Ex-Norway PM in tears at attack victim's funeral

Associated Press, Oslo, Norway | Thu, 08/04/2011 6:48 PM

Former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who left the Utoya island youth camp just hours before a gunman massacred 69 people there, said Thursday the day will be remembered as one of the country's darkest.

Speaking at the funeral of 16-year-old victim Marianne Sandvik in the southwestern city of Stavanger, a tearful Brundtland said "the loss of a young life can never give any meaning."

Brundtland, who was premier for 10 years, led a left-leaning government with liberal immigration policies.

The man who has confessed to the youth camp slaughter and a car-bombing in Oslo that killed eight denounced Brundtland and immigration in a manifesto sent shortly before the July 22 attacks.

Norwegian prosecutor Christian Hatlo told reporters Thursday that the confessed gunman, 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, had been questioned for 10 hours the previous day. He said the interrogation included questions about Breivik's travels overseas.

Breivik claims to have had contact with other terrorist "cells," but it remains unclear whether he had logistical or financial support from abroad.

Read More

12.43 | 0 komentar

Djohar Arifin Husin: Fixing the PSSI’s image

Niken Prathivi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 08/02/2011 8:54 PM

JP/Dina IndrasafitriIt came as a surprise for many to see Djohar Arifin Husin settle into the “hot seat” of the Indonesian Soccer Association (PSSI).

Djohar was a dark horse candidate in the long-delayed race to find a successor to the organization’s infamous leader, Nurdin Halid.

But on July 9, the former university lecturer gained a solid victory in the PSSI chairman’s election, picking up 61 of 100 votes in two rounds voting against favorite Agusman Effendi, who was close to Nurdin.

Less than a month after his victory, Djohar continues to be greeted by smiles — especially following the national team’s 4-3 victory over Turkmenistan on Thursday and the Red-and-White’s advance to the third phase of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

Djohar expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance, and hoped that the team would learn from the Turkmen’s game in the match’s second half, when it allowed its rivals to score twice.

“We offer a compliment to the team for their unbelievable spirit. The boys performed exceptionally well, although we all know they had very little time to prepare. They evinced great stamina and laudable play,” Djohar said after watching the match at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

In a recent interview, Djohar said that the congress was a perfect platform for executing his personal mission of reforming the PSSI — something which was shared by most of organization’s electors.

“I think it would be dangerous if I didn’t accept their mandate. With God’s consent, I, along with the rest of the PSSI management team, will do the work,” Djohar said.

Djohar said the public’s long-standing lack of trust in the PSSI was the association’s main problem. “The management team and I need to do a lot of hard work while preserving an honest attitude to regain the people’s trust.”

The PSSI’s image was tarnished under Nurdin’s eight-year leadership, which was marked by a host of graft allegations. Nurdin even led the PSSI from a prison cell. The institution had been considered as vulnerable to corruption.

“We have pledged to develop a much clearer financial transparency system by conducting biannual audits with a professional auditor. The results will be available to the public,” Nurdin said.

PSSI has been categorized as a high-valuable national sports organization. Soccer, after all, is the most popular sport in nation after badminton.

A previous Indonesian national team — or more accurately, the Dutch East Indies soccer team — became the only Asian team to play in the World Cup in 1938.

In later years, however, Indonesia failed to repeat its achievement, although the nation gained the title as an “Asian Tiger” for its greatness in the zone.

Djohar was optimistic about mending the rift between the PSSI and its new rival, the Indonesian Premier League (LPI) established by Arifin Panigoro. The business tycoon backed Djohar after his own bid to run for PSSI chief was disallowed by FIFA.

“Both leagues will definitely be merged. However, we don’t know yet how to make it happen. We will hold a meeting with both parties to discuss things further,” Djohar said, adding clubs in Medan, North Sumatra, were willing to merge.

Djohar hoped that the PSSI’s clubs under the Indonesian Super League (ISL) could be made financially independent, as the LPI plans to do for its clubs. Premier League teams will refuse to accept any provincial funds starting next year.

“I know the stakes are high as several clubs may automatically die without regional support. We will help them find sponsors,” he said.

Born in Tanjung Pura, North Sumatra in 1950, Djohar started his athletic career in 1968 by joining the PSL Langkat soccer club as a stopper.

Djohar moved to PSMS Medan in 1973 and played for the North Sumatran team for three years before his life took a different direction.

“In my last year at PSMS Medan, I met a beautiful woman. I thought, ‘I can’t lose her.’ I quit soccer and finished my bachelor’s degree,” Djohar said.

He studied agriculture at North Sumatra State University and married Marina Hutabarat. The couple has four children and three grandchildren.

After his graduation, Djohar worked as a lecturer and eventually earned a doctorate in urban and regional planning.

However, Djohar could not abandon the game, and started to work as a referee. He has held an international referee license since 1981.

Djohar was also the junior national team manager for the Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, in 1994; the director of the North Sumatra branch of the Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) in 2003; KONI secretary-general in from 2003 to 2005; and vice president of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation between 2003 and 2005.

He was also a deputy chief of the Indonesia Golden Program (Prima) and a staff expert for the Youth and Sports Ministry, among other postings.

“I really want the national team members to acknowledge that they fight for the country. Anything else in between should not be happening for the sake of the team and the PSSI,” Djohar said.

Djohar said that at the end of the day, all he wanted to do was relax with his wife.

“I’m often away from my family to do my job. So when I get free times, I prefer to stay at home or spend some quality time with my family,” Djohar said.

Read More

12.54 | 0 komentar

A sanctuary of sun bears

Dina Indrasafitri, The Jakarta Post, Samboja, East Kalimantan | Tue, 08/02/2011 8:59 PM

Around five o’clock in the afternoon in the Samboja Lestari project area in East Kalimantan usually means happy time for the sun bears (Helarctos malayanus) living in the area’s sanctuary — it is feeding time.

The smallest of the bear species, sun bears are distinguished by the yellow, crescent-shaped marks on their chests. The bears at the sanctuary wandered amid logs, stumps and ponds in July’s afternoon sun to find slices of pumpkins and pineapples placed by the keepers.

At times, the bears are aggressive toward each other: barking and baring their teeth, brandishing sharp claws and engaging in short duels.

Some of the bears are in cages, lapping up soy milk and gazing curiously at visitors. A cub in a cage anxiously makes suckling noises.

“We call them sun bears because they have the [yellow] mark and in the middle of the mark is a black spot and each spot is different, like a finger print,” Amran, a guide at the Samboja Lestari, said.

Their sleek, dark coat, short muzzle and waddling walk make them instantly adorable. Unfortunately, sun bears are threatened by habitat loss and poaching.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), they are categorized as “vulnerable”.

The IUCN’s information sheet on sun bears states that the creatures are usually poached in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam for their gall bladders and bear-paws.

According to the Samboja Lodge’s website, Samboja Lestari’s sun bear sanctuary is one of the largest sun bear-related projects in the world. Located around 38 kilometers from East Kalimantan’s capital Balikpapan, the sanctuary houses 49 bears in total.

The cub making the anxious noises is named lady. “Some people found her in the forest by herself,” Imam said.

The Samboja Lestari project has its roots in the Balikpapan Orangutan Society (BOS), which works to rescue and rehabilitate orangutan orphans.

According to the BOS Foundation website, the organization was preceded by the orangutan conservation project, started by the Tropenbos Foundation in Balikpapan with the coordination of the General Directorate of Forest Conservation.

The person behind the projects, Willie Smits, said in a 2009 TED online video that his first encounter with the severity of orangutans’ plight happened when he was walking in a market with his wife and “somebody stuck a cage in my face. And between those slits were the saddest eyes I have ever seen. There was a very sick orangutan baby.”

Smits said he returned later that night and found the baby orangutan lying in a garbage heap. He rescued the orangutan, later named Uce, and she was followed by many more.

Eventually, the movement to rescue orangutans gained support and it was renamed the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in 1998.

“After we released [the orangutans back into the wild] in 2002, we realized that we did not have that many forest areas to release orangutans to. So the establishers of the BOS Foundation decided to re-create a forest,” Amran said.

Despite the seemingly ambitious nature, the plan eventually came into being. BOS Foundation started buying land from the locals in 2001 and planted trees in the Samboja area, which at the time was a barren grassland
due to illegal logging, drought and forest fires.

“I created the place Samboja Lestari and the idea was, if I can do this on the worst possible place that I can think of, where there is really nothing left, no one will have an excuse to say, ‘Yeah, but.’ No. Everyone should be able to follow this,” Smits said in the video.

He added that, after the project, the area currently had over 1,000 species, including 137 bird species.

Smits said that local people were also involved in the process and that it had created jobs for around 3,000 people.

The BOS Foundation website cites the Samboja Lestari area by the end of 2009 as 1,852.63 hectares and 983.24 hectares of the area has a Right to Use Certificate issued by the National Land Agency Board (BPN).

The orangutan rescue mission developed as well. Samboja Lestari currently has six orangutan islands, covering a total area of 6.52 hectares. Most of the orangutans, which were rescued from various places and situations, were trained to be returned to the wild with forest schools acting as the “playground” in which orangutans learn forest skills.

“In 2002, we realized that … bears also had the same condition [as orangutans of being threatened], so we finally opened a program to rescue sun bears,” Amran said.

According to the National Geographic website, male sun bears, which are slightly larger than the females, grow to be about 1.5 meters long and weigh 70 kilograms. In Indonesia, they are called beruang madu (honey bears) due to their affinity for honey.

Cool off: Two sun bears cooling off in the sanctuary pond during a July afternoon in the Samboja Lestari project area in East KalimantanThe sun bears in the sanctuary are separated according to sex and age due to the aggressive nature of several of them, especially the male.

“All of [the sun bears] here are rescued. From everywhere, such as the black markets of Jakarta, from people having them as pets and from zoos,” Amran said.

Imam Muslimin, one of the sun bear keepers in Samboja, said he had worked there for four years. He previously worked on a ship. The “BOS” sign captured his eye every time he came to Balikpapan, and his curiosity led him to discover a job, which he eventually took.

“I consider [working here] as paying for my sins. When I was [working] in coal [mining], I used to bomb [areas] and extract coal without thinking about the animals. It paid well, but I came to think, what if it was our home that was destroyed?” he said.

Imam’s job includes feeding the bears, cleaning their cages and taking care of them in general, including distracting them when they begin fighting.

“It is quite a satisfying job … I am very happy because not everyone can be in direct contact with animals, especially the endangered ones,” he said, smiling.

The Sun Bear Sanctuary covers a total area of 58 hectares of Samboja Lestari, but currently only a part of that area is used for the purpose.

Despite the project’s development over the years, mining and logging is still prevalent in the area. Just minutes away from the Samboja Lestari area is a grey, dusty coal mine. The sound of machinery replaces the birds’ chirping and the effect on the land is instantly recognizable.

Amran said some of the people in the area chose to sell their land to the mining companies or cooperatives or “rent” the land according to the value of coal.

“If BOS Foundation didn’t buy the land here, I believe it would already be a coal mining area,” he said.

— Photos by JP/Dina Indrasafitri

Read More

12.39 | 0 komentar

Letter: Government policy and bird flu

I refer to an article titled “Science and policy collaboration: The bird flu case” by Yohanes Widodo of Yogyakarta (The Jakarta Post, July 21).

From a communications point of view, what you describe may be true, although as someone with 15 years of experience working for and with the poultry industry in Indonesia, I might say that you are over-simplifying the real situation by not including the entity that has been the decisive factor all along: the poultry industry.

The Indonesian poultry industry grew by itself without any nurturing guidance or regulation from the government. This led to the fact that the poultry industry has not really regarded the government as an equal partner.

From the poultry industry’s point of view, the government has never given them any benefit.

There has been little or no impact whether the government is in the picture or not. The Indonesian poultry industry thinks that it can grow its business without them, as has been demonstrated in the past.

Scientists and academics for most part are government employees and hence must be loyal and not speak out against policy makers.

This power structure may not be a problem when everything goes as usual — but when a high-impact disease like Avian Influenza is involved the government should take the lead and orchestrate all efforts on the domestic and international front to achieve a common objective: eradication of the disease.

This is the sine qua non for the government to gain the respect of all poultry industry stakeholders. But the poultry industry turned away, once again, from the government and did their business as usual, facing each problem, including the AI problem, as they came, one by one.

This made the disease, in the experts’ words, entrenched in Indonesia.

The poultry industry is the one that should be addressed in this case. They are the “public” you need to involve. End consumers have less interest in this problem. They show a weaker reaction over time to any AI outbreak news.

They may react strongly in the beginning, but over time they grow less and less concerned about the issue. This shows that poultry meat and egg consumption has not been affected by the recent news about an AI outbreak.

The poultry industry is the one that can make a change. The government should realize that.

Baso Darmawan
Bogor, West Java

Read More

09.43 | 0 komentar

In Bandung, a plea to keep “?” in theaters

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 05/12/2011 10:15 PM | Archipelago

One moviegoer is asking why hard-line Islamic protestors are threatening to raid Bandung’s movie theaters unless the film “?” is pulled from the screen

Nindya Anggraeni, a moviegoer at Bandung Indah Plaza shopping center, said on Thursday that she watched Hanung Bramantyo’s latest movie and thought it offered a reflection of the country's social situation.

“It's a good movie. The story is both interesting and educates its viewers to accept all differences. So why does it have to be withdrawn?” she said.

The Bandung municipality urged local cinemas to stop screening of the movie on Thursday follow a protest from the

hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which threatened to raid local movie theaters that screened the film.

Around 100 FPI members rallied in front of the Bandung’s tourism and culture agency's office on Tuesday, demanding that the movie stopped being screened in the city.

Nindya said FPI's protest baffled her.

“The movie teaches us a lesson,” she said.

Read More

09.08 | 0 komentar

Famed Autralia ranch to be sold due to export ban

Associated Press | Wed, 06/29/2011 5:45 PM

Australia's best-known Outback cattle ranch has been put on the market by an own who on Wednesday blamed the country's ban on livestock exports to Indonesia for destroying her livelihood.

The decision to sell iconic Bullo River Station in the Northern Territory is the latest evidence of the economic hardship gripping tropical Australia cattle country since the government announced June 8 that livestock exports to Indonesia were banned for up to six months because of animal cruelty concerns in Indonesian slaughterhouses.

The 40,000-acre (160,000-hectare) family-owned property was made famous by matriarch Sara Henderson, who wrote about it in six books including her best-selling autobiography "From Strength to Strength," published in 1993.

It told of her family's struggle to manage the remote and expansive ranch - known in Australia as a cattle station - after her American-born husband Charlie Henderson died in 1985. Sara Henderson retired from ranching before she died in 2005, aged 68.

Her daughter who now owns the ranch, Marlee Ranacher, said Wednesday the ban was the last straw for her and other ranchers like her in northern Australia.

"If there were any way I could change this decision, I would," Ranacher told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio of her decision to sell.

"I wish for a miracle, but there aren't many of those around at the moment, and this is definitely the last straw because the government, I believe, is legally and morally negligent to have done what they have done," she added.

Australia is the world's largest exporter of livestock. Many ranchers rely entirely on the 330 million Australian dollar ($350 million) per year live cattle trade with Indonesia because there are no large-scale slaughterhouses in northern Australia - and the southeast market where most Australians live is too distant.

Ranacher said her ranch had not sold any cattle since the monsoon season set in October last year. Now in the current dry season when the cattle trade resumes, she had nowhere to send her 8,000 Brahman cattle specifically bred for the Indonesian market.

She said she could not afford the diesel fuel needed during the dry season to pump underground water into troughs for the cattle to drink.

"I don't know what else we can do but start shooting them. I can't stand there and watch them die of thirst," she said, adding that none had yet died.

Ranch salesman Andrew Gray said Bullo River Station was the first ranch in the Northern Territory to be put on the market since the trade ban began and he did not expect other ranchers would sell.

"Station owners are really hoping trade recommences at some stage soon, but it's highly unlikely people would just throw their keys on the counter and walk out," Gray told The Australian newspaper. He did not immediately return The Associated Press's call on Wednesday.

The government announced on Monday a AU$3 million compensation package for meat industry workers such as cattle truck drivers who had lost income through the trade ban.

But Ranacher said no financial help had been offered to the ranch owners.

The government wants the cattle industry-owned marketing company Meat and Livestock Australia to provide AU$5 million to feed and water thousands of cattle stranded by the ban.

The ban followed gruesome footage broadcast on Australian television that showed cattle in Indonesian slaughterhouses were beaten and took minutes to bleed to death as their throats were repeatedly slashed.

The government said the trade would be halted while Australian and Indonesian authorities work to ensure that the exported animals are treated according to World Organization for Animal Health guidelines.

Read More

08.38 | 0 komentar

Toisutta-Panigoro supporters to square up against FIFA in Switzerland sports court

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 05/15/2011 3:00 PM | Sports

Supporters of George Toisutta and Arifin Panigoro, two candidates rejected for the Indonesia Soccer Association (PSSI) chairman post, will have their quarrel with soccer world governing body, FIFA, settled in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland next week.

Toisutta and Panigoro supporters have pressed charges against FIFA for various decisions they feel have harmed the present interests of Indonesian soccer, including the rejection of the two names from PSSI chair candidacy.

Indonesian Ambassador for Switzerland Djoko Susilo said that CAS will put FIFA on trial at CAS headquarters in Chateu de Bethusy, which is located on Avenue de Beaumont 2, Lausanne, Switzerland.

According to Djoko, CAS is the only court in the world that specifically handles sport cases.

Djoko hopes that the trial would not lead to a sanction handed to Indonesia by FIFA 

“I hope everyone involved will keep a cool head and follow legal procedures in Lausanne. From various sources, I have reason to believe that Indonesia will not receive sanctions,” Djoko said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

During the trial, Toisutto-Panigoro supporters will be represented by lawyer Patrick Mbaya, while FIFA will delegate a legal team headed by FIFA Legal Affairs director Marco Villiger.

Read More

05.37 | 0 komentar

Officers foil phone, drug smuggling at airport

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tamgerang | Thu, 05/12/2011 9:24 PM | Jakarta

Customs and excise officers have seized hundreds of BlackBerry smart phones, 9,740 ecstasy pills and 380 grams of crystal methamphetamine smuggled via mail services at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, an official said Thursday.

Airport customs office chief Iyan Rubianto said the packages were sent between April 29 and May 6.

“We seized 614 BlackBerry smart phones worth Rp 1.2 billion (US$140,000) on April 29. The packages were reported as electronic parts in the customs declaration form,” he said, adding that on May 3, officers confiscated 402 Nimetazepam pills, also known as Happy Fives, worth Rp 60 million, that were sent from Malaysia through a cargo delivery service to a fake address.  

On May 5, officers seized ecstasy pills worth Rp 3.9 billion hidden in a bag that was abandoned by its owner at terminal II-E.

The crystal meth seized on May 6 was reportedly sent in a package sent through a delivery service using a sender identified as CF from Shanghai, China, to a fake address with the initials JB as the recipient in Jakarta.

“The sender also used a fake address because the address did not exist when officers checked it,” he said.

Read More

05.08 | 0 komentar

I get Rp 14m monthly phone allowance: Golkar legislator

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 05/12/2011 8:19 PM | National

A Golkar legislator is claiming that he gets a Rp 14.4 million (US$1,684) monthly phone allowance.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama said on Thursday that the money, intended to foster constituent relations, was automatically deposited into his account at Bank Mandiri.

“House members are not obliged to [report on the allowance],” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

All House legislators receive a Rp 14 million monthly phone allowance, according to a report released by the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) on Wednesday.

FITRA said that lawmakers also receive about Rp 102 million in communication allowances during the House’s five annual legislative recesses.

Basuki refuted the claim, saying that legislators did not receive phone allowances during recesses and instead were given Rp 92 million to visit constituents.

Read More

04.35 | 0 komentar

America shows off warship that buried bin Laden

Jim Gomez, The Associated Press | Sun, 05/15/2011 10:24 AM | World

U.S. officials welcomed visitors Sunday to the USS Carl Vinson warship, from which Osama bin Laden's body was buried at sea, but did not discuss the ultra-secretive attack that killed him, reflecting America's concern over possible retaliation.

U.S. defense officials were taking measures to ensure the security of the operatives involved in the May 2 assault on a walled fortress in Abbottabad, Pakistan, particularly the Navy SEAL team that killed the world's most wanted terrorist.

President Benigno Aquino III, accompanied by senior members of his Cabinet and military chief of staff, were flown to the massive aircraft carrier Saturday as it traveled in the South China Sea toward the Philippines, a key Asian anti-terrorism ally.

A group of journalists were invited to tour and talk to sailors aboard the 97,000-ton Carl Vinson, which anchored off Manila along with three other warships on Sunday at the start of a four-day routine port call and goodwill visit.

During the 30-minute ferry ride to the Vinson, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Wossenyelesh Mazengia told about two dozen journalists that nobody aboard the carrier would talk about bin Laden. "No one on the Vinson is authorized to discuss any operational details that involve Osama bin Laden," Mazengia said. "I'm not trying to say you can't ask, you can."

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Aquino and his entourage were given a tour of the warship and an exhibition of fighter jets landing and taking off from the Carl Vinson, including one flown by a Filipino-American pilot.

Aquino, at one point, sat on the cockpit of an F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter jet at a hangar bay as sailors snapped pictures. He talked and posed for souvenir pictures with many beaming Filipino-American sailors, Gazmin said.

But the one thing on everybody's mind - bin Laden's burial from the Carl Vinson just 12 days earlier - did not come up. U.S. Navy officials did not touch the sensitive subject and Aquino's group saw it fit not to ask questions, Gazmin said.

"We did not ask for a briefing because it was too sensitive," Gazmin told The Associated Press on Sunday. "It was a friendly visit and we let it stay that way."

Gazmin, a retired general, said he was impressed by the stunning U.S. commando night-time strike that got bin Laden, adding it showed the might of the American military force.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, who said it was his first time to set foot on an aircraft carrier, was impressed as war planes landed and were launched by catapults from the tarmac.

"You can feel the inherent power of these fighter jets," del Rosario said.

In impromptu remarks on the ship, Aquino reaffirmed the "historic, defense and cultural ties" between the United States and the Philippines, one of Washington's oldest and closest Asian allies, presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said.

U.S. special forces have been training and arming Filipino soldiers battling al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern Philippines since 2003.

The Carl Vinson came from the North Arabian Sea, where it had received a U.S. SEAL team, which carried bin Laden's body after killing the long-wanted al-Qaida leader in a raid on his walled compound near a Pakistani military academy.

Pentagon officials have said that on the carrier, bin Laden's body was placed in a "weighted bag," an officer made religious remarks and the remains were put on a flat board and tipped into the sea.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said that during a recent meeting with members of the team that attacked bin Laden, they expressed concerns about the security of their families.

American officials agreed shortly after bin Laden was killed not to release any operational details on the commando assault, Gates said, but added "that fell apart - the next day."

"We are looking at what measures can be taken to pump up the security," Gates said.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said Carl Vinson's service members would take part in sports events, seminars and community assistance projects with their Philippine counterparts.

The visit will contribute about $4.65 million to the local economy from port fees and crew expenditures, the embassy said in a statement.

Philippine police have said they will step up security in Manila, where left-wing groups have threatened to stage protests against the U.S. warship's visit.

Read More

04.30 | 0 komentar

No jail term for possessing less than 1g of narcotics

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 05/12/2011 8:52 PM | National

Law and Human Rights Ministry is mulling issuing a regulation in which people caught in the possession of less than 1 gram of narcotics will not be sent to prison.

“But if they are drug traffickers ... no mercy,” Minister Patrialis Akbar said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com.

The new ruling will be included in a planned 2011 government regulation that will oblige drug users to report to the police.

The ministry and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) are currently in talks regarding the planned regulation.

Both institutions have agreed to not criminalize drug users found to have less than 1 gram of narcotics in their possession. They will instead be sent to rehabilitation centers.

Patrialis said he hoped the regulation could be enacted this year.

Read More

04.20 | 0 komentar

Legalizing marijuana might not be good for the young: Minister

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 05/15/2011 10:17 AM | National

Social Welfare Minister Salim Segaf al Jufri said that legalizing marijuana might have negative effects on the nation’s youth.

“Personally, I don’t agree [with the idea of legalizing marijuana] because I fear it would be misused,” he said Saturday as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

A number of activists had previously demanded the legalization of marijuana and recently held a rally commemorating the Global Marijuana March.

Salim added that it would be difficult to determine whether individuals found in possession of less than one gram of contraband were first-time users or not.

Salim was apparently commenting on the recent statement by Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, who said that there was an effort to revise the law so that those caught with less than one gram of illegal drugs would face rehabilitation treatment rather than prison.

Read More

13.44 | 0 komentar

Calls for tourism investment in Sabang

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 05/12/2011 8:47 PM | Archipelago

The Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association (PHRI) said Thursday that Sabang city in Aceh province is a potential tourism area and needs investment in luxury hotels.

“It is about time Sabang has a luxury hotel with a capacity of 300 to 500 rooms equipped with other supporting facilities,” PHRI Aceh secretary Zulfikar said as quoted by kompas.com.

Zulfikar said that a luxury hotel was also needed when the city hosts meetings at the national or international scale in the future.

He said Sabang had great potential to be developed as a tourism destination like Bali.

“I'm not comparing Sabang to Bali, but Sabang has enough tourism potential to attract tourists,” he said.

Tourist attractions in Sabang include the Iboih and Gapang areas, which are famous for their undersea beauty.

Sabang is located 14 miles by sea from Banda Aceh, the province's capital. It can be reached by three ferries that regularly serve passengers to and from Sabang.

“I can see that the residents in Sabang hugely support the improvement of tourism in the region. Sabang residents understand how tourism can bring great benefits,” Zulfikar said.

He added that supporting infrastructure in Sabang like roads are already in good condition.

Read More

10.10 | 0 komentar

Merpati to bring another MA-60 to E. Nusa Tenggara

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 05/15/2011 2:10 PM | Business

State-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines said that it would make available one more MA-60 plane for its fleet in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, shortly after the government said it would launch an inspection of the company’s MA-60 fleet following a deadly accident in West Papua involving the same type of aircraft.

Kupang branch Manager Djibrael de Hoog said Sunday that the plane, scheduled to arrive in Kupang on Wednesday, would replace the previous one that was sent to West Papua that crashed, killing all of passengers and crew members.

“The plane that fell in Kaimana [West Papua] previously operated in East Nusa Tenggara,” Djibrael said, as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

The MA-60 would serve the Kupang-Surabaya-Denpasar-Tambolaka and Waingapu route

Merpati is planning to bring two more MA-60 units from China. “With the addition [of two more planes] the number of MA-60 planes will be 15 units,” Djibrael said, adding that despite the crash, Merpati’s MA-60 fleet load factor for Kupang operations would remain stable.

The current load factor is 77 percent out of 56 seats, unchanged since the two MA-60s began operating in the East Nusa Tenggara region in October 2010.

“There have been no protests from people who often use Merpati to fly. Ticket requests have remained the same,” Djibrael said.

Read More

09.39 | 0 komentar

Police must help AGO in Sisminbakum case: IPW

The Jakarta Post | Sun, 05/15/2011 1:09 PM | National

The police should assist the Attorney General’s Office in settling the “sisminbakum” case, Indonesian Police Watch said Sunday in a statement.

The case centers around alleged graft that took place in the creation and management of an online business registration system, known by the abbreviated site name sisminbakum.com, by the Law and Human Rights Ministry and private company PT Sarana Rekatama Dinamika (SRD).

The contract between the two parties stipulated that 90 percent of profits from the online service would go to the company, which amassed approximately Rp 420 billion in access fees between April 2001 and November 2008.

The AGO is yet to forward the dossiers of the case to court, despite them already being stated as complete.

“We hope that the National Police pays attention to this case as well,” IPW’s Neta S Pane said in a statement quoted by Tribunnews.com.

A convict in the case, Yohanes Waworuntu, once testified about the flow of money from the online service to other companies.

“The Police can ask for initial testimonies from Yohanes Waworuntu to uncover the suspicions of money laundering behind the Sisminbakum case,” Neta said.

He warned that the end of the overseas travel restriction period for one of the suspects, Hartono Tanoesudibjo, is approaching.

Neta said that should the AGO decide to halt the case through a document stating the halting of prosecution process (SKPP), the IPW would demand a pre-court process in the South Jakarta District Court against the AGO.

Read More

09.17 | 0 komentar

Inexpensive books and succeeding in the future

Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Washington, D.C. | Wed, 05/11/2011 9:55 PM | Opinion

I had mixed feelings when Borders bookstore finally closed their outlet on the corner of L and 19th streets opposite my workplace a week ago. I had spent hours sitting in its café and between its shelves, browsing and reading from the huge collection.

But, in the four weeks before the closure, I visited the store every other day to take advantage of the fire sales with discounts of 20 percent that then rose to 40, 50, 60 and 80 percent in the last five days.

Longtime Washingtonians, however, said to shed no tears. They recalled that the arrival of Borders and Barnes & Noble, both giant American bookstore chains, on Washington’s streets one or two decades ago led to the closure of many independent bookstores.

Borders has become victim to the fierce book market it helped to shape. It filed for bankruptcy in February and plans on closing 200 of its 600 outlets in the US and abroad.

More Americans buy their books online, from Amazon.com and Borders and Barnes & Noble’s web sites. And, there is the growing migration to the digital world, with more people reading books on the Kindle, the iPad and other portable digital book readers.

One thing I learned since coming here early this year on a research program is that few people in the US pay full price for their books; only visitors or those who feel strongly about supporting their local independent bookstores do. For avid readers, there are many ways of getting your books aside from library loans.

For best-selling fiction and non-fiction, major department stores sell books at up to 60 percent off the cover price.

For more specialized or older books, check out Borders and Barnes & Noble. If you’re a loyal customer, membership confers large discounts and point awards that entitle you to more discounts in the future.

Online stores, and don’t forget the biggest one of all, Amazon, offer generous discounts like free shipping within the US and awards to build customer loyalty. Check out their used book section. I was amazed at the selection, including many out-of-print titles.

Most are reasonably priced as well. The listing indicates the book’s condition and where it will be shipped from. Put the book in a virtual shopping cart, enter your credit card number and it will be delivered in just a few days.

Most books I need for my research (on Indonesia) were bought this way. For example, I bought a good-as-new copy of Robert Hefner’s 2000 Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia online.

Check out the regular book sales at your local library. Early in April, the Arlington Public Library, down the corner from my rented apartment, had a sale that lasted three days. Secondhand books were going for 50 cents, US$1, $2 and $4 apiece. On the last day, they were half the marked prices.

These book sales, surprisingly, offer a wide selection. My wife and I bought over 30 titles, not so much because we needed them but more because they were too good to pass up.

At 50 cents or a dollar apiece, we see it as renting the books. We will donate most of them to the library before it holds its next sale. You’re not just recycling books; you’re recycling knowledge and the wisdom contained in those pages.

America is heaven for avid readers, writers and researchers. Not only does it have one of the widest selections, but books are accessible and affordable for most pockets through discount plans, used book sales and recycling arrangements.

It is no wonder the United States consistently ranks highest in the world in terms of the number of books published. The widespread usage of English globally helps its case and many of the books are exported as well as sold domestically.

The United States is strongly represented at the top of global university rankings. The Times Higher Education put four US universities in the top 5, and 13 in the top 20. The QS ranking puts two universities in the top 5, but 14 in the top 20.

What is puzzling, however, is the weak correlation between these achievements and the academic performance of American students globally. Survey after survey indicates that the US education system is rapidly falling behind many other countries.

A recent test of 15-year-olds worldwide conducted by the Program for International Students Association ranked Americans between 15th and 25th in science, reading and mathematics, hardly reflecting the US’s global preeminence.

Mindful of the long-term implications of this decline, President Obama made education the centerpiece of his state of the union speech in January.

He made a passionate plea to Congress to spare investment in education, along with spending on health care, from the axe as the nation struggles to cut its huge federal budget deficit.

Obama invoked the “Sputnik Moment” in calling for more investment in education and technological innovation to restore America’s supremacy, just as it did in beating the Soviet Union in the race to the moon.

Can the United States succeed in the future once again? It will take more than books to pull it off, but at least Americans, in this race, still have the easiest access to a wide range of great books compared with people in most other countries. Take it from this short-term visiting writer: It all starts with reading.

The writer is a fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, D.C. and a senior editor at The Jakarta Post.

Read More

12.07 | 0 komentar

Rosa to retract earlier testimony related to SEA Games graft

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 05/11/2011 8:57 PM | National

Graft suspect Mindo Rosa Manullang said she intends to retract all of her earlier testimony before Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators with regard to the graft case in the construction of SEA Games buildings.

“I was tricked by my former lawyer Kamarudin Simanjuntak. He came asking me to sign a blank piece of paper and it turned out that the paper was later filled with false statements,” Manullang said Wednesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

She said that Kamarudin insisted on saying that she was the one who introduced Muhammad El Idris, who works at general contractor PT Duta Graha Indah, to Wafid Muharram, secretary of the Youth and Sports Affairs Ministry.

“That is simply not true,” she said.

During earlier questioning, Manullang repeatedly stated that she was ordered by Democratic Party treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin to accompany PT Duta Graha Indah manager Muhammad El Idris when he handed over Rp 3.2 billion (US$374,400) in bribes to Wafid.

Read More

11.00 | 0 komentar

Legislators spend 168m each on phone credit annually: FITRA

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 05/11/2011 9:21 PM | National

The Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA) has released its latest data that shows that every legislator at the House of Representatives receives Rp 168 million (US$19,656) annually in phone credit allowance.

The data shows that the House budget for phone credit allowance for each legislator is Rp 14 million a month.

“The number excludes phone credit allowance given throughout every recess session,” FITRA coordinator Uchok Sky Khadafi said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com.

FITRA says the country's lawmakers receive around Rp 20 million in communication allowance during every recess session. The total money spent on such an allowance reaches Rp 102 million per legislator for five recess sessions annually.

Uchok said in total every lawmaker receives Rp 270 million every year for their communication needs.

“This is a waste of money. It is outrageous. It is obvious that the phone credit allowance goes straight into the pockets of our lawmakers to satisfy their hedonistic desires,” he added.

He said the huge budget allocated for phone credit allowance did not reflect the condition of Indonesian people, who mostly still live below the poverty line.

“Therefore, FITRA is demanding that the House scrap the budget for phone credit allowance and we also reject the plan to increase the budget for recess sessions during 2012,” he said.

Read More

10.55 | 0 komentar

Dewi will give positive testimony on Jupe

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 05/11/2011 9:22 PM | People

GatraJAKARTA: Starlet Dewi Persik said she would give “positive” testimony on her co-star Julia “Jupe” Perez during trial, after initially reporting her for assault.

“My testimony won’t be harmful to Jupe because we ended up settling our differences peacefully,” she said as quoted by detik.com.

Back in January this year, Dewi reported Jupe to the police while the two were working on a film together. Jupe also reported Dewi for similar reasons. Jupe’s trial was scheduled for Tuesday but later postponed because the judge was sick.

Dewi said she wanted to settle things peacefully with Jupe.

Dewi and Jupe were both involved in producing a film titled Arwah Goyang Karawang (The Ghost of Goyang Karawang) when they got into a catfight. Videos of the two at each other’s necks have been circulating on the Internet, as well as on YouTube. — JP

Read More

10.05 | 0 komentar

Musholla made Cirebon suicide bomb: police

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 05/10/2011 8:45 PM | National

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said on Tuesday that the bomb used by a suicide bomber in Cirebon, West Java, was assembled by a terrorist suspect known as Musholla.

“Musholla was the one who assembled [the bomb], together with a number of persons who are on the police's wanted list,” Boy said as quoted by kompas.com.

He refused to reveal the identities of the other bomb makers.
A man identified in April as M. Syarif detonated a low-explosive bomb strapped to his body during Friday prayers at the Az-Dzikra mosque within the Cirebon City Police compound.

At least 25 people, mostly police officers, were wounded.

Boy said he has yet to learn where Musholla and his accomplices had gained their bomb assembly skills. An investigator with the police's Densus 88 Anti-terror squad, however, has alleged that the suspects  learned from Sogir, a terrorist suspect who was convicted for his involvement in making the bomb that exploded outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004.

“They knew Sogir. But these are still our predictions. All we are [certain of] by now is that they have the skills to assemble bombs,” Boy said.

Read More

07.34 | 0 komentar