Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Directorate-General of Land Transportation at the Transportation Ministry has prepared several buses and crew to support the XX National Sports Weeks (PON) and XVI National Para Games (Peparnas) due to be held in Papua Province in October and November this year. "We will send the buses from Tanjung Priok Port to Jayapura City and District, Mimika District, as well as Merauke District, using MV Dharma Kencana VII and MV Dharma Rucitra VII," said Budi Setiyadi, Director-General of the Ministry, in a statement on Thursday.
The units comprise 217 small buses with 19 seats as procurement, as well as 211 medium rental buses with 26 seats for the XX PON, he added.
The buses will arrive at their designated regions no later than September 1, 2021, to serve the athletes and officials via a shuttle system.
"We have also recruited 261 Papuan residents as procurement bus drivers to empower the local community. They will be given driving and service hospitality training. Meanwhile, rental drivers will be provided by the rental company," Setiyadi further added.
For the XVI Peparnas, the directorate-general will prepare 120 units of small procurement buses from the used XX PON buses.
"However, we will modify 60 buses by creating on/off ramps with adequate slopes for athletes using wheelchairs, as suggested by the Papua Provincial Government. Meanwhile, the other 60 units will not be modified," he noted.
The XX PON, scheduled to be held from Oct 2 to Oct 15, will be co-hosted by Jayapura, along with the districts of Jayapura, Mimika and Merauke. Meanwhile, the XVI Peparnas will be held from Nov 2 to Nov 15 in Jayapura city and district.
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