Bali airport gears up for global conference

Wasti Atmodjo, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

The Ngurah Rai international airport is undergoing a refurbishment ahead of the arrival of thousands of delegates to the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Nusa Dua, Denpasar.

Ngurah Rai Airport Authority director Nyoman Suwetja Putra said that the refurbishment included the installation of four new scanning machines, bringing the total number to 21.

To speed up the immigration process, 16 more computers would be installed at the immigration counters in the airport's international arrivals terminal. Currently, immigration officers have only ten computers at their disposal.

The immigration service will also establish two special counters dedicated solely to the UNFCC delegates, who will start arriving later this week.

"We also will set up a command and information post, which will be operating three days prior to three days after the conference," he added.

The authority says it is paying serious attention to security and safety issues at the airport. Up to 106 CCTV cameras have been installed as part of a plan to ultimately equip the airport with 200 cameras.

The authority had also placed at least 1,245 staff members, including those in charge of the airline and ground-handling sections, on stand-by status, ready to be deployed at a moment's notice.

"The above-mentioned figure does not include police and military personnel. The security authorities have informed us that they will position sharpshooters and armored vehicles at the airport," Suwetja said.

"It will be arranged in such a way as to enable all activities continue as usual without any disruption," he said.

He further explained that in order to prevent the airport from being overwhelmed with passengers, the authority would close the airport to charter flights, except those transporting the delegates, for the duration of the conference, which runs from Dec. 3 through Dec. 14.

The authority had set aside ten out of the available 38 aircraft parking spaces for aircraft used by foreign dignitaries and heads of state.

"The power supply to the airport is secure. PLN have are providing us with more than 10,000 KVA. We also have our own generators in case of a blackout. The combined capacity of the generators is 6,000 KVA, which is actually more than we need," he said.