Five RI Warships Now Regularly Patrolling Waters Bordering
Australia
At least five Indonesian warships are now regularly patrolling
Papua waters bordering Australia in an effort to prevent Indonesians
from sailing to Australia to seek asylum, a spokesman said.
"The Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) has stationed two of its
warships, namely the KRI Layang and KRI Sutedi Senaputra,
at its base in Merauke and assigned two or three more
warships to help maintain security during President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono`s visit to Merauke," Lt Col Toni Syaiful,
spokesman of the Navy’s Eastern Fleet Command, told
ANTARA News here on Wednesday (5/4). He said the 42 Papuans
to whom the Australian government had given temporary asylum
had sailed to Australia in a small boat that was most likely
not covered by any official travel documents. "Before
they arrived in Australia, we (the Navy) once received a call
from what was probably a non-governmental organization in
Australia asking whether we knew their position or had given
them any assistance. We said we did not know about it,"
he added. The Navy had also deployed three warships in waters
off Papua`s northern coast with the main task of detecting
any unlawful activity such as illegal fishing, smuggling and
illegal log transportation, Toni said. (April 8th 2006, Antara
News)
US Police Intercept Huge Illegal Weapons Haul Headed for Indonesia
An Indonesian and a Singaporean man have been charged with
attempting to smuggle arms from the United States to Indonesia.
US prosecutors say the pair tried to purchase $US500,000 worth
of parts to be used for radar and missile guidance systems
on military aircraft. They are also accused of attempting
to buy machine guns, sniper rifles and other weapons worth
a total of $1 million. None of the weapons made it out of
the US. The men were arrested in Hawaii. Both face penalties
of up to 25 years in prison and fines of over $1 million.
(April 13th 2006, AEST)
RI to Apply Visa-on-Arrival Facility to Dutch Businessmen,
Tourists
The Indonesian government will soon apply its visa-on-arrival
facility to Dutch nationals in an effort to step up bilateral
relations in the economic and tourism sectors. The Dutch premier
welcomed the Indonesian government’s decision, saying
that the upcoming visa policy would improve the two countries
relations, especially in the investment field. At the press
conference held following a 30-minute talk between the President
and his Dutch guest, Yudhoyono declined to give the exact
date when the visa-on-arrival policy would be effectively
applied. Since March 31, 2005, Indonesia has applied visa-on-arrival
policy to 36 countries, such as the United States, Australia,
South Africa, Brazil, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
Finland, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Germany,
Canada, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and South Korea. Prime Minister
Balkenende and President Yudhoyono also discussed bilateral
cooperation in the trade and economic fields. The Netherlands
investments in Indonesia in 2005 reached a value of US$472
million, a significant increase from US$260 million in 2004.
(April 8th 2006, Antara News)
Release of Indonesian Playboy Sparks Protest
The first Indonesian edition of Playboy magazine has hit the
news stands in Jakarta, sparking protests from both fundamentalist
Muslims and many of those who bought it. The publication of
the magazine has brought a threat from the radical Islamic
Defenders Front to smash up the publishers offices; the group
is infamous in Indonesia for its often violent attacks on
nightclubs and liquor outlets. It has also brought howls of
protest from readers who did not buy it for the articles and
who paid the equivalent of $6, a hefty sum in Indonesia, only
to find that the magazine is devoid of nudity and tamer than
many Indonesian publications. One angry caller told talkback
radio it was a scandal and that buyers had been
deceived. (April 7th 2006, AEST)
Bali to Hold First International Ramayana Festival
Bali will hold the first International Ramayana Festival and
invite a number of countries having similar Ramayana and Mahabharata
epic to participate in the festival, a local official said
on Wednesday. "The festival will be in conjunction with
the 28th Bali Arts Festival (PKB) to be held from June 17
to July 15 this year," head of the local culture office,
I Nyoman Nikanaya said. He said so far six countries have
confirmed to take part in the Ramayana festival, namely Vietnam,
Cambodia, India, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia, as
well as four of Indonesia’s provinces, namely West Java,
Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java. (April 5th 2006, ANTARA
News)
Body of Bombing Victim Still in Sanglah Morgue - 88 Million
Rupiah for Release
The body of a Dutch national who was killed in the October
2005 bombing, Mr. Riber Kunt Haags (35) is still in storage
at the Sanglah General Hospital mortuary six months after
his death. Hospital authorities are requesting a payment of
more than 88 million rupiah for the release of the body. According
to a hospital spokesman, his family still owes this amount
for emergency treatment before his death, autopsy and
mortuary storage fees. According to the patients file, Mr.
Haags wife had signed a letter of payment guarantee while
the man was still being treated in the hospital ICU. The victim’s
family are challenging the fees, on the grounds that they
do not have sufficient funds.
(April 6th 2006, Bali Post).
Five Minute Kissing Limit
Unrelated people who kiss each other on the lips for more
than five minutes in public places in the Indonesian city
of Tangerang will face arrest, local media said Friday. The
government in Tangerang, a suburb west of Jakarta, defended
the regulation as a practical guideline for its officers to
follow up on tough and heavily criticized anti-prostitution
laws passed by the city council last year. "Please do
not dramatize this. We will not arrest people at will as we
are not oppressors," Ahmad Lutfi, head of the Tangerang
public order department, told the Tempo newspaper. Lutfi
declined to comment on whether officers would be armed with
stopwatches, and it was not clear if the guideline referred
to an uninterrupted five-minute kiss. Kissing in public is
generally frowned upon in Indonesia, especially in rural,
predominantly Muslim areas herald. (April 7th 2006, AEST)
Japanese Encephalitis More Widespread in Bali
In a study published by the open access journal BMC Medicine
(http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/), researchers analyzed
the incidence rate of Japanese encephalitis, a potentially
lethal disease caused by a mosquito-borne virus, in children
living on the Indonesian island of Bali. Komang Kari from
Udayana University School of Medicine in Bali, Indonesia,
and colleagues from other institutions in Bali, Korea and
Thailand studied 239 Balinese children who reported to health
centers or clinics with symptoms similar to those of Japanese
encephalitis, between July 2001 and December 2003. Kari confirmed
that 86 out of the 239 children had Japanese encephalitis
and that a further four children probably had the disease.
Of these 90 children, only one was over 10 years old. Of the
children with confirmed Japanese encephalitis, nine died and
31 were left with serious neurological disability. The authors
conclude that the annual incidence rate for children under
10 is 8.2 per 100,000. These results are contrary to previous
findings, which were probably due to inadequate surveillance.
The researchers say that this study confirms that the disease
is widespread in Bali. Better surveillance and the implementation
of vaccination programs for Japanese encephalitis are needed
on the Island. (April 10th 2006, PDT/PST)
Bulldozers Work 24/7 to Redistribute Sand on Kuta Beaches
Heavy earth moving equipment and teams of workers have been
working around the clock to redistribute tons of sand that
was shifted by massive tides and winds following the effects
of Cyclone Glenda. Some sections of the Kuta and Kedongan
beaches lost meters of sand when the coast was thrashed by
the storm. Local authorities are concerned that the loss of
sand as well as the enormous amount of rubbish that was dumped
on the shore will have an adverse effect on tourism. (April
10th 2006, Jawa Pos)
Japanese Tourist Has Bag Snatched in Sanur
A Japanese tourist, 51 year old Nishimura, was the victim
of a bag snatching in Sanur on Monday (10/4).The victim lost
a smallamount of cash as well as travel documents when the
thief escaped on his motor bike with the woman’s hand
bag. The incident occurred only a short distance from the
money changers office on Jln. Danau Tamblingan that was the
target of armed robbers one month ago. (April 11th 2006, Denpost)
Bird Flu in Indonesia a “Time Bomb”
The head of the Paris-based World Organization for Animal
Health says Indonesia is a bird flu "time-bomb"
because of its failure to eradicate the deadly H5-N1 strain
of the virus. Bernard Vallat says this is a cause for great
concern. Mr. Vallat says Indonesia has one of the highest
numbers of unchecked infection sites in Asia. He says there
is a clear correlation between the number of infected birds
and the number of cases of bird flu detected in humans. Mr.
Vallet says it's important for the Indonesian government to
step up controls. (April 11th 2006, ABC News)
New Human Bird Flu Case Reported in Indonesia
A 23-year-old man undergoing treatment in Sumatra has been
confirmed as having bird flu, an Indonesian Health Ministry
official said on April 10. Hariadi Wibisono, Director-General
of animal-borne disease control at the Indonesian Health Ministry,
said he received a confirmation on the result from a World
Health Organization-affiliated laboratory in Hong Kong. The
man had been working at a chicken farm in West Java before
he became sick, the official added. (April 11th 2006, VNA)
Two Denpasar High School Students HIV Positive
Two Denpasar high school students have tested positive for
the HIV virus according to Dr Oka Negara, a spokesman for
the “Care for Teens” organization in Bali. According
to Oka, there are at least 880 cases of HIV/AIDS on the Island
to date, and his organization provides information and counseling
for teenagers suffering from the disease or those that are
in high risk groups. Figures show that at least 10 of those
HIV positive cases are still in high school, and Dr. Negara
stated that most of those cases had contracted the disease
from injectable drug use. (April 11th 2006, Bali Post)
Indonesia to Start Producing Biodiesel Fuel by 2007
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said here on Friday (14/4) he hoped several regions in Indonesia
would be able to start producing biodiesel fuel from castor
kernel as an alternative fuel next year. Hopefully commercial
production of biodiesel fuel could begin next year as a long-term
profitable business potential, he said. Castor planting technology
has already been developed in the regions which have the potential
for castor plantation development. He said the government
and the people already started raising castor plants to produce
biodiesel to reduce dependency on conventional fuels. "Not
only castor, palm kernel oil can also be used to produce biodiesel,"
he said. (April 15th 2006, Antara News)
Mount Merapi Could Erupt “Anytime”
The 2,914-meter high volcano, “Merapi” showed
heightened activity in the last few days, spewing dust from
its crater and occasionally sending out streams of lava, and
all districts around Mt. Merapi in Central Java have made
every effort to anticipate possible volcanic eruption, Central
Java Governor M. Mardiyanto said here over the night. The
governor added that evacuation trainings had been conducted
and communication systems had been updated in anticipation
of eruption. Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
on Sunday asked related institutions to prepare comprehensive
evacuation plans for the people living around the volcano.
Yudhoyono also asked the people living around the volcano
not to be in panic but to be vigilant if eruption occurs anytime.
The volcano last erupted 12 years ago. (April 17th 2006, Antara
News)
Indonesia Moves Closer to Executing Bali Bombers
Three Muslim militants who were key figures in the 2002 Bali
bombings are closer to being executed, after their families
waived the rights to seek a presidential pardon on their behalf.
Earlier this week, relatives of Imam Samudra said they would
not seek clemency for him. An Indonesian judicial official
now says Amrozi and Ali Ghufron - the two brothers on death
row for the attacks - have both instructed their relatives
not to ask for a pardon. A spokesman says the prosecutor's
office will now prepare to execute the militants by firing
squad as soon as possible. Two others convicted over the Bali
attacks are serving life in prison, and another 25 are serving
shorter jail terms. (April 13th 2006, ABC News)
United States Freezes Jemaah Islamiah Accounts
The United States has frozen the funds of jailed Jemaah Islamiah
leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, and three other members of the militant
network. Acting on a presidential order, the treasury department
has officially frozen the assets of the four Indonesian men
and prohibited Americans from conducting any transactions
with them. The treasury has not given details of any funds
held by the men. A treasury statement says the US government
will also join other countries, including Australia, in seeking
to have the men's names added to a United Nations' list of
terrorists linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Bashir, an
Islamic cleric who was sentenced to 30 months in prison for
his role as Jemaah Islamiah's spiritual leader, is due to
be released in June. (April 14th 2006, ABC News)
World Bank Willing To Help Indonesia Recover Stolen Money
The World Bank is willing to help Indonesia to recover funds
stashed overseas by corrupt government officials during ex-President
Suharto's regime, bank President Paul Wolfowitz said Thursday
(13/2). "I'll be happy to look at it," Wolfowitz
replied when asked by reporters if the bank would assist Indonesia
like it did when Nigeria sought its aid to retrieve $500 million
of the $1 billion in funds from Switzerland looted by former
dictator Sani Abacha. Tens of billions of dollars were allegedly
stashed overseas by Suharto and his cronies during his 30-year
rule. Wolfowitz said corruption by Suharto and his friends
got worse during the 1980s and the 1990s, when his children
became more active in businesses. Still, he added, "To
give the devil his due, President Suharto and his economic
team have done a lot of good (things) for this country (during
his first 20 years)." The World Bank is the single largest
multilateral lender to Indonesia. Wolfowitz said the bank
has no plan to forgive part of its loans to Jakarta
as the government isn't broke. (April 17th 2006, Dow Jones
Newswires)
