An Australian man was arrested Friday (1/10) with 1.7 kg of methamphetamine in his luggage at Bali International Airport. ‘We arrested Michael Sacatides because he was carrying 1.7 kg of methamphetamine,’ customs official Bagus Endro Wibowo told AFP. The 43-year-old boxing trainer was arrested as he passed through customs after landing on an AirAsia flight from Bangkok at 11:30am, Mr Wibowo said. ‘We suspected him as he walked through the X-ray machine. The officers checked his luggage and found four plastic bags of meth,’ he said. After being interrogated he said he got the drug from an Indian national in Bangkok. If convicted of smuggling the drugs into Indonesia the Australian could face the death penalty. (1st October 2010)
Bali Bombing Survivors Push for Peace Park
Survivors of the first Bali bombing have marked the eighth anniversary in Kuta by stating the benefits of turning the site of the attack into a peace park. A small group of survivors has formed the Bali Peace Park Association to establish a park on the site of the Sari club, which was destroyed by the attack in 2002. They say it would finance itself by charging visitors one US dollar to enter, and refreshments and souvenirs would add to that revenue. Nineteen people would be employed. While the association has just a few thousand dollars the site is worth millions. The organizers say they will start serious fund raising soon. Some local officials involved in the process worry it’s dragged on too long. Memorial services are being held across the country on Tuesday for the 88 Australians who were killed in the blasts. (October 12th 2010)
Women Still Targets of Discriminatory Bylaws in Indonesia, Rights Group Says
The National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) said on Wednesday (6/10) there were still plenty of bylaws discriminating against women, despite the state’s promise to eradicate such policies. “After he was re-elected, [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] said eradicating discriminatory bylaws would be a priority,” said Andy Yentriyani, a commissioner at the agency. “But instead of decreasing, the number of these kinds of bylaws, there are now more,” she said. Last year, Komnas Perempuan criticized the state for its failure to repeal 154 bylaws nationwide that were considered discriminatory - 64 of which hampered women’s rights to free expression and gainful employment. Since 1999, the group has found 200 bylaws that it said suppressed women’s rights. Since last year, various state institutions have either proposed or passed a total of 62 new policies that can violate women’s rights, Andy said. As an example, she cited a West Aceh policy that prohibits Muslim women from wearing certain types of clothing. “The mayor of West Aceh used the regional budget to buy skirts for women because, apparently, wearing jeans was not allowed,” Andy said. “This is ridiculous.” The commissioner also criticized a provincial lawmaker’s proposal to have teenage girls undergo virginity tests before they enter state schools. Such discriminatory policies, she says, are often used by politicians who want to appear morally righteous in order to gain public support or sympathy. She said some bylaws were issued out of “moral panic.” Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi, however, denied that discriminatory bylaws existed in Indonesia. Despite regional autonomy, he said, the central government still had the authority to filter laws for questionable content. “If we find anything discriminative in the bylaw draft, of course we can annul it,” he said. “The real question is which bylaw is considered discriminative? And by whom? We have to understand clearly whether the bylaw was issued to restrict women or even to protect them, and the issue is still debatable,” he said on Wednesday (12/10). Gamawan says provinces like Aceh and Papua have been granted special autonomy. He says provinces are generally allowed to issue any bylaw that reflects local norms or traditions, as long as it does not run counter to the public interest. “Nyepi (Day of Silence) in Bali is not considered discriminatory, right? So the regulation for women to wear skirts in West Aceh must also be respected,” he said. (October 6th 2010)
Indofood Insists Noodles Safe after Taiwan Ban
Senior executives from Indofood, the world’s biggest maker of instant noodles, on Monday (11/10) speculated that unfair trade practices or illegal imports were to blame for their products being pulled off shelves in Taiwan on Friday (8/12), as two chains in Hong Kong followed suit on Monday (11/10). Indonesian health officials, however, moved to reassure the public the noodles were safe. Fransiscus Welirang, director of Indofood Sukses Makmur, questioned the Taiwan Health Department’s motives for banning Indomie brand instant noodles, which are produced by Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur, a spinoff company. “Taiwan wants to protect its market from Indomie, which is cheaper than any other noodles,” Fransiscus said. He also suggested that the Indomie noodles in Taiwan might have been intended for other markets and illegally imported to the island nation, which has higher food-safety standards than other countries. Indofood CBP makes the Indomie noodles with different ingredients for different markets. On Friday, Taiwanese authorities banned the brand on the grounds that it contained excessive levels of the preservative benzoic acid. On Monday, the Hong Kong newspaper The Standard reported that two of the city’s biggest supermarkets, Park’n’Shop and Wellcome, had also taken Indomie noodles off their shelves because of the Taiwan ban. Kustantinah, head of Indonesia’s National Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), on Monday said the noodles were safe. “There’s no need to panic. All instant noodles that have been registered [with us] are safe,” she said. Kustantinah said she would ask the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) to try to find out more about Indofood products being pulled. “We have no diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, so we can’t just ask its food and drugs agency to clarify the situation, but perhaps people from the Trade Ministry can ask why,” she said. Fransiscus said all Indofood CBP’s products were in full compliance with the guidelines set by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international food-standards body. However, he acknowledged that Taiwan had independent guidelines. “The preservative content in Indomie is still within normal levels,” he said. Fransiscus said Indofood CBP was still weighing its response to the ban. (October 11th 2010)
President to Dedicate Lombok International Airport
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will dedicate the Lombok International Airport in March next year. General Manager of the Mataram branch of the airport management company PT Angkasa Pura-I Erdi Nuka said here on Sunday (10/10) that when all aviation facilities were ready, the president would dedicate the airport. Lombok International Airport is a new airport under construction on Lombok. The Indonesian government is actively promoting both Lombok and neighboring Sumbawa islands as number two tourism destinations as an alternative to Bali. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the regional governor have issued public statements supporting the development of Lombok as a tourism destination and setting an annual goal of 1 million visitors by 2012 for the combined destination of Lombok and Sumbawa islands. The new Lombok International Airport is a cornerstone of tourism destination development initiated by the Indonesian government and West Nusa Tenggara stakeholders. The construction of the airport has been delayed and the opening date has been re-scheduled several times. Many issues are understood to be contributing to the delays including problems of security, thefts of construction materials and equipment, land disputes and tension amongst members of the local population. Other issues involve the quality of construction of the main runway and taxiways and problems of the construction of the control tower. (October 11th 2010)
101,010 Satay Sticks Break World Record in Bali
After counting for quite a long time, a world record of roasting satay had been broken in Bali with 101,010 satay sticks weighing a total of 1.5 tons. “We have received confirmation that a world record had been broken in Bali only a quarter of an hour ago,” committee Chief Ariadi Abimanju said Monday night (11/10). Ariadi said that the delay in announcing the world record was caused by the need to make a confirmation. He also said that the counting of the satay sticks was carried out until late on Sunday, but it was slightly disrupted by a heavy down pour. “We needed approval from London and New York where it was a holiday (Sunday) and also due to the time difference,” he explained. However, he was thrilled that the world record was made by a team of Indoparts Bali 2010 at Garuda Wisnu Kencana in Ungasan, Jimbaran. The previous 2009 record was held by Brunei Darussalam with 75,000 satay sticks weighing more than 1.1 tons. The new Indonesian record, he said, was for the Largest Serving of Grilled Satay category weighing 1.5 tons with 101.010 satay sticks. Besides counting the satay sticks very carefully, the appraisers of Guinness Book of World Records also counted the number of tables where the satay had been roasted by approximately 1,500 people. (October 11th 2010)
Tears Shed as Bali Bomb Victims Remembered
In emotional scenes, about 100 relatives and friends of the victims of the 2002 Bali Bombings gathered at the monument that marks the location of the deadly terrorist attacks to remember their loved ones on Tuesday (12/10). Many of those gathered for the solemn ceremony were members of Yayasan Isana Dewata, an association comprised of people who lost loved ones in the Oct. 12 attacks. Many, including Ni Nyoman Rencini, wept openly. Her husband, a local travel agent, was waiting for a customer on Jalan Legian, Kuta, when he was killed. “I have tried to let go and move on with my life,” she sobbed. “The only thing that matters to me now is how to keep on working and earning enough to raise my children. But no matter how hard I try, I still can’t forget what happened, especially during the yearly commemoration,” she said. About 80 foreign dignitaries, meanwhile, and friends or family of the victims of the bombing gathered at Australia’s Consulate-General in Bali to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the attacks. Melinda Rio, an Australian counsel, said that the ceremony was held in the memorial gardens of the Consulate-General lasted 30 minutes. The ceremony featured representatives from a number of foreign nations who lost citizens in the devastating terrorist attacks-including New Zealand, Poland, Japan, Switzerland, the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Brazil, Denmark, Italy and Germany - as well as Australia and Indonesia. Acting Australian Consul-General Brent Hall and Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika, representing countries that respectively lost 88 and 38 citizens in the suicide attacks, laid a commemorative wreath together, before the remaining country representatives and friends and family members of those who lost loved ones followed. In eastern Sydney, meanwhile, there were emotional scenes as a memorial wall listing the 43 victims from the state of New South Wales was unveiled at the Bali Memorial in Dolphins Point at Coogee. Six of those lost were members of the Coogee Dolphins Rugby League Club. NSW Premier Kristina Keneally was quoted by the Australian Associated Press as saying that the Bali victims were innocent people. “The victims of this atrocity were not soldiers, they had not gone to fight a declared enemy,” she said. “The innocence of those victims [and the] benign and harmless reasons for them being where they are, when they were, only underscores the savagery of those people who took their lives.” (October 12th 2010)
