Conservationists say Indonesian Orangutans Face Extinction
The world’s largest population of wild orangutans on Indonesia’s Borneo Island faces extinction within three years due to rapidly expanding oil palm plantations, a conservationist group said Wednesday (7/5). A report by the Center for Orangutan Protection says just 20,000 of the endangered primates remain in the tropical jungle of Central Kalimantan, down from 31,300 in 2004. If the government does not protect wildlife from commercial exploitation, illegal logging and poachers, orangutans there could be extinct by 2011, said Hardi Baktiantoro, the group’s head. He said more than 5,000 orangutans in the region have been lost every year since 2004, due largely to loss of habitat. Adding to the problem is a plan by Indonesian authorities to open up 1.1 million acres (455,000 hectares) an area larger than the US state of Rhode Island of protected land for palm oil growers, he said. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a major initiative to save the nation’s orangutans at the Bali Climate Conference last year, but it appears the plan has not received sufficient political support. Toni Suhartono, the Forestry Ministry’s top official for wildlife protection, said government programs to save the environment are hampered by a lack of funds and lack of knowledge about conservation. (May 8th 2008, AP).
Indonesia Adopts Stringent “Green”
Palm Oil Standard
Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, plans to take firm measures aimed at ensuring palm oil firms meet stringent standards before labeling their products as eco-friendly, an industry watchdog said on Wednesday (8/5). The rapidly expanding palm oil industry in Southeast Asia has come under attack by green groups for destroying rainforests and wildlife, as well the emission of greenhouse gases. An industry-led initiative, the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), has launched a green labeling certification process that includes commitments to preserve rainforests and wildlife and avoiding conflicts with indigenous people. RSPO groups producers, consumers and green groups and palm oil companies that meet the criteria set by the RSPO will be able to market their certified “green products” in global markets. Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, has already had four certification bodies approved by RSPO. Malaysia and Indonesia, home to more than 4 percent of the world’s rainforests, produce nearly 85 percent of total palm oil. Both nations already have laws to protect tracts of rainforests against illegal logging, but green groups say penalties should be stiffened and that more rainforests should be locked away. Earlier this month, Unilever one of Indonesia’s top palm oil buyers, said it will start buying palm oil from certified sustainable sources this year and aims to have all its palm oil certified by 2015. Indonesia is estimated to have produced more than 17 million tonnes of crude palm oil in 2007. It exported about 11.9 million tonnes of palm oil products to China, India and European countries. Greenpeace estimates Indonesia had the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2005, equivalent to 300 soccer pitches of forest destroyed every hour. (May 9th 2008, Reuters).
Indonesia, no Longer Exporting Oil,
Considers Quitting OPEC
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia said Tuesday (6/5) that his country was considering quitting OPEC because it was no longer a net oil exporter. “Our wells are drying,” he said in a nationally televised speech, adding that the country needed to concentrate on increasing domestic production, which has dropped to less than a million barrels a day even as consumption rises. The government opened talks Monday (5/5) on whether it should continue to stay with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or withdraw “until we reach a point where we deserve to rejoin that organization,” Yudhoyono said. The country of 235 million people is the only OPEC member in Southeast Asia. But it has to import oil following decades of declining investment in exploration and extraction because of corruption and a weak legal system that makes oil companies wary of doing business in Indonesia. Indonesian oil output has declined steadily from the 1.5 million to 1.6 million barrels produced a day in the mid-1990s. It produced around 860,000 barrels a day of crude oil last month and recorded a deficit of $794 million in its oil trade accounts. Raising output could take “one to three years,” Yudhoyono said. (May 6th 2008, AFP)
Indonesian Warship Captures Boat Carrying
Illegal Logs
An Indonesian warship, the KRI Yos Sudarso-353, intercepted a boat carrying around 2,776 cubic meters of suspected illegal logs during a routine patrol in Semarang waters on Thursday. “The 1,269-GT TK Unitama 11 which we nabbed on Thursday (May 8) was sailing under an Indonesia’s flag,” Lt Col Toni Syaiful, spokesman of the Navy’s Eastern Fleet Command, said here Saturday. The boat had been herded to a naval base in Semarang for further investigation, he said. The Navy’s Eastern Fleet Command headquartered in Surabaya has intensified marine patrols among other things to fight illegal log traffic. (May 10th 2008, Antara news).
Mercedes Corby Hid Bali Pot ‘Inside Her’
Jodie Power has admitted lying about Schapelle Corby’s “drug-free” record, but says her sister, Mercedes, definitely smuggled marijuana “inside her” on trips to Bali. Power said she lied on national TV, and agreed there is an “enormous gulf” between what she told Channel 7’s Today Tonight and the ABC about Mercedes and Schappelle Corby’s involvement with drugs. In the NSW Supreme Court today, Power admitted lying on the ABC’s 7.30 Report about Schapelle Corby having a drug free record “to protect her”. In an interview with The 7.30 Report back in March 2005, Power said: “I have never, never seen Schapelle smoke marijuana, never seen her take drugs.” In the witness box at the NSW Supreme Court this afternoon, she said that was a lie.
“I lied that I hadn’t seen her taking drugs,” she said, adding it was“to protect her...to get her out of jail”. Power, a former best friend of Mercedes Corby, is facing a defamation action, along with Channel Seven, its Today Tonight current affairs show and host Anna Coren after she claimed on air that Mercedes Corby was a drug dealer.
Under cross-examination from Stuart Littlemore QC, appearing for Mercedes Corby, Power’s credibility was thrown in to question again, when she was asked about what she told Today Tonight about Mercedes Corby and her history with smuggling marijuana in to Bali. The jury was first shown footage from an unedited interview Power did with the Channel Seven current affairs program about a year ago, where Power said Mercedes Corby “compressed and carried it (marijuana) inside her’’.
Mr. Littlemore QC then asked Power if she made up what she told Today Tonight. He said to Power: “It was in her vagina but you have made that up.” Power replied: “No I haven’t.’’
She then agreed with Mr. Littlemore that there was an “enormous gulf” between what she told Channel Seven and the ABC in the interviews she did. (May 6th 2008, Daily Telegraph).
Fire Kills CHIS Family in Denpasar
A fire killed four members of a family and seriously injured another person at Kertha Wijaya shopping complex in Jln. Diponogoro, Denpasar. The fire broke out at 6 am (2200 GMT Wednesday) and was extinguished after at least 11 fire trucks were deployed. The four victims of the same family were trapped in one of the two shops located on the second floor of the building that were gutted by the fire. The fatalities were Erni Yong (40), Johan (6), Denis Surya (10) and Catein (13). The children were all students at the Chinese International School in Kuta. The seriously injured person was identified as Azam Taci (45), who survived the fire by jumping to the ground from the building’s second floor. He was later rushed to Sanglah Public Hospital for medical treatment. Police are still investigating the cause of the fire. (May 8th 2008, Denpost).
Bali’s Komang Arnawa Wins 2008 Elite
Bodybuilding Comp - Perth
One of Bali’s world-champion bodybuilders traveled to Perth, Western Australia, on Saturday, April 12, 2008 where he won the top honors and AU$4,000 in the 2008 Elite Bodybuilding Championships. Arnawa defeated a field of 10 world-class athletes competing under the Auspices of the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB). Based on his outstanding performance in Perth, Komang Arnawa has been invited to compete internationally on July 14, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA). The 32-year-old Arnawa has won a number of international bodybuilding honors, including Musclemania in 2004. Anyone interested in sponsoring this star Bali athlete to compete in the USA and bring more honors to his Island please contact info@balidiscoverycom. (May 3rd 2008, Bali Discovery).
Accused Killer of Heidi Faces Life Sentence
Prosecutors in Bali are seeking a life sentence for the man accused of killing Australian woman Heidi Murphy. The murder trial of Ahmad Fahrul Rosi began in Denpasar on Monday (12/5). He is accused of stabbing Ms Murphy to death, after she woke while he robbed her Bali villa in February this year. Rosi appeared in court today without a lawyer to represent him, facing murder charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. He also faces other charges of violent theft carrying maximum penalties of 15 years. Judges postponed the hearing until next week saying Rosi must be represented by a lawyer. The trial of Rosi’s co-accused Nuryanto Bin Sudar begins on Thursday (15/5). (May 13th 2008, Denpost).
Environmental Group Opposes Plans to Build Hotels,
Villas in Bali
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has protested against a plan to build hotels and villas in a number of districts in Bali. Anak Agung Wardana, chief of the Walhi chapter in Bali, said on Monday 12/5) he had written to the Tabanan, Karangasem and Badung district heads to reconsider the plan.
Two of the hotels will be built at Wangaya Betan, Tabanan district, and Padangbai village, Karangasem district, while one of the villas will be built near Uluwatu Temple in Badung district.
Wardana feared if the projects went ahead they would have an impact on the environment and the Balinese people’s social order.
The move was aimed at enabling the people who would be affected by the projects and cared about the environment to get involved in any decision making process, he said. Under Law No. 23/1997 on the Environment Management and Bylaw No. 4/2005 on Pollution Control and Environmental Destruction, every citizen was entitled to obtain correct information on and participate in environmental management, he said. (May 12th 2008, Antara News)
Balinese Artists Organize Dancing
Workshop in Britain
A three-member mask dance team from Lodtunduh, Bali, is holding a three-week workshop and performance in the Dartington College of Arts, Devon and in the Theater Sherman Cymru, Cardiff, Wales.
Indonesian Ambassador to Britain and Ireland Yuri Octavian Thamrin Monday expressed appreciation toward the cooperation which is established not only between the government and business players of the two countries but also among the artists of the two countries. He said the three could give deep meaning to the efforts aiming to increase the cultural diplomacy of the two countries.
The three Balinese dancers made their first performance in the Indonesian Embassy in London on Monday (12/5). The three are here on the invitation of the Lunar Production, an art production company manned by three young British artists, namely Madeleine Cox, Frances du Pille and Katrina Joseph. A joint production will also be made between the artists of the two countries, Ida Bagus Alit Wiyadnyana, who leads the team, said. (May 13th 2008, Antara News).
