Indonesian Muslims Protest Bush Visit
Hundreds of Indonesian Muslims rallied outside the US embassy
in Jakarta Saturday (4/11) in protest against President George
W. Bush’s forthcoming visit to the country. Around 700
people massed in front of the embassy building and waved banners
that read “Bush is an-evil faced terrorist” and
“Exxon, Caltex, Freeport get out of Indonesia”
at the heavily policed rally. The US president plans to visit
Indonesia as part of his tour of the region after attending
the annual APEC summit in Vietnam in November. “Bush
is visiting Indonesia to ensure the US political and economic
interests in Indonesia is safe and make sure that Indonesia
still stays under their (US) arms,” Muhammad Ishak Yusanto,
a spokesman for the organisers of the protest, told AFP. One
protester, who identified himself as Abu Imad, said: “I
am sure his (Bush’s) visit here is to lobby the Natuna
project, so Exxon can renew their contract.” Indonesia
terminated the drilling rights of ExxonMobil Corp for the
gas field in the Natuna Sea off the west coast of Borneo last
month. (November 4th 2006 AFP)
Indonesia Nuclear Plant Construction
to Begin in 2010
The Indonesian government has set a deadline of 2010 for construction
to begin on the country’s first nuclear power plant,
Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro
said Thursday (2/11). “We have set our roadmap for the
power plan and we have a goal to begin construction of the
plant in 2010 and operate it in 2017,” Purnomo said
during a presentation at an infrastructure investment conference.
Purnomo said the government hopes that nuclear power will
contribute a total of 4,000 megawatts to the national electricity
grid by 2025. The Indonesian government is still “shopping”
for potential nuclear technology suppliers for the planned
facility. That planned nuclear power facility reflects the
efforts of the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
to meet rising electricity demands while reducing the fuel
import burden for the country’s existing power plants.
Indonesia, the sole East Asian member of the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has become a net oil importer
recently due to faltering output and declining investment
in the energy sector. (November 2nd 2006 Dow Jones)
Indonesia Forest Fires Kill 1,000 Orang-utans
About 1,000 orang-utans are estimated to have died in Indonesia
during the dry season this year in which raging forest fires
have produced thick smoke across huge areas of Southeast Asia,
a conservationist said on Monday. The fires in the Indonesian
part of Borneo have deprived orang-utans of food and forced
them to encroach on human settlements, where they are often
attacked for damaging crops, the Borneo Orang-utan Survival
Foundation said. “Orang-utans are starving. They are
sick and many of those we are treating were injured after
being attacked by machetes,” Willie Smits, an ecologist
at the foundation told Reuters, adding that many also suffered
from respiratory problems. He said 120 sick orang-utans had
been treated in three conservation centres over the past three
months, and 10 to 15 of them had died. He estimated that in
all 1,000 orang-utans had died over this year’s dry
season. Orang-utans live on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra,
but encroachment on their habitats by humans and massive destruction
of forests is threatening their existence. In 2002, it was
estimated there were 56,000 orang-utans in the wild but the
population has dwindled at a rate of 6,000 a year, conservationists
say. (November 6nd 2006, Reuters)
Europeans get Life for Running Drug Factory
in Indonesia
A judge in Indonesia has sentenced two Europeans to life in
prison for their role in running the world’s third-largest
ecstasy factory. Judge Mulyanto found Dutchman Nicolaas Garnick
Josephus Gerardus, 61, and French national Serge Areski Atlaoui,
43, guilty of producing dangerous substances.Police seized
more than 100 kilos (220 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine,
thousands of ecstasy pills and more than 300 drums of raw
ingredients for drugs during a raid last November on the factory
in Serang, 60 kilometers (35 miles) west of Jakarta. Prosecutors
said the plant was “the largest ecstasy factory ever
found in Southeast Asia and the worlds third-largest after
factories in China and Fiji”, and recommended the judge
pass the death sentence. The factory was capable of producing
one million ecstasy pills worth Rp. 100 billion (11 million
dollars) a week, they said. (November 6th 2006, AFP)
Indonesian Cartoon Contest Lampoons at
Danish Royalty
An Indonesian radio station held a cartoon drawing competition
to lampoon Danish royalty to get even for cartoons published
in Denmark that ‘insulted’ the Prophet Mohammed
on Sunday (5/11), a report said. A total of 73 children took
part in the “The Legend of the King of Denmark and the
Pig” drawing competition at a mosque in the East Java
town of Kediri, organised by Radio Famili Education (Radikal)
FM, the Antara news agency said. Station executive Agus Sunyoto
said the competition was a good way to get at Denmark for
having allowed the publication of the insulting cartoons.
“Actually, this is a very effective way, compared to
protests that often can lead to anarchism” Sunyoto said.
The agency said that many of the participants were non-Muslims.
One of the cartoons, by Halim Wiranata, 13, was titled ‘King
of Circus of Copenhagen’, showing a moustachioed and
crowned pig sitting on a throne in a circus with the Danish
flag in the background. (November 6th 2006, AFP)
Air Paradise to Fly Again - March 2007
Air Paradise has announced plans to resurrect the airline
company by March 2007, according to the company’s director
Ir. Putu Oka Semadi. Semadi said that the company felt a moral
responsibility to be part of the drive to increase tourism
to the Island of Bali. He said that API was not only a business
but the flagship of the Balinese people, which is also echoed
in the company’s moto “Bali is Our Home”.
According to Semadi wholesalers in Japan, Australia and Korea
had been enthusiastic about the plans to start flights in
March 2007, since Garuda Indonesia had decreased many of it’s
International flights to and from the Island. (November 14th
2006, Bali Post)
Indonesia Ranked as one of the World’s Worst Carbon
Dioxide Polluters
A report due to be released at a United Nations climate conference
says Indonesia is now the world’s third largest producer
of greenhouse gases. These findings are based on the inclusion
of haze produced by forest fires. Every year vast swathes
of South East Asia are blanketed by a haze produced by forest
fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra. The greenhouse gas cost of
those emissions has never been included in national assessments
of CO2 emissions until now. The Netherlands-based non-governmental
organisation, Wetlands International, working with the company
Delft Hydraulics, alleges the inclusion of the emissions from
Indonesia’s cleared peat lands propels Indonesia into
third place, behind the United States and China, as one of
the world’s largest producers of carbon dioxide. Without
the inclusion of the rainforest gases and fires, Indonesia
rates roughly the same as Australia. But, the report says,
the peat land degradation increases Indonesia’s CO2
production seven times to 2.3 billion tonnes. Indonesia’s
environment minister, Rachmat Witoelar, has acknowledged his
nation’s poor environmental record, saying rejuvenating
and preserving peat lands is now a priority. (November 7th
2006, AFP)
Australian Expatriate Dies at his Home in Renon
Australian expatriate Michael Diamond (60) was found dead
at his home in Jln Tukad Blok III in Renon on Wednesday (8/11).
There were no signs of foul play, and police suspect that
the man died of natural causes. Mr. Diamond was a long term
resident of Bali working in radio and television with the
local Bali TV station. He leaves behind his Balinese wife
& 17 years old steps on. (November 9th 2006, Denpost)
Czechoslovakian Tourist Survives Three days
and Four Nights at Sea
A Czechoslovakian tourist who was swept out to sea on a diving
expedition Peter Vasicek (36) has survived three days and
four nights drifting in the ocean off of Nusa Penida before
being rescued by a local fishing boat on Sunday (12/11). A
crew member of the Widiantara I, Gosali, noticed the man drifting
at sea and waving his arms to attract attention at about midday
on Sunday. The man was plucked from the ocean and handed over
to Ocean Police authorities who rushed him to Sanglah hospital
where he was observed for 24 hours before being allowed to
go home. Peter had been diving with four other friends off
of Nusa Lembongan, however when it was time to leave the location
only three divers surfaced. Peters dive companion Zdirad Zak
(25) is still missing. The Nusa Lembongan Ocean Police are
still investigating the incident. (November 14th 2006, Bali
Post)
Indonesia Still “Highly Corrupt”
A new survey ranks Indonesia as one of the world’s most
corrupt countries, despite a pledge by the president to eradicate
graft. The survey of 163 nations by corruption watchdog, Transparency
International, puts Indonesia at 130th place, alongside countries
such as Azerbaijan and Zimbabwe. The lower down the list,
the more corrupt the country is perceived as being. Transparency
International says it considers Indonesia a “highly
corrupt” country. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono launched initiatives to fight corruption when he
took office two years ago. He has stepped up prosecution of
top government officials and business executives and dozens
of elected officials are either in jail or on trial over graft
charges. (November 6th 2006, Radio Australia)
Two-Year-old Boy has Died of Bird Flu;
Woman Fights for her Life
A two year old toddler, from West Java province, is the 56th
victim of the virus in Indonesia, which has the highest death
toll of any country. It is not yet clear if he had any contact
with fowl, the most common way for humans to catch bird lfu.
Indonesia’s health ministry says another 35-year-old
woman is in intensive care the Sulianyto Suroso hospital in
West Java. The H5N1 virus has killed at least 153 people worldwide
since it began ravaging Asian poultry stocks in late 2003.
Well over a third of the human deaths in Indonesia, according
to the World Health Organisation. Most of those killed have
been infected by domestic fowl, but WHO fears the virus could
mutate into a form that easily spreads among humans, sparking
a pandemic with the potential to kill millions. Indonesia,
the world’s fourth most populous country and home to
millions of backyard chickens, would be vulnerable under such
conditions. The government came under fire for moving slowly
to stamp out the virus when it first appeared in chickens
and ducks, but has worked hard in recent months to raise public
awareness about the dangers of bird flu. The country has also
increased vaccinations and the slaughtering of birds in infected
areas. (November 14th 2006, AP)
