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ASIET NetNews Number 27 - July 20-26, 1998
East TimorOpposition figure urges endorsement SMID leader addresses protest
Political/economic crisisSome troops to leave East Timor Belo says most Timorese want a referendum
Labour issuesFood agency has become indispensable Conglomerates fighting for survival Conglomerates fighting for survival Poor invade Suharto ranch Indonesia is near chaos Mobs attack Moslems with Chinese links
Human rights/law200 strikers stay at LBH Jakarta
News & issuesArmy officers linked to abuses: US officials Amnesty and abolution for 50 prisoners PRD activists say abducted and tortured New threats reported as rapes investigated Activist says not harmed by kidnappers
Environment/healthHabibie failing to win over the people NU chairman launches new political party Taman Sari rioters hunted Moslem groups to form political parties Mega/Gus Dur support Belo's position
Arms/armed forcesMob rampages near Sumatra's Lake Toba
Economy and investmentFormer chief denies knowledge of kidnapping
Corruption runs deep and wide
World Bank: Indonesia recovery in 2000
| Democratic struggle |
Amy Chew, Jakarta -- Indonesian opposition figure Megawati Sukarnoputri will tell supporters to occupy parliament if the government does not endorse her as legitimate leader of the minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) by November, a senior PDI official said on Tuesday.
"She will instruct all her members to occupy the parliament building if we (Megawati's PDI faction) are not given the right to sit in the coming special session of the People's Consultative Assembly," said Alex Littay, the former secretary-general of PDI.
Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's late founding president Sukarno, was ousted as leader of the PDI two years ago by a government-backed faction headed by deputy parliamentary speaker Surjadi. However, she retains significant popular support and still draws huge crowds to her public events.
The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) -- the country's top constitutional body -- is due to hold a special session on November 10 to set a date for general elections after Suharto quit as president on May 21.
There are currently only three legal parties in Indonesia -- the ruling Golkar, the Christian-Nationalist PDI and the Moslem oriented United Development Party (PPP) -- which sit in the MPR along with representatives from the military and other members appointed by the government.
Littay said President B.J. Habibie, who replaced Suharto after riots and mounting demands for political reform, appeared to be at a loss over how to resolve the PDI issue. "He (Habibie) is still confused but there should be no confusion. It's very simple, just recognise (Megawati). The government should resolve this issue as soon as possible, before the convening of the special session of MPR," he said.
He said Megawati's supporters had already occupied about 90 percent of the 310 PDI offices around the country over the past two months. The rival PDI group sparked mass riots in Jakarta when they evicted Megawati supporters from the main party headquarters on July 27, 1996, with official backing. At least five people died in the disturbances. Littay said Megawati supporters had not so far reoccupied the main headquarters to avoid any trouble like the riots in May that helped bring Suharto down.
Littay said her followers would mark the anniversary of the July 27 incident with speeches at a football stadium in central Jakarta. "We have received permission from the police to hold such an event. It will be restricted to 5,000 PDI members only. All PDI members will strive to prevent any trouble," he said.
After some period of no protests or open forums being held on the Gajah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday, July 20, a mass organisation calling itself the Yogyakarta People's Coalition (Koalisi Rakyat Yogyakarta, KRY) began rocking the UGM Boulevard. Prior to this thousands from 18 mass organisations and students gathered at the UGM Philosophy Faculty before heading to the Boulevard.
The different mass organisation joining together in KRY are from [as far as] Lereng Merapi and Gunung Kidul, from beggars to students, and from a number of regions. In the march to the Boulevard the demonstrators shouted slogans, waved posters and banners and gave speeches. During the action, Faisol Reza [a Student Solidarity for Indonesian Democracy (SMID) activist who was "disappeared" and tortured by the military and released in late April] appeared, one of the recent victims of the kidnapings.
The demonstration began at 10am, with demonstrators holding an open forum at the main gates of UGM. Taking turns the speakers criticised the social, economic and political conditions of the country. "Free all political prisoners, abolish the dual function of the armed forces, try Suharto", shouted a demonstrator, which was greeted by applause.
Another demonstrator demanded that democratic general elections be held. "Democratic elections are necessary for the formation of a civilian and democratic coalition government", they shouted. Reza, a literary student at UGM, explained that the struggle for reform must continue until it is complete. The arrival of activists from SMID was greeted noisily.
The KRY action blocked the streets around the UGM campus when demonstrators tried to go out into the streets near the campus. In its statement, KRY said that the government had no vision or desire to carry out change. Because such change would itself include touching on the power they hold.
It was also explained that up until now, that economically the people are still being oppressed and even more marginalised, the price of basic goods have risen sharply, while the political lies of the remains of the New Order government have continued. "The political lies and manipulation are still being carried out by the `new' New Order", said the statement.
The following is a list of KRY demands and the organisations supporting them which was included in the written statement issued on July 21:
KRY Demands
Organisation supporting KRYReduce prices of basic goods; Withdraw the five repressive political laws and the dual function of the armed forces; Try Suharto and nationalise his assets; Free all political prisoners without any exceptions; Fully investigate these responsible for the kidnapings and riots; A referendum for the People of East Timor as quickly as possible; Form a civil and democratic coalition government.
[Translated by James Balowski. The title used was the choice of the translator.]KPRP (Komite Perjuangan Rakyat untuk Perubahan) SOMASSI (Solidaritas Massa Rakyat untuk Demokrasi) KARPI (Kesatuan Aksi Rakyat Peduli Indonesia) BRPD (Barisan Rakyat Pendukung Demokrasi) Sleman KARAG (Kesatuan Aksi Rakyat Gunung Kidul) SRDI (Suara Rakyat Demokratik Independen) APMD (Aksi Peduli Masyarakat Desa) GAMA (Gerakan Aksi Masyarakat Argomulyo) LLM (Laskar Lereng Merapi) FRAKSI (Front Rakyat Untuk Demokrasi) Minggir GRUP (Gerakan Rakyat untuk Perubahan) Kalasan RPR (Rakyat Pro Reformasi) PRDT (Persatuan Rakyat Diploma Tehnik) Sastro Gempur SPI (serikat Pengamen Indonesia) IMPETTU (Ikatan Mahasiswa-Pelajar Timor Timur) KMD-UII (Komie Mahasiswa untuk Demokrasi-UII) Sanggar Seni "Manusia Jerami"
| East Timor |
Jakarta -- Indonesia plans to withdraw next week some of the thousands of troops it has stationed in the troubled territory of East Timor, military officials said on Friday.
"We have been asked to arrange a press tour for reporters to recover the sending home of troops from East Timor, but I don't know how many troops will be sent home or have any further details," a military press officer in Jakarta said.
He was unable to confirm rumours that around 1,000 troops, possibly at least one battalion, were being withdrawn, or whether the troops being sent home would later be replaced as part of a rotation.
Indonesia has officially around 5,000 troops, roughly five battalions, in East Timor but foreign military analysts say the the actual number of forces under arms could be up to twice as much if armed local militas, special forces on rotation, riot police and other partial units were counted.
The regional commander said recently there were 12,000 troops and police in the territory, which has a population of 800,000. The police are technically part of the armed forces, and the commander did not give a breakdown.
[On July 24, Lusa news agency said that a report by the EU "troika" mission to East Timor has said there could be no lasting solution to the conflict without a firm "commitment" of holding a "direct consultation" with the population on their future. It called for an "immediate" and "visible" reduction of troops adding that the withdrawal Kopassus troops should have "absolute priority". Concern was expressed about "rising repression" and the need to establish "direct contacts" between Indonesia and resistance leader Xanana Gusmao. The report also called for the immediate release of all East Timorese political prisoners, including Gusmao, and advised Timor's guerrilla movement to declare a cease-fire - James Balowski.]
Speaking at a seminar in Jakarta Thursday, Bishop Belo said the vast majority of East Timorese people want a referendeum to determine East Timor's future. He said that whether or not a referendum is held depends on the results of talks between Indonesia, Portugal and the UN. And if a referendum is held, he said, it should be supervised by an independent and authoritative body. "As for me myself, I leave it to the people of East Timor to determine their own future."
He said that it was simply not true to say that integration was the end of the matter for East Timor. He said that some Timorese still want to maintain the link with Portugal, some want to be independent and some favour integration with Indonesia.
"Those in favour of integration are a small minority, while those wanting a referendum comprise the majority whose numbers are growing all the time," said Belo.
He said that a referendum could give people the choice between integration, supporting the status quo, or independence. "A referendum is the most democratic way to resolve the issue but this will have to depend on the talks between Indonesia, Portugal and the UN."
He rejected the idea that the situation in East Timor was akin to a war against ABRI, the Indonesian armed forces. The current problems were the result of an accumulation of problems which had been allowed to fester. The proposal to grant East Timor a special status has been strongly rejected by the people of East Timor, as manifested by a large demonstration that took place on 29 June." There were about 700 trucks bringing people who were in favour of a referendum. But then others who were pro-integration held a counter demonstration, leading to chaos."
Asked whether ABRI were the ones responsible for the current crisis, Belo said. "Not only ABRI but everyone, the Indonesian nation which has allowed the problems to continue unresolved. Certainly, ABRI has adopted decisions that have been implemented by certain elements, but everyone must also bear some responsibility because people have simply refused to acknowledge the difficulties."
The reason for this was that information about East Timor has always been very one-sided. "It's a taboo subject, with the result that the general public in Indonesia dont know what is going on. And the situation today is the result of all this, he said. Asked about ABRI's dual function, Belo said that virtually all the problems in East Timor had been caused by elements within ABRI. Had it not been for the dual function, things in East Timor would be far more tranquil.
On the mass exodus of people from East Timor, Belo said an independent team should be set up by the central and local governments to investigate who was spreading terror. "According to some, the intimidation has come from ABRI, others say it has been spread by masked men. While others say that people are leaving just to go home for a vacation."
Belo said those who had left should return so as to keep the economy going. "People alsways refer to East Timor as the 27th province so why are they leaving? They are not being true to the spirit of nationalism, leaving when things get tough. If they say they have been intimidated, well, I have often been intimidated but I'm not leaving."
[Slightly abridged translation by Tapol]
| Political/economic crisis |
John McBeth, Jakarta - Just a few months ago, Badan Urusan Logistik Nasional was the government-run monopoly everyone loved to hate. As late as April, the logistics agency for basic foodstuffs, better known as Bulog, was the prime example of all that was wrong with doing business in Suharto's Indonesia. Its elite-enriching, market-distorting ways put it atop the International Monetary Fund's hit-list of monopolies to be dismantled.
Yet today, far from being a pariah, Bulog has become a saviour -- the key to feeding the half of Indonesia's 200 million people who have slipped below the poverty line. As the importer and distributor of six staple commodities that it sells at subsidized prices, Bulog is now seen as indispensable, even by the IMF. Under Indonesia's latest agreement with the Fund, signed in June, subsidies on rice, wheat, corn, soybeans, sugar and fishmeal could cost up to 15 trillion rupiah ($1 billion) in the fiscal year to April 1.
Even more startling than its newly heroic role, Bulog is signalling a desire to break away from its corrupt old ways. Its chairman, Beddu Amang, has announced plans to call open tenders for all future food purchases, a revolutionary act for an organization which has virtually never signed a contract. "Beddu is reforming himself more than a lot of other people in government," says one close acquaintance. "He's trying to get ahead of the curve before the pressure comes on him."
For the past three decades, Bulog has awarded lucrative import and distribution rights to former President Suharto's associates -- in particular the Salim Group of ethnic-Chinese tycoon Liem Sioe Liong. These sweetheart deals are widely seen as having generated a flow of political and private funds for Suharto and senior bureaucrats. "Bulog has been hijacked and abused, but it can be reformed," says an official with an international agency.
But the pressure to reform has not diminished Bulog's vulnerability to abuse. Sources close to the agency claim that Bulog has been pressed by two prominent figures in President B.J. Habibie's new administration to channel rice imports through a favoured pribumi businessman. Sighs an Indonesian agricultural expert: "They have seen how Bulog was used to make money for others, so now they want to make money too." He was alluding to Bulog's previous practice of allowing import agents to negotiate a price with suppliers and then charge a commission of 10%-20%. For rice, the agents were mainly the Salim Group, although in January Suharto family members belatedly joined the rice-trade gravy train.
Beddu, who rarely gives interviews, didn't deny the political pressure he faces when he spoke to the REVIEW in mid-July. "How do you know?" he laughed as he sipped tea and snacked on rice cakes. "I'm the one who knows and I've never told anyone about that." Still, he insists that the days of Bulog's so-called "silent operations" are over. "I think everyone already knows our position, that we will tender, so I don't think they want to interfere any more," he says. "I think they will restrain themselves from doing something or asking us to do something that is no longer acceptable."
Even if Beddu can prevent Bulog from being used as a moneymaker for the politically connected, he will still have plenty to worry about. In recent months, Bulog itself has met increasing difficulty in getting financing for food imports. "We have to negotiate with the suppliers, we have to convince them our letters of credit are good and we have to ask international banks to guarantee them, which costs a lot of money," says Beddu, describing a financing process that now takes two weeks instead of five minutes.
In some cases, the agency has had to secure central-bank guarantees for letters of credit to fund food imports. In others, it has had to guarantee payment by depositing funds in an escrow account in Singapore. These delays have often meant the last- minute postponement of shipments, with suppliers rerouting Jakarta-bound vessels to other destinations even while they were loading.
While the funding difficulties have caused delays, they have not prevented Bulog from importing enough rice. Even though stocks are adequate, however, keeping prices affordable for Indonesians is proving the greatest concern.
To keep the price of rice at 2,200 rupiah (17 cents) a kilogram, or double what it was last year, Bulog has had to bear the brunt of the rupiah's 80% depreciation and annual inflation approaching 80%. If it didn't, rice would cost 4,500 rupiah a kilogram, out of reach of many poor consumers. (Most rice is home-grown and sold by private traders. To maintain the price at an affordable level, Bulog injects rice into the market if shortages appear.)
Bulog's role in ensuring supplies and stabilizing prices is now considered crucial to prevent further social unrest. Indeed, some analysts feel it was a mistake for the IMF to insist on limiting Bulog's control to rice and on scaling back subsidies for food and other essential goods at a time of economic crisis. Even IMF officials say privately that it's not the agency but its practices which were at issue. "Going after Bulog was never going to straighten out the economic situation," says a Western commerce expert. "But it did have great significance in the overall effort to remove monopolies."
However, the symbolic significance of going after Bulog was quickly overtaken by the ensuing uncertainty over food supply and prices. When the rupiah weakened dramatically against the dollar early this year, fears of rising prices led to hoarding, panic buying and rioting. Since then, the collapsing currency, widespread turmoil, a fall-off in private trade, and poor harvests due to drought have sent food prices soaring.
Of the staple foodstuffs Bulog controls, rice is the most socially sensitive commodity. So for now, Bulog is needed more than ever to sustain rice stocks in its 1,500 warehouses across the country. (In mid-July, Bulog's rice stocks stood at 2.4 million tonnes.)
To sustain stocks, the agency is having to import more rice because its domestic procurement this year is likely to hit a 20-year low of 250,000 tonnes, compared with 1.5 million-2 million tonnes during a normal year. In 1997-98, Bulog shipped in 3.5 million tonnes. In the fiscal year to April, it is expected to take delivery of another 3.1 million tonnes. More than 14 years after attaining self-sufficiency, Indonesia finds itself once again the world's largest rice importer.
In a recent study, economists Steven Tabor, H.S. Dillon and Husein Sawit calculated that Bulog will need 3.2 million tonnes to meet demand over the eight months to the start of the next main harvest in March 1999, while reserving an additional 1 million tonnes as a hedge against international shortages. Another 1.2 million tonnes will be required to supply Indonesia's 4 million civil servants with rice under a practice that dates back to the Dutch colonial era.
While economists don't quibble with government subsidies for rice and soybeans, which are widely consumed by the poor, they are critical of subsidies on sugar, wheat and fishmeal. Plans to remove these subsidies have been put on hold until next year.
Imported sugar takes up an estimated 12% of Bulog's total subsidy bill. Bulog used to sell sugar at prices well over the market rate, using some of the profits to subsidize rice. But since the rupiah's collapse, there has been a subsidy for sugar, with large beverage and food manufacturers apparently reaping the benefits. About two-thirds of imported sugar is used in confectionery and processed food, goods destined for middle- and upper-income consumers. Asked why sugar is subsidized, Bulog Chairman Beddu shrugs. The government sets the subsidy, he says, and Bulog just implements it.
The same criticism applies to subsidized poultry feed, much of it imported soybeans and fishmeal. As prices of both imports continue to soar, poultry production has plunged from 6 million to about 2 million tonnes over the past year. Officials say the subsidy is necessary to keep small chicken farmers afloat, but only the large poultry producers -- some with access to hard currency -- have survived the economic crunch and can benefit from the subsidy.
Wheat products have a 24% share of the subsidy bill. The Salim Group's Bogasari Flour Mills processes 85% of the 4 million tonnes of wheat Bulog imports each year. Like sugar, wheat products are mostly consumed by the wealthiest third of Indonesians.
However, there's a complication in the no-subsidy argument here. Subsidized flour goes into making instant noodles. The Salim Group's Indofood is the world's biggest producer of instant noodles, which are sold so cheaply in Indonesia that they had become the staple of many of the urban poor. But the price of instant noodles recently shot up by 50%, largely because of increased packaging and cooking-oil costs. Unable to afford the price hike, some of those poorer consumers have been shifting back to rice. If the government proceeds with its plan to phase out subsidies on flour, Indofood will be forced to raise retail prices again -- and the demand for rice will increase as a result.
Bulog will probably have to brace itself for more changes when the economic crisis recedes and pressure for reform returns. Economists Tabor, Dillon and Sawit are looking for a one- to two-year phase-out of rice rations for civil servants, the elimination of Bulog's rice-import monopoly, and the restructuring of the agency itself into autonomous regional food units which would operate more like commercial enterprises. And buried in the latest accord between Indonesia and the IMF is a requirement for international-standard audits of Bulog, which will give reformers a better idea of how to proceed.
Beddu himself envisages the agency competing with the private sector during harvest seasons, while fulfilling its social mission of supplying rice at affordable prices for the rest of the year. "We're talking here about the welfare of the people," he says. "I'm not sure if free-market mechanisms will want to distribute rice to the whole country." Even its harshest critics acknowledge that keeping prices stable for low-income earners will take Bulog off the IMF's most-wanted list.
[On July 24, AFX-ASIA reported that the government will soon ban exports of subsidised commodities such as sugar and cooking oil. Industry and Trade Minister Rahardi Ramelan said "If companies are found to be exporting these subsidised commodities their actions will be categorised as smuggling". In a separate report, the news agency quoted Ramelan as saying that farmers will be permitted to sell sugar direct to the market. In the past, they had to hand their whole crop over to manufacturers, who later paid them 65% of the proceeds of the sale of the finished product - James Balowski.]
Andreas Harsono, Jakarta -- The heyday of Indonesian conglomerates is apparently over. The meltdown of the rupiah, which painfully inflated their foreign debt, widespread anti- Chinese riots and a new bankruptcy law have forced the big corporations into a life-and-death fight for survival.
Take, for example, automaker PT Astra International -- ranked 16th in 1997 and 39th in 1998 on Asian Business' list of Asia's Most Admired Companies -- which stopped its production line in June. No more cars are coming out of Astra factories.
P.T. Astra'ss auto division, which assembles Toyota, Daihatsu, Isuzu, BMW, Peugeot and Nissan automobiles, sold only 15,134 vehicles during this year's first quarter, down 64 percent from 41,602 in the same period of 1997.
Newly-appointed CEO Rini M. Soewandi not only halted production but also introduced cost-cutting measures, including mass dismissals, and is seeking new export opportunities to offset the declines in Astra's domestic market. "We will boost exports of engines, car components and the new Toyota Kijang model to neighboring countries like Malaysia and the Philippines," Soewandi says.
She has good reason to take such measures. Astra's total assets have shrank 81 percent, from around seven trillion rupiah in May 1997 to only 1.3 trillion rupiah in May of this year (around US$156 million). Meanwhile, its total consolidated foreign debt is US$2 billion as of March 1998, 30 percent of which is unhedged.
Astra is a troubling example of how the survival of Indonesia's conglomerates are threatened by the on-going economic crisis. "The days of the conglomerates are going to end -- not for political reasons, but economic and business reasons," says Patrick Alexander, the managing director of the Jakarta-based Batavia Investment Management Ltd.
Conglomerates such as the Gajah Tunggal group, owned by an Indonesian Chinese tycoon, Sjamsul Nursalim -- whose many subsidiaries include PT Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI), once the third largest private bank in Indonesia, are technically bankrupt-- and are very likely to be closed down. Other large firms may have competitive management and products, such as the Ciputra group, a leading property player, but are being squeezed because their foreign debt burden is too high or their access to their banks has been interrupted. They are very likely to downsize, sell their subsidiaries or declare bankruptcy.
But politics has indeed influenced Indonesia's largest conglomerate, the Salim group, as well as other so-called "presidential companies" that are closely associated with former president Suharto and his children. Salim founder Sudono Salim, a.k.a. Liem Sioe Liong, has been a close friend and main financial backer of Suharto since the 1950's. When Suharto rose to power in 1965, Liem cooperated with Suharto and built his own business empire, securing a monopoly on wheat distribution and ganing easy access to various state-owned banks.
His businesses range from cement manufacturer Indocement to the world's biggest noodle producer, Indofood. Liem also controls Bank Central Asia, Indonesia's biggest private bank, whose shareholders include Suharto's eldest daughter Tutut and eldest son Sigit.
A few days after strongman Suharto announced his resignation on May 21, executives of state-owned companies, independent economists and opposition leaders began pressuring the Habibie government to review various business contracts, tax break, monopolies and other choice deals given to the companies. Farmers even reclaimed lands, including golf courses, once taken over by the Suhartos.
"The government should directly take over various assets which were created through the practice of collusion, corruption and nepotism during the Suharto era," says economist Arif Arryman, the managing director of the Econit consultancy group, warning that such seizures should not be made through court proceedings, which he said would be impractical and time consuming, but via parliamentary fiat.
"Just look at the [former Philippine president Ferdinand] Marcos case. It took a decade just to trace his fortune. How much money did they get?" asks Arryman, predicting that the Indonesian government could get at least $5 billion by seizing groups controlled by Suharto's six children.
Many analysts also see the crisis as a chance to balance the distribution of wealth between Indonesians of Chinese descent ("non-pribumi") and those of Malay descent ("pribumi"). Arryman estimates that 80 percent of Indonesia's economy is controlled by the biggest 20 conglomerates.
"Many of them are non-pribumi but there are also pribumis who are Suharto's cronies," says Arryman. The French-educated economist even launched a proposal in July to "redistribute" the financially-troubled conglomerates from Chinese owners to new government-appointed pribumi entreprenuers -- a move similar to Malaysian Mahathir Muhammad's affirmative action in the 1980s and Adolf Hitler's seizure of Jewish firms in Germany of the 1930's. Pribumi, which literally translates as "indigenous," is a term popularly used here to refer to Malayan Indonesians. Non-pribumi means the Indonesians of Chinese descent, who were widely victimized during a massive riots that broke out in Jakarta on May 14-16.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese-owned properties were looted and burned down. Women's groups reported that more than 100 Chinese women were brutally gang raped in an apparent bid to fan anti-Chinese sentiment, and later reports suggest that as many as 40 suicides resulted. Another result is widespread fear among the Chinese, including Chinese tycoons like Liem, about trying to reconstruct their businesses.
Many middle-class Chinese fled from Indonesia to find safety in countries like Canada, Australia, the United Stated and Singapore, prompting allegations that they had taken their money away from Indonesia and abandoned their retail businesses.
"In my personal opinion, if those tycoons want to come back to Indonesia, please come back as genuine nationalists. They should bring back their money. If they don't want to, I think, it is better for them not to return to Indonesia," says Achmad Tirtosudiro, the acting president of the influential Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals.
Tirtosudiro, who is a close associate of Suharto's successor, President B.J. Habibie, is not alone. He voices the anti-Chinese sentiment frequently aired in Indonesian media. It was probably a coincidence that Liem himself was in Los Angeles for an eye operation when the May riots were taking place. He has not returned to Indonesia since then.
Aburizal Bakrie, the president of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry who is also the head of the widely- diversified Bakrie Brothers, proposed that the government to set up an "alternative distribution network" of pribumis to replace the Chinese-controlled retail network.
"Ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs are still reluctant to start their businesses again because they are still traumatized," says Sofyan Wanandi, an outspoken Chinese-Indonesian who heads the Gemala group, adding that political uncertainty has prompted most businessmen to adopt a wait-and-see stance.
But other analysts note that a new bankcrupcy bill is also another threat to the existence of the conglomerates. Just as in some other southeast Asian countries, inadequate bankruptcy procedures in Indonesia are a major stumbling block, because they reduce pressure on companies to bring in new investors.
"Some of the corporates that owe us money from around the region, particularly Indonesia, really don't want to talk to us at all," says Simon Copley of the Peregrine Fixed Income Ltd. -- the unit which took center stage in the fall of the Peregrine group, the largest non-Asian investment bank in the region.
The new bankruptcy legislation, which becomes effective Aug. 20, aims to to force troubled borrowers to negotiate with their bankers. According to the new code, two banks may issue a petition sufficient to bring the borrower to a business-oriented court of trade.
"But it doesn't mean everybody will go bankrupt. Companies like Astra, despite their debt, have a good network, spare parts and human resources. Bankers prefer to wait rather than to issue a petition. They will be fine," says Alexander.
John Aglionby, Cibedug -- Being beaten up by Indonesian soldiers was worth it, Ujung Jusuf says, if that is the price of recovering land he and his fellow villagers say was stolen from them by the former dictator Suharto.
Mr Jusuf was injured when he and about 100 other residents of Cibedug, in West Java, 50 miles south of Jakarta, invaded a 1,850-acre farm belonging to Mr Suharto, to reclaim the 500 acres they believe is theirs.
Thirty soldiers wielding wooden clubs and rattan canes forced them to retreat last Wednesday, but they returned the following day and the day after that. "We're going to enter every day until we get our land back," Mr Jusuf said. He added: "It hurt-when they hit me but not as much as when they took the land without giving us any compensation."
That was in 1972, and for the next 26 years the people of Cibedug and the four neighbouring villages 3,000ft up the dormant volcano Mount Gede were powerless to prevent their land being used to line Mr Suharto's pockets. Locals were not employed on the ranch; Mr Suharto brought in 600 workers from East Java and paid them 11 pence a day to tend his cattle and till the land.
"Suharto said he was doing research to improve farming methods," said Hasanudin, another Cibedug resident. "But the only people who ever benefited from it were Suharto and his family. We used to be able to afford to go on the haj [the annual Mu~slim pilgrimage to Mecca, but after 1972 we were lucky to make ends meet."
Little changed immediately after Mr Suharto was forced to resign in May after 32 years in power. People tried to reclaim their land, but the ranch security guards, backed up by soldiers from the local military command, kept trespassers at bay.
Yet in the past two months the impact of Indonesia's economic crisis has become more acute. Prices show no signs of stabilising, food shortages and unemployment are worsening and 40 per cent of the population now lives below the poverty line.
"I have one good meal a day and that is only rice and salted fish. If I'm lucky I get chicken once a month," Mr Jusuf said. "Last week we agreed that we could not go on like this so we decided to invade the ranch again. If we can't grow more crops to feed ourselves we are going to starve to death."
After being driven back on Wednesday, details of the villagers' fight reached the local branch of the country's legal aid institute, the lawyers are preparing a lawsuit against the former autocrat. They also negotiated with the ranch managers to allow the villagers to cultivate fallow land until the case is settled. Yesterday soldiers looked on as 400 triumphant villagers swarmed into the ranch and planted banana trees to mark out their land.
Their actions are by no means unique. In the past week Indonesia's poor have started taking the law into their own hands to hold off starvation. On Friday dozens of traders in the town of Jember, in East Java, were forced to flee as a mob attacked their shops and rice mills.
Four days earlier 2,000 residents of Tangerang, just outside Jakarta, stole 1.5 tons of shrimps from local ponds to sell to fend off starvation. They were so desperate they ignored warning shots fired by soldiers guarding the area. Signs of unrest are also evident in the capital. On Saturday a market selling cheap goods descended into a free-for-all only an hour after it was opened by President B. J. Habibie.
The armed forces commander, General Wiranto, said on Friday that people were "totally disregarding the law" and that "they cannot get away with this". But foreign diplomats believe that empty threats will not work.
One said: "It is clear that people are now so desperate and so hungry they are willing to risk everything to get food for themselves and their families. It will take much more than Wiranto's words to halt what appears to be the start of a slide into anarchy."
[On July 21 the South China Morning Post reported that the Indonesian government is planning to give Suharto 26.5 billion Rupiah to build a house. Khofifah Parawangsa of the United Development Party was quoted as saying "As a former president he does have right to that house but because he is already bathing in wealth and his current house is already more than appropriate and I think this expense is not appropriate". Suharto currently resides in the elite suburb of Menteng in Central Jakarta. Starting with a single house, neighbouring houses were bought up one by one and interconnected to form a massive residence straddling the entire block - James Balowski.]
Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta -- Indonesia has a food problem. It's not that food isn't available -- it's that most people cannot afford the sky-high prices for basic goods, so they are cutting back on how much, and how often, they eat.
Indonesia has a law and order problem. Angry, increasingly hungry, and no longer in fear of the authorities, people across the country have been attacking rice mills, looting shrimp ponds and occupying golf courses to plant their crops in the rough. They also have begun unilaterally confiscating farmlands owned by family members of the deposed president, Suharto.
Indonesia has a growing secession problem. Demonstrations demanding autonomy in East Timor have spread to the country's other independence-minded province, Irian Jaya, and are becoming a growing source of concern for the government. President B. J. Habibie said in an interview Saturday that he was worried about the possibility that peripheral pressures could split the country, imperiling the stability of the entire Asia-Pacific region.
Two months after Suharto left office in disgrace, and his successor, Habibie, said he would support a move toward democracy, this sprawling archipelago of more than 200 million people appears dangerously close to chaos. The shift from three decades of authoritarianism has unleashed long pent-up passions and frustrations, fueled by a deteriorating economic situation that is causing suffering for ordinary Indonesians. Looting in East Java has sparked a new exodus of Chinese merchants fleeing for their lives, and here in the capital, some expatriates and wealthy Chinese have started arming themselves for protection.
Meanwhile the armed forces, which last weekend issued a warning about a crackdown against lawlessness, appears powerless to stop the disorder. The military's credibility has been left in tatters by a torrent of revelations linking rogue military groups to the abduction and torture of democracy activists, the fatal shooting of four students at Trisakti University on May 12, and possibly even the violent riots and the gang rapes of Chinese women on May 14.
That May riot, once thought to have been a spontaneous outburst, now looks increasingly like an orchestrated campaign against the country's ethnic Chinese minority. Witnesses have told of groups of fit-looking young men arriving in trucks at shopping centers and Chinese-owned stores, shouting anti-Chinese slogans, and exhorting the locals to pillage them. At least 168 Chinese women and girls as young as 10 were gang raped, often in front of their parents and sometimes before being set ablaze and killed. Some of the survivors have been sent photographs taken as they were being assaulted, as a form of intimidation.
"It's a Bosnia," said Marzuki Darusman, deputy chairman of the National Human Rights Commission. "It comes out of a page from Yugoslavia." He said the same military units behind the abductions also were likely behind the Trisakti shootings, although he said there are no firm links yet to tie those rogue soldiers to the riots and gang rapes, which also were organized with military- style precision.
Gen. Wiranto, the Indonesian armed forces commander, has been trying to clean house to restore the military's damaged image. Last week seven members of the elite special forces, Kopassus, were named as suspects in the kidnapping and torture of at least 21 political activists -- a dozen of whom are still missing. And top military officials said their probe might extend all the way to the former Kopassus commander, Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, a son-in-law of the deposed president.
With the naming of the seven suspects, "and by implication, Mr. Prabowo, the armed forces have improved their ability to function as a law enforcement organization," Marzuki said. "But the atmosphere is still not completely normal because of the sentiment regarding the Chinese."
While Wiranto is occupied with trying to purge the rogue elements and Prabowo loyalists from the ranks, Indonesians increasingly are defying authorities as they attack and pillage farmland, plantations, food warehouses, even golf courses in what many analysts said amounts to a general breakdown of law and order.
Near the city of Bogor, hundreds of farmers have forced their way onto a ranch owned by Suharto, demanding the right to plant their crops there. In Surabaya, Indonesia's second-largest city, hundreds of Chinese merchants last week were forced to flee the country by boat after their shops and warehouses were looted and burned.
The lawlessness has spread even to the capital, and local media reports say ethnic Chinese and some foreigners living here have been buying firearms on the thriving black market -- despite strict gun control laws -- to protect themselves.
Despite Habibie's claim that he has made progress on reviving Indonesia's economy, the country still appears in a desperate free fall. The currency, the rupiah, which stood at 9,500 to the dollar when Habibie took office, has plunged to more than 13,000 to the dollar. Some 20 million Indonesians are likely to be out of work this year, inflation is set to reach 100 percent, and at least half the population will sink below the poverty line by year's end.
The currency collapse, and spiraling inflation, have eroded purchasing power. Since some supplies of such basic foods as rice and cooking oil are imported, their prices in rupiah have been driven up by the fall of the rupiah's value against foreign currencies. The breakdown of distribution networks, caused by the May riots and attacks on ethnic Chinese merchants, have also driven up prices. But poor and working-class Indonesians are making the same salaries in rupiah -- if they have kept their jobs -- meaning that they cannot easily afford the higher prices.
According to relief agency officials and Indonesian economists, there is not yet widespread hunger in Indonesia, except in a few isolated pockets that traditionally have been hard-pressed. But almost everywhere, including here in the capital, people are altering their diets, eating less, forgoing meat and even fish, and sometimes skipping meals to make ends meet.
"It definitely is getting worse," said Stephen Woodhouse, the Indonesia representative for the United Nations Children's Fund. "It's not a question of a lack of food, but a lack of purchasing power," he said. "It means that almost half the population is suffering from inadequate food intake."
To try to alleviate the problem in the capital, the government has been selling subsidized rice, sugar and cooking oil at cheaper prices at markets in poor neighborhoods. But many people complain the supplies are inadequate, and the confused distribution system doesn't assure that the city's poorest get their share first.
One day last week, at the Jatinegara market, workers from Bulog, the state food company, were selling rice from the back of a battered blue truck to a line of people waiting patiently to save at least 500 rupiah on the subsidized price. But the longer line was nearby, with housewives who had been waiting hours for half- price cooking oil that never arrived.
Ibu Marhaya, a wrinkled 45-year-old mother of five, arrived at the Jatinegara market at 5 a.m., after walking the three miles from her home. It was her third day making the trek, but by midday, no cooking oil had arrived. "We have to fight for the half-priced oil because we need the money for other things," she said, adding that she has cut back the number of daily meals to two.
Aid agency officials here worry that a prolonged crisis may have long-term health consequences, particularly for many young children who are not getting the nutrition they need.
An added problem, in the rural areas, is that with the exodus of the Chinese merchants, the country's food distribution system has been disrupted -- and in some places, has broken down entirely. Abdurrahman Wahid, the leader of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, said the return of the Chinese was crucial for the country to pull out of the crisis.
But it is unclear how eagerly Habibie and his government want the Chinese back. Habibie, in the interview Saturday, said: "If the Chinese community doesn't come back because they don't trust their own country and society, I cannot force them. But do you really think that we will then die? Their place will be taken over by others."
Surabaya -- Angry mobs in Indonesia's East Java have attacked shops and homes owned by Moslems they accuse of supporting ethnic Chinese traders, religious sources and residents said on Monday.
In the provincial capital Surabaya, more ethnic Chinese were reported fleeing amid fears of further violence. Dozens were said to have left from the local airport, with some reported heading for Hong Kong and others to Singapore. "Anonymous telephone calls have made me scared," one ethnic Chinese trader, who asked not to be identified, said before he left for the Indonesian island of Bali.
Residents said a number of Chinese-owned shops in Surabaya have been closed in recent days after rumours of imminent violence towards them. Others are selling goods cheap to liquidate stocks and obtain cash, they said.
Locals said a crowd of about 200 people drove through the Mumbulsari, Silo and Kencong sub-districts in the Jember regency, 150 km (92 miles) southeast of Surabaya, late on Sunday and early on Monday, threatening Moslem leaders who had expressed concern over recent attacks on Chinese. Residents said the crowd set three shops belonging to Moslems on fire, but there was no word of injuries.
In the past few weeks, ethnic Chinese-owned shops in the strongly Islamic Jember district have suffered a number of attacks, and Chinese traders have sought help from local Moslem leaders.
One Moslem preacher in the district said mobs of people from outside the district attacked his house late on Sunday, accusing him of supporting Chinese rather than Moslems. "They shouted 'The preachers should be defending Islamic followers but they are instead defending the Chinese'," preacher Imam Harromain said.
Another preacher in Selo, Mustofa, who owned a shop in the Kencong village, was also intimidated by the unknown crowd, local residents said. "They drove around the village shouting 'The preachers are anti-Moslem, they support the Chinese'," one resident said.
A crowd also threatened Nurhaimi, another community leader in Kencong, who is linked to an Islamic boarding school where Chinese who recently fled their homes after attacks were offered shelter, one resident said. Military officials in the district refused to comment on the incidents but have pledged to protect all citizens. The officials said there was no need for anybody to flee from the smaller villages to the larger towns for protection.
Chinese have been fleeing East Java for days after alleged intimidation and ahead of Indonesia's independence day on August 17. One local religious leader has said violence against Chinese would increase ahead of the nationalist celebration.
| Labour issues |
Jakarta -- Since yesterday night, around 200 PT Mayora Indah women workers have been staying at the Jakarta Indonesian Legal Aid Offices (LBH) because they are afraid of intimidation and other acts of terror following a clash at the company last week.
A staff member from the labour division of Jakarta LBH, Yuana Berliyanty, explained that since the clash occurred, hundreds of women workers have been gripped by fear because they were threatened by company "hired thugs" and workers who did not support them over a strike action on July 15-16.
"Because of this, since yesterday night they have slept over at the Jakarta LBH offices because they feel threatened", Yuana said yesterday.
Workers who were against the action and strike attacked their 600 friends who were demanding wage increases and workers rights, said Yuana. A physical clash could not be avoided when the "hired-thugs" and pro-company workers tried to prevent the workers' action.
According to Yuana, who quoted one of the women workers, the physical confrontation did not get out of hand because of the timely intervention of the local police and Tangerang military. "But the women workers were threatened with the sack and violence if they continued with the strike", said Romlah, the coordinator of the women workers who requested legal protection from Jakarta LBH. This was despite the fact that the action was peaceful and workers only shouted demands which called for improvements in working conditions.
Yuana explained that since yesterday, LBH Jakarta had not been able to hold talks with the Mayora Indah management because they did not yet have an agreement to mediate. The women workers and those who held the strike felt concerned if the mediation was held at the factory or the company head offices. "They are still traumatized by the physical confrontation".
[Translated by James Balowski]
| Human rights/law |
Washington -- There are indications high Indonesian military officials were involved in kidnapping and torturing pro-democracy activists, including those who remain missing, US officials told lawmakers Friday.
So far, 11 members of an elite Indonesian army division have been arrested on such charges as part of an investigation ordered by President B.J. Habibie, said John Shattuck, assistant secretary of state for human rights. "We are obviously watching very closely to see everyone who is arrested and formally charged in these proceedings," Shattuck told a House International Relations subcommittee. "We expect further arrests to occur."
Franklin Kramer, assistant secretary of defense for international security, said the US doesn't know the identities of the 11 suspects or whether they were trained by US Special Forces. Asked whether top Indonesian military officials might have been involved in the kidnapping and torture of activists in the weeks before President Suharto resigned in May, Kramer said it was possible. "So far as I'm aware we're not certain who they are nor how high up it goes," Kramer told lawmakers. "I have some indications that it may go up high, but I don't know." He said the indications were based on US intelligence information.
The Indonesian government announced the arrests over the past two weeks. Human rights group say at least a dozen activists remain missing. The military has said the accused overstepped orders to monitor protesters. Some members of the armed forces also are accused of organizing groups to incite the May riots in which ethnic Chinese were often targeted. Habibie ordered a military investigation into those charges in June.
Rep. Christopher Smith, chairman of the subcommittee, is among lawmakers who object to US military joint training with foreign forces. US-trained units, particularly in Colombia, have been accused of human rights abuses. "Our joint exercises and training of military units that have been charged over and over again with the gravest kinds of crimes against humanity, including torture and murder, cry out for explanation," Smith said. "How could we not have known who these people were?" The Pentagon ended the military training program in May, amid rioting that ended Suharto's 32-year rule.
Despite their criticism of the Indonesian military, Shattuck and Kramer praised recent restraint in quelling unrest by a population facing severe poverty and hunger caused by deep economic problems.
In a sign of progress, the Indonesian government announced Friday that it would withdraw some of the 12,000 soldiers deployed in East Timor. Human rights activists have complained that the military presence had been a constant source of violence in the former Portuguese colony, which Indonesia invaded in 1975.
Jakarta -- The government has officially granted amnesty to six prisoners and abolution to 44 political detainees. Government will also rehabilitate the late HR Dharsono's good reputation. Minister of Justice Muladi together with Attorney General AM Ghalib, issued this statement to reporters after he was received by President BJ Habibie at Bina Graha, Jakarta, on Friday (24/7). He said that the decision was based on the Presidential Instruction No.105/1998 about release of political prisoners. "The expression Napol and Tapol (both meaning political prisoners) does not exist in the dictionary for law. It simply does not exist. These cases concern crime with a political background, involving, for instance, the president, the security of the country and public order," Muladi said.
The six granted amnesty were, Ahmad Taufik bin Abubakar and Eko Maryadi, who were freed under conditions on July 2 1997. "Release under conditions would mean that during the remaining days of their sentence, they will be under surveillance. The amnesty, however, has wiped out such activities," explained the Minister. Four others were, Ken Budha Kusumandharu (Cipinang prison), Wilson B. Nurtias (Cipinang prison), Mohamad Soleh (Kalisosok prison) and Coen Husein Pontoh (Kalisosok prison.
Among the 44 prisoners who received abolution were a.o. Asep Ilyas FM bin KH Yusuf Sidiq (Tasikmalaya penitentiary), Abdul Muis bin Ma'un (Tasikmalaya penitentiary), Aberson Marle Sihaloho, and Rachmad Buchori alias Buyung RM (Cipinang prison).
About other prisoners including PRD figures, Muladi said that government have taken their case into consideration. "It is still going on. For instance, how far have they tried to alter the national ideology. This is related to ideology, not to communism. PRD has tried to alter the Pancasila ideology and that is incriminating their case. We also evaluate the crime, if it is of a serious nature, punishment will be accordingly. Small crimes, like 1-yearly sentence, would mean that the crime was a light one. Considerations will be given on a case by case system by the team. The team is considering the cases."
About Budiman Sudjatmiko, Muladi said, "I cannot promise anything, but his case is also being considered."
About aged political prisoners, Muladi replied, "that their case has been suggested by the team. "Their evaluation is also being considered, as well as rehabilitating the late Lt. General (Ret.) HR Dharsono's good name. The President has agreed to it, it only has to be processed. All his rights will be restored if his family concurs," said Muladi.
[According to the PRD, on July 25 Pontoh and Sholeh were released. Pontoh and Sholeh were tried for "subversion" and sentenced to six and five years respectively in 1997. Two other PRD activists being held at the Tangerang prison, Abdul Muis and Syarifudin, have also been released. Both were arrested on July 27 last year for handing out leaflets commemorating the anniversary of the military attack on the PDI headquarters in Jakarta in 1996. A July 26 report in Kompas said that Wilson and Ken Budha have also been given amnesty but have refused to leave Cipnang prison until all 14 political prisoners at the prison are also released. In a statement they said that releases is no more than "diplomatic maneuvering" by Habibie and that there should not be any criteria applied to such releases - James Balowski.]
Surabaya - The Brawijaya Military Commander, Major-General Djoko Subroto has denied that his personnel [were responsible for] abducting student activists in East Java some time ago. However he did admit to "arresting" People's Democratic Party (PRD) and [PRD affiliated] Student Solidarity for Indonesian Democracy (SMID) activists. "Please distinguish between abduction and arrest" he said in Surabaya, Thursday (23/7).
Earlier this week, 12 student and artistic activists gave presented their testimonies to the press at the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute (LBH) saying that they were abducted and tortured by members of the armed forces. The twelve activists have only just come forward, because for almost two years they felt that the safety was under threat.
The activists, who are members of the PRD and affiliated organisations, were hunted down by armed military personnel, both in plain clothes and uniform. The were detained without an arrest warrant and their families were not informed were they were being held. Some of them were even arrested while they were on their Kuliah Kerja Nyata (*). Nia Damayanti was arrested while she was two months pregnant. She miscarried after she was released. They experienced various kinds of torture included being beaten and kicked, striped naked, forced to stand in the sun for long periods and electrocuted.
The twelve activists were held for between two and for months at a place owned by Brawijaya Regional Military Command (Kodam) on Jalan Ahmad Yani, Surabaya. "There was no day or night. There was only hell", said Brewok, an artist who is a member of the People's Art Network (Jaringan Kesenian Rakyat).
The twelve activists are still classified as suspects and are not allowed to leave the city. "This restriction is not valid because the arrest and detention procedures were incorrect", said the director of LBH Surabaya, Indro Sugianto.
Activist organisations in Surabaya believe that the arrests of the activists were actually abductions. At the time, the commander of Kodam who was responsible was for the abductions was Major-General Imam Utomo.
Activists abducted by Kodam Brawijaya:
* Obligatory (rural) social action internships for advanced university studentsZainal, University of Wijaya Kusuma (UWK) student, Surabaya, abducted 2/8/96 in Gresik, released 16/8/96; Trio Yohanes Marpaung, UWK student, abducted 5/8/96 released 16/8/96; Mohamad Rizal, University of Muhamadyah Malang (UMM) student, abducted 16/7/96 in Malang, released 16/8/96; Winoranto Adi, UMM student, abducted 8/8/96 released 16/8/96 Mohamad Brewok, artist, abducted 20/7/96, released 10/8/96; Agung Hardana, UWK student, abducted 12/8/96 at his home, released 2/9/96; Triana Damayanti, University of Airlangga (Unair) student, Surabaya, abducted 11/8/96 in Blitar, released 2/9/96; Rauf, IKIP student Surabaya, abducted 18/8/96 in Ngajuk, released 2/9/96; Budi Hari Wibowo, student UWK, abducted in Probolinggo Ganjar Kristian, Unair student, abducted 18/8/96, released late September 1996; David, Unair alumni, abducted 26/8/96 at his home, released 2/9/96; Nia Damayanti, Unair student, abducted 9/9/96 at her home, released four days later for health reasons.
[Translated by James Balowski, the title of this report was chosen by the translator.]
Seth Mydans, Jakarta -- Human rights workers who are investigating scores of organized gang rapes during three days of rioting here in May say they and the victims have been receiving threats from unidentified men.
In interviews, the investigators said they had confirmed the rapes of 168 women during the riots, of whom 20 had died during or after the assaults. They said they presumed that many other women had either fled the city or were too traumatized to report their rapes.
Some victims have been cowed into silence by threats or by rumors of another round of attacks and rapes, the investigators said. Others have committed suicide. And they said they had heard reports of additional rapes and sexual assaults in the weeks after the riots.
Most of the attacks, like most of the looting and arson, were directed against the ethnic Chinese minority, which often becomes a scapegoat in times of conflict or hardship in Indonesia.
The human rights workers said their continuing investigation had reinforced their belief that the rapes, some of them involving girls as young as 9, had been organized and coordinated in the same way as much of the looting and arson.
A growing body of reports from witnesses has confirmed that many of the attacks on property and residents, including the rapes, were instigated or carried out by organized groups of up to a dozen men. These groups traveled the city in vehicles, inciting crowds to violence, according to reports released by the Government's National Commission for Human Rights and the Jakarta Social Instititute, a private Catholic charity that is investigating the riots.
Suspicion has fallen on the military or other security forces, particularly after the military acknowledged last week that members of its special forces had been involved in kidnappings of opposition activists in the weeks before the riots.
The threats against workers at women's crisis centers and against some victims who have called the centers' hot lines also indicate the involvement of people able to monitor their activities and listen to their telephone conversations, said Ita F. Nadia, an organizer of Volunteers for Humanity, a private aid group. "We have received telephone calls and anonymous letters terrorizing our workers," she said. "They say they will rape the females and castrate the males."
The Rev. Sandyawan Sumardi, who heads the private Jakarta Social Institute, said he had also received threats. In addition, he said, threats have been made against witnesses, family members and hospital workers who treated the victims.
Photographs purporting to show the victims of the rapes have been circulating, some of them on the Internet. Ms. Ita said she believed that these were not in fact photographs of riot victims and that they were intended to sow fear. Because of fears that security forces were involved, victims have avoided reporting the rapes to the police, said Kamala Chandrakirana, a spokeswoman for Ms. Ita's group, which now employs as many as 300 volunteers.
At first the Government seemed to doubt the growing reports of rapes, but after meeting with 25 representatives of women's groups earlier this month, President B. J. Habibie set up a Government task force to study their reports and issued a statement condemning "this inhuman episode in the history of our nation."
He selected his wife, Dr. Hasri Ainun Besari, who is a physician, to be an adviser to the task force. "At first he was saying, 'I don't want this case to be blown up and give a bad name to the Indonesian people,' " Ms. Kamala said. "He was not clear on it at first. He was rambling about how bad the economy was going to be unless he saved it."
But as he heard the women out, Ms. Kamala said, his face took on a look of shock and he asked them to draft a statement for him on his office computer. "On behalf of the Government and the nation, I condemn the simultaneous acts of violence during the riots, including the violence perpetrated against women," the statement read.
President Habibie has appointed an all-female task force to investigate the rapes of Chinese women during the May riots. Human rights groups have detailed at least 168 cases and 20 deaths. This is one woman's story.
My name is Vivian and I am 18 years old. I have a little sister and brother, and we live in what is supposed to be a "secure" apartment. At 9.15am on May 14, a huge crowd had gathered outside. They screamed: "Let's butcher the Chinese! Let's eat pigs! Let's have a party!"
We live on the seventh floor and we got a call from a family on the third floor, saying the crowd had reached the second floor. We were all very frightened. We prayed and then we left our room and went upstairs to the top floor, as it was impossible to go down and escape. We got to the 15th floor and were surprised because some of the crowd were coming out of the elevators. We hurried into our friends' room and locked the door tightly.
We heard the crowd knock at the other rooms loudly and there were screams from women and girls. Our room was filled with fear. We realised they would come to us, so we spread throughout the room, hiding in the corners. We could hear girls of 10 or 12 years old screaming: "Mommy, mommy ... mom ... mom ... It hurts." I didn't know then that these little girls were being raped.
After about half an hour, the noise diminished and we plucked up the courage to go out. The scene was indescribable. A lot of people, some of them young girls, were lying on the floor. "Oh my God, what has happened?" Seeing all of this, we cried and screamed and my little sister Fenny hugged our father hysterically.
With our friends, a newly wed couple, we started going downstairs. Reaching the 10th floor, we heard a scream for help. The scream was very clear and we decided to go down. But as we turned, we saw a lot of people. I saw a woman in her twenties being raped by four men. She tried to fight back but she was held down tightly.
Realising the danger, we ran as hard as we could. But the mob caught Fenny. We tried to rescue her, but couldn't do anything. There were about 60 of them. They tied us up with ripped sheets - myself, my father, my mother, Fenny, my brother Doni, Uncle Dodi and my Aunt Vera. They led us to a room. Uncle Dodi asked what they wanted, but they did not reply. They looked evil and savage.
One of them grabbed Fenny roughly and dragged her to a sofa.
I knew she was in great danger and I screamed but one of the mob slapped me in the face. My father, who also screamed, was hit with a piece of wood and he fainted. My mother had fainted when Fenny was dragged to the sofa. I could only pray.
Uncle Dodi kept trying to stop them by offering money. His efforts were fruitless. In the end, five people raped Fenny. Before they raped her, they said: "Allahu Akbar" [an Islamic phrase in Arabic meaning "God is great"]. They were ferocious and brutal.
Not long after, nine men came to the room and grabbed me and my Aunt Vera. I passed out and everything went blank. I became conscious at around 5 or 6pm. My head hurt and I realised I had no clothes on. I cried and saw my family were still there. My father was hugging my mother and Doni. I also saw Uncle Dodi lying on the floor and Aunt Vera was crying over his body. I fainted again.
The next day I was in the Pluit hospital. I asked: "Mom, why Fenny? Mom?" I felt a stinging pain as I said these words. My cheeks were swollen. My mother cried again and couldn't speak, while my father, holding back his tears, managed to smile at me.
After four days' treatment, my condition improved. With a sad look, my father told me what had happened. After I fainted, seven people raped me. Repeatedly.
Then my father said: "Vivian, Fenny is gone." I was confused and cried out: "Why, Dad?" My father couldn't answer. He told me to rest and went out of the room. I cried over and over again, feeling my life had no meaning any more.
A week ago, after I was released from the hospital, I was told. When Fenny was raped, she kept on fighting and so she was repeatedly slapped by her rapists. The last time she fought, Fenny spat at one of them. Offended, he grabbed a knife and stabbed Fenny in the stomach over and over again. She died with blood all over her body.
My father told me Uncle Dodi met the same fate, watched by Aunt Vera, who was also raped. "God, why should all of this happen? Where are you, God? Are you still alive?"
My Aunt Vera now stays with her parents. She is in shock. Her face is blank and she refuses to eat. Almost every hour, my mother and I cry over these happenings. I can never forget.
Jakarta -- An Indonesian political activist kidnapped in March and later held in police custody said on Tuesday he believed he had been abducted by security forces.
In his first public statement since being released by police on July 13, Andy Arief told a news conference he was not harmed while he was being held for about three weeks in March and April. He said his kidnappers accused him of leading a communist group and interrogated him on his political beliefs, including his opinions on the status of East Timor and who should become Indonesia's president.
"The military police already have enough evidence to solve this case," Arief said, adding that his abductors could have been from the Kopassus special forces, the regular troops or a unit of the police. Indonesian authorities last week ordered the arrest of seven Kopassus soldiers in connection with th e kidnapping and illegal detention of several political activists, including Arief.
The activists were all opposed to the regime of former president Suharto, who resigned on May 21 as protests against his rule mounted amid a deepening economic crisis. Several of those kidnapped and later released have said they were tortured in custody. Other activists are still missing.
Arief, the head of a student arm of the banned but still active People's Democratic Party (PRD), was kidnapped by unknown persons in the city of Bandar Lampung on March 28. His family said authorities had denied knowledge of his whereabouts but on April 20 police said that Arief had been in their custody since April 17.
Police charged Arief with involvement in a bomb explosion in January and held him until earlier this month. He has been freed but charges against him are still pending.
| News & issues |
Jakarta -- A poll jointly conducted by the University of Indonesia and Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicated shows that in the first three-months of his presidency, B.J. Habibie's policies have failed to win over the hearts of the people.
Only 46.2 percent of the survey respondents found his policies "acceptable" while a mere 1.1 percent said they were "very acceptable". When asked why people opposed Habibie's leadership, an overwhelming 46.2 percent said it was due to collusion, corruption and nepotism a la Soeharto.
The second reason was also connected to a similar issue, his past history and questionable polices while serving for two decades as state minister of research and technology. "What is interesting is that only a very few respondents, 0.3 percent questioned the constitutionality of Habibie's ascendancy to the presidency. This can be interpreted as meaning that so far the general public is being mature and open in judging and allowing Habibie to run his government," the survey's concluding statement read.
The survey, taken between July 13 to July 16, polled 1,000 people throughout Jakarta by telephone. Soegeng Sarjadi Syndicated primarily served as organizer and sponsor of the survey, which was mainly conducted by the Political Science Lab of the University of Indonesia's School of Political and Social Sciences.
Respondents were evenly divided in gender, with about three- quarters of them aged between 17 and 45. The respondents' backgrounds varied immensely and included entrepreneurs, employees, civil servants, housewives and students. Close to 90 percent of the respondents claimed to be indigenous Indonesians.
The questionnaire was not multiple choice but was set out in open question form, the replies to which the surveyors then classified. Three basic subjects were covered: Habibie's leadership the figure most suitable to be president, and on Indonesians of Chinese descent who fled in the wake of the May riots.
On the most suitable candidate for the next president, 12 .8 percent backed Amien Rais chairman of the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah Moslem group. Next came Megawati Soekarnoputri with 11.3 percent Habibie with 8.2 percent, former vice president Try Sutrisno 5.2 percent and senior economist Emil Salim with 3 percent.
When asked about ethnic Chinese-Indonesians who had fled abroad, 73 percent said they should return home while 17 percent said they should not.
Eep Syaefullah Fatah, head of the school's research and development department, told journalists when he announced the results of the survey that a majority of those who said fleeing ethnic Chinese should not return doubted the sense of nationalism and their contributions to the country.
Despite the mid-rating received by Habibie, Eep said the incumbent still had a chance to w in next year's presidential election if he could shed his image of a Soeharto crony.
Soegeng, a former Golkar legislator who switched allegiance to the PDI in 1992 said the survey aimed at building a communication bridge about current political issues between decisionmakers and the people. "I will introduce polls up to 30 times depending on the issues. I want to help identify the people's aspirations and to help the government create policies that accommodate these aspirations," he said. He said he guaranteed the validity of the survey, adding that it had less than a 5 percent error margin.
Jakarta -- Abdurrahman Wahid, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, sounded a rallying call yesterday for the newly founded People's Awakening Party (PKB), declaring it was an open organization without ethnic or religious prejudice.
Although the party is not officially affiliated to NU, its formation signifies the return of senior NU members to formal politics under a united institution. Abdurrahman, commonly referred to as Gus Dur, is not on the executive board of the party, but his enthusiastic backing could greatly influence voting of the claimed 40-million-strong NU.
During a ceremony inaugurating the party at his residence in South Jakarta, Abdurrahman pledged the party would rely on an open-membership recruitment system despite its Moslem-oriented principles. He cited a 1935 NU congress in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, which issued an important recommendation which subsequently became the standard for NU members. "The congress recommended that it is not obligatory for Indonesian Moslems to establish an Islamic state," he said.
Abdurrahman maintained that Indonesia comprises three major races: Malay, Austro-Melanesian and Chinese. He even acknowledged his own Chinese and Arab ancestry. "A distant ancestor of mine was Chinese. His name is Tan Kim Han. "
NU was established in 1926 as a socioreligious organization. It was formerly a powerful political party before merging with three other Moslem parties to form the United Development Party (PPP) in 1973. In 1984, when Abdurrahman took over the chairmanship from Idham Chalid, NU severed formal ties with PPP and avoided party politics.
Senior NU member Matori Abdul Djalil has been chosen to head the new party with Alwi Shihab, brother of former religious affairs minister Quraish Shihab, and PPP legislator Chofifah Endar Parawansa among the eight deputies. The post of secretary-general is held by Muhaimin Iskandar, an NU youth figure and also a nephew of Abdurrahman, and the treasurer is Imam Churmein. Deputy chairman of NU's syurzyah (law-making body) Ma'ruf Amin was elected chairman of the party's supervisory council and leading NU Central Java member Cholil Bisri as his deputy.
Stressing NU members' commitment to channel their political aspirations to the new party, Abdurrahman said he was confident it could win the general election expected in May next year. Matori Abdul Djalil said the party would be willing to cooperate with other groups for the betterment of the country. "The People's Awakening Party is ready to struggle and fight in the next general election. If necessary, the PKB will be ready to form a coalition with other political forces."
Observers believe the close ties of Abdurrahman and Indonesian Democratic Party chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri make an alliance between the two a strong possibility.
The launching received much attention, with a distinguished guest list including former vice president Try Sutrisno, former minister of defense and security Edi Sudradjat and former deputy Army chief Lt. Gen. (ret.) Soerjadi. Both Edi and Try welcomed the establishment of the party but stopped short of giving their political endorsement.
"We need to support any party which puts nationalism as its principles. However, I've never recommended to members of Pepabri (Armed Forces Pensioners Association) this party," Edi said, adding that he attended the event in his personal capacity. Try said people should respect the establishment of any party with nationalist platforms.
Support also came from Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid, who said it was a good development for NU members to have their own political party. Speaking in Yogyakarta, he said the party must be able to accommodate aspirations of all NU members if it wished to emerge as a major political contender.
Jakarta -- The police are hunting suspected rioters who attacked and set fire to the Taman Sari Subregency Office, West Jakarta. Some of them are already known. According to the West Jakarta police resort chief who was contacted Saturday (25/7), they are seasonal workers who have lately come to work as tricycle drivers.
The attack and arson took place on Friday night (24/7), around 21.45 hours. Provisional reports mention that 17 vehicles and one motorcycle were burned in that incident. The subregent's office in the Artha Centre was set afire, but the fire did not spread because local personnel put the fire out quickly.
Only two rooms on the second floor were burned. Although two doors were broken down, administrative activities could continue as no archives were burned.
According to police resort chief Lt. Col Timur Pradopo, the suspects came from several tricycle bases in Sawah Besar, particularly from the Karang Anyar neighborhood. Three eyewitnesses have already been interrogated by the police.
Witnesses reported that on that Friday night at least 300 persons attacked the subregent's office and tried to set fire to it. The attack is thought to be related to the operation against tricycles launched by security personnel from the Taman Sari Subregency during the day on Friday. Twenty tricycles operating in the Ketapang Utara and Pecah Kulit areas of Mangga Besar were snared.
Around 20.45 p.m. a security member of the Taman Sari subregency received information on a crowd of tricycle drivers in the Mangga Besar Raya intending to storm the subregency office. He quickly informed the Taman Sari military rayon command and sector police.
On the way he met the angry mob, pedaling at speed towards the subregency office. They were carrying knives, samurai swords, chains, stones, gasoline and kerosene in bottles. Arriving at the subregency office, they quickly entered through the back and front doors. They quickly set fire to a motorbike, smashed car windshields, broke windows and two back doors to the subregency office. Several persons were seen to be pouring gasoline and then setting fire to it.
The mob quickly fled away from the location when the security personnel arrived. From there the mob moved first to Mangga Besar and then to the Grogol eighborhood administration office. Security personnel from various units soon brought the situation under control.
The incident quickly became known throughout Jakarta, causing panic and fear that the 13-15 May riots would be repeated. But throughout Saturday, the situation in the capital city looked normal, shops remaining open. After midday, however, hundreds of school pupils paraded on the Jl Raya Cileduk main road, carrying banners demanding, among other things, lowering of school dues. A bus had its windshields broken by stones. Shops closed, but opened again around 13.30 p.m.
Reacting to the attack and wrecking, Jakarta governor Sutiyoso affirmed that strong steps would be taken against tricycle drivers operating in Jakarta. The prohibition on tricycles inside Jakarta, issued in 1988, is still in force. He asked the police to help in conclusively investigating the perpetrators of the riot.
The governor also decided that at the beginning of August next, Jakarta must again be completely free of tricycles. Therefore the security operations will continue. Tricycles snared by the operations up to 23 July will be returned to their places of origin at the expense of the Jakarta regional administration. Those caught on Friday (24/7) and thereafter will be immediately dumped in the compound in the Cakung area, North Jakarta.
Jakarta -- Indonesia's two largest Moslem groups have said they will form political parties to contest next year's general elections, newspapers reported on Monday.
Republika daily quoted Moslem leader Amien Rais, one of those in the forefront of the movement leading to the ouster of President Suharto in May, as saying he would set up a political party soon.
"The party will be called Partai Amanah Bangsa or National Mandate Party. The name refers to Indonesia's independence, a mandate of the people that needs to be defended," Rais was quoted as saying at a Moslem school in the East Java town of Ponorogo. "The party would become a legitimate political platform to meet my total commitment to Indonesia's political process."
Rais heads the Muhammadiyah organisation, Indonesia's second largest Moslem group, which claims the support of 28 million people. Indonesia's largest Moslem group, Nadlatul Ulama (NU), said on Thursday that it would set up a political party to contest future general elections.
"We will make a declaration on July 23rd on the setting up of a political party to contest the coming general elections," the group's executive board chief Musthafa Zuhad Mughni told Reuters. The party will be called Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa, or the National Awakening Party, Republika reported on Monday.
Following a meeting in Jakarta between Indonesian opposition leaders Abdulrachman Wahid, leader of the mass-based Nadlatul Ulama, and Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the PDI, the two opposition leaders expressed support for Bishop Belo's position on the question of East Timor.
They said they supported his position that everything that happens in East Timor must be in line with the aspirations of the people there and for the advancement of conditions for the people.
"Bishop Belo is the guiding star for the East Timorese people. We must of course follow the wishes of the East Timorese people. And I myself am quite convinced that Bishop Belo will do whatever is best for his people," said Megawati. Gus Dur, as the NU leader is popularly known, agreed with her.
Asked whether this meant supporting independence for East Timor or supporting the proposal for autonomy, Megawati said that this was all part of a process, as Bishop Belo explained in a seminar in Jakarta earlier in the week.
On that occasion, Bishop Belo said that the only way for a solution to be reached was for a referendum to be held. He also said that the vast majority of East Timorese are in favour of self-determination.
Gus Dur, Megawati and Bishop Belo held a meeting in Jakarta following which they issued a joint statement saying that abuses of the legal system and of the government administration in general had left the unity of the country in tatters. There had been no democratic rights and the economy had been run for the interests of a tiny minority.
Commenting on the measures currently underway to lift the country from the grave economic crisis, the three leaders expressed deep concern that the greatest impact was being felt by the common people who have been profoundly hit by the crisis. There was little confidence among people in Indonesia and indeed within the international community on the present government's ability to solve the economic crisis.
They agreed that the Indonesian people would have to push very hard for political, economic and legal reforms as the only way to create a transparent political system that reflects the wishes of the people.
In reply to questions from journalists on whether he and Megawati were planning to set up a political party together, Gus Dur said that she already has her own party. He doesn't have a political party, and nor does Belo. We came together on this occasion, said Gus Dur, because we had wanted to have a get-together for quite some time.
Asked why Amien Rais, leader of Muhammadiyah was not present as well, Gus Dur said it was difficult to communicate with him. "It's always very difficult to know where he is," he said. Asked whether the meeting between the three leaders meant that they were about to create a coalition, Gus Dur said that doing something together did not mean that they would be forming a coalition.
| Environment/health |
Medan -- Hundreds of people burned vehicles, houses and warehouses in Indonesia's north Sumatran town of Porsea following a dispute over logging with rayon company PT Inti Indorayon, witnesses said on Wednesday. There were no reports of casualties in the violence, which occurred on Tuesday, the witnesses said.
Violence broke out when police tried to disperse hundreds of protesters who had blocked the main road leading to a mill owned by the company, they said. The crowd was protesting against what they said was the company's resumption of logging on Samosir island on scenic Lake Toba despite a commitment last month to stop doing so. Porsea, about 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Medan, is close to Lake Toba, one of Indonesia's premier tourist locations.
The witnesses said 12 vehicles, including two belonging to Indorayon, six houses and two warehouses were set on fire. An official from the company said on Wednesday that crowds had hijacked company trucks and that many of the drivers had been taken hostage. Police in the area were not immediately available for comment.
| Arms/armed forces |
Jakarta -- Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Feisal Tanjung has denied knowing of -- and much less ordering -- the kidnapping of more than 20 Indonesian pro-reform activists, press reports said Saturday.
Tanjung, former Armed Forces (ABRI) commander, also denied ex- president Suharto's involvement in the case, despite the fact that he was at the time ABRI commander-in-chief, the Kompas daily reported. "I did not know about the matter (kidnapping). I found out after I became coordinating minister for political and security affairs, when I received reports from Wiranto (his successor as ABRI commander)," Kompas quoted Tanjung as saying."
The kidnappings took place in the months before the fall of former president Suharto on May 21, and many, including the kidnap victims themselves, believed Suharto and Tanjung must have been aware of what was going on. But asked about Suharto's involvement, Tanjung said: "No... no... it didn't get that far. Commander-in-chief is just a symbolic title."
The government of Suharto's successor, his former vice president, B.J. Habibie, has come under mounting pressure to get to the bottom of the case since the country's military chief Wiranto admitted that the special forces were involved in the abductions. Habibie has said he will leave prosecution of the special forces (Kopassus) offenders to the military justice system.
On Thursday the military said a total of 11 Kopassus men had been arrested, and one colonel, the commander of special operations Unit IV, had been quizzed about the case. But there was no indication that the military was preparing to question Suharto's son-in-law, Lieutenant-General Prabowo Subianto, who commanded the Kopassus at the time of the abductions.
Prabowo, who was shunted aside to head the military's staff and command school shortly after Suharto resigned, said last week that he was "ready to take responsibility" if proof could be found that the abduction order originated from him.
Wiranto has said the Kopassus men arrested were acting under orders to track down organizations trying to undermine the government of Suharto, and that they had committed "procedural mistakes" in carrying out their orders.
Meanwhile Tanjung admitted that a general operational order for Kopassus did come from the ABRI commander, but repeated Wiranto's statement that procedural mistakes had taken place. "Not everybody has access to (Kopassus). It is below the ABRI commander, but there are impenetrable things there. Operational orders do come from the ABRI commander. If there were no orders, (Kopassus) nevertheless exceeded, (members involved) are the wrong."
| Economy and investment |
Jack Anderson and Jan Moller -- Rooting out corruption and cronyism in Indonesia in the wake of President Suharto's 32-year rule will be difficult, if not impossible. Even the mythological Hercules, who cleaned the Augean stables by diverting a river, would have found a daunting task in Indonesia. During his long imperial reign, we consistently criticized the Indonesian leader and detailed his and his family's growing fortune.
Our reports were denounced by the Indonesian government as exaggerated and inaccurate. It now appears we were too conservative in our reporting on Suharto's corruption and despotism.
For instance, CIA sources told us their best estimate of Suharto's personal fortune was somewhere between $3 billion and $5 billion. But now it appears that he may have as much as $14 billion, according to Forbes magazine, which would make him the world's sixth wealthiest man. (Incidentally, Forbes did not include Suharto and his ill-gotten gains in their top 400 until we chided them in 1995 for excluding the dictator.) And that's not all. The best U.S. intelligence estimates -- some of it drawn from whistle-blowers inside government -- indicate that Suharto and his six children may be worth a total of $40 billion, a knowledgeable source told our associate Dale Van Atta.
Ironically, that's the same amount of the aid that the International Monetary Fund suspended when the government changed hands in May. How could the Suhartos amass such an incredible fortune? The chants of student demonstrators in Jakarta put it succinctly: "End corruption, collusion and nepotism!" Suharto's children, and all manner of real and shirt-tail relatives, were given monopolies to run.
The company directors often extracted huge personal fees from every contract. Bribing a Suharto was the only way foreign companies could cut through red tape and move ahead on projects. For years, Suharto's wife, Tien, was irreverently mocked by Indonesian critics as "Madame Ten Percent," suggesting the portion of the overall Indonesia economy that she and her family take. Madame Tien has more of a taste for riches than her husband, favoring diamond rings, and was infamous for her ability to raise "contributions" for allegedly charitable causes in the manner Imelda Marcos and Evita Peron once did.
The Suhartos own banks, satellite communications, utilities, transportation networks, oil and gas concessions, pharmaceuticals, plantations, cement and steel factories, restaurants and toll roads. All in all, the Suhartos have more than 1,000 businesses. There have been Suharto family resignations from companies, but friends have been left behind to run them and, probably, continue to siphon the booty to the Suhartos. But these days, a newly liberated press is slowly digging out the Suharto family's entanglements in Indonesia's businesses. Exposes are published on a daily basis. They call it "Suharto's trillions," which is the amount counted in Indonesian rupiah.
Only the new government can do an effective job of house- cleaning, but it is riddled with Suharto cronies. And that begins with Suharto's successor, President B.J. Habibie. He has promised to end the "corruption, collusion and nepotism." But what hope is there when, as Indonesian media have detailed, Habibie and his own family enriched themselves while he has been in public office, accumulating more than 80 companies worth as much as $80 million?
Habibie defended his personal wealth in a rare New York Times interview in this way: "Many people become rich if you work hard and you are educated." He insisted that his family had become wealthy not by personal connections, or conflicts of interest with the government, but through good education and strong work habits.
Two independent organizations are trying to ferret out the corruption: the Indonesian Corruption Watch and the Concerned Citizens for Public Assets. They have some notable politicians, lawyers and accountants aboard, so they may make some headway - and we wish them well. However, there's a poor track record of recovering money from corrupt dictators. The personal fortune of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was estimated at $5 billion to $10 billion, but in the 12 years since his ouster, only $1 billion has been recovered by the government.
Meanwhile, the deposed president Suharto doesn't venture out much from his central Jakarta home. When he does, he has to make unaccustomed stops at red lights, unescorted by motorcade. With few friends, considered a political leper by former cronies trying to distance themselves, Suharto's primary reminder of his glory days is his pet parrot that dutifully screeches: "Good morning, Mr. President."
Jakarta -- A new World Bank report says the Indonesian economy, at its most critical stage in more than three decades, will likely make a slight recovery of 2 percent to 4 percent growth in 2000, after an estimated contraction of 10 percent to 15 percent in 1998.
The World Bank's 1998 Annual Report on Indonesia, set to be discussed at a meeting of its creditor consortium in Paris later this week, puts the country's economic growth in terms of real gross last year at 1 percent and 7.8 percent in 1996.
The report predicted the country's balance of payments is projected to record a current account surplus of about 1.8 percent of gross domestic product for fiscal year 1998-1999 and 2.3 percent for 1999- 2000.
Unlike other economies that have experienced a large real depreciation in their currency, Indonesia, which has suffered an 80 percent fall in the value of its rupiah, is not expected to see an immediate boom in non-oil exports.
The International Monetary Fund has recently agreed to lend an additional $6 billion to Indonesia to help the country overcome its economic crisis. The amount brings Indonesia's international bail-out program to $49 billion.
The World Bank warned the continuing political uncertainty in Indonesia could delay the return of confidence and capital. It added that continued political uncertainty could cause further social unrest and impede investor confidence.
[On July 22, Associated Press reported that the IMF plans to release $1 billion a month from a bailout package until at least the end of the year. Hubert Neiss, IMF director for Asia and Pacific affairs, also said an additional $1.3 billion would be released in the second half of August. Neiss made the comments to reporters on his arrival in Jakarta to conduct a monthly review of the IMF's assistance - James Balowski.]