The community is optimistic that the 2023 ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo will run successfully. They are proud that Indonesia is hosting an international event. The 2023 ASEAN Summit has been prepared almost perfectly so there are minimal mistakes, and preparations are continuing, from infrastructure to telecommunications.
ASEAN is an association of countries in Southeast Asia which was founded on August 8, 1967 in Thailand. Indonesia is an active member of ASEAN, apart from Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and Timor Leste.
Indonesia will become Chair of ASEAN in 2023 and this year’s Summit will be held in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara. The community is optimistic that the summit will run without any problems at all.
As the host of the 2023 ASEAN Summit, the Indonesian government has made long preparations since last year. The highlight of the 2023 ASEAN Summit will be held in Labuan Bajo and Jakarta, in May and September 2023.
Vice President (Wapres) KH Ma’ruf Amin stated that Indonesia was ready to hold this grand event. Indonesia already has experience in holding the G20 Summit and it also has tight security, therefore, this experience must be used as capital in the context of facing the holding of the ASEAN Summit.
Referring to the implementation at the last G20 Summit and its success having been recognized by the international community, the Vice President hopes that the holding of the 2023 ASEAN Summit can repeat the same success. Later when the ASEAN Summit will also get satisfactory results
Therefore, the Vice President appealed to the public to participate in creating a conducive atmosphere so that the ASEAN Summit can be held properly.
To make the 2023 ASEAN Summit a success, various preparations have been made, especially the infrastructure. . The infrastructure that is being built to support this event is the construction of a round about Beach Club, wharf shelters, landscaping and installation of geomats on the Tana Mori road corridor, helipads, and construction of a parking lot with a capacity of 100 cars.
President Joko Widodo together with the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Basuki Hadimuljono reviewed the readiness of Labuan Bajo to become the location for the ASEAN Summit (Summit) earlier this week. The PUPR Ministry ensures that all supporting infrastructure for the event which will be held in May 2023 will be completed next month.
PUPR Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said, the development of the 25-kilometer Labuan Bajo-Tanamori access includes the Labuan Bajo-Simpang Nalis-Simpang Kenari-Tanamori Road and 4 bridges with a total length of 175 meters. The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) is completing the construction of the Labuan Bajo – Tanamori access in West Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, in order to support the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
The PUPR Ministry is also completing the construction of the Manggarai Police Command Headquarters, landscaping the Labuan Bajo road corridor, and connecting promenade work in the Waterfront Marina Area zone 4. The Waterfront Marina area is planned to have 5 zones namely Zone 1 Bukit Pramuka, Zone 2 Kampung Air, Zone 3 Pier, Zone 4 of the Marina Beach (Inaya Bay) area, Zone 5 of Kampung Ujung and was inaugurated by President Jokowi in July 2022.
The Ministry of PUPR is also building a Munting Child Reservoir between the Labuan Bajo Access Road to Golo Mori, Komodo District with a capacity of 159,481.10 m3 and an inundation area of 4.5 hectares. The construction of the reservoir has the main function of conservation and supporting tourism in the Labuan Bajo Super Priority Tourism Destination (DPSP) in the framework of the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
Director General of Cipta Karya Diana Kusumastuti stated that her party plans to finish everything in mid-April or at least at the end of April 2023. In this sense, infrastructure preparations are very mature. With the infrastructure built, it will facilitate mobility during the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
These infrastructures will be completed on time and the public will not have to worry about stalled projects, even though the ASEAN Summit has already started. Workers under the command of the PUPR Ministry are working hard to complete roads and other infrastructure. The road will be built and the result will be smooth, so that the name of Indonesia will be proud.
In addition, security preparations were also carried out strictly. The NTT Regional Police Chief, Inspector General of Police Johni Asadoma asked all people of West Manggarai Regency, especially those in Labuan Bajo, to play an active role in creating a safe and conducive situation. He directly checked the readiness of a number of locations to be used at the 2023 ASEAN Summit.
According to Johni Asadoma, there will be 11 Heads of State and Secretary General of ASEAN countries attending. It is estimated that each head of state will bring an entourage of approximately 40-50 people, so security in Labuan Bajo will be strictly enforced.
The security factor is indeed very important because the ASEAN Summit is an international event. Officials support the 2023 ASEAN Summit and want this event to be a success. As security guards in Indonesia, the security forces want to show their best performance.
Security is getting tighter so that not only the ASEAN Summit delegates feel comfortable, but also local residents. They understand that this event is very important for the future of Indonesia. Therefore the people of Labuan Bajo support the ASEAN Summit and are proud that their area was chosen as the location for the international event.
The 2023 ASEAN Summit has been very well prepared for this international event to run successfully. All preparations ranging from infrastructure to security have been carried out almost perfectly. The community hopes that the Summit will run smoothly.
)* The author is a contributor to the Indomedia Gala Institute
