Preparation for G20 summit 95 percent completed: Luhut

Coordinating Maritime and Investment Affairs Minister Luhut Panjaitan said that preparation for the leaders’ summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) is 95 percent complete and would be ready to host the global event in the next two weeks. Luhut said that construction and refurbishment work for all venues for the summit, including the Apurva Kempinski hotel, where G20 leaders would hold their two-day meeting, and the roads connecting the venue and the Ngurah Rai International Airport have been completed. "The preparation is 95 percent complete. The Garuda Wisnu Kencana [GWK] venue, all the roads, Apurva and Tahura, are all ready," Luhut said on Wesnesday. G20 leaders are scheduled to have a dinner at the GWK venue and also expected to join a special event at the Tahura mangrove conservation, in the vicinity of the Ngurah Rai International Airport.

On Wednesday evening, Luhut joined religious and local leaders in Bali in a mass prayer held in anticipation of the G20 leaders’ summit. "At least we have 150,000 people in Bali joining this mass prayer for the success of G20 summit and the glory of Indonesia," Luhut said. Last week, the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Andika Perkasa said the military plans to deploy a massive security operation in Bali next month involving more than 18,000 personnel, 12 warships and four military jets, to secure the G20 leaders’ summit. Andika said that he would be directly in charge of the operation, which would see the deployment of 14,300 TNI personnel, 3,200 police officers and 492 personnel from other institutions.