Three hundred cities and sub-disricts across Indonesia would have five million HIV/AIDS cases in 2010, an expert said. Head of the National Trainer Care, Support and Treatment of Integrated Management of Adolescent and Adult illness (IMAI) for HIV/AIDS, Ronald Jonathan, made the remark here on Sunday (22/11). Jonathan said that the number was based on estimation of HIV/AIDS sufferers who came to the hospitals, accounting for not more than one tenth of the total number of people infected with the deadly virus in the country. “I think that he number of reported cases will reach 93.000 to 130.000 in 2010 which is merely the top of an iceberg, or only 5-10 percent of total number of sufferers in the Indonesia,” he said. He explained that Indonesia from the 1980s to September 2009 had about 18,442 HIV/AIDS sufferers, with a men-women ratio of 3:1. “The spreading of the disease has also changed, because it occurred mostly by sexual intercourse rather than by the use of syringes,” he said. According to the latest data, Jonathan said, sexual intercourse had now become the most frequent cause of the spread of HIV/AIDS in the society, accounting for 50 percent of the total number of sufferers, while the use of syringes only 40,7 percent, and the spread of the HIV/AIDS among certain groups such as homosexuals and transsexuals reached only 3-4 percent. People aged 20-39 years, he added, were still vulnerable to the deadly virus. Jonathan underlined the importance to promote awareness and counseling for HIV/AIDS carrier. “At least we should give them guidance on the importance of regular medication,” he added. (November 16th 2009, Antara News)
Indonesia Seizes Explosive Material
Officials say they have confiscated 75 tons of an explosive material being shipped from Malaysia to Indonesia and are investigating possible links to terrorism. Customs official Nasar Salim says the ammonium nitrate was found on a ship captured in the South China Sea. Ammonium nitrate can also be used as fertiliser, but Salim says 95 percent of the material imported into Indonesia is used in explosive devices. He says possible links to terrorists are being investigated. Salim said on Friday that 17 crewmen are being questioned while police search for the shipment’s owner.(November 21st 2009, AAP)
Experts: Indonesia should be Alerted to Fish Crisis
Riza Damanik, Secretary General of the Peoples Coalition for Fisheries Justice in Indonesia said that authorities should be alerted to a potential fish crisis as a sharp decrease on fisheries resources grows due to exploitation, rampant fish theft and increasing production target without support of resources improvement, “If the government does nothing about it, the national food resilience would be threatened.” He said. He said that fisheries policy focused on production and export increase, but has yet to be supported by regulation to maintain supply. Meanwhile, rampant fish theft at Indonesian waters drains the national resources and decreases local fishermen’s income. “Without correction on fishery policy, Indonesia is predicted to suffer a fish crisis in 2015,” said Riza. (November 20th 2009, Kompas)
Indonesia Optimistic on Reaching Foreign Tourist Arrivals Target
The Indonesian government is optimistic that it would be able to achieve its target to net 6.5 million foreign tourists this year. The number of foreign tourists coming to Indonesia up to September reaching 4.6 million indicated that Indonesia still has to work hard to attract another 1.9 million in order to reach its target of 6.5 million in the remaining three months of this year.Pitana said that the trend in the past years was that the number of foreign tourists to Indonesia increased drastically in November and December. The flocking of tourists to the country usually happened until the start of the New Year. A total of 4.619 million foreign tourists have made a visit to Indonesia since January up to September 2009, or an increase of 1.07 percent compared with the same period a year earlier. He said seven entry points including Ngurah Rai, Polonia and Sam Ratulangi Airports saw an increase in the number of tourist arrivals in September 2009. A total of 218.245 foreign tourists visited Indonesia via Ngurah Rai Airport in September 2009, a 15.32 percent increase compared to the same period last year, he said. Indonesia has set the target of tourist arrivals this year at 6.5 million. The figure is projected to increase to 7 million next year. (November 11th 2009, Antara News)
Indonesia to Produce Swine Flu Vaccine in 2010
Indonesia plans to start mass production of swine flu vaccine in November 2010 after a clinical trial in March 2010, health minister Endang Rahayu Setyaningsih said here on Monday (9/11). “The new vaccines against H1N1 or A-H1N1 virus (swine flu virus that spreads from animals to humans) will be mass-produced by PT Bio Farma,” she said. She said when accompanying vice president Boediono at the launch of H1N1 and H5N1 seed vaccines at the Airlangga University campus in Surabaya that the production of the new H1N1 vaccine could cover 10 percent of the country’s population. “In view of that, distribution of free vaccines would be prioritized for workers treating swine flu or bird flu patients, mothers and children,” she said in the company of the president director of PT Bio Farma, Iskandar. Iskandar said that the mass production of H1N1 vaccine in November 2010 would be started with a clinical trial in March 2010. “Later we will produce 27 million doses a year and will distribute them to the people free of charge, using funds totaling Rp1.3 trillion from the national budget for research activities in 2008 and 2009 and production in 2010 and 2011,” he said. Regarding H5N1 vaccine production he said it would depend upon the government’s decision. “For the time being we will only produce H1N1 virus but if requested we can produce the H5N1 vaccine immediately because the technology and devices for it are the same. We only have to change the H1N1 strain into H5N1 strain,” he said. On the occasion Vice President Boediono inspected the Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory (BSL-3). “The BSL-3 is the biggest and most sophisticated laboratory in Indonesia,” Boediono said after the inspection.(November 10th 2009, Antara news)
Power Crisis in Indonesia Enters Emergency Phase
The Indonesian government concluded that the country is entering the “energy emergency phase” after a 22 of the 24 electricity systems are in a deficit and alert condition, a local daily quoted the Economic Coordinating Minister Hatta Rajasa as saying. “The power supply is in an emergency phase because we have a deficit in 11 power grids in 11 regions and other 11 regions are in an alarming condition. “The “deficit status” means there is total lack of power while the “alarm status” means that we can’t provide more power if there is a demand of additional electricity,” he said, adding that the government hopes that in the next six months, there would be a concrete solution to reduce the scarcity. The power crisis grew following power transformer damage in the main electricity post in Cawang and Kembangan, two areas in the capital city of Jakarta in September. The damage forced Jakarta and surrounding areas to experience a rotated blackout. The same blackout is already felt by some regions throughout the country due to power deficit. The condition triggered protests, particularly from industrial parties that suffered trillion rupiah of losses. (November 21st 2009, Bernama News)
Greenpeace Rallies to Stop Deforestation in Indonesia
Hundreds of Greenpeace activists rallied Saturday (21/11) in support of a commitment by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation. About 200 people rallied in the capital displaying banners that said “Enough stop destroying our forests” and “Stop talking, start acting”. “We urge SBY to keep his promise in reducing emissions, especially from deforestation,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner Yuyun Indradi said, referring the president by his initials. “He promised to reduce emissions of up to 41 percent,” Indradi said. Yudhoyono said at the G20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh in September that Indonesia had decided on a national climate change action plan that would reduce its emissions by 26 percent by 2020. Yudhoyono added that Indonesia could reduce emissions by as much as 41 percent with international assistance. “We also want to support the act from our fellow activists in Riau province... to stop the destruction of peatlands in the area,” Indradi said. Riau, on Sumatra Island, is where most of the deforestation is taking place in Indonesia. Rampant deforestation, which makes ways for palm oil and acacia plantation areas, makes Indonesia the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitters, according to some estimates. (November 21st 2009, AFP)
RI, Aussie Celebrate 20th Anniversary of “Kang Guru” Program
Indonesia and Australia marked 20 years of English-language learning and people-to-people links between the two countries through the Kang Guru Indonesia program in Bali. Funded by Australia since 1989, Kang Guru Indonesia has helped hundreds of thousands of students, teachers and communities across Indonesia to develop their English-language learning, according to information on the Australian embassy’s official website here on Saturday (21/11). The program has provided assistance to thousands of Indonesians who would have otherwise been unable to access such language resources. Kang Guru Indonesia has also helped further strengthen understanding and the partnership between Australia and Indonesia. Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer, attended the celebrations at the Australian Consulate-General in Denpasar, Bali, Friday (20/11). Over the last two decades, the program has distributed magazines to over one million English-language learners. It also broadcasts a weekly English language learning program through 170 radio stations across the country. Thousands of schools throughout Indonesia have also benefited from the program’s English language materials and online learning resources. (November 21st 2009, Antara News)
Jakarta Could “Sink” by 2030
Executive Director of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Wahli) Ubaidillah has predicted that Jakarta will sink in 2030. “If the Jakarta city government does not take anticipatory steps, the prediction can really become true,” Ubaidillah said here on Wednesday (18/11). He said Jakarta’s open green spaces now continued to be reduced. Of the 661.52 sq kilometers of space, now only about 9.6 percent had remained. “The remainder has been transformed into building sites,” Ubaidillah said adding that after all some of the land surface in Jakarta had subsided as a result of floods and water inundations. He said that, in fact, some of Jakarta’s land surface had always been lower than the sea surface. He said that the government should take into account the construction of building structures which were not complemented with ecological balance studies. “If all this is not handled properly, Jakarta will really sink,” he said. (November 18th 2009, Antara News)
Woman Rescued 25 hours after Ferry Disaster
Rescuers plucked a woman from choppy waters today, 25 hours after she jumped from a crowded ferry that sank in a storm off Sumatra. At least 29 people drowned, and 20 others were missing. A total of 255 survivors have been pulled from the sea since Sunday (22/11), when the Dumai Express 10 was hit by towering waves and sank about 90 minutes into an inter-island trip from Batam to Dumai in Riau, a province off Sumatra Island in western Indonesia. A second ferry ran aground nearby, but all its passengers were said to be safe.The rescued woman, who is in her 30s, was spotted by fishermen. She was in stable condition in a hospital, said Lt Col Edwin, a navy officer. “Fishermen saw her floating with a life jacket on the rough sea in the rain. She is very tough,” he said.Fishing boats, police patrols, navy warships and a helicopter were still searching for 20 people reported missing, but bad weather and 4-meter (13-foot) high waves were hampering the mission, Edwin said. The woman was the only one found today, he said. Among those missing are six children and four old women, said Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Health Ministry’s crisis centre. Edwin said some passengers may have been trapped in the capsized ship, according to survivors. Authorities have recovered 29 bodies from the water, including those of two children. (November 24th 2009, AP)
Newmont to Sell Indonesia Venture Stake for $494M
Newmont Mining has agreed to sell a 14 percent stake in an Indonesian gold mine for $494 million, ending a years-long dispute with the Indonesian government over how the mining company should sell shares as required under its contract to operate in the country. Newmont shares ownership of the Batu Hijau mine with Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. and Indonesia’s PT Pukuafu Indah. The Denver-based company says it will transfer the stake to private company PT Multicapital and PT Multi Daerah Bersaing, a consortium of regional and local Indonesian governments. Last week, Newmont Mining Corp. said a separate 10 percent share was sold to the consortium, for proceeds of about $391 million. (November 23rd 2009, AP)
US Teachers Shot at in Indonesia
In the latest in a string of attacks directed against foreigners in Indonesia, gunmen have fired at the home of two US academics in the Indonesian province of Aceh, which is on the northern tip of Sumatra. The home of the female teachers in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh was fired upon, with one of them confirming she heard about six shots. The two have been in Aceh to teach English to local students at an Acehnese university. Police in the area have said they have received no further information on the attack and it was not clear whether there was a connection to a recent spate of shootings targeting Westerners in the province. Only a week ago, a motorcycle-riding gunmen fired on the home of an Englishman, who is the European Union’s local representative in the province. The representative of the German branch of the Red Cross was badly wounded in a shooting attack earlier this month. The Red Cross left the province soon after. The strongly Islamic province is home to a large, but steadily declining, number of international organizations, which arrived to help after the 2004 Asian tsunami killed 168,000 people in Aceh. Aceh is a part of Indonesia in which a bitter separatist war was fought. The three decade war ended in 2005 after claiming around 15,000 lives. (November 23rd 2009, Indonesia News.Net)
