Biggest Crocodile in the World Moves Home
The biggest crocodile in captivity has moved home from Tinjomoyo
zoo to the Taman Lele animal park in Semarang on Thursday
(22/2). The crocodile which is more than 80 years old weighs
more than 500 kg and is four meters long.(February 23rd 2007,
Bali Post)
Sumatran Rhino Arrives in Indonesia
The first Sumatran rhino born in captivity in more than 100
years arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday 20/2 with a single task
- to breed and help save the endangered species from extinction.
The 5-year-old rhino, Andalas, was flown from a zoo in the
United States to Jakarta’s international airport. After
a checkup he was to travel another 12 hours by truck and ferry
to a rhino sanctuary on Sumatra Island, where females Rosa
and Ratu await. “He is young and still full of energy,”
said Arman Malonongan, Indonesia’s director general
of forest and wildlife conservation. “Let’s just
hope he falls in love there.” (February 20th 2007, AP)
Indonesia Plans 10-year Age Limit on Airliners
Indonesia is planning to ban local carriers from operating
jetliners more than 10 years old as part of a safety campaign
following a string of crashes and accidents, the government
said Wednesday (28/2). The plan is likely to be unpopular
with Indonesia’s booming airline industry. Most experts
say that maintenance of a plane and the number of takeoffs
and landings it has performed - not its age - are the most
important factors in preventing accidents. It also may force
some of the more than 20 Indonesian airlines out of business
or into mergers with rivals, an aviation analyst said. “The
main thing is we need a renewal of our fleet,” said
Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa after a cabinet meeting held
on board the presidential train to emphasize the government’s
concerns on transport safety after several deadly accidents.
A Transport Ministry spokesman, Bambang Ervan, said the proposed
regulation, which Rajasa said would not need approval from
Parliament, would ban “all jets used for commercial
purposes” that were more than 10 years old. The current
age limit for planes in Indonesia is 20 years. (February 28th
2007, AFP).
Bomb Threat at U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, no Evacuation
The U.S. embassy in Jakarta received a bomb threat on Thursday
relayed by police, an embassy spokesman said. “A bomb
threat was transmitted to us by the Indonesian traffic management
control at about 1120 (0420 GMT),” the spokesman said
by telephone. He said it was the second such incident in recent
days. Last month, Indonesia’s central bank complex in
the capital was evacuated for several hours after a bomb threat
sent by text message, but staff were later given the all-clear
by police. The spokesman said all such incidents were taken
seriously, and he referred any further questions to Indonesian
officials. There have been several bomb attacks in Jakarta
and other parts of the country in recent years, some of them
the work of Islamic militants aiming at targets with Western
ties. There have also been bomb threats that have proved to
be hoaxes. (March 1st 2007, Reuters)
Australia, Indonesia on Verge of Prisoner Treaty
Australia is finalizing negotiations with Indonesia for a
prison exchange treaty that will allow Schapelle Corby, Renae
Lawrence and others to serve the remainder of their sentences
back home. The Indonesian Justice Minister, Hamid Awaludin,
told The Sydney Morning Herald that the treaty will be signed
after a final meeting in Australia. “Everything is fine,
from my side we are done,” Awaludin said yesterday in
Jakarta, after meeting the Attorney General Phillip Ruddock.
Awaludin said the treaty would not apply to prisoners on death
row, as their sentence could not be carried out in Australia.
The agreement would apply to all Australian inmates in Indonesia,
and all Indonesian inmates in Australia, not just high-profile
cases. Under the deal, the prisoners transferred would serve
the same sentence they received in the country where they
were convicted. The transfers would not be automatic, and
prisoners would have to apply to be sent home. It has been
suggested that Corby would not want to return home, as Bali’s
Kerobokan prison is reportedly more relaxed than many Australian
jails. (March 6th 2007, Ninemsn)
Australian Man Arrested in Ubud - 4 grams Hashish
Gianyar Narcotics police have arrested a 64 year old Australian
man Ian Weiringan at his Sayan home on Friday (2/3). Mr. Weiringan
has been a resident of Bali for more than 35 years, and was
at home with his Balinese girlfriend when he was caught with
the contraband, 4 grams of hashish. A police spokesman said
that the charges would be for possession / using rather than
dealing. Mr. Weiringan claims that he got the drug from a
friend who has now returned to Australia. (March 3rd 2007,
Radar Bali)
Two Killed in Typhoon in East Java
Two people were killed and many houses and buildings were
damaged after a typhoon hit Mayangan & Kademangan in Probolinggo,
East Java, at around 5 p.m. on Monday. Probolinggo city police
chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Topan Herinoto said the
strong wind swept the area only around 10 minutes but the
damages it had caused were quite huge. The wind accompanied
by quite heavy rain blew away many roofs, damaged buildings
and uprooted trees, he said.(March 5th 2007, Antara News)
Indonesia Plans Tough Terrorist Jail
Indonesia is building a new prison for terrorists to ensure
they can’t access mobile phones and the internet to
continue planning attacks, Australia’s Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer says. The new facility, on an island off
Java, will house between 400 and 500 convicted terrorists,
Downer said in Jakarta. Indonesian authorities last year discovered
one of three Bali bombers on death row had been using a smuggled
laptop to communicate with supporters from his jail cell.
Speaking at the close of a six nation counter-terrorism conference,
Downer said Indonesia’s justice minister had expressed
concern about the access jailed terrorists had to communications
tools. Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda
said prisoners were not allowed to use mobile phones or the
internet while in jail, but it was happening anyway. (March
6th 2007, Ninemsn)
20 Shark, Ray Species Discovered in Indonesia
Twenty new species of sharks and rays have been discovered
in Indonesia during a five-year survey of catches at local
fish markets, Australian researchers said Wednesday. The survey
by the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization, or CSIRO, represents the first in-depth look
at Indonesia’s sharks and rays since Dutch scientist
Pieter Bleeker described more than 1,100 fish species from
1842-1860. Researchers said six of their discoveries have
been described in peer review journals, including the Bali
Catshark and Jimbaran Shovelnose Ray, found only in Bali,
and the Hortle’s Whipray, found only in West Papua.
Papers on the remaining 14 are being prepared. “Indonesia
has the most diverse shark and ray fauna and the largest shark
and ray fishery in the world, with reported landings of more
than 100,000 tons a year,” said William White, a co-author
of the study. “Before this survey, however, there were
vast gaps in our knowledge of sharks and rays in this region.”
Based on the survey’s findings, the Australian Centre
for International Agricultural Research has published a 330-page,
full-color, field guide titled: “Economically Important
Sharks and Rays of Indonesia.” From 2001 to 2006, researchers
photographed and sampled more than 130 species on 22 survey
trips to 11 ports across Indonesia. More than 800 specimens
were lodged in reference collections at the Museum Zoologicum
Bogoriense at Cibinong, Java, and the Australian National
Fish Collection at Hobart. The survey was part of a broader
project working toward improved management of sharks and rays
in Indonesia and Australia, researchers said. (February 28th
2007, AFP)
New Zealand Renews Military Ties with Indonesia
Wellington- New Zealand Defense Minister Phil Goff has confirmed
that the government is renewing military ties with Indonesia,
suspended nearly eight years ago over violence in East Timor,
it was reported Monday (5/3). Goff said that reforms made
by the Indonesian Army, which was blamed along with pro-Jakarta
militias for sparking the violence, justified following Australia
and Britain in re-establishing ties, Radio New Zealand reported.
Cooperation will be formally resumed when an Indonesian military
officer attends the New Zealand Defence Force College later
this year, and New Zealand officers are expected to visit
Indonesia. The decision has been condemned by New Zealand’s
Indonesian Human Rights Committee. (March 5th 2007, Earthnews.Org)
Indonesian Jet Damaged by Landing - Adam Air
An Indonesian passenger jet has made a hard landing in the
city of Surabaya, causing its body to bend and crack. None
of the passengers aboard the Adam Air flight were hurt, but
they had to be evacuated after the plane stopped in the middle
of the runway. Adam Air has been under close scrutiny since
1 January, when another of its Boeings disappeared in the
sea off the island of Sulawesi with no survivors. Debris from
the plane has been recovered, but no bodies of the 102 people
on board have been found. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
subsequently set up a commission to investigate transport
safety. TV pictures of the latest incident showed the Boeing
737-300 with its rear section bent downwards and apparently
a vertical split in the fuselage. Strong winds had caused
a down draft to hit the plane a few minutes before landing,
an Adam Air official told local TV. The pilot briefly lost
control of the plane, which landed harder than usual, he said.
(February 22nd 2007, BBC)
Thousands of Dead Fish Washed up on Bali Beaches Again
Thousands of dead fish have once more been washed ashore on
beaches in the Tabanan, Kediri and Kedungu regions on Thursday
(27/2). The smell of rotting fish has drifted along residential
coastal villages and estates despite efforts by local teams
of Government officials to clear the areas of the rotting
marine life. Local residents have been warned against eating
the fish that apparently died in masses following a toxic
“red tide”. Those who do consume the fish risk
paralysis or even death. The Department of Agriculture has
commenced spraying of the affected beaches with the chemical
EM4 in attempt to eradicate the foul smell of the beach. (March
2nd 2007, Bali Post)
Garuda Airline Crash in Yogyakarta - 5 Australian Missing
Five missing Australians who were aboard an Indonesian airliner
that crashed at Yogyakarta airport on Wednesday (7/6) are
feared dead. A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
spokesperson said “grave concerns” were held for
the safety of the five. A medical evacuation team left Canberra
for Indonesia at 6pm, the DFAT spokesperson said. Prime Minister
John Howard earlier warned Australians to expect bad news
about their countrymen on board the plane that crashed while
landing at Yogyakarta on the island of Java. “We must
prepare ourselves for some bad news in relation to our country
men and women,” Mr Howard said at a press conference
in Melbourne. An Indonesian air force commander at the site
said the plane was traveling too fast and ran off the runway.
Two hospitals have confirmed the survival of at least four
of the ten Australians who were in the plane crash. Among
the 140 people on board were Australian diplomatic staff and
members of the media associated with Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer’s visit to Indonesia this week, as well as two
Royal Australian Air force personnel. (March 7th 2007, AFP)
