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Indonesia News Digest No
44 - October 28-NOvember 4, 2001
Tempo Magazine - October 30-November 5, 2001
Disparity between the lifestyles of UNTAET personnel and the
people of Timor Lorosae is sowing the seeds of social envy.
The brothers Soares, 32-year-old Abe Barreto and Mica Barreto,
29, are staff members of the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET)'s press office. They have
the same daily tasks: to interact with journalists and provide
them with the necessary information needed for publication. They
were both educated in Java: the older brother is a dropout from
Gajah Mada University's Faculty of Letters, while Mica completed
his graduate studies at the Soegiyopranoto University's Faculty
of Psychology in Semarang.
Mica may be better educated, but when it comes to salaries, the
dropout Abe is way ahead with a monthly paycheck of US$4,000,
while Mica gets only US$340 a month, just a little more than the
US$200 paid to house servants caring for UNTAET personnel. What
differentiates the incomes of these Soares brothers is neither
intelligence nor achievement, but simply their passports. Abe is
lucky he held on to his Portuguese passport when Timor Lorosae
came under UNTAET's administration. Mica, on the other hand, kept
his Timor Lorosae passport. So their paychecks are determined by
the classification set out by UNTAET -- those of local and
international staff.
The contrasting incomes and lifestyles between the expatriates
and nationals in Timor Lorosae, particularly in Dili, has caused
deep envy and anger among the local population. That's why rock
attacks still happen occasionally, even if the war has ended.
Those rocks are being thrown at UNTAET cars during night time,
smashing window screens. This outpouring of anger is triggered by
the flagrant display of wealth amidst the widespread poverty
around the local people.
In the past two years, the international staff of UNTAET have
become Timor Lorosae's elite society. Almost every night they can
be found partying in Dili. One of the most diligent partygoers is
no other than UNTAET head Sergio Vieira de Mello. This flamboyant
father of three is an ever-present feature at diplomatic
functions and parties hosted by NGOs. "I do attend a lot of
parties, but only in my capacity as a UNTAET representative," De
Mello told Tempo.
He also hosts his own parties. Located by Dili's scenic beach, De
Mello's official residence is the best house in town, a 600-
square meter building on land three times that size. The UNTAET
chief is a generous host. His favorite red wine often flows until
three in the morning to keep guests entertained. After all,
security is guaranteed by fully armed UN troops keeping
round-the-clock vigil around the residence. As a result, he
curious and potential intruders are kept at a distance.
These lavish parties teeming with wine and food wouldn't make a
dent in De Mello's salary. As UNTAET' number one man, he is
listed as receiving US$15,000 a month, which can buy him anything
in Dili. If he wants additional security around his home, it
won't cost him much. The monthly salary of each of Dili's 150
local policemen is only US$100. What if needs transportation? A
Toyota Land Cruiser with special number plates "UNTAET 1" is
always fuelled up and ready to take him anywhere in Timor Lorosae
whenever duty calls. If he tires of driving around, a helicopter
stands ready to fly him and two bodyguards, anytime.
De Mello admitted to Tempo he is aware of the serious social envy
caused by the disparity of incomes between the local and
international staff. "We cannot do it for the local staff," he
said, adding that one of factor in the disparity was the
difference in capabilities. If so, how does he explain the case
of the Soares brothers? "That's a special case," he replied. De
Mello says he tries to keep the peace between the international
and local staff on this issue of salaries. But he says he cannot
do anything about the rising crime rate arising out of such
social jealousies. "We are unlikely to change overnight such a
serious situation," he said.
The social envy De Mello refers to has cut deep in all corners of
Dili since the UN took over in 1999. Stonings of UNTAET cars are
now common occurrences. "This is an expression of anger towards
the inequalities they are experiencing. No Timorese owns cars,
let alone drive them," says Abe Soares. Although he's a native
son of Timor Lorosae, Abe's economic status got a boost because
of his Portuguese passport. But he does hide the fact he earns
the equivalent of 40 million rupiah a month. More than once, he's
had to bear people sneering at him, "Hey, colonizing your own
people, are you?" Abe says, imitating the taunts of local
acquaintances.
With an average monthly salary of US$7,800 (see table Foreign Pie
in a Local Kitchen) UNTAET personnel can easily pay their
domestic staff 2 million rupiah a month, what with the rupiah
continuing to weaken against the greenback. For their daily
needs, they just need to spend US$500 to US$1,000 a month. The
rest goes straight to savings accounts or is spent for pleasure.
It's become a public secret that some 200 UNTAET personnel fly
out to Bali from Dili on the Merpati weekly flights. Those who
stay party at home or at the floating hotels and restaurants off
the Dili coast. Other forms of entertainment are scarce. There is
not one decent cinema in the entire country.
Without a doubt, there is a widening gap between expatriates and
locals. Mica Soares says, with his salary, he can't keep up with
the high living costs in Dili. Although with his monthly 3.4
million rupiah paycheck, Mica is clearly a lot better off than
many of his fellow Timorese. Still, he can't afford the food at
Singaporean and Portuguese restaurants currently mushrooming in
Dili. Even the ordinary nasi bungkus (rice with mixed meats and
vegetables to go) in Padang diners, which in Jakarta costs
Rp10,000, can cost him up to US$7 or about 70,000 rupiah in Dili.
Apart from the high cost of living, the Timorese are also
suffering from high unemployment. No definite figures are
currently available, however about 18,000 former Falintil
guerillas are jobless. "They have no other skills except
fighting," says Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak, a commander in
Timor Lorosae's military (FDTL). It seems the new government
prefers smaller, more manageable and professional military units.
So it's no wonder there's explosive resentment against the
dollar-rich international staff of UNTAET. Life in Dili is so
profitably enjoyable that many UN officials in Geneva have opted
to move to Dili, where salaries are high, taxes are low and cost
of living is cheap.
A number of foreign and local companies have already started to
invest in Dili and other regions of Timor Lorosae. However, they
remain small-scale investments. There are presently only three
local companies operating with capital flows larger than 200
million rupiah. So the livelihood of the 800,000 people of Timor
Lorosae still depends on the incomes of UNTAET staff and various
international and local NGOs operating there. There are,
nevertheless, residents with education who are hopeful of working
off their own land.
After all, for hundreds of years the people of Timor Lorosae made
a living from farming and fishing hauls from the sea. So the
leaders of Timor Lorosae and UNTAET officials don't have to be
too concerned with and waste time on the differences between
salaries and social class. A much more important task facing them
is to ensure that the pattern of village economy that has
sustained the people for hundreds of years will not be undermined
by dollars flowing out of foreign passports in Dili.
[Raihul Fadjri (Yogyakarta), Setiyardi - Timor Lorosae.]
Foreign pie in a local kitchen (UNTAET's Budget for 2000)
Tempo Magazine - October 30-November 5, 2001
Setiyardi, Timor Lorosae -- Floating hotels are a symbol of high
living, an irony in stark contrast to widespread poverty in Timor
Lorosae.
My Way, echoing through the spacious Cafe Oceana, brought back
the memory of the legendary Frank Sinatra as dozens of neatly-
dressed guests of the floating hotel Central Maritime sat back
and relaxed on clean, white linen-covered seats that night in
August. The sun had just set on the horizon, leaving a stream of
red light in the skies above the Gulf of Ombai, off the coast of
Dili. Darkness slowly descended on the dimly-lit city largely
destroyed in the aftermath of the referendum for independence two
years before. The sight contrasted sharply with the brightly-lit
hotel berthed close to the beach.
Out in the water, Central Maritime is a dream world awash in
lights. A transport ship turned floating hotel, Central Maritime
is the most luxurious spot in the whole of Timor Lorosae, the
first reference for well-off visitors to Dili. Hundreds of
employees of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor
(UNTAET) earning a monthly salary of US$7,000 -- equivalent to 70
million rupiah -- stay at the hotel or make it a place of
rendezvous.
Security is tight around the clock. Five heavily-set men, hired
from Chubb Security, check every visitor at the hotel entrance.
You will be allowed in if you can produce an identity card or a
guest ticket. A 150-meter floating corridor links the entrance to
a reception desk waited on by a beautiful Thai-looking girl.
Central Maritime boasts 133 air-conditioned rooms, each measuring
4 x 3 meters, with a 17-inch Sharp television, a dressing table,
a refrigerator filled with beverages, and hot and cold showers to
wash away the dirt after you've gone around the dusty areas of
Timor Lorosae.
The amenities and entertainment at Central Maritime is equal to
any hotel of the same class in any big city. Four restaurants and
bars serving a variety of international menus cater to the needs
of up to a hundred guests at one time. Of course, everything is
paid in dollars. An order of steak and fried potatoes costs
US$25, a plate of spaghetti, US$20, and a glass of orange juice,
US$7. If you have the money, why not try the red wine, which
costs only US$50 a bottle. Michael Dorant, a Filipino bartender,
proudly told Tempo that the hotel kept a large stock of 1940-
vintage French red wine.
Central Maritime also boasts a swimming pool, a sauna complete
with steam bath and shiatsu-style massage -- amenities that make
the ship a "truly floating palace." At night, the colorful lights
from the floating hotel makes for a beautiful sight to residents
of Dili. From onshore, Central Maritime resembles a "massive
structure" floating on the water. The lights reflected on the
water present a sharp contrast to the darkness in most parts of
Dili, just a few hundred meters away from the shore, where hourly
brown-outs are the order of the day.
Electricity for Dili, a city of 150,000, is provided by a
20,000-KV generator, courtesy of UNTAET, in comparison with a
15,000 KV generator operated by Central Maritime, which ensures
that every room stays constantly bright. This floating heaven
also provides girls to cater to the pleasure of the guests. "They
aren't expensive. An all-in night fling with one girl costs only
US$200," muses one hotel attendant.
Central Maritime is an interesting example of the social gap that
exist among this newly-formed urban community trying to recover
from years of bloodshed and political conflicts.
On a pavement by the pier where Central Maritime is berthed, a
piece of Dili's battered face is reflected in the person of Olu
Lobato. A vagrant, Lobato sleeps on a piece of plywood when
darkness sets in.
Skinny and unwashed, Lobato told Tempo he had been separated from
his wife and two children since August 1999, when post-referendum
violence disrupted families. Lobato said his house in Bobonaro
was destroyed by fire, leaving him virtually penniless. "This
pavement is now my home," he said in Tetum, the language of the
Timorese.
Lobato is one of thousands of Timorese who have suffered such
misfortune. Without shelter, money and jobs, they face a bleak
future. Archbishop Filipe Ximenes Belo, a 1995 Nobel Peace
laureate became agitated asked about the latest situation in
Dili. "The leaders are only concerned with getting positions in
the government, forgetting the poor and the gap that exists in
society today," he told Tempo.
Belo was not exaggerating. From the windows of his palace which
is only a stone's throw away from the beach, the Archbishop could
see a display of extravagance -- yet another floating hotel. The
Amos, like Central Maritime, is another ship turned hotel.
Outwardly looking more like neatly-arranged containers, Amos
offers facilities common in a hotel, including television, air-
conditioned rooms, and hot an cold showers. Amos, which charges a
room rate of US$90 a night, offers a discount of up to US$15
during quiet times.
Amos and Central Maritime are not the first floating hotels
operating in Timor Lorosae. In late 1999 when the first groups of
UNAET personnel arrived in what used to be Indonesia's 27th
province, Hotel Olympia was the only place to stay for most of
the expatriates. With no competition, Olympia charged an
exorbitant US$200 for a 3 x 2 meter room a night. The floating
hotel, owned by an Australian, had been in operation prior to the
rioting in the wake of the 1999 referendum and escaped the fire
which destroyed most government buildings and hotels in the city.
In its one year of operation under contract with UNTAET, Olympia
is believed to have made at least US$40 million in profits --
eight times the amount UNTAET spent in salaries to its local
employees during the same period.
Central Maritime and Amos which arrived in Dili with the
departure of Olympia, saw small-budget hotels proliferate all
over the city. Most of these non-star hotels were built by
Singaporean businessmen charging a room rate of US$50 a night --
a low rate by expatriates' standard, but still inaccessible to
the locals. A Timorese polisia with a monthly salary of US$100
would go bankrupt if he stayed for just two nights in such a
small hotel. "Sleeping in a hotel is a dream. My salary is just
enough to pay for food," says Alfredo Tilman, a polisia and
former member of the Indonesian police in Dili.
Having won independence, the Timorese are awakening to a new
reality. The sight of Lobato sleeping on the pavement of a pot-
holed road and old rickety buildings lining the beach stands in
stark contrast to the Central Maritime display of good living --
a reminder to the Timorese that they still have to face another
enemy in their midst -- poverty.
The song My Way ended, to the applause of guests. A beautiful
waitress came around, offering an a la carte menu, a serving of
which costs more than the monthly salary of polisia Alfredo
Tilman.
Aceh/West Papua
'War against terrorism'
Government & politics
Corruption/collusion/nepotism
News & issues
Environment
International solidarity
International relations
Economy & investment
East Timor
Dollars flowing from passports
Timor's Floating Hotels
Security Council sets date for East Timor independence
Agence France Presse - October 31, 2001
United Nations -- The Security Council decided Wednesday that the UN-administered territory of East Timor should become independent on May 20 next year.
In a statement, the council endorsed the date recommended two weeks ago by the constituent assembly elected in East Timor on August 30. East Timor will become independent on the 28th anniversary of the founding of its first political party, the Timorese Social Democratic Association, which gave birth to Fretilin, the resistance movement against Indonesian rule.
Mari Alkatiri, secretary general of Fretilin -- the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor -- and chief minister in the transitional government, was in the chamber to hear the council's statement. The statement was read by Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, who chaired the final session of the council held during Ireland's council presidency in October.
Fretilin won 55 of the 88 constituent assembly seats in elections held on the second anniversary of a UN-organised referendum which produced a four-to-one vote for independence from Indonesia. During the assembly debate Alkatiri argued that setting a date for independence would reassure international donors who the United Nations is asking to finance the creation of state institutions in East Timor.
On Wednesday, Alkatiri urged the council to keep part of the civilian staff of the compulsorily funded UN peacekeeping mission in place after independence. "We have assessed the experience of other countries in similar positions that have tried to tap bilateral and multilateral sources to fund critical government functions," he said. "They have not been successful, because these are not the traditional areas that donors are attracted to."
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2001
Yemris Fointuna, Kupang -- In line with the planned establishment of an independent East Timor early next year, Indonesia and East Timor have agreed to demilitarize their border areas to allow their people to visit one another freely.
The bilateral agreement was reached in a meeting of Indonesian and East Timorese officials in Atambua over the weekend. Representing Indonesia were Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo and Maj. Gen. Willem T. da Costa, chief of the Udayana Military Command overseeing Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara. Present for the East Timorese side were Jose Ramos Horta, foreign minister of the UN Transition Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) and Brig. Gen. Taur Matan Ruak, chief of the East Timor Armed Forces.
Da Costa said Indonesia would pull out 1,500 troops stationed in the border region while UNTAET would withdraw all Australian and New Zealand personnel stationed in the border region as part of the UN peace-keeping force. "The coordination of the withdrawal of security personnel from the border areas has been made in our meeting with Ramos Horta and Gen. Taur in Atambua. The important thing is that both sides agreed to insert stakes along the two countries' demarcation line. We agreed to keep the borderline open for our people to cross freely, like the one between Malaysia's Johor and Singapore," he said in the city on Monday. He said the government would establish only an office to give immigration and tax services for border crossers.
In Dili, East Timorese leader Jose Alexandre Xanana Gusmao hailed the agreement, saying it would allow people living in the border areas to visit one another and to carry out business activities. "The time will come later when the borderline is no longer guarded by soldiers but by stakes erected to mark the two countries' borderline," he said recently, referring to the some 8,000 personnel of the peace-keeping force stationed in the border areas who would be withdrawn following the formation of the East Timorese state early in 2002.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday the provincial administration finally provided a clarification of the number of East Timorese refugees remaining in the province. It said the total number of East Timorese refugees still remaining in the province was 143,803. Husein Pancratius, chief of the local social affairs ministry office, said that, of the 143,803 refugees, 9,304 were in Kupang city, 5,080 in South Timor Tengah Regency, 50, 412 in Kupang Regency, 59,490 in Belu Regency, 18, 129 in North Timor Tengah Regency and 429 in Alor Island.
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nua Wea recently alleged that certain local officials had intentionally marked up the number of East Timorese refugees to gain "financial benefits" at the refugees' expense. The government has provided 1,500 rupiah and 400 grams of rice per day per person for the refugees.
Husein said that around 2,000 refugees had returned to their home territory this October while a majority of the remaining refugees were expected to follow suit in the coming months. "The refugees are expected to go back home after learning that those who have already returned to East Timor have received humane treatment," he said.
Jakarta Post - October 31, 2001
Jakarta -- Chief of the Udayana Military Command overseeing Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara, Maj. Gen. Willem T. da Costa, said on Tuesday that he supported former rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao as a possible president of neighboring Timor Lorosae (East Timor).
"If we were asked our opinion on who would be a suitable candidate to become the president of Timor Lorosae, we would recommend Xanana Gusmao," da Costa said in Denpasar, as quoted by Antara.
He said Xanana was a figure capable of bridging the interests of the neighboring country and Indonesia. "We believe Xanana is capable of performing the task. In other words, the CNRT [National Council of East Timorese Resistance] leader will always have the same views on the relationship and the interests of both countries," he said.
Da Costa said Indonesia and Timor Lorosae had several common interests that needed to be discussed and resolved. He cited the border problems, the East Timorese refugees remaining in East Nusa Tenggara, human rights abuses and the return of Indonesia's assets in East Timor to Indonesia.
Asked about other candidates -- secretary-general of Fretilin Mari Alkatiri and former East Timor governor Mario Vegas Carascalao -- the military commander said he did not feel comfortable with either person. "Carascalao, for example, is an inconsistent person who has a tendency to follow others. During the Portuguese rule in East Timor, he joined Portugal, but when East Timor integrated into Indonesia, he joined Indonesia. And now, after East Timor has become an independent country, he is running for presidency," he said.
Carascalao and a number of Timor Lorosae figures tend to be inconsistent if compared with Xanana, he added. "Furthermore, psychologically and culturally, Xanana is more acceptable [to Indonesia]," da Costa said.
The Australian - October 30, 2001
Hong Kong -- East Timor's future president Xanana Gusmao has recalled his fury when Australia refused to accept temporarily a handful of East Timorese students fleeing persecution in Indonesia.
Commenting on Canberra's current handling of refugees boatloads, which have been diverted to far-flung Pacific territories, Gusmao said he personally had experience of Australian reluctance to take in refugees.
He recalled that when violence engulfed East Timor after it voted for independence in August 1999, he met Australian Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock to appeal for a few East Timorese students being harassed in Indonesia to be allowed entry to Darwin "as a bridge to East Timor".
At least four students had already been murdered in Jakarta, and with others going into hiding aid bodies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees had agreed to cover the cost of flying the asylum-seekers to the northern Australian city, Gusmao said.
"But Mr Ruddock said no," the former guerrilla fighter, who is being touted to be East Timor's first president, told the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Hong Kong. "I was very, very angry, because people were in a very difficult situation, but I had to accept his decision at that time," he said.
Gusmao did not elaborate on the number of students involved, but Darwin did provide safe haven for about 3,000 East Timorese refugees in 1999, according to Northern Territory Chief Minister Denis Burke.
The East Timorese leader, however, also paid credit to Australia for helping to prop up his territory as it prepares to emerge from UN administration and achieve statehood, possibly on May 20.
He described a multi-billion-dollar deal signed in July, dividing royalties from oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea, as "a very positive agreement with Australia". The agreement, worth some $US4-5 billion to East Timor over the next two decades, represents a major boost for the finances of the impoverished new state.
East Timor will receive 90 percent of royalties generated from the commercial exploitation of oil and natural gas reserves in the Timor Sea, with Australia taking the rest.
Agence France Presse - October 31, 2001
Jakarta -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Tuesday that it has helped repatriate 188,646 East Timorese refugees from Indonesia's West Timor in the past two years.
"Since October 1999, and in partnership with the IOM and UNTAET, UNHCR has now assisted some 188,646 East Timorese in their voluntary return," a UNHCR press release said. It was referring to the International Organization for Migration and the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor
The UN body said that in October 2001 alone it registered and assisted the return of 3,233 East Timorese refugees, the highest number to gone home in a single month since March last year when 9,485 people did so.
An estimated quarter of a million people fled or were forced into West Timor in the wake of East Timor's overwhelming vote for independence on August 30, 1999, after 24 years of enforced Indonesian rule. Local pro-Jakarta militias, backed by the Indonesian military, unleashed a wave of killing and destruction in response to the vote.
The UNHCR said it expected many thousand more to cross back into East Timor in time for the Christmas celebration in the Christian territory. "The proactive approach of the government of Indonesia together with the reconciliation process driven by the East Timorese leadership adds further impetus to encouraging the remaining refugees in making decisions on their future," it said.
The UNHCR also confirmed that it will extend its voluntary repatriation operation supporting the East Timorese refugees until June next year.
The UNHCR and other international relief agencies pulled out of West Timor after three foreign UNHCR staff were murdered by a mob in September last year. It is now operating out of East Timor in the repatriation operation.
BBC Monitoring Service - October 27, 2001
Presenter: The commemoration of East Timor's newly-gained independence has been scheduled for 20 May [2002], however, the chief minister of the provisional government, Mari Alkatiri, said the UN is still needed in the territory. In an interview with RDP [state radio], Mari Alkatiri reiterated that he is not predicting general elections to take place in the immediate future. He has also admitted this stance would put him at loggerheads with former resistance leader and presidential candidate Xanana Gusmao:
Alkatiri: I can assure you that we will not have general elections. I am saying this on behalf of the party which holds the majority in the constituent assembly.
Reporter: I believe this puts you at loggerheads with Xanana Gusmao?
Alkatiri: Xanana Gusmao is a citizen like any other. He has the right to express his opinion. I am a member of the constituent assembly, an elected and sovereign body, and it will be the assembly that shall decide this.
Reporter: Timor will be independent from 20 May [2002]. Are you planning to keep the provisional government?
Alkatiri: Only until 20 May.
Reporter: What will happen after 20 May?
Alkatiri: Then it will become a government in its own right. It will be a government born of...
Reporter (interrupting): Will you not have to hold elections for that?
Alkatiri: No. The elections for the constituent assembly [changes thought] -- when we laid down the electoral law, and when we discussed these elections, discussions that also took place at the CNRT [the National Council of the Timorese Resistance, now defunct], it was decided that the constituent assembly would become a legislative and parliamentary assembly.
Reporter: In that case, when will the next general elections take place?
Alkatiri: We will discuss that in the constituent assembly to assert whether we will hold elections within two years, three or four. That is another issue. As regards holding legislative elections I can tell you that I do not wish to discuss issues of a technical or financial order. For me, this is a question of principle. If we feel we need to have an election, we will have it under the new electoral system. If we decided to adopt a new electoral system, it would not be the present one, or else the smaller parties would not be represented in parliament.
[Source: RDP Antena 1 radio, Lisbon, in Portuguese October 27, 2001.]
Lusa - October 29, 2001
More than 3,200 East Timorese refugees returned home from Indonesia during October, the UN High Commission for Refugees said Monday in Dili, underlining it was the biggest one-month influx since March of last year.
UNHCR official Iain Hall told Lusa there were signs the repatriation process could increase significantly by year4s end.
East Timor4s peaceful August elections and the "reconciliation" initiatives undertaken by independence leader Xanana Gusmao and Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta, especially with refugees from the Covalima and Ainaro regions, were "bearing fruit", Hall said.
He also noted what he called "the active and creative involvement" of Indonesian officials, including West Timor4s military commander, General Willem da Costa, since Megawati Sukarnoputri assumed Indonesia4s presidency earlier this year.
In one such initiative, the "Jakarta Post" reported Monday that the Indonesian government had begun offering a sack of rice and the equivalent of USD 50 to each refugee family opting to return home.
Jakarta has said it would cease humanitarian aid and disband refugee camps in West Timor by the end of this year.
| Aceh/West Papua |
Agence France Presse - October 31, 2001
Banda Aceh -- At least four people have been killed and three badly wounded in the latest violence to hit the restive Indonesian province of Aceh, the military and residents said Wednesday.
Three civilians were killed and three critically wounded after a group of armed men attacked a plantation at Sultan Daulat in the district of Aceh Singkil late Monday, said South Aceh military commander, Lieutenant Colonel Agus Permana.
"The incident started with the arrival of some 20 people armed with rifles in the plantation area. They immediately started to fire at residents, killing three people and critically wounding three others," Permana said. Permana accused separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Local GAM leaders could not immediately be reached for comment.
The body of a man with gunshot wounds was found in a ravine at Tapaktuan in South Aceh late on Tuesday, a humanitarian activist there said. His identity remains unknown.
GAM rebels have been fighting since 1976 for an independent Islamic state in the resource-rich province on the northern tip of Sumatra island. More than 1,500 people have been killed in Aceh this year alone, most of them since the government launched a military operation in April.
| 'War against terrorism' |
Associated Press - November 2, 2001
Surabaya -- Around 3,000 Muslims Friday demonstrated against US- led attacks on Afghanistan in Indonesia's second largest city.
The peaceful rally in the city of Surabaya, some 800 kilometers, was the latest in a series of anti-US protests in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
The protesters from the Muslim-based Justice Party marched through the industrial city after midday prayers chanting "God is Great."
On Thursday, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri called on Washington to halt the military campaign during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts in mid-November.
| Government & politics |
Straits Times - November 3, 2001
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- Indonesians will find out next week whether they will be able to vote directly for their choices of president and vice-president in the 2004 election, after the country's supreme legislative body reaches an agreement on the issue.
All factions in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) have agreed to adopt some sort of a direct presidential election, but differences remain on the specifics of the election in the event that no single majority winner emerges from it.
It is the technicality of this aspect and whether or not the MPR should retain its role as the ultimate decision maker on the country's leaders that are likely to take centre-stage in the 10-day-long Assembly's Annual Session, which started on Thursday.
It is especially crucial, as major political parties are already gearing up for the 2004 presidential election.
Golkar, the second largest party in the country, is the biggest proponent of a completely direct presidential election, arguing that it will strengthen the legitimacy of the country's leaders.
But observers said the party would benefit much from a direct presidential election because of its strong network of supporters outside Java, especially in the eastern part of the country.
A Golkar source admitted: 'Yes, we have a major stake in this because we are certain the next president could be a Golkar man if we have a direct election.'
Golkar's chairman Akbar Tandjung is one of the politicians seeking to contend in the 2004 election.
Assembly members will start the debate next week on which of the two alternatives to agree on, should no party emerge as a majority winner.
While Golkar proposed a second popular election if none of the contenders win 51 per cent of the votes, the largest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP) wants a partial direct presidential election.
According to this option, the MPR would elect the president and vice-president instead of holding another popular election.
This will be little change from the current system, in which the 695-member strong MPR elects the president and vice-president after the general election, a system that critics say encourages money politics.
PDIP's reluctance reflects its conservative tendency in the whole constitutional amendment process that observers attribute to its leader President Megawati Sukarnoputri's emotional attachment to the 1945 Constitution drafted by her father, the founding president Sukarno.
Smaller parties with weak grassroots support, such as the National Mandate Party, whose leader Dr Amien Rais is another presidential hopeful, also are in favour of partial direct presidential election.
But Mr Jacob Tobing, who heads the ad hoc committee in charge of the constitutional amendment, said a decision may not be reached this year as support for both options in the MPR seemed equally balanced.
'We may have to postpone making a decision until next annual session,' he said.
The Guardian - October 31, 2001
John Aglionby, Jakarta -- Megawati Sukarnoputri, Indonesia's president, marked 100 days in office yesterday with the threat of national disintegration, unchecked corruption and rapidly declining natural resources top of her agenda.
She is due to present her first progress report to the country's highest legislative body when it begins its annual session tomorrow. But her grim assessment of the state of the nation is not what the people's consultative assembly would have expected when it elected her after ousting Abdurrahman Wahid in July.
Other worrying issues are the stagnating economy, the growing power struggle between the government and parliament that has stalled much-needed reforms and a lack of progress in ending ethnic unrest in several provinces.
The government's failure to implement almost any of its promised reforms -- for example, it has not raised a penny of the #4.4bn it promised from its privatisation programme -- or work constructively with parliament is slowly strangling the economy.
Confidence in the president's commitment was not helped when she spent two days shopping in Hong Kong en route to the Apec summit in Shanghai.
To be fair to Ms Megawati, there is some good -- or rather, not disastrous -- news. Fears that many of Indonesia's 175 million Muslims would rise up following the attacks on Afghanistan have proved groundless, although some observers believe her opponents are biding their time. "There will be less political volatility [in the coming months]", said a political analyst, Wimar Witoelar, "because those who disagree with this government are less enthusiastic about overthrowing it, compared to the last government." He believes she is safe because the opposition will wait until the 2004 general and presidential elections.
Two other major incidents, for which Ms Megawati cannot be blamed, have battered Indonesia's image and the economy. The first is the supreme court's decision to acquit the son of the former dictator Suharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, of a crime he all but admitted, and the second is a scandal in which the speaker of parliament, Akbar Tandjung, allegedly embezzled #2.5 million of state funds. These sagas highlight that justice remains a lottery in Indonesia and that corruption is still a scourge.
Straits Times - November 1, 2001
Devi Asmarani, Jakarta -- The Indonesian media, assessing President Megawati Sukarnoputri's first 100 days in office, said she did not live up to expectations and that her administration was heavy on rhetoric but achieved little.
Three leading publications acknowledged the complexity and scale of economic, political and social problems that she had inherited. "Admittedly, it is premature to pass judgment on Megawati's leadership based on her first 100 days in office," The Jakarta Post said in its editorial yesterday. It said she "could have done much more" since she took over from President Abdurrahman Wahid, who was impeached on July 24.
They rated the steps taken so far to fight corruption and the sluggish pace of economic recovery as unsatisfactory. They also criticised her government's lack of direction and apparent indecisiveness and muted leadership. "She did assert leadership every now and then, but there were many occasions, especially where it counted most, when she failed to come out and show to the nation and the world, that she, and no one else was in command. What the nation saw instead was at times a laid-back leader, who seemed quite content to let her aides take charge, or worse still, let others outside her administration seize the initiative and even take control of the direction in which the nation was heading," said the Post. The Post also criticised her poor handling of the domestic situation following the United States' military campaign on Afghanistan. It said she allowed her ministers to "run the show".
Forum news magazine also compared the Megawati administration to a plane operating on auto-pilot. "When the plane experienced turbulence -- like when terrorist groups attacked New York and Washington on September 11 -- the Cabinet ministers in the plane were shaken and the pilot woke up briefly, but then the pilot goes back to sleep and lets the plane run on auto pilot again," said the weekly.
Media Indonesia doubted the government's seriousness in fighting graft. The daily said the President did not have the courage to root out graft as shown in the administration's failures so far to prosecute graft cases. "In the 100 days in office, Ms Megawati's government shows the same incapacity in fighting graft that President Abdurrahman Wahid had that led us to remove him," the daily said in an editorial.
But the Post conceded that she had been learning the ropes in her 100 days in office and was optimistic about the future. "Not only does she enjoy the immense goodwill of the nation, we know for a fact that she has the ability to rise to the challenge, as she has proved on several occasions in the past. Now that the learning period is over, let's hope that she will mature in the job quickly."
| Corruption/collusion/nepotism |
Straits Times - November 1, 2001
Marianne Kearney, Jakarta -- Former Defence Minister and military chief General Wiranto yesterday denied having misused 10 billion rupiah (S$1.7 million) from the state food logistics agency known as Bulog.
However, General Wiranto did admit to prosecutors that the 10 billion rupiah had been used to fund a security outfit in East Timor prior to an independence ballot there.
House Speaker and Golkar party chief Akbar Tandjung has also been implicated in the misuse of funds following revelations by former Bulog chief Rahardi Ramela that 54.6 billion rupiah in agency funds had been transferred to certain officials.
Rahardi said he had handed over 40 billion rupiah from the Bulog coffers to Akbar Tandjung in 1999. The money allegedly had been earmarked for a poverty-alleviation scheme that was mooted at the height of the Asian financial crisis. Then 4.6 billion rupiah had been lent to a private company controlled by the youngest son of former President Suharto. Another 10 billion rupiah had been channelled to Gen Wiranto.
Mr Akbar, who was questioned by the Attorney-General late yesterday after Gen Wiranto, also has denied misuse of funds. He said he could not remember which charity had received the money.
Critics say it was used to fund Golkar's election campaign. Suspicion about the missing funds has been aroused because their disbursement in 1999 was decided at a private meeting and the "loan" from Bulog was approved by then President B. J. Habibie. At the time, Mr Habibie was campaigning for re-election.
If Mr Akbar is found to have misused state funds to finance Golkar's electoral campaign, he could be expelled from parliament and his party could be disbanded. Lawyers said they were doubtful the case would reach the courts as much of the evidence had disappeared.
Other lawyers say that even with strong evidence, the case could still be derailed in Indonesia's highly corrupt system. "It is not about the evidence but about the integrity of the Attorney- General's office," said Asmara Nababan, a lawyer from the National Human Rights Commission. "Do they have the courage to prosecute and face the political pressure from Golkar and everyone?" he asked.
Several people were injured in a melee which broke out yesterday when security guards at the Attorney-General's office tried to block journalists from photographing and filming Mr Akbar's arrival for interrogation.
As for General Wiranto, he defended the redirection of the emergency welfare funds, by saying the money had been used "to secure democracy" in East Timor and not to fund the pro-Jakarta militia.
The militia, backed and trained by the Indonesian military, laid waste to the territory in 1999 in retaliation for an overwhelming vote for independence. "It was used to make the poll in East Timor a success but not to support any of the contestants," he said after his interview with the Attorney-General. Observers say it would be unusual for Bulog funds to have been used in East Timor.
Straits Times - November 1, 2001
Jakarta -- Central Bank Governor Sjahril Sabirin was convicted of fraud for his role in allowing an illegal payment to PT Bank Bali, said state prosecutor Jan Mere.
The fraud involves 904 billion rupiah (S$159 million), more than half of which went to a company linked to the former ruling party Golkar. Bank Indonesia, the central bank, has been embroiled in scandals that involve US$7 billion (S$12.8 billion) which is not accounted for.
Last year, Sjahril was detained for almost six months because of his suspected involvement in the Bank Bali scandal, before he was returned to his position.
Lawyer Mohammad Assegaf argued that he had merely executed an order from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency as part of a bank guarantee programme. "Why should the prosecutors demand Sabirin serve four years in jail?" he asked.
He said Sjahril is convinced there are political motives behind the charges. He said a feud between Sjahril and former president Abdurrahman Wahid centred on the same case.
Sentencing is scheduled in three weeks. Sjahril's lawyer said he will mount a strong defence against the central district court ruling.
Agence France Presse - November 1, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesians working abroad often become victims of extortion at the airport when they return home, a minister said in a newspaper report Wednesday, vowing to replace the relevant management.
Manpower Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea said in the Jakarta Post that Indonesian workers were targets for extortion by officials from his ministry, customs and immigration when they arrived at Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta airport.
In contrast, in the Philippines returning overseas workers were assigned special lanes for a speedy exit at the airport, said the minister, who returned last week from the Philippines. He said his ministry will replace the management at the airport's Terminal III, which deals with the arrival of overseas workers.
Yunus Yamani, a former executive for the Returning Migrant Workers team partly responsible for managing Terminal III, blamed corruption on a lack of law enforcement. He accused the manpower ministry of failing to follow up on reports of extortion. "Unless the law is enforced, nothing will change at Terminal III, whoever manages it," Yamani was quoted as saying by the Post.
Indonesia has a million workers overseas, mainly in Malaysia, the Middle East, Hong Kong and Singapore. They are mostly unskilled laborers doing menial jobs.
| News & issues |
The Age - November 3, 2001
Jill Jolliffe, Dili -- The news that Japan has authorised its troops to serve overseas, despite the country's pacifist constitution, sends shudders down the spine of Marta Pereira, an aged East Timorese woman who lives on the outskirts of Dili.
It means that not only can Japanese forces now join the international military effort to hunt down Osama bin Laden, but that all obstacles have been removed to their return to East Timor, 56 years after their wartime occupation of the territory.
"They're cruel! We don't want Japanese soldiers back here!" she exclaims. She is one of around 1000 surviving East Timorese women who were used as sex slaves, or "comfort women", by the Japanese military. They recently united with other South-East Asian women to demand an apology and compensation. Unlike Germany, Japan has refused to pay reparations to its victims.
The upper house of the Japanese parliament on Monday approved a legal package to allow Japanese soldiers to serve abroad in support of the US-led anti-terrorist coalition, although it stipulated they would be non-combatants. The move is seen as also clearing the way for long-discussed postings to East Timor.
The United Nations Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) has for some time argued in favor of Japanese soldiers joining its peacekeeping force, thus reducing the burden on other countries, a position Australia supports. But the East Timorese population does not share this eagerness. For many, Japan still has accounts to settle with East Timor.
The country's leading women's rights group, Fokupers, has said it does not want Japanese soldiers on East Timorese soil until amends have been made to the comfort women. "We see it as an important issue -- despite their old age, these women are still suffering," Natalia de Jesus Cesaltino says.
"We struggled 24 years to get Indonesian troops out of here, and now we're being asked to accept Japanese troops. Japanese support should be in another form. It's ugly to have troops here when no apology has yet been made."
Twelve leading East Timorese organisations have signed a petition against the return.
UNTAET is in a dilemma. Japan already gives generous support in another form: it tops the list of cash aid donors to the UNTAET budget, with a current contribution of $US23.9 million ($A47 million). Administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello is anxious to avoid offending East Timor's new benefactors and eager for Japanese soldiers to join the UN military soon. "We will be in trouble unless the [Japanese forces] arrive by November when the rainy season starts," he said recently.
Little was known before 1999 about the fate of East Timorese women during World War II. Since Indonesia's withdrawal from East Timor that year, women have raised their profile and publicised the comfort women issue.
A half-hearted bid had been made by Indonesian lawyer Abdul Hakim to include East Timorese in an Asia-wide reparations claim against Tokyo in the dying days of the Suharto regime, but it came to nothing.
Marta Pereira was one of 25 girls held in a barracks in Bobonaro, near the East Timor border. They were forced to have sex with queues of Japanese soldiers each night. She was a virgin. Her brutal initiation and subsequent suffering marked her forever.
The life of Marta's daughter, Catarina Pereira, 48, has been overshadowed by her mother's experience. Her mother first told the story when she was around 10, too young to really understand it. "She told it with great anger," she says. "What can I do? I can only give her support and attempt to alleviate her sadness."
Marta is a tall, dignified, octogenarian whose anger still devours her. Catarina said she sleeps very little, wandering around the house at night. She hears her speaking to imaginary figures, ghosts from her troubled past.
Last year two Timorese comfort women testified at a mock trial of the Japanese military held in Tokyo. UN legal officers helped them prepare an indictment based on the known facts in Japanese- occupied Timor, but it was decidedly non-official support.
One of the witnesses was Esmeralda Boe, of the border town of Memo. Three years before the war ended she was husking tapioca in her garden when a Japanese commander ordered her to come with him. He told her that her family would be hanged if she did not obey.
She was still physically a child. The pain she suffered from the rape was severe. In the first days she was unable to walk. "I cried a lot," she says, "and I could never sleep."
Esmeralda still remembers a Japanese song, which she sings in a strong, clear voice that soars over the palm groves of her village. She doesn't know what it means, but the memory of her suffering is as vivid as her memory of the words.
Although the UNTAET indictment stated that the women were rounded up on behalf of the Japanese military by local chiefs, this is wrong. The chiefs were acting on orders of the Portuguese governor of the time, Manuel Ferreira de Carvalho. Portugal, then ruled by the dictator Salazar, was officially neutral in a conflict in which both Japanese and Australian soldiers initially occupied East Timor.
A secret report by the governor released in Lisbon some years ago shows that he collaborated with the Japanese in rounding up Timorese women, against the protests of other Portuguese officials. His justification, he said, was to save European women from rape by Japanese soldiers by providing them with indigenous women who were already prostitutes -- although there is no evidence the women in question were.
During rule by the Portuguese dictatorship for most of the 20th century, interrupted by Japanese and Indonesian military occupations, East Timorese women have generally been treated as chattels in a brutal colonial universe. Now on the brink of independence, they are seeking to assert a different identity. But considerations of realpolitik by the UN in a rapidly changing world order make it unlikely they will succeed in the short term.
Reuters - October 31, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia's navy said on Wednesday it would not detain any asylum seekers found on boats in the country's waters and would even feed needy refugees before they resumed their journey.
The comments by navy spokesman First Admiral Franky Kayhatu are a blow to efforts to combat a growing regional boatpeople crisis and could fuel a row with Australia, the destination of the mainly Middle Eastern and Afghani refugees.
"If they need humanitarian assistance such as food, we would give this to them on the water," Kayhatu told Reuters. "We are not going to arrest them. If they want to continue [their journey], then no problem, as long as they don't remain in Indonesian waters. We have a duty to evict them from our waters."
Thousands of asylum seekers have used Indonesia as a staging post to sail to Australia in the past few years, but in recent months there has been a marked increase in the number of rickety boats making the treacherous journey south.
Earlier this month, a fishing boat sank off Java island and 350 asylum seekers died in the mishap. Only 44 people survived.
That prompted Jakarta to announce it would host a meeting with Australia and other Asian nations to discuss the crisis. Government officials were not immediately available to comment on the navy's stance.
Reuters - October 29, 2001 (abridged)
Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta -- Indonesian police on Monday forcibly evicted 100 Middle Eastern asylum seekers, some of them screaming hysterically, who had been holed up at the UN refugee agency's office in Jakarta since late last week.
Police had to either drag or carry many of the refugees out of the building's foyer in central Jakarta where the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has its office.
The asylum seekers, some of whom claimed to have legal refugee status, had been camped out there since Friday. Female refugees wearing traditional flowing Muslim robes chanted "God is Greatest!" while their children cried. Some of the asylum seekers lay down on the sidewalk after being evicted.
"Some of these people tried to force entry to the premises of the UNHCR so we asked the police to provide the necessary protection," Raymond Hall, regional representative of the UNHCR, told Reuters. "But we made it clear to the police we did not want any violence used on these people. Reinforcement arrived just in time to prevent the incident turning nasty," he said.
Thousands of Middle Eastern asylum seekers use Indonesia as a staging post to try to enter Australia illegally each year. Others wait years to get refugee status from the UN agency but then endure more delays until a recipient country accepts them.
Only 63 immigrants have been accepted for resettlement this year out of 450 that have been granted formal refugee status.
| Environment |
Jakarta Post - November 1, 2001
Yemris Fointuna, Atambua -- East Timorese refugees living in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, have destroyed some 700 hectares of protected forests in the regency of Belu for agricultural purposes following a halt in aid from the government.
Some refugees recently interviewed by The Jakarta Post said that they had had to convert the forest into agricultural land so as to anticipate a possible shortage of food by the end of this year when the government would no longer provide them with assistance. "We will plant corn, tubers and other crops in the coming rainy season. We just don't want to starve," Dominggus Ferreira said.
The government had earlier asserted that as of December this year there would be no more humanitarian aid for around 290,000 East Timorese who opted to stay in Indonesia and are now living in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara province. Starting next year, the refugees will have to rely on their own resources to survive.
East Nusa Tenggara provincial spokesman JB. Kosapilawan said early this month that the refugees had received humanitarian aid for two years and that they could be lacking the spirit to fend for themselves as they had become too dependent on the government.
The decision came as a blow to the refugees who accused the government of trying to kill them gradually by stopping the aid. They said they did not have anything that would allow then to live independently. The illegal deforestation has apparently drawn serious attention from local councillors.
The deputy speaker of the legislative council for Belu regency, Blasius Manek, said that the administration and the police should take prompt action to stop the deforestation. "If the deforestation continues, someday people will find it difficult to get water, and flood will become a danger," Blasius said.
The head of the forestry office in Belu, Valen Kelen, said in Atambua last week that the forests destroyed by the refugees were located in water catchment areas. "They were traditional forests, which belong to the people. They are all protected forests."
According to official records, the refugees have just destroyed, among other areas, 450 hectares of protected forest in the village of Kateri, Malaka Barat district, 50 hectares of forest in the village of Bipemnasi Swamohok, Kota Atambua district, and another 12 hectares of forest in Selim Kovalima district. Belu regent Bria Yohanes said that a special team had been set up to curb the illegal deforestation. "Legal steps are preferable in handling this case."
Meanwhile Belu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Nender A. Yani claimed to have arrested 14 refugees believed to have been the masterminds behind the destruction of the forests. "They encouraged the other refugees to cut the trees in the protected forests. We will take legal action against them," said Nender.
Soon after the East Timor referendum sponsored by the United Nations in 1999, at least 500,000 East Timorese flooded into West Timor. Most of them were poor and brought nothing with them. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) entered West Timor and started to provide humanitarian aid to the refugees. The aid was halted last year following the passing of a United Nations resolution stating that West Timor was an unsafe area. Resolution No. 1319, which also ordered the pullout of UNHCR workers and a halt to humanitarian aid, was issued after the killing of three UNHCR workers in September 1999.
Since then, the Indonesian government has provided the refugees with humanitarian aid of 1,500 rupiah and 400 grams of rice per person per day.
| International solidarity |
Green Left Weekly - October 24, 2001
Jo Ellis, Cairuhi -- Australian solidarity activists have spent nearly two weeks here helping East Timorese counterparts begin an ambitious educational program which will involve local people in discussions about socialism and democracy.
The third solidarity brigade organised by Action in Solidarity with Indonesia and East Timor travelled to East Timor from Darwin on September 28 and spent 11 days on the island.
Amongst their activities was participation in the Timorese Socialist Party's (PST) first pilot project to establish a socialist school. The school site, just outside a village called Cairuhi, near Manatuto in the eastern part of the island, is near the site of the first Fretilin Marxist training school established during the 1970s.
Fifty activists from the PST and six from ASIET held political discussions and English classes and worked to build a permanent structure to house a PST office. Discussions ranged from the history of socialism, imperialism, the role of social classes to the difference between capitalist and socialist democracy. ASIET members also visited the primary school in Cairuhi and conducted English classes with the teachers and students.
The PST plans to use the Cairuhi site as a base for organising and assisting farmers in the district, including building a market for farmers to sell their produce and facilitate them growing vegetables to encourage self-sufficiency.
The education project, which the party hopes to keep running year-round, aims to provide the participants with skills and knowledge which they will take back and pass on in their own villages. In this way the PST hopes to encourage real participation in local, district and national decision-making.
Some party organisers will likely be sent from the school to other villages to conduct political discussions. In six months' time, the PST plans to establish a similar school in Aileu, in the western part of the island.
| International relations |
Agence France Presse - November 1, 2001
Sydney -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard was forced to acknowledge Thursday the testiness of his country's relationship with Indonesia as a new diplomatic spat brewed.
Howard admitted Canberra's relationship with Jakarta was "not an easy one" after a senior Indonesian minister criticised the way Australia's political leaders handle sensitive issues. "I don't want to run the risk of giving offence ... it is not an easy relationship, but it's a relationship that we patiently work on," Howard told commercial radio. "But it's got to be a relationship built on mutual respect."
However, he obliquely criticised Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri for her "unwillingness" to accept his phone calls amid the refugee crisis caused by rising numbers of Middle Eastern asylum seekers using Indonesia as a jumping-off point for illegal entry to Australia. "President Megawati's unwillingness to return a phone call is seen in a particular light in Australia because our culture is that in those circumstances it's impolite not to return people's calls," Howard said. "In other cultures it can be seen quite different. It can be seen as a sign of not wishing to give offence because they can't agree with what they think the request is going to be."
The latest dispute to mar bilateral links between Canberra and Jakarta began when Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda criticised late Wednesday Australia's diplomatic methodology. "There is a certain tendency in Australia to communicate through public diplomacy rather than quiet [diplomacy]," Wirayuda told SBS television. "This is certainly in many ways unacceptable. To go public and accuse the other side of doing something wrong ... it's not our habit to go through this process in terms of again responding through public [means] -- it's only worsening the situation."
Wirayuda was referring to the politically-charged issue of boat people and Australia's demands that Jakarta intensify its efforts to eradicate people-smuggling syndicates operating under its jurisdiction. "It's a matter of cultural tendency here in Indonesia that when you want to enter someone's house, you cannot shout in front of it and ask to enter the house," Wirayuda said.
In August, Australia refused to admit more than 430 asylum seekers rescued by a Norwegian-flagged cargo ship, the Tampa, after their Indonesian vessel sank while en route here. Howard steadfastly maintained the problem was for Norway and Indonesia to solve.
The Indonesian president refused to accept Howard's telephone calls at the height of the Tampa affair and rejected his appeals for a private meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shanghai last month. Jakarta's political elite was reportedly incensed by what it viewed as Australia's bellicose bullying -- a charge that exacerbated existing tensions arising from Australia's leadership of a United Nation's peacekeeping force to East Timor in 1999.
East Timor's long pro-independence guerrilla war ended in September that year when Australian troops spearheaded an international force that subdued pro-Jakarta militia fighters armed and trained by Jakarta. The Indonesian military was consequently forced to stage a humiliating withdrawal.
Sydney Monring Herald - November 1, 2001 (slightly abridged)
Craig Skehan, Kelly Burke and AAP -- Indonesia accused Australia of a failure in diplomacy over boat people yesterday, attacking Canberra's "unacceptable" practice of going public before raising problems with Jakarta.
The Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, criticised Australia's handling of the Tampa crisis, when the Howard Government refused to allow boat people rescued by the Tampa to land.
Amid tense relations with Jakarta, the Prime Minister, John Howard, yesterday declared he wanted Indonesia to reject assertions by its navy that it would give food and other help to boat people trying to reach Australia.
Mr Wirayuda said Australia had insisted the Tampa problem was one for Indonesia and Norway to solve, but had failed to tell Indonesia that first. He said he had told his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, there was a cultural communication problem. "There is a certain tendency in Australia to communicate through public diplomacy rather than quiet [diplomacy]," Mr Wirayuda told SBS. "This is certainly in many ways unacceptable. To go public and accuse the other side [of] doing something wrong ... it's not our habit."
Mr Howard had failed to get the Indonesian president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, on the phone over Tampa, and was unable to arrange a one-on-one meeting with her at the APEC leaders' meeting in Shanghai. "It's a matter of cultural tendency here in Indonesia that when you want to enter someone's house, you cannot shout in front of it and ask to enter the house," Mr Wirayuda said.
Mr Howard said it would be disappointing if the Indonesian navy's attitude to helping boat people en route to Australia represented a "universal" Indonesian position. On Tuesday, the Indonesian navy's chief of staff, Admiral Indroko Sastrowirjono, said: "We can only let them continue heading to their destination because it is their right." He said Indonesia was obliged to help them under international maritime law. The navy reiterated this point yesterday.
Straits Times - October 31, 2001
Melbourne -- Jakarta has failed to renew a key agreement that allowed Australian and Indonesian police to cooperate directly on stemming the flow of illegal immigrants to Australia, according to a report here yesterday.
The Age newspaper said senior police officers in Jakarta saw the agreement as putting too much responsibility on the National Police. Indonesian police chief Brigadier-General Dadang Garnida told the newspaper that the way police cooperated on dealing with illegal immigrants in the future would depend on talks between Jakarta and Canberra.
Jakarta plans to hold an international summit, possibly next month, on the so-called boat people problem, which involved mostly Middle Eastern and South Asian asylum seekers arranging for boat trips to Australia from Indonesia.
Gen Dadang said Indonesian police would still cooperate closely with Australian police, but instead of being able to deal directly with each other, cooperation would be on a government-to-government basis.
Meanwhile, the head of Indonesia's navy said yesterday that every refugee boat encountered in its waters should be allowed to continue to its destination. "We cannot arrest them, but we can allow them to continue their journey according to their destination country because it is their basic human right," the Navy Chief of Staff, Admiral Indroko Sastrowiryono, was quoted as saying by the state Antara news agency.
| Economy & investment |
Straits Times - November 3, 2001
Robert Go, Jakarta -- Running low on rice and other staple goods, Indonesia is mulling over a barter programme with other Asean countries to trade for those commodities using locally produced planes, trains, coal and other goods, senior officials say.
Mr Widjanarko Puspojo, head of the logistics agency Bulog, explained that the supply of rice was enough for the country's 210 million people now, but that the government wanted to explore its options in case of future food shortages.
During her speech to the country's supreme assembly on Thursday, President Megawati Sukarnoputri described the process of ensuring an adequate food supply, especially for the poor, as one of her government's major problems.
Mr Widjanarko said: "The idea is still raw. If the government needs to import more but doesn't have enough money in the Budget, maybe alternative payment options could work."
Bulog spokesman Suhardo confirmed that his agency's officials were talking to various Indonesian ministries as well as representatives of Thailand and Vietnam to gauge the feasibility of the barter concept.
Ms Putri Lenggogene, the Bulog director responsible for the import programme, also spent this week in Vietnam to discuss future rice deals between the two countries.
Indonesia is the world's number-one importer of rice and will buy an estimated total of 1.8 million tonnes this year. Government experts, however, have already predicted declining domestic production and the need to import more than two million tonnes of rice in 2002.
Still, Indonesia's food situation is much better now compared to 1998 and 1999. During those two years, at the height of the economic crisis, Bulog and the country's private traders bought a total of nearly 10 million tonnes of rice.
Mr Widjanarko said: "It makes sense to barter. We have several products that are needed by other countries' development programmes. If both sides can agree on a fair valuation for the local products that Indonesia has to offer, then we can barter. Why not?"
The Bulog chief declined to go into specifics, such as how much rice would be needed in coming years or what specific commodities Indonesia could use as payment. But he listed planes produced by state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia, locomotives such as those used by state-run PT KAI and coal produced by mines in the Kalimantan provinces as potential barter goods.
Agence France Presse - October 31, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia's cash-strapped state television station is to start carrying advertising for the first time since it was set up almost 40 years ago, a report said Wednesday.
Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) has ended agreements with five of the country's six private television stations under which the state broadcaster received part of their advertising proceeds in return for not carrying advertising itself, the Warta Kota daily said.
TVRI president Sumita Tobing told the daily the agreements ended on October.
Under the agreements, signed between 1990 and 1994, the five private stations had to pay 12.5 percent of their advertising revenues to TVRI.
But many stations failed to pay in full, especially since the regional financial crisis began in mid-1997. "In this condition, we have to dare to end the cooperation. As a consequence, TVRI will begin to carry full advertisements," Tobing told the paper. The station's public relations department could not be immediately reached for confirmation.
The sixth private television station, Metro TV, did not enter any agreement with TVRI as it only began operations in October last year.
Agence France Presse - October 31, 2001
Jakarta -- Indonesia's state-owned electricity company, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), is seeking foreign loans to avert a likely power shortage in the main islands of Java and Bali, a report said Tuesday.
The initial priority is to raise 300 million dollars so work can start by year-end on a new 700 megawatt generating unit in north Jakarta, PLN president Eddie Widiono was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.
Widiono said loans will also be sought to expand another power plant in Surabaya, the capital of East Java and the country's second-largest city. He gave no details of the capacity or cost of the Surabaya expansion.
Widiono said electricity demand was fast outstripping supply and threatened to result in a power shortage in Java and Bali in 2004 unless generating capacity is expanded.
PLN estimates that without the new plants its generating capacity will only grow by about five percent per year from the current 18,600 megawatts while demand will increase by between seven to 11 percent from the current 17,000 megawatts.