Aid Moves to Thousands Displaced by Indonesia Floods
Government and aid agencies were moving food, water and medical
supplies on Thursday to hundreds of thousands forced into
temporary shelters by floods and landslides on Indonesia’s
Sumatra Island. The government has been using helicopters
to get aid to the most isolated points in Aceh province on
the northern tip of Sumatra, while military planes and trucks
shuttle relief supplies to other areas. The confirmed death
toll in Aceh and neighboring North Sumatra province has remained
around 100 in recent days, but figures for the displaced have
climbed to above 400,000. ‘Displaced people in Aceh
are at 365,335, while in North Sumatra (they are) at 44,189,’
said Laksmita Novira, a U.N. aid spokeswoman in Aceh. More
than 200 people were missing in Aceh alone, she said. The
government was sending additional food to flood-affected areas,
and polluted wells were being treated with chlorine and temporary
camps fogged with insecticide. (December 28th 2006, Reuters).
Australian Tourist Killed – Hit by Mini Bus on Jimbaran
Bypass
Australian tourist Mr. Terry John Prendevgan (59) died after
being hit by an L300 minibus outside of his hotel, The Peninsula
Beach Resort, Jalan Tanjung Benoa on Tuesday (26/12). The
man was apparently hit by the vehicle when he was walking
on the road late that evening. Mr. Prendevgan was given initial
emergency treatment at the Jimbaran Clinic, however the man
died of severe head injuries in transit to the Sanglah General
Hospital.(December 28th 2006, Bali Post)
White Tiger among New Attractions at Bali Zoo Park
“Kartini” a four month old female white tiger
is one of the latest new attractions at the Bali Zoo Park
in Singapadu, Gianyar. Kartini arrived at the Bali Zoo Park
from the Surabaya Zoo at about midday on Friday (29/1). Other
new attractions that also arrived at the zoo are a hippopotamus,
tortoises, iguana and mountain goats. This brings the total
amount of animals on display at the park to 300 species. (December
30th 2006, Radar Bali)
Indonesia Confirms 75th Human Bird Flu Case
A teenager undergoing hospital treatment in Indonesia has
bird flu, the country’s first confirmed case of the
feared disease this year and its 75th overall, a senior health
official said Sunday (7/1). “A 14-year-old patient,
still under treatment at the Persahabatan hospital, has been
confirmed as being positively infected by the bird flu,”
government health official I Nyoman Kandun told AFP. He said
the boy was in poor health but declined to elaborate further.Officials
had said the country’s strategy of vaccinating poultry
and increasing public awareness appeared to be paying off
and that Indonesia was aiming at zero cases of human bird
flu this year.There were no new reported cases of human bird
flu from 28 November until Sunday’s announcement. Some
14 provinces have not reported any new outbreaks among poultry
since October. H5N1 has killed more than 150 people worldwide
since late 2003, and triggered the mass slaughter of tens
of millions of poultry. There are fears it could mutate into
a form that could cause a human flu pandemic. (January 8th
2007, AP).
Soft Opening for Surya Mandala Cultural Park - Tanah Lot
PT Surya Giri Kencana celebrated the soft opening of the Surya
Mandala Cultural Park at Tanah Lot on Saturday (30/12). The
park which is situated on 25,000 square meters of land and
already boasts an open air “Sunset Stage” with
seating for over 5,000 people, as well as the “Domestic
Art” stage with seating for over 1,300 people. The company
also has plans to build a Wantilan, Convention and Exhibition
Center and a children’s playground area in the near
future. (January 2nd 2007, Bali Post)
Indonesia Probes Mystery Illness after 22 Deaths
Indonesian health officials are investigating the deaths of
22 people from a mystery illness accompanied by high fever
over the past two months in Jakarta, a report said Friday
(29/12). The health ministry began investigating after the
St Carolus Hospital in central Jakarta reported a significant
increase in deaths, the director general for disease control
and environmental health, I Nyoman Kandun, said. The most
recent death was reported on November 27. “We have eliminated
diseases like SARS and bird flu,” he said. But laboratory
tests had been unable to determine the cause of the deaths,
Kandun admitted.Samples from the patients, all of whom died
at the hospital, were sent to the ministry and to the US Naval
Medical Research Unit in Jakarta, the Post said. The daily
also cited an unidentified source as saying samples were also
sent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
in Atlanta. All of the victims were aged over 40 and lived
near the hospital but the only link between them was that
they were treated at the same hospital. (December 29th 2006,
AFP)
Two Indonesian Ferries Sink -More Than 500 People Missing
More than 500 people went missing Saturday (30/12) after an
Indonesian ferry sank off the coast of Java, where search
and rescue efforts were called off due to rough seas. Officials
said they lost contact with the boat around midnight (1700
GMT Friday) when it was off the Java coast. About two dozen
people were rescued, but there were 545 passengers believed
to be on board. Of the two lifeboats found so far, one of
them was empty. The ferry left the port of Kumai in Central
Kalimantan province en route to Semarang in Central Java,
and sank near Mandalika Island off the Java coast. MetroTV
news quoted a port authority official saying that contact
was lost with the vessel sometime before midnight. Sumardi
said two rescue ships had set out from Semarang but had to
turn back because of the conditions. Meawhile, rescue teams
resumed the search for survivors from an earlier ferry accident.
A ferry carrying 58 people from Palembang on Sumatra Island
to Bangka island capsized late Thursday (28/12), killing at
least two people. Some 23 people were still missing as search
efforts resumed after weather conditions improved. Survivors
had said strong westerly winds hit the “Tristra I”
ferry before it capsized. Bad weather had hampered rescue
efforts on Friday (29/1). (December 30th 2006, AFP)
Tsunami Early Warning Tower on Double Six Beach Ready
One of six TEWS (tsunami early warning system) towers is ready
and soon to be operational on Double Six Beach on the Kuta
shoreline. The tower is one of six units, the other towers
being located at Sanur, Legian, Tanjung Benoa, and Jimbaran.
(December 30th 2006, Radar Bali)
Indonesian ‘Mud Volcano’ Firm Ordered to Pay 420
Million Dollars
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered
the company blamed for a “mud volcano” which forced
thousands of people to flee their homes to pay 3.8 trillion
rupiah (420.7 million dollars) in compensation and costs.
A gas well near Surabaya in East Java operated by Lapindo
Brantas Inc. has spewed steaming mud since May, submerging
villages, industries and fields.Some 13,000 people have been
forced to abandon their homes to the advancing sea of mud
which is now threatening to submerge a main railway line.
Yudhoyono said compensation would cost Lapindo about 2.5 trillion
rupiah. The firm would also have to spend around 1.3 trillion
rupiah to stop the mud flow. Yudhoyono declared the area a
disaster zone after the “mud volcano” inundated
more than 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of land in Sidoarjo district
near Surabaya. (December 29th 2006, AFP)
Canadian National Charged with 5 Years Jail – Marijuana
42.5 gm
Canadian National Richard David Smarr (55) has been charged
with 5 years jail in the Denpasar court for the possession
of 42.5 grams of marijuana. The judge, Agung Kusuma also ordered
Mr. Smarr to pay a fine of 5 million rupiah. Mr. Smarr has
been ordered to prepare his defense before the final court
hearing (December 28th 2006, Bali Post)
Surviors from Ferry Disaster Found After Nine Days at Sea
Fourteen people on board a ferry that sank in Indonesia were
picked up by a passing cargo ship after spending nine days
on a life raft, a rescue official said. A 15th person died
soon after being rescued by the ship late on Sunday, said
Ketut Purwa, head of the search and rescue agency on Bali
island. The Senopati Nusantara car ferry had 628 people on
board when it sunk late on December 29 in the Java Sea after
being pounded by heavy waves for several hours on a voyage
from the Indonesian section of Borneo Island to Java. Some
245 people have since been found alive. Only 10 corpses have
been recovered, though a navy spokesman said that “hundreds”
of bodies were likely trapped inside the lower decks of the
sunken ferry.Those rescued on Sunday (7/1/) had drifted almost
600 kilometres before being picked up, said Purwa, who spoke
to the captain of the cargo ship by radio. They were scheduled
to arrive in Makassar, a port city on Sulawesi Island, this
evening. The Senopati Nusantara was a “roll-on roll-off”
car ferry built in 1990 in Japan. A government transport investigator
said last week she suspected waves entered the car deck over
the door and became trapped, adding to vessel’s weight
and making it unstable. (January 8th 2007, AP)
Super-Epidemic of Dengue Fever Predicted for 2007
Health authorities in Denpasar have predicted a super -epidemic
of the viral disease Dengue Fever (DF) over the next coming
months. DF is known to occur in epidemics on a 4 to 5 year
cycle, and according to Dr. Ketut Subrata Bali is due for
an epidemic this year. In 2002 Bali recorded 3,900 cases of
the disease. In the years 2003, 2004, and 2005 the recorded
amount of cases fell and in 2006 they rose once again to a
total of 5,300 cases 33 of those cases being fatal (0.62%).
Dengue fever, a contagious disease spread by mosquitoes, can
strike at any time of year however is usually concentrated
in the months of February and March towards the end of Bali’s
monsoon season.So far for the first week of January 2007 Sanglah
hospital alone has reported 15 cases of the disease requiring
hospital admission. The hospital now has a pediatric specialist
on call 24 hours a day just for children affected by DF. (January
3rd 2007, Denpost)
Strong Winds, High Seas Cause Havoc around Bali
Strong winds and high seas caused havoc around the Island
over the New Year’s period as ferries were docked and
flights cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions. Kuta
authorities reported dozens of trees uprooted, and high tides
dumped tons of garbage onto the shoreline, which is usually
a popular tourist attraction. Big waves and rips also made
swimming and surfing dangerous. Dozens of signs were blown
over along the major roads and several electricity poles also
blew over during the storms.A spokesman for the local weather
bureau, Mr. Sutriso, said that the extreme weather conditions
had been caused by a low pressure system over East Java, Bali
and Nusa Tengggara. He said the winds had reached up 30 km/
hour and there was up to a 2 meter swell at sea. He predicted
that the weather would persist over the first few days of
the New Year and advised people to exercise caution on the
roads. (January 2nd 2007, Denpost)
Korean Honeymoon Couple Stabbed in Ubud Hotel - Robbers Caught
in Lombok
A Korean honeymoon couple Lee Jing Tae (36), and Kim Yung
Ok (33) were brutally attacked during an armed robbery, only
hours after checking into their room at their Ubud hotel on
Tuesday (26/12).The thieves broke into the couples room in
the early hours of the morning armed with sickles and knives
and brutally stabbed at the couple, seriously wounding Mrs.
Kim Yung who was later admitted to the Sanglah Hospital Intensive
Care Unit with stab wounds to her chest. The three attackers
who entered the room by levering a window, escaped with a
bag and valuables worth about 1.5 million rupiah. Police launched
an intensive search and four members of the band of thieves
were arrested in Lombok on Friday (5/1/). A police spokesmen
said the he suspected that these men were also responsible
for armed robberies at the Villa Alam Jiwa in Ubud, and at
the Nuansa Kori in Pedungan, South Denpasar. Four other members
of the gang are still at large and police are concerned that
these particularly brutal criminals may strike again. (January
9th 2007, Denpost)
