Foreign envoys visit Banda Naira
Ambassadors of Singapore and the Netherlands, and the U.S. Embassy's deputy head of mission, recently visited Banda Naira in Maluku province.
In the late 1930s, nationalist leaders Mohammad Hatta and Sutan Syahrir were exiled to Banda Naira by the Dutch colonial masters.
"Hatta later became Indonesia's vice president (1945-56) and prime minister (1948-50). Syahrir also became prime minister of Indonesia (1945-1947)," Indonesia's former ambassador to Australia as well as The Jakarta Post's senior editor, Sabam Sigian, said in Jakarta.
According to Sabam, historian Des Alwi invited Singaporean Ambassador Ashok Kumar Mirpuri, Dutch Ambassador Nikolaos van Dam, U.S. Embassy deputy head of mission John A. Heffern and his wife Libby Heffern, Sabam and U.S. Library of Congress Jakarta field director William Tuchrello and his wife Anita Tuchrello to visit Banda Naira from May 10 to May 13.
During their four-day trip, the diplomats visited Ambon, Banda Island, Central Maluku and other places in the province, and attended the graduation ceremony of the Banda Naira Fisheries Institute on Sunday.
They also met Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu.
Antara news agency reported that Governor Ralahalu asked the U.S. government to lift its travel warning, saying Maluku is safe for foreign tourists.
"I asked John A. Heffern ... to tell the U.S. government about the real condition in Maluku in the hope that the country could lift its travel warning," Ralahalu said Wednesday.
In another positive development, Dutch Ambassador Van Dam announced Wednesday the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and Industry would soon send a team to Maluku to explore investment possibilities there.
"I have visited Maluku four times so far and found that conditions in the province are conducive to investment because the security situation after three years of sectarian conflict has significantly improved," Van Dam told Antara.
With unsurpassed underwater beauty, Maluku would attract Dutch investors wanting to invest in the province's tourism sector, Van Dam said.
While returning to Jakarta the group faced a delay in Ambon.
"The Batavia Air Flight No. 7P-344 from Ambon to Surabaya was delayed. It was not good. The ambassadors and others were forced to wait for two hours at the Ambon airport," Sabam said. (The Jakarta Post)
