Woman Gives Birth to 8-kg Baby Normally
A woman in Pamekasan, Madura, East Java, has given birth to a baby weighing eight kilograms in a normal manner or without undergoing a cesarean section. Siti Aminah, the baby’s mother, was on Tuesday (18/8) still recuperating in a local hospital, after delivering her sixth child at 09:00 on Monday (August 17), coinciding with Indonesia’s Independence Day. At birth the male baby, named Wahyu Agus Perwira, was in good health and had the physical appearance of a one-year-old infant. Siti Aminah told reporters her pregnancy had lasted longer than normal (12 months), and although during the period she had never consulted a doctor, she had had no difficulty delivering the baby. Sumanto, the newly- born baby’s father, said the name Wahyu meant “miracle” as his birth was considered a blessing from God while Agus was taken from “Agustus” the month in which he was born. Sumanto said he and his wife considered Wahyu`s birth a miracle because, despite his unusual size, he was born normally without a cesarean section. (August 18th 2009, Antara News)
Perpetrators of Environmental Destruction to be Jailed Starting in 2010
Environment Minister Rahmat Witoelar has said that starting in 2010; perpetrators of environmental destruction will be jailed based on new law enacted in September 2009. Delivering the keynote speech at a seminar conducted by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in cooperation with several non governmental organizations (NGO)s, Rahmat Witoelar said the government had prepared a new law that will be approved on September 8, 2009 in a bid to replace law no. 27/1997 on Environmental Management. Minister Witoelar said, the new law was deliberately formulated to replace the Law No.27/1997 which was considered not effective, and failed to jail those responsible for environmental destruction so far. The House of Representatives (DPR) has approved the new law regarding the management and protection of the environment, the environmental minister added. (August 13th 2009, Antara News)
Sentence Cut for Oz Drug Runners Jailed in Bali
Two Australian drug traffickers serving 20 years in jail on the resort island of Bali have received sentence cuts as part of Indonesia’s Independence Day celebrations. Schapelle Corby received a four-month remission of sentence and Renae Lawrence five months for ‘’good behavior,’’ Bali’s Kerobokan prison chief Siswanto said. The two ‘’followed rules and, more importantly, they were not defiant towards prison staff,’’ he added. Well-behaved prisoners traditionally receive sentence reductions on the nation’s Independence Day. About 59,000 of 80,000 prisoners were granted remissions, Indonesia’s Law and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta was quoted as saying by the Detikcom news website. Corby, 32, was found guilty of trafficking 4.1 kilograms of marijuana in 2005. She has always maintained her innocence and claims international drug smugglers placed the marijuana in her luggage. Lawrence, 32, is one of the so-called “Bali Nine,” a group of Australians convicted over a plot to smuggle 8.3 kilograms of heroin from Bali into Australia in 2005. Three of the Bali Nine - Scott Rush, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan - are on death row. (August 18th 2009, AFP)
Illegal Villas are Big Business in Bali’s Gianyar Regency
A special committee of the Regional House of Representatives from the regency of Gianyar in Bali has estimated that 60% of that district’s potential hotel and restaurant tax income is lost via illegal commercial villas who side-step their tax obligations. Quoted in beritabali.com, the Gianyar Head of the agency charged with permits, Nyoman Sukanada, said that if these report are true, he hoped the villa owners would soon take the steps necessary to register their villas as businesses. Describing what may prove to be a step-by-step process, Sukanada suggested that some villas lack any kind of license meaning that owners may have to first obtain simple residential permits before moving on to commercial licensing. In order to hasten the registration of villas in Gianyar, Sukanada called on the Gianyar Tourism office to submit data on commercial villas in the district so that the owners could be required to obtain villa (pondok wisata) operating licenses. Of the estimated 581 commercial villas operating in Gianyar, only 143 hold valid operating licenses. According to beritabali.com many of the unlicensed villas are allowed to continue their illegal operations in order to provide “extra” income to enforcement officials. In response, the head of the Public Relations Section of the Gianyar Regency, A.A. Surya Raditya, told the press that if any officials is involved in such “playing around” they are liable to strong sanctions under the law. (August 17th 2009, http://www.balidiscovery.com)
Indonesian President Urges People to Fight Terrorism Together
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said here on Friday (14/8) that the war against terrorism in the country would continue, adding that people should be actively involved in the campaign to eradicate terrorism in the country. “To all of Indonesian people, let’s stick together in fighting the terrorists’ acts. Let’s protect our children from wrong and extreme thoughts that could lead them to commit terrorism. Help the apparatus by supplying information on the terrorists who are hiding among our neighborhood,” the president said. Susilo made the remarks when he delivered in his speech to commemorate national Independence Day at the parliament building here. He said the state would not bow to terrorists’ threats. “The state must not be defeated and will never be defeated by the terrorists.” According to Susilo, terrorism in the country was incited by poverty, insufficient education issues allowing terrorism to take root in society. To overcome this, the president outlined two steps that consisted of solving the issues that lead them to terrorism and taking real measures to oppress terrorism perpetrators. (August 16th 2009, Xinhua)
Bali Boy’s Memory Feat Enters Guinness World Records
Dominic Brain, a 12-year-old boy from Kuta in Badung district, has had his name entered into the Guinness Book of World Records after proving his ability to recollect a 76-digit figure in only 60 minutes. The son of Gidion Hindartho showed his extraordinary ability in a record-breaking test organized by Guinness World Records Asia at the Bali Zoo Park in Gianyar on Saturday (15/8). Alex Iskandar Liew, a representative of Guiness World Records Asia, said that Dominic`s feat was particularly unique because of his young age. “Remembering that many digits in a row in such a short time is not an easy thing to do, and for a boy of his age to be able to accomplish it, that is exceptionally extraordinary,” Liew said. In the days ahead, he said, there would no doubt be other people who would try to equal or break Dominic`s record “but they will definitely have to go through a long learning process first.” Meanwhile, Dominic`s father, Gidion Hindartho, said, before taking the test, his son had indeed been training the capacity of his memory but without setting a certain achievement target. He said he had coached Dominic in training his brain by a method which everybody could learn. “School children in second or third grade can actually easily remember figures of up to 100 digits if they are trained by the right method,” he said. Dominic himself said he had trained his memory over the past two months, three times daily. He said he would continue training to be able to remember up to 104 digits or face challengers who were expected to emerge soon. Previously, Dominic broke an Indonesian Museum of Records (Muri) record by recollecting 52 playing cards in 100 seconds and 100 figures in 12 minutes.(August 16th 2009, Antara news)
RI’s Divorce Rate up 40 Percent
The divorce rate in Indonesia has increased by more than 40 percent over the past five years, according to official statistics. “Around two million couples get married annually, and on the other hand, roughly 200,000 couples divorce annually. The divorce rate is 10 percent of the marriage rate, it’s very big,” Nasaruddin Umar, the religious affairs ministry’s director general for Islamic public guidance, said here on Saturday (15/8). Almost 70 percent of those asking for divorces were women, and only 30 percent husbands who wanted to divorce their wives, he said. “It’s because women have become smarter, stable, protected by laws, and more aware of their rights and gender equality,” he said. The main reasons for divorce were household violence, polygamy, economic strain, unregistered marriage, big gap of the couples` ages. “Even political factor has played a significant role, for instance the husband voted a certain candidate, and the wife chose a different candidate. This political factor has affected couples in the village level to provincial and national levels,” he said. However, he noticed there was a trend that the divorce rate would decrease in 2009 as the situation has become more stable after the start of the reform movement in 1998. (August 15th 2009, Antara News)
Fasting Month Starts August 22nd
Muhammadiyah, Indonesia`s second largest Islamic organization, decided on Tuesday (18/8) that August 22 (Saturday Aug 22, 2009) would be the first day of this year’s fasting month. “August 22nd is decided as the first day of the fasting month of Ramadhan this year based on the crescent sighting calculations of Muhammadiyah,” Muhammadiyah Executive Board Chairman Haedar Nashir said here on Tuesday. He said that Muhammadiyah also decided the end of Ramadhan on September 19, thus the first day of Syawal would fall on September 20, 2009. (August 18th 2009, Antara News)
H1N1 Patients in Bali Now Treated as Outpatients
In the face of burgeoning new cases of the H1N1 virus or “Swine Flu” being detected in Bali, the Bali Post reports that Dr. Ken Wirasudha has announced that only confirmed cases of H1N1 Virus in which life-threatening circumstances are present will be warded at Bali’s Sanglah General Hospital. Other patients infected with the virus but deemed not to be at more severe risk will be given appropriate medications and told to return to their homes and limit contact with others as much as possible. The change from a policy of hospitalization to outpatient care reflects a larger change in policy achieved following a coordinating meeting on confronting H1N1 recently held on the island of Batam. With the illness now declared a “pandemic” by the World Health Organization Indonesian medical providers have been forced to follow international practice, reserving its limited number of available hospital beds for those suffering an acute attack of H1N1 or for those suffering life-threatening complications from the disease. (August 17th 2009, http://www.balidiscovery.com)
Prosecutors to Pursue Immigration Corruption Scandal
State Auditors recently uncovered the misappropriation of Rp. 3 billion (US$300,000) in visa-on-arrival fees committed by 44 members of the immigration service assigned to Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport. Plans to bring the case to a quick resolution via the requirement to repay the state its lost revenues and the imposition of administrative sanctions against the 44 civil servants may not be enough to satisfy State Prosecutors who are threatening to bring the immigration officers to court. According to Radar Bali, prosecutors are accumulating data in an ongoing investigation into the case. An unnamed prosecutor explained to Radar Bali: “If everyone caught in an act of corruption only had to repay state funds to avoid a trial, there would never be any corruption cases brought before the courts. In fact, the return of the state funds (in this case) can be seen as strong proof that a mistake or crime has been committed.” As reported previously, the State suffered a loss of Rp. 3 billion (US$300,000) between October 2008 and May 2009 when 44 airport immigration officers under-reported fees collected for visas-on-arrival. Based on a written decision issued by the Minister of Law and Human Rights, the 44 civil servants received a reduction in rank and were each compelled to repay the State a sum between Rp. 70 and Rp. 100 million. The prosecutor told the paper that he would attempt to enforce the law without bias or favor, saying, “whoever breaks or opposes the law must be prepared to accept responsibility for their acts before the courts.” The same source cited the misuse of the visa-on-arrival funds as a manipulation of non-tax state revenues. The case at the Bali airport represented a misuse of authority and, as such, should be considered an act of corruption. Adding: “Even though they have returned the money prior to a criminal investigation being launched, their intent to misappropriate State funds is sufficiently proven to make a case of corruption.” When approached by Radar Bali, the Provincial Chief for the Department of Law and Human Rights, Arman Nazar, refused to comment on the case, saying it was the right of the prosecutors or the Anti-Corruption Board (KPK) to seek to continue the case. Nonetheless, Arman did say that the punishments handed out to the immigration officers were sufficiently severe. The reduction in one grade of rank, he explained, was the equivalent of having the four years of a promotion rotation tossed away. “To be promoted one grade you need four years of service. If someone goes down one rank, that means the past four years have been for nothing,” he said. (August 15th 2009, http://www.balidiscovery.com)
