AMBON, KOMPAS.com - The date to observe the 29th World Peace Day in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon is for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to fix. "It is up to President Yudhoyono to set the date of the occasion because he will have to strike the world peace gong which now still being made by a craftsman in Jepara, Central Java," World Peace Day local committee chairman Cak Saimima said in Jakarta on Sunday.
Saimima said Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono would facilitate Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu and the provincial administration officials to meet the president to discuss and fix the date. "The commemoration of the 29th World Peace Day was originally scheduled on November 10, 2009 but it will be observed in conjunction with National Heroes Day, and therefore had been postponed until November 15, but the final decision on the date is for the president to decide," Saimima said.
He said Governor Ralahalu declared the commemoration of the World Peace Day at the final day of the Ambon Jazz Plus Festival on October 11, 2009. On the occasion, Governor Ralahalu urged the Maluku people to be grateful because their region had restored for various cultural activities at national and international level.
He also expressed his gratitude to all artists and musicians who had come to participate in the Ambon Jazz Plus Festival (AJPF) as a form of support to World Peace Day in Ambon. The observance of World Peace Day was followed by Maluku Cultural Seminar on October 19, Cultural Carnival on October 27, and a Swimming Competition in Teluk Dalam on October 29.
The governor said the commemoration of World Peace Day in Ambon would be a great honor for the government. "Threfore the government and the people of Maluku should maintain the security and stability in Ambon to make the international event a great success," the governor said.
