Indonesian president to hold cabinet meeting in Bali to assure tourism safety

JAKARTA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- In a gesture to assure the volcano eruption threat was already over in Bali, Indonesian President Joko Widodo planned to hold a cabinet meeting in the Indonesia's resort island.

"We want to show that Bali is safe for those planning to spend yearend and New Year holiday. There shouldn't be bad perception about Bali anymore due to the volcano eruption issue," the president said after completing his visit in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua on Friday.

As part of the efforts to ensure the safety of tourism in Bali, the president and his ministers were scheduled to have a tour to the island over the weekend.

Indonesia has declared that the situation in most part of Bali has returned to normal, and it's safe for tourism activities, even though the status of Volcano Mount Agung has yet to be downgraded from the existing highest alert of level 4.

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said earlier that the areas prone from being affected by possible eruption of the volcano were the ones declared as red zones within a 10-kilometer perimeter from the volcano's summit, or 2 percent of the overall Bali island.

Tourism in Bali has been severely battered by the escalating volcanic activities of the Mount Agung whose last eruption 54 years ago claimed over 1,500 lives.

Mount Agung's eruption has also displaced more than 71,000 people who are now seeking refuge in over 200 shelters in Bali's northeast regencies. Enditem