343 cases of Dengue Fever in Singaraja
The Northern province of Buleleng (Singaraja) in Bali has
reported 343 cases of Dengue Fever so far this year (January
2006 - March 2006). According to a medical spokesman two of
those affected by the disease died as they had sought medical
attention too late. Local authorities continue with efforts
to control the mosquito population by fogging and distributing
awareness leaflets to the general public. (26th March 2006,
Radar Bali)
Indonesia Postpones Funding Package from Australia
Indonesia has postponed signing an agreement to accept about
$US7 million from Australia to help fight bird flu. The move
is directly related to a diplomatic row over Australia’s
decision to grant 42 Papuan asylum seekers temporary protection
visas. A spokesman for Indonesia’s welfare ministry,
Lalu Wangsa, has confirmed the postponement is linked to the
granting of the visas.“ He says the government has one
voice on the issue and the agreement would be signed when
diplomatic relations are more conducive. Australia says its
decision last week to grant the Papuans temporary protection
visas is in line with domestic and international obligations.
Indonesia says the asylum seekers are “economic migrants”
and denies they have been persecuted in Indonesia. (March
27th 2006, AFP)
Some 3.2 million Indonesians Use Illicit Drugs
Some 3.2 people in Indonesia used illicit drugs, according
to Brig. Gen. Police Dr. Eddy Saparwoko of the National Narcotics
Agency (BNN). Of the total users, around 69 percent of them
used illicit drugs regularly and 31 percent others irregularly,
Saparwoko said here on Tuesday (23/3). Around 15,000 people
died annually due to illicit drug usage, he said. Drug abuse
had become a concrete threat to the future of the nation,
he said. (March 23rd 2006, Antara News)
Chinese Tourist Found Dead in Hotel Pool
Chinese tourist Meng Run Ping (45) was found dead in the swimming
pool of the Putri Bali Hotel in Nusa Dua on Sunday (23/3).
According to several witnesses Ping had complained of body
cramps shortly before she died, and had been swimming in the
pool for a long time. (March 24th 2006, Denpost).
British PM Blair Arrives in Indonesia
Islamic protesters angry at Britain’s role in the occupation
of Iraq demonstrated in Jakarta ahead of a visit by Prime
Minister Tony Blair aimed at strengthening ties with the mostly
moderate Muslim-majority nation. About 80 demonstrators shouted
“Go to hell, Blair!” outside the heavily fortified
British embassy and accused Blair of “wanting to deepen
western imperialism against Muslims” by coming to Indonesia.
Mr. Blair’s trip is the first by a British prime minister
to Indonesia in more than two decades, showing the country’s
renewed importance to western nations seeking to build alliances
with moderate Muslims. Marty Natelegawa, Indonesia’s
ambassador to Britain said his country was proof that “democracy
and Islam can go hand in hand”. “Indonesia is
a living example of that,” he said. “Our voice
carries weight.” Mr. Blair, along with his wife Cherie,
arrived from New Zealand. He is to stay in the country less
than 24 hours before returning to London. (March 30th 2006,
AFP)
Australia Warns of Possible Terror Attack in Indonesia –
Travel Warnings
Australia has warned of a possible terrorist attack against
Western interests in Indonesia, in an updated travel advisory
issued by the foreign affairs department in Canberra. The
advisory urged Australians against traveling to Indonesia,
including the resort island of Bali, “due to the very
high threat of terrorist attack”. “We continue
to receive a stream of reporting indicating that terrorists
are in the advanced stages of planning attacks in Indonesia
against a range of targets, including places frequented by
foreigners,” it said. (April1st 2006, AFP)
300 People Lock Lips in Bali Kissing Festival
About 300 people took part in an annual kissing festival in
the Indonesian resort island of Bali, a report said on Friday
(31/3). Mainly young men and women took part in the ritual,
meant to ward off unexpected dangers, which was attended by
about 2,000 people, the Detikcom newsportal said. The event
in the main town of Denpasar was traditionally a cheeks-only
affair but lip-kissing has become the norm in recent years.
Kadek Dedek Wirawan said he had taken part three times.“But
only now I got to kiss lips,” he said. Debate is currently
raging in the Southeast Asian country over anti-pornography
legislation which proposes up to five years’ jail for
people caught kissing in public.(March 31st 2006, AFP)
Ceremony for Nias Sea King Nine
A memorial service for the nine Australians killed in a mercy
mission on the Indonesian island of Nias a year ago has begun
with 28 family members greeted by locals. The local community
staged a “fondronihia” dance of welcome singing
songs and shaking traditional spears and shields. Senior Australian
military officials and Deputy Defense Minister Bruce Billson
were met by the Indonesian military’s chief of staff,
Lieutenant General Endong Suwarya. Six RAN and three RAAF
personnel died when their Sea King helicopter, from HMAS Kanimbla,
crashed on Nias off Sumatra on April 2 last year while on
a rescue mission. A memorial service is also being held at
defense headquarters in Canberra. (April 2nd 2006, AEST)
Bali Residents Battered by Cyclone Glenda – 30 Boats
Damaged, Jimbaran
Denpasar‘s Meteorology and Geophysics Office (BMG) here
on Saturday (1/4) asked residents of Bali to be on alert as
tropical cyclone Glenda swept by the resort Island. Over the
past three days Denpasar, Bali‘s capital city, had received
constant heavy rainfall with low and moderate intensity. BMG
satellite data monitored that 30-knot winds or wind speeds
of around 15-45 km per hour, passed East Java, Bali, West
Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces of Indonesia.
“It’s the impact of Glenda’s winds, low
pressure system and intense rains that occurred in the four
provinces,” he said. The high winds and ocean swell
caused damage to many coastal areas in the South of Bali damaging
over 30 small boats of the Jimbaran fishing village and carving
away huge amounts of sand from beaches in Seminyak and Kuta.
Tourists swimming in the Legian beach had been warned of possible
huge waves, a local beach guard, Made Suarta, said. Last Wednesday
(March 29, 2006), three Indonesians swimming in the Legian
beach were hit by huge wave. Two of the domestic tourists
were able to be saved but one was drowned, Suarta said. (April
2nd 2006, Antara News)
Man ‘Asked to Join Bali Nine’
A man has told an Australian court how he and his mate narrowly
avoided facing the same fate as the Bali Nine after meeting
the drug syndicate’s ringleaders. Bozidar Ristic, a
machinist from Logan in Brisbane’s south, told the Brisbane
Magistrates Court today he was asked to be a drug courier
by the Bali Nine organizers just weeks before they were arrested.
Mr. Ristic was giving evidence in the committal hearing of
four men and two women accused of being part of the drugs
syndicate. New Zealand-born Atoalii Partsch, 21, and Shaode
Cao, 18, Francis Vui Jan Lee, 21, and Alice Yun Hsuan Yang,
19, - all of Brisbane - Khanh Thanh Ly, 24, of Sydney, and
South Korean national Do Hyung Lee, 25, are charged with conspiracy
to import drugs between August 2004 and April last year. Mr.
Ristic, who was granted immunity from prosecution by police,
testified that he and a friend, Farhud Gujari, had gone on
an aborted drug importation trip to Bali in 2004 and had been
contacted again in March last year. This was just weeks before
nine young Australians were arrested for trying to smuggle
$4 million worth of heroin from Bali to Australia last year.
(April 3rd 2006, AFP)
Indonesia Believed to Have Lost 70 Orchid Species
Some 70 orchid species which used to exist in Indonesian forests
are believed to have become extinct due to illegal logging
activity, a cultivator said. The loss of so many orchid species
is very regrettable, said Susono Hadinugroho, chairman of
the Surabaya Orchid Society here on Saturday. Indonesia’s
orchid population is the second most diverse in the world
after Brazil’s. Around 5,000 species of the world’s
total 26,000 orchid species are to be found in Indonesia,
he said. Especially for “Phalaenopsis”, also called
`moon orchid`, around 65 percent of these species grow in
Indonesia’s islands, Hadinugroho said during an orchid
exhibition. He called on the government to amend the existing
government regulation on the protection of the country’s
orchid species to promote preservation of the country’s
orchids. Susono believed that orchids should not only be protected
but also preserved by promoting orchid breeding even outside
their habitats. Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono
said earlier that the Indonesian government would try to make
orchids a major foreign-exchange earner besides oil and gas.
Currently, Indonesia was lagging behind Malaysia, Thailand
and Singapore in terms of export-oriented orchid industry,
he said. He said Indonesia was earning US$3 million a year
from exporting orchids, well below Thailand’s US$50
million and Taiwan’s US$15 million, while the total
value of global orchid trade reaches US$150 million.(April
2nd 2006, Antara News)
British Expatriate Knifed at his Home - Nusa Dua
British expatriate Robert (Bob) Miller (47) was brutally attacked
and suffered multiple stab wounds to his limbs and body when
two armed assailants entered his Taman Mumbul home late on
Saturday night (1/4). Mr. Miller, a technical assistant at
the Ubung branch of Courts furniture and electronic store,
had been watching television late that evening when he heard
the intruders entering through an unlocked window in a vacant
room. When Mr. Miller shouted at the men asking their intentions,
they immediately attacked with knives inflicting 8 stab wounds
and all but severing Mr. Miller’s right hand. After
the men had fled leaving their victim for dead, Mr. Miller
managed to attract the attention of a neighbor, a doctor from
Holland, who immediately assisted with first aid and rushed
the bleeding man to Intl. SOS Assistance. Mr. Miller was then
transferred to Sanglah General Hospital where he was stabilized
until he was evacuated to Singapore on Sunday afternoon. Many
expatriates made a mercy dash to donate blood for Mr. Miller
who had Rhesus negative type blood. Police are questioning
the motive as the thieves left with only one hand phone. This
is the second armed robbery in the Nusa Dua area in recent
months. An Australian woman was brutally knifed at the Jimbaran
Hills Resort in November of 2005; however police claim to
have arrested the men involved in this case. (April 3rd 2006,
Bali Post)
Indonesian Hotel Says “No” to Australians
A top Indonesian hotel said it would refuse to accept Australian
guests after a protest by 20 students over Australia granting
visas to Papuan asylum-seekers, a worker said. University
students were blocked from entering Sahid Hotel in the capital
of South Sulawesi province but they refused to leave hotel
grounds until staff promised to turn away Australians, receptionist
Saparuddin said. “We agreed in writing that we are prohibited
from accepting Australian guests. We accepted to sign the
document rather than have them enter our hotel and disturb
our guests,” he said. He said that Australian guests
were rare at the Indonesian chain hotel, with only one registering
so far this year. The students, he said, told him they planned
to make similar demands to other major hotels in the city.
Public anger against Australia has risen since Canberra granted
the visas to 42 Papuan asylum-seekers last month, with calls
mounting for Jakarta to take a harder stance against its neighbors.
Jakarta has already recalled its ambassador from Canberra
in protest. (April 4th 2006, The Australian)
