Julia Roberts` Film Producer Warned not Disturb Temple Sanctity
The chairman of Bali’s Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia (PHDI) , I Gusti Ngurah Sudiana, has said that he hopes that the making of a film starring Julia Roberts in Bali will not disturb the sanctity of the region’s religious locations. Sudiana said if the shooting of an episode of the film was at a holy location, the producer should coordinate with PHDI while at other locations, the local authorities and community should keep a watch on the filming activity. A number of film shooting activities in the movie are still associated with the religious life of Hindu society in Bali. For example, when in Ungasan, the movie team built a two-storey house two months before the shooting began, close to a large banyan tree and a shrine. When the shooting is done, the house will be demolished and the site would be restored to its original condition. However this place is used for local community prayers every day. According to him, Julia Roberts` movie-making is different from previous film-making activity in Bali when the PHDI was always involved to provide knowledge of what can and can not be done during film shooting in Bali. (October 30th 2009, Antara News)
Bali Airport Police Arrests German Citizen
Ngurah Rai International Airport police in Bali, arrested Peter Ulrich, a German citizen suspected of murdering his wife in their home country Saturday (Oct.31). Ngurah Rai airport Adjunct Commissioner Anak Agung Gede Mudita said that the police received information from a German representative in Jakarta that a citizen would fly into Bali on Garuda Indonesia airlines at 23:30 local time Sunday (1/11). “When he got off the plane, police arrested the man without struggle,” he said. According to him, the police also directly confiscated Peter’s passport. He said that his case had already been reported to the German Consul in Bali and his passport confiscated. He said that the German police representative in Jakarta, planned to fly Peter Ulrich to Jakarta and taken to Germany to where he will have to face the law. (Antara news November 1st 2009)
Gunmen Shoot German Red Cross Worker in Indonesia’s Aceh Province
Officials say a German working for the Red Cross has been shot by men on a motorcycle in Indonesia’s Aceh province. Police say Erhard Bauer, 50, was shot Thursday (5/11) in the arm and stomach. The motive is unknown. Red Cross spokeswoman Svenja Koch says Bauer was flown to Singapore for treatment. She could not say if the injuries were life threatening. Aceh Gov. Irwandi Yusuf visited Bauer before he was evacuated but declined to comment to reporters. (November 5th 2009, AP)
Police Foil attempt to Smuggle 25 Afghans to Australia
Java police have foiled an attempt to smuggle 25 people from Afghanistan to Australia, The West Java regional police command’s spokesman Senior Commissioner Dade Achmad said here on Wednesday (4/11) the police had already named a suspect in connection with the case. “The suspect known by his initials as SA (42) is a Pakistani believed to be the coordinator of the human smuggling effort,” he said. The suspect was caught by joint police forces from West Java, Cilacap and the national police headquarters on the Cilacap coast while trying to smuggle the Afghans. He said the people were picked up using three buses. “A boat had been made ready at the Cilacap coast, belonging to AR believed to be the second-hand man of the suspect, to carry them to Australia,” he said. (November 5th 2009, Antara news)
Monkey Handlers Recruited to Help Smooth Julia Roberts Film Shooting
Some 18 monkey handlers have been recruited to prevent monkeys in the “Monkey Forest” in Ubud, Gianyar district, Bali, from interfering in the shooting of certain episodes of the “Eat, Pray, Love” film starring Julia Roberts. “We don’t have any confirmation about the schedule of the film shooting activity here but preparations have been made, such as assignment of security personnel and monkey handlers so that the shooting can be conducted safely,” Made Dana, a community figure of Padang Tegal village, Ubud, said here on Saturday (31/10). He said it had been agreed with the film producer that the Monkey Forest which is one of Ubud`s tourist attractions would not be closed during the film shootings. “But it all depends on further developments, If it is not possible to keep the forest open to the public, then perhaps there will be a temporary closure,” he said. If the forest had to be closed temporarily, the forest’s caretakers would make a prior announcement to be understood by all parties, he said. In addition, local indigenous parties were also prepared to conduct a small ceremony at Pura Dalem Agung in Padang Tegal area so that all the film shootings can run smoothly. Julia Roberts who arrived in Bali last October 15 was scheduled to stay on the “Island of Gods” for a month. Some of the locations used for the film`s making are Ubud, Padang-padang Beach, Pecatu, Ungasan in Kuta Selatan village and Badung district. During the shooting, security was very tight at the shooting site. Journalists and the public have difficulty to take pictures when Julia Roberts and other players were in action, including difficulty to get statements from the film crew. (October 31st 2009, Antara News)
Hospital Patients Evacuated into Open Air after Sumbawa quake
At least one person has been killed and several others injured after a strong undersea earthquake hit the remote Indonesian island of Sumbawa. The quake struck near a small island chain east of Lombok, damaging homes, schools and mosques. The quake measured 6.7 on the Richter scale according to the US Geological Survey. At least 20 people were treated in hospital with many more suffering minor injuries, and the full extent of damage is still being assessed. Police spokesman Tjatur Aprianto said: “Residential houses, school buildings, mosques have been damaged, but not all of the buildings are totally destroyed, part of them have collapsed.” The quake struck at 0341 (1941 GMT) with an epicenter about 1,300km (807 miles) east of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, with a depth of 18km. The United States’ Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no major tsunami threat from the quake. (November 9th 2009, BBC News)
Injured Bartoli Hands Rezai Bali Title
Bartoli had broken her fellow Frenchwoman to lead 3-2 but failed to serve out the set at 5-4 and was unable to convert a break point on Rezai’s serve at 5-5. Rezai held for 6-5 and then struck a backhand winner to end a long rally to earn two set points.Bartoli then walked to the chair wincing in pain and after having her left thigh taped up she immediately double-faulted to lose the set before throwing in the towel. It was Rezai’s second title of her career following success in Strasbourg in May and lifted her into the world’s top 30 for the first time. It was also her first win in three meetings with Bartoli. Bartoli was bidding for her third title of the year after winning at Monterrey and Stanford. (November 8th 2009, Reuters)
Tamil Women Begin New Hunger Strike Off Indonesian Coast
Ten women among a group of almost 250 Sri Lankan asylum seekers refusing to leave their boat in Indonesia have begun another hunger strike. The move comes after the spokesman for the Tamils, known as Alex, confessed he was once a member of a violent gang in Canada and was jailed for making death threats. The Tamils, who were intercepted by the Indonesian navy en route to Australia on October 11, have now spent four weeks moored in the Javanese port city of Merak. According to news.com.au, they have said they will come ashore after they meet with a representative of the UNHCR but claim the Indonesian government is refusing to allow such a meeting. Most adults on board the boat took part in a hunger strike last month but abandoned it after two days. Alex was deported in 2003 and returned to Sri Lanka. Alex said the Sri Lankan Government dug up the dirt because it was desperate to divert attention from its role in human rights abuses, particularly against Tamils. (November 9th 2009, Indonesia News.Net)
Greenpeace Calls on EU to Help Indonesia Protect Forests
Environment organization Greenpeace has called on European Union leaders to help Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to protect the country’s tropical rain forests. Southeast Asia Greenpeace forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said in a written statement that the EU had accumulated its carbon historic debt by triggering deforestation and forest destruction outside its region. He said now was the time for the EU leaders to be responsible by committing to extending reasonable public funds to prevent eradication of the remaining tropical rain forests. According to the organization the pace of deforestation in the country has been the highest among countries possessing forests in the world and has provided a good example regarding the need for a thorough plan supported by international funds to protect the forests. In the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, the US, recently President Yudhoyono expressed his commitment to reduce the gas emissions in Indonesia by 26 percent in 2020 up from 41 percent with international support. With the pledge President Yudhoyono had shown his strong will and leadership as well as spirits to help the world prevent climate disorder. (November 3rd 2009, Antara news)
RI to Host Int`l Conference on Disaster Mitigation
Indonesia will host an international training consortium for disaster mitigation in the health sector on November 16, 2009, the chief of the Health Ministry’s Crisis Management Center, Rustam Pakaya, said here on Tuesday (3/11). Rustam said delegations from at least 10 countries had confirmed their presence at the conference. Among the ten countries were Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Timor Leste, Bhutan, Maldives, South Korea and Indonesia. He said Indonesian participants of the conference would be the chiefs and staffs of the Crisis Management Center’s branches in Jakarta, Palembang, Medan, Semarang, Banjarmasin, Denpasar, Manado, Makassar, Surabaya, Jayapura and Padang. Supported by the Medical Faculty of the University of Indonesia, the conference would be a forum for exchange of experience among its participants about ways to handle health crises after natural disasters. Meanwhile, a National Evaluation of Emergency Response and Health Crisis Recovery was opened on November 2 and to last until November 3, 2009. The meeting would be attended in by 100 officials from related offices across Indonesia. Chief of the organizing committee for the national evaluation, Dr Lucky Tjahjono, expected participants of the meeting will share the results of the evaluation to fellow Health Department officials in the regions. (November 3rd 2009, Antara news)
Bali’s Mt Batur Activity on Alert
The status of Mt Batur in Kintamani, Bali, has been raised from active-normal to alert due to its increasing activity as recording 21 times of volcanic tremor with maximum amplitude of 1-12 MM since September. “This happens because the volcano that last erupted in 2000 has shown an increasing activity, as seen by the black smoke coming out of the mountain several times,” head of the mountain’s monitoring center, Anak Agung Anom Karsana, said here on Monday (9/11). Under a normal condition tremor happens only five times a day but now it reaches 60 times a day and it is felt by people living within a radius of one to two kilometers from the mountain, he said. He said he had banned people or tourists from climbing the mountain. He called on the people living around the mountain to remain calm and not to believe in false rumors. He called on them to listen to directives from the local disaster mitigation coordinating board, in line with circulars from the geological agency of the ministry of energy and mineral resources. “From 1804 to 2000 the mountain has erupted 28 times with a lapse of one to 39 years,” he said. The mountain’s eruption is generally effusive and strombolian with lava and ash or rocks flowing 100 meter around the brim of the crater. Smoke from the mountain could rise up to 300 meter high above the crater. “Those are all the characteristics of Mt Batur when it erupts,” he said. The tremor itself has been recorded increasing to 21 times of volcanic tremor with maximum amplitude of 1-12 MM since September. A total of 28 tremors have been recorded in October. A total of 12 tremors meanwhile were recorded from November 1 to 7 and on October 8 a total of five deep and 53 shallow volcanic tremors were recorded. “There has been an increase in tremors from September to November shown by sulfur smoke coming out of the mountain’s crater,” he said. (November 10th 2009, Antara News)
Rabies on the Rise in Bali
Rabies is on the rise on the resort island of Bali and has left 12 people dead despite mass dog culls aimed at reining in an outbreak threatening the tourist industry. The number of districts affected by the potentially fatal disease has more than tripled since August after first appearing in two districts in November last year, provincial veterinary agency chief Ida Bagus Alit told AFP. ‘The number of areas affected by rabies is increasing. It has spread to seven districts, 13 sub districts and 39 villages,’ Alit said. Authorities have killed 28,509 stray dogs & vaccinated 115,593 dogs since the outbreak began, he said. Provincial rabies control team official Ken Wirasandhi said 12 people, all of them Indonesian, had died in the outbreak. Udayana University virologist Ngurah Mahardika said the local government had proven itself ‘not serious’ in handling the rabies outbreak. ‘The government has been very lax in abating the rabies spread. For example, the elimination of dogs is being done randomly and without coordination,’ he said. Australia, a key source of tourists to the islands, devotes a section of its travel advisory on Indonesia to warn its citizens to watch out for rabies in Bali and seek immediate treatment if bitten by animals. The US embassy issued a warning to its citizens in Indonesia in January about rabies on Bali. (November 9th 2009, AFP)
