Published on July 21, 2014
Bill Clinton, former (42nd ) President of the United States of America, is currently on a visit to Indonesia. Commencing 19th July 2014 he first visited the 2004 tsunami stricken province of Aceh. Today Bill Clinton is scheduled to be in the Tanjung Puting National Park, in Pangkalan Bun, Kotawaringin Barat Regency, in the Central Kalimanatan Province.
To keep his privacy and to avoid political issues, the Clinton Foundation has not allowed the media to cover the tour during what is called the Clinton Foundation Asian Tour 2014. Indonesia today happens to be in the midst of awaiting results of the 2014 fiercely contested Presidential elections, that is due to be announced on Tuesday, 22 July by the National Committee for General Elections , KPU.
According to information from the Clinton Foundation, the purpose of the Tour of Bill Clinton is to personally inspect his projects in five countries, namely in India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Australia.
The Clinton Foundation Asian Tour 2014 in the Asia Pacific region, which is scheduled to take place between 16th to 23rd July 2014,is focused on global health issues and medical access improvements, climate change, and economic development in these five countries. Apart from these main objectives, the tour also commemorates and is held in conjunction with the 20th international AIDS Conference.
This is not the first time that Bill Clinton has visited Indonesia. In 2006, Bill Clinton, who was at the time Special Representative of the United Nations for the Recovery of Aceh after the Tsunami disaster, also came to observe first hand developments made in UN funded schools. In Aceh. In Aceh last Saturday, Bill Clinton praised highly the rapid progress made in the reconstruction of the province of Aceh after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that razed a large part of the province ten years ago.
Leaving Banda Aceh, capital of the Aceh Province, Bill Clinton and entourage flew to Pangkalan Bun, where he arrived at the Iskandar Airport Sunday 20th July 2014, at 01.55 local time. Here the team rested at the Swiss Bel Inn Hotel at Pangkalan Bun before continuing their journey into the rainforests of Kalimantan.
In Kotawaringin Barat, Bill Clinton met his working partners in the Clinton Foundation in Kalimantan including the Orangutan Indonesia Foundation (Yayorin) Kobar, Rimba Raya Conservation (RRC) Seruyan, and Rimba Makmur Utama (RMU), Katingan.. Clinton and his team also visited the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine (OCCQ) of the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) at Pasir Panjang Village.
On Sunday afternoon at 16.00 local time, accompanied by the president of OFI, Birute Mary Galdkas and other associates, Clinton took time to observe orangutans being weaned for reintroduction into the wild by the OCCQ. The group is scheduled to visit the Tanjung Puting National Park on Monday, 21st July 2014 and then continue their tour to Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi Province, before leaving Indonesia for Papua New Guinea and Australia.
The Tanjung Puting National Park is known as the largest orangutan conservation area in the world and is, therefore, dubbed the “Earth’s Orangutan Capital”. Aside from Bill Clinton, a number of other international celebratieis have also paid a visit to Tanjung Puting among whome are Julia Roberts, Bill Gates, and more.
Source: clintonfoundation.org and borneonews.co.id
