P.M. lays stone after hectic convoy dash

Press, 31 May 1980, Page 2

P.M. lays stone after hectic convoy dash

NZPA . f ■'.Jakarta There was no shortage of drama yesterday when the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) travelled in a 16vehicle convoy to Kamojang in West Java, to lay the foundation stone for a new geothermal power station. The convoy threatened to become a “cavalcade of destruction” on the two-hour drive from Bandung to Kamojang. f. Men, women, and children, and other vehicles were regularly classified as -’’near misses”, during the convoy’s dash to the site of the station,'to which New Zealand has committed about SUS 24 million in aid funds. Passengers lost count of the number of times on the rough roads that the vehicles halted suddenly and escaped. concertina crashes by inches, after speeding on narrow , rough roads at speeds in excess of lOOkm/h. The trouble was notable in the rear sections of the convoy. Mr and Mrs Muldoon, in a solid European-made saloon. near the front, seemed unaware of the chaos among jeeps and vans behind them. “Thank God we are here in one piece,” said one member of the New Zealand party, on arrival at the geothermal site in rough volcanic hill country. Mr Muldoon put on rubber gloves and shovelled cement into a mixer for the making

i of a corner stone for the first power station. f ' Indonesian officials toned 5 down ?< .r. Jitional project- ■ opening' ceremonies when - Mr Muldtoon laid the stone. ; According to Jakarta officials present at the. cere- ' mony, it vitas traditional for villagers to bury a buffalo ’ at the site .to ensure good ■ fortune for construction, f But, they said; in this case > it had been decided only to release balloons and a flock • of pigeons held in a cage J nearby. r The pigeons flew low after 5 release, but none seemed to ■ have soiled the occasion.