on Thursday where he would dine and stay at the Sultan's palace.
A visit to the ancient Buddhist monument, Borobudur, was planned for Friday morning before the Prime Minister flies home via Bali's Denpasar airport.