Aceh

Just say goodbye to HDC: Assembly speaker

Jakarta Post - May 4, 2003

Pelambang -- People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) chairman Amien Rais has said that it would be "useless" to continue depending on the Swiss-based Henry Dunant Center (HDC) in finding a peaceful solution to the prolonged armed conflict in Aceh.

"I have received information that the HDC is a 'trouble-maker'. We should not dump them into the ocean but just say thank you for your readiness to help Aceh," Amien said as quoted by Antara upon arriving here on Saturday. Asking a foreign party to help solve the conflict will only worsen the situation in the country, he added.

The Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Geneva on December 9 last year, largely due to the mediation of the HDC.

The government and the GAM however have categorically failed to implement the peace deal fully.

"We should find a solution to the Aceh conflict on our own. The HDC has never sided with Indonesia, only with GAM. Don't forget the HDC chairman is a friend of Hassan Tiro. That is why it is impossible for the HDC to defend us [the government]," the Assembly speaker said.

Native Acehnese Hassan Tiro, the GAM leader, has become a Swedish citizen. GAM has for decades been fighting for an independent state in oil-rich but underdeveloped Aceh.

Sweden says will not expell rebel Aceh leader

Reuters - May 4, 2003

Patrick McLoughlin, Stockholm -- Sweden on Sunday rejected suggestions that the Stockholm-based leader of the separatist rebels for the Indonesian province of Aceh be expelled from the country to face trial in Indonesia.

"No definitely not. As long as they do not do anything against Swedish law and do not violate international law we are not going to do anything," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jan Janonius told Reuters. He was responding to suggestions in Indonesia during the weekend that the leader of the Stockholm-based Free Aceh Movement (GAM), Hasam Tiro, be extradited.

Resources-rich Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, has been the scene of a simmering decades-long rebellion which has killed at least 10,000 people. Talks to resolve the conflict, scheduled for late last month in Geneva, broke off with each side blaming the other.

On Sunday, the Jakarta Post website quoted an "international affairs observer" as saying Tiro should have his Swedish citizenship revoked and be expelled for causing strife in Indonesia.

This followed earlier weekend reports, quoting Indonesian top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who told Kompas daily his government was disappointed with Sweden for failing to recognise that Tiro and other GAM leaders were Swedish citizens who were fomenting trouble in Aceh.

Jakarta said a week ago GAM must cease pushing for independence and begin disarming before talks resume to try to save the faltering December 9 peace agreement. Jakarta gave the rebels between one and two weeks to respond to its terms or a security operation would be launched.

However, A GAM spokesman in Stockholm told Reuters on Sunday however that his movement would not relinquish its goal of an independent Aceh. "There is nothing in the agreement that says we have to renounce independence and accept autonomy in Indonesia," Bakhtiar Abdullah said. He added that GAM remained willing to re-open talks in Geneva, but only on the agenda previous agreed.

Abdullah said if the breakdown in talks failed to be repaired, armed conflict would quickly return to the province. "As far as we are concerned, if the Indonesian government wants war we will defend ourselves," he said. "There will be bloodshed,"

Aceh governor under scrutiny for alleged mismanagement

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2003

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The central government is investigating Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh for alleged misappropriation of general allocation funds for the conflict-torn province, a minister said on Friday.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the investigation of Puteh and other Aceh government officials would be conducted in response to information from the public.

"There has been information from the public that the administration has allegedly mismanaged central government funding, but we have to investigate the allegations in order to avoid slander," Susilo said at his office.

He said the government promised to impose stern measures against the officials if the allegations turned out to be true. There has been no formal talk either at the ministerial or Cabinet level on the possibility of dismissing Puteh, Susilo said.

The provincial administration under Puteh, who was sworn in as governor in December 2000 and is due to end his term in 2005, has come under fire for its failure to fight corruption and to improve political and economic conditions in Aceh over the past two years.

In the 2002 fiscal year, Aceh received Rp 2.2 trillion from the general allocation fund and another Rp 1.87 trillion from the profit sharing of oil and gas revenues. For the 2003 fiscal year, the province, which is home to 4 million people, will obtain Rp 2.3 trillion from the general allocation fund, while profit sharing is expected to rise to Rp 3 trillion. Under the special autonomy status, Aceh obtains 80 percent of the revenue sharing from the exploitation of its natural resources.

Critics have also slammed the governor for not doing enough to ensure the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which was signed by the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in December last year to end the 26-year conflict in the province. The investigative team, led by Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno and involving the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP), was set up in late March. The investigation is being conducted in Aceh and Papua.

Susilo said once the investigation was completed and if the allegations turned out to be true, the government "would not hesitate to impose stern sanctions [against Puteh]". It remains unknown when the investigation will finish.

Aceh and Papua are the only regions among the country's 30 provinces which have been granted special autonomy status. The two regions have been dealing with separatist problems for years.

Rights body wants independent team to monitor Aceh

Asia Pulse - May 2, 2003

Banda Aceh -- An independent team should look into alledged violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) between the Indonesian government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM), according to Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

"We have met with Henry Dunant Center [HDC] and Joint Security Committee [JSC] representatives, and we proposed that the upcoming Joint Council meeting discuss the possibility of forming an independent team to monitor violations of CoHA," Komnas HAM member M.M. Billah said here Thursday.

He said the JSC's monitoring teams had so far found it difficult to investigate violations of CoHA because of their limited mandate.

The JSC's monitoring teams comprise representatives of the Indonesian government, GAM and HDC, a Swiss-based non- governmental organization which brokered the peace pact last December.

Billah said the independent team should be made up of persons who were not involved in the Aceh conflict to see to it that the teams could investigate violations of the peace truce more independently.

"About who will sit in the independent team and how it will be modelled, we still have to discuss it further," he said. He said the team could be made up of special rapporteurs appointed by the United Nations or non-partisan domestic organisations, such as the Komnas HAM.

Asked which of the two groups would most likely sit in the team, he said the merits and demerits of the team depended on the integrity and professionalism of its members. "So, whether or not they will come from the UN, it is not problem," he said.

However, if the independent team consisted of UN special rapporteurs, its recommendations would tend to have more poltical weight, he said.

Government under pressure to save Aceh peace

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2003

Jakarta -- With the two-week deadline set for Aceh rebels to accept terms for peace talks coming closer, the Indonesian government is facing mounting pressure to save the truce it signed last year.

The Japanese government has sent Senior Vice Minister Tetsuro Yano to Jakarta to call on Indonesia to promote a peaceful settlement in Aceh, which has seen the return of violence over the past few months.

Speaking after a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Yano said Tokyo reiterated its willingness to facilitate a Joint Council meeting between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) aimed at salvaging the peace.

Japan was considering providing additional funds to reconstruct and rehabilitate Aceh, but Yano underlined that it would depend on the development of the peace process. He said the Japanese government had already disbursed some US$8 million for the reconstruction program in Aceh since the warring parties signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) in Geneva last December. Accompanying Yano during the meeting was Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Yutaka Iimura.

Japan, along with the United States, the European Union and the World Bank, are the co-chairs of the Tokyo Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh. The donors have upped the pressure on both Indonesia and GAM to give peace a chance.

Jakarta canceled its participation in a meeting last week aimed at settling disputes over the implementation of the peace agreement, which was scheduled for April 25 in Geneva, after GAM insisted on moving back the date to April 27. Indonesia had earlier proposed that the meeting take place in Tokyo, but GAM rejected this.

No agreement has been reached on the date and venue of the meeting as GAM continues to reject Indonesian government conditions that the rebels accept the special autonomy package in Aceh and disarm themselves.

Also on Thursday, a group of Acehnese figures grouped in the Care for Aceh Forum met with Vice President Hamzah Haz to warn the government of a breach of the peace deal if it launched a military operation in the natural resource-rich province. The delegation was led by the forum's chairman, Ismail Hassan Metareum. Hamzah succeeded Ismail as the United Development Party chairman in 1999.

A forum member, Hasballah M. Saad, a former state minister for human rights, asserted that a military approach would only aggravate the problem in Aceh. He also asked national leaders to refrain from making comments supporting the use of force to deal with the separatist problem.

Separately, the Indonesian government's chief negotiator Wiryono Sastrohandoyo said after attending a ministerial meeting on Aceh that the Joint Council meeting could be held at any time.

"The government has shown the wisdom of patience by giving a two-week deadline for GAM to return to the negotiating table," he said. The meeting, chaired by Susilo, discussed the government preparations for operations to provide humanitarian aid, enforce the law, reinstate administrative functions and restore order in Aceh.

Also present at the meeting were Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla, Minister of Finance Boediono, Director General of State Budgeting Anshari Ritonga and the Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto In Banda Aceh, State Minister for Information and Communications Syamsul Mu'arif said the government was pondering imposing a military or civilian emergency in Aceh should the dialog failed.

"Should all measures fail then the government will impose a state of civil emergency or martial law in Aceh," he told local government officials as quoted by Antara.

Tension increased in the province on Thursday, where at least three armed clashes between government troops and the rebels erupted separately, killing a GAM member, two civilians and injuring two other people, including a soldier, First Lt. A. Yatim. The military and GAM accused each other of being responsible.

Later in the day, some 5,000 people staged a rally in front of the Central Aceh legislature in the regency's capital city of Takengon, demanding a security operation for the sake of national integrity. The pro-Indonesian demonstrators also demanded the local administration to pay some Rp 500 million (US$55,000) in compensation for money that had been extorted from them by GAM.

Editorial: Peace versus sovereignty

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2003

Which do we love more, peace or sovereignty? This question came up when Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressed the problem of Aceh last week. The chief security minister reportedly said: "Indonesians love peace, but Indonesians value their sovereignty and territorial integrity even more."

In the context of the current Aceh crisis, this statement is a pretext to the government's military campaign against the separatist movement. There is nothing wrong with this presupposition except that we know that historically, no military operation in Aceh has ever succeeded.

If this had been the 1940s, when the nation fought for independence from the Dutch, this argument -- that sovereignty is more important than peace -- would certainly hold true.

In today's context, this statement sends shivers down our spine. It tells us of the prevailing attitude in government: that it is prepared to defend its "sovereignty" over Aceh at all costs, including at the cost of the peace of the people there.

This is the line of thinking which launched many military operations in the past in Aceh, Papua and East Timor, with untold miseries endured by their civilians. This is the line of thinking that caused massive deaths and destruction, disrupted people's lives, if not dislocating them altogether.

This is the line of thinking that encouraged our military to commit all kind of atrocities against our own people, all in the name of defending our "sovereignty" and territorial integrity.

While we know that it is the peace in Aceh that people like Susilo is willing to disrupt, it is also clear that he is not concerned so much about the sovereignty of the people of Aceh. He is far more concerned about the "sovereignty" of Jakarta over the territory, in other words, Jakarta's rule over Aceh.

This is pure arrogance. This is the kind of attitude of the rulers in Jakarta that has fueled strong resentment among the people in many regions, and to cause some of them later to demand separation, and to fight for their own "sovereignty".

Indonesia, lest we forget, is a common project in which the people of various regions, originally from Aceh to Maluku, and later to include Papua (albeit under controversial circumstances), decided to take part in. Each region volunteered to join in this project not solely because of their shared history and cultures, but also because of their belief in a common destiny: together as one nation, rather than individually, we progress and prosper. The basis of this Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia, has been and will always be voluntary. Indonesia was not a project that was imposed on these regions. At least, that was how it started in 1945, and this is how it should be today.

Although this 58-year project has not really produced the maximum desired results, many people continue to believe in its future enough to sustain it.

Problems always started when some of us tried to impose our "sovereignty" over the other regions for this usually means the use of force.

The people of East Timor, who never shared a common history with the rest of Indonesia in the first place, saw Indonesia as simply another colonizer. Papuans have been critical over what they perceive as the "Javanization" of their land.

And the people of Aceh, who made significant contributions to Indonesia's independence struggle in the late 1940s, have long complained about the raw deal and unfair treatment they have been getting from the central government in Jakarta.

We lost East Timor through our own arrogance. Surely, we should have learned something from that episode and not want to commit the same mistakes in our dealings with Papua and in Aceh. You do not keep people in the republic by force. You keep them by making them feel part of the republic.

As much as we wish that the Aceh people remain in the fold of the republic, no one should ever impose that will on them for that decision should be in the hands of the people of Aceh, and nobody else. We in Jakarta can only try to make the people of Aceh feel at home with the republic so that they will stay.

Pak Susilo was way out of line in claiming to speak on behalf of all Indonesians to suggest that, today, we love sovereignty more than we love peace. And he is even more wrong in suggesting that Jakarta could impose its sovereignty over the people of Aceh, at all costs.

The government should make peace in Aceh its overriding concern. In other words, peace at all costs. It should give the existing peace process in Aceh, brokered by the Geneva-based Henry Dunant Centre, another chance to work. Because for most of the people in Aceh, as it is for most Indonesians, peace is not negotiable.

HDC close to setting new date for Aceh talks

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2003

Jakarta -- The Aceh peace facilitator, the Henry Dunant Centre (HDC), is now trying to set a new date and venue for peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), after the former pulled out of a planned Joint Council meeting in Geneva last week.

HDC representative David Gorman said at a press conference in Banda Aceh on Tuesday that he hoped to set a date within the next few days. "Everybody wants the meeting [to happen] as soon as possible," Gorman was quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

In Jakarta, legislators urged the government to initiate a peace dialog with the rebels in a bid to salvage the fragile peace in the troubled province.

Thai General Tanongsuk Tuvinun, who heads the Joint Security Committee (JSC), told Acehnese on Tuesday to ignore rumors of an impending military operation in the province, where 26 years of armed conflict had killed over 10,000 people, mostly civilians.

"Spreading rumors can kill the peace process and the hope of the Acehnese to live in peace," Tanongsuk said, urging both parties to avoid provocative actions.

The JSC is in charge of monitoring the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) signed in Geneva, Switzerland, on December 9. The government angrily withdrew from the long-awaited peace talks last Thursday after the rebels insisted on holding the meeting on April 27 instead of April 25, as it had proposed earlier.

On Monday, the government gave GAM a two-week ultimatum to accept the special autonomy arrangement for the province and disarm, or face the full brunt of military prowess. Jakarta also said it would not make the first move to initiate dialog and left it entirely up to GAM to call a meeting to save the accord.

While endorsing the government's two-week ultimatum, legislators urged the government on Tuesday to take the lead in organizing a dialog with GAM rebels.

Ibrahim Ambong, chairman of the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission I for defense, called on the government to extend the deadline if the security condition in the province improved.

Ambong, a member of the Golkar faction, said that the deadline set by the government was important, because it provided a clear timeframe for resolving Aceh's problems. He suggested that the government should continue the peace process as mandated in a decree issued by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

Commission member Imam Addaruqutni of the Reform faction said the two-week deadline should be contextualized within the peace process. "Therefore, military operations should not automatically be launched after the deadline, if GAM does not respond," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Noted Acehnese figure Imam Suja' said that he was expecting the HDC to continue lobbying the government and GAM to reschedule the Joint Council meeting. "Everything must be brought to the Joint Council meeting. There will be no problems if the government and GAM follow the COHA," Suja' told the Post by phone.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara commented that the government should focus on a peace dialog to settle Aceh's problems. He added that law enforcement operations in Aceh would be considered normal, because Aceh was part of the Indonesian territory, and that it should combat crimes committed by all Indonesian people, including GAM members.

Separately, Assembly Speaker Amien Rais said the government could ignore the MPR decree if the existence of the unitary republic of Indonesia was threatened. Amien, who chairs the National Mandate Party (PAN), emphasized that the existence of the republic was of greater importance than the MPR decree or the 1945 Constitution. "This is an objective choice and is universally accepted," Amien said.

Two soldiers, child wounded in restive Aceh

Agence France Presse - April 29, 2003 (abridged)

Two Indonesian soldiers and a boy aged six have been injured in Indonesia's Aceh province, hours after the government set terms for renewed peace talks with separatist rebels.

A grenade fired from a launcher exploded near two soldiers who were relaxing in the center of Bireuen town late Monday, an Aceh military spokesman, Dasli Averos, said Tuesday.

The grenade injured the two soldiers and a nearby child, he said, blaming the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). One soldier was seriously injured while the other two victims were only slightly hurt. A local GAM spokesman, Teungku Zarkara, denied his members were responsible.

Jakarta gives Aceh rebels another chance for talks

Agence France Presse - April 29, 2003

Jakarta -- Indonesia said yesterday it was still willing to talk to Aceh separatists to try to save a fragile peace agreement, but demanded the rebels stop pushing for independence and start disarming.

The government gave the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) between one and two weeks to respond and held back from launching a full-scale military operation.

"GAM is still given the chance," said military chief General Endriartono Sutarto. "The law enforcement operations, the security operations will be launched only if GAM ignores the opportunity given by the government," he said.

He said there were no plans at present to send more troops to the province, where a separatist revolt has been waged since 1976.

Top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said any decision to launch a military operation would not necessarily be taken after one or two weeks. "We'll see in the near future," he said.

A Joint Council meeting scheduled for last weekend in Geneva, seen as the last hope of salvaging the December 9 peace agreement, was cancelled. Jakarta withdrew in protest after GAM demanded the start be postponed for two days.

"The Joint Council meeting can still be held if there are concrete guarantees, in the form of an explicit and formal statement from GAM to return to the basic concept of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, that is the acceptance of special autonomy as the basis of a peace settlement, and to fulfil its obligation to lay down arms," Mr Susilo said.

GAM gets tough as government discusses Aceh options

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2003

Jakarta -- The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) threatened on Sunday to "teach colonial forces a lesson" if Jakarta resumed its military operation in Aceh, while the government meets to decide the next step in handling the restive province.

Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would discuss on Monday a number of options for handling the Aceh crisis.

"We hope the President can choose one of these options and decide what steps to take in the coming Cabinet meeting on Monday [today]," he told reporters on Sunday after greeting President Megawati Soekarnoputri who has just returned from a 10-day trip to Romania, Russia and Poland.

He said the Cabinet meeting aimed to discuss the continuation of the peace process and the agreement, and evaluate the latest situation in the province following Megawati's return.

Jakarta has intensified its warnings against the rebels, threatening to crush them through a renewed military operation. Troops in Aceh have been reinforced with more likely to be sent if the prospect for peace dims further.

GAM, however, warned of more bloodshed should Jakarta decide to resume its military operation in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

"If Indonesia wants to continue its occupation on the Acehnese through a military operation then we will teach the occupying forces a valuable lesson," said GAM's military wing spokesman Sofyan Dawod in a statement.

Hopes are fading for a peace accord between Jakarta and GAM. Both blame each other for not sticking to the deal but refuse to meet to talk over their differences.

A joint council meeting aimed to salvage the peace accord was scrapped at the last minute last week. Indonesia canceled the meeting, angry over GAM's apparent lack of seriousness when it demanded the meeting be held outside the country and then refused again because the date fell on the weekend. GAM refused to take the blame, saying it was Indonesia that pulled out of the planned meeting.

Signed in December last year, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement remains the strongest hope for lasting peace to return to Aceh. The agreement lays out concrete steps for both sides to defuse tension, and violence has significantly been reduced since the signing.

GAM is supposed to relocate its weapons while the Indonesian Military (TNI) is moved to defensive positions. However, these moves were not entirely followed through. Indonesian officials said GAM was still withholding their weapons while the latter charged that TNI-backed militias were provoking violence.

International peace monitors across the province were evacuated to the province's capital of Banda Aceh, following threats made against them by suspected pro-Jakarta militias.

GAM has been fighting for an independent Aceh since 1976 in a war that has killed some 10,000 people, mainly civilians.

Sporadic violence meanwhile continues. Two employees of state Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) were abducted on Saturday during their trip home from work in Krueng Batee village in the regency of Kuta Fajar.

So far neither side has indicated it will withdraw from the peace process, keeping the hope alive that talks will resume. GAM spokesman Sofyan said that GAM remained committed to the peace accord and Vice President Hamzah Haz said on Saturday that the peace process had to continue.

West Papua

Murders hinder US-Jakarta ties

Associated Press - May 2 , 2003

Steven Gutkin, Jakarta -- The United States remains ready to normalise relations with the Indonesian army, but obstacles including suspicions that soldiers were involved in the murder of two Americans are preventing full restoration of ties, the US ambassador said yesterday.

Ralph Boyce said other obstacles included the slow pace of military reform and resistance to holding officers accountable for human rights abuses, especially in the former Indonesian territory of East Timor.

"There are very troubling questions about who was responsible" for the killing last August of two American teachers and their Indonesian colleague in the eastern province of Papua, Mr Boyce said.

Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation as well as being a key US ally in the war on terror and one of the few democracies in the Islamic world. Its military has a long history of human rights violations.

The Clinton administration cut all sales of military equipment to Indonesia after the 1999 independence referendum in East Timor, during which hundreds of people were murdered at the hands of the Indonesian military and its proxies.

Although Washington in January reinstated a program to train Indonesian officers in the US, there were no immediate plans to restore full military ties or sell arms to Indonesia, Mr Boyce said.

The ambassador said recent trials designed to bring the perpetrators of the East Timor violence to court were "very disappointing".

But he praised Indonesia's efforts to root out Islamic terrorists and said the country had made impressive strides toward democracy in the five years since the fall of the dictator Soeharto. But arrests and other blows against suspected Islamic extremists had not ended the threat of terrorism here.

"It would be folly to assume they are eliminated," Mr Boyce said of Jemaah Islamiah, the suspected al-Qaeda linked terror group believed responsible for the October 12 Bali blasts that killed 202 people.

Mr Boyce said Indonesia had moved beyond breaking up the Bali plot, developing a "pro-active plan of rooting out this organisation".

A series of raids this month uncovered a cache of bomb-making materials and resulted in the arrests of 18 suspected Jemaah Islamiah members with suspected links to the Bali blasts.

Mr Boyce said he believed Muslim extremists had become more vocal since the fall of President Soeharto -- because of newfound freedom of expression -- but not necessarily larger in number. "To me, Indonesia remains a moderate, open, tolerant multicultural society," he said.

TNI clashes with suspected rebel group in Papua

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2003

Netty Dharma Somba, Jayapura -- Soldiers hunting down the suspects in last month's raid against the Wamena military district arsenal, clashed with suspected rebels in Koyawage forest in the Papua regency of Jayawijaya on Thursday.

There were no casualties on either side during the skirmish which lasted for some 15 minutes, said the military chief of the Jayawijaya, Jayapura and Merauke regencies Col. Agus Muljadi.

He said the shooting started shortly after he arrived to inspect the area which he said had long been a stronghold of the Papua Free Movement (OPM). Dozens of soldiers from the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) and the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) have already been deployed in the area and in other parts of the regency.

"They [the rebels] probably saw us coming with the helicopter, and not long after we landed, locals came up to us and said the rebels were hiding not far from where we were," he told The Jakarta Post. Agus was accompanied by Jayawijaya military chief Lt. Col. Marsyum and the regency's secretary John Tujuwale.

He said the shooting started shortly after he ordered his men to pursue the rebels. However, the rebels were able to escape.

The skirmish followed an intensive hunt for the suspects in last month's raid against the Wamena arsenal which killed three people.

A group believed to be members of the OPM rebels broke into the arsenal on April 4. They stole at least 13 M-16 rifles, 13 SP-1 rifles and three PM rifles, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) Headquarters in Jakarta sent 144 Kopassus and Kostrad soldiers to hunt down the suspects. Of the 29 stolen weapons, 21 have been recovered.

The military police unit of the Trikora Military Command, which oversees Papua has also arrested nine soldiers and seven civilians for their alleged involvement in the raid. Six of the nine soldiers were being charged with negligence for which they faced one year imprisonment. The other three however allegedly gave the rebels the weapons and ammunition with which they shot dead two soldiers.

Agus said that since the military operation began to track down the rebels, he heard reports that they were forcibly evacuating people from their villages in the Koyawage forest. He expected these villagers would gradually return home.

He admitted that the government had hardly any contact with the people in Koyawage as the area lacked a district office to represent the government. "In the past, this area was practically controlled by the OPM because there are no government officials," he said.

The OPM group is waging a low level war to fight for the independence of the resource-rich province. Around three million people live in Papua but many live in abject poverty, despite its vast natural resources like gold and oil and gas.

Labour issues

Thousands march against Mega on May Day

Laksamana.Net - May 1, 2003

Thousands of Indonesian workers staged May Day protests in several cities on Thursday, calling for wage increases and the resignation of President Megawati Sukarnoputri.

In Jakarta, about 2,000 workers representing various trade unions gathered at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle before marching to the presidential palace.

The protesters accused Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz of being "lackeys of imperialists and anti-workers", and demanded they resign for failing to improve the national economy.

Manpower Minister Jacob Nuwa Wea was also urged to resign, on the grounds that he has failed to stop the extortion and harassment of migrant workers by labor recruitment firms.

The crowd waved banners with slogans such as "Increase Wages By 100%", "Create Jobs For the People", and "Stop American Colonialism in Iraq".

The protesters also demanded the government declare May Day a national holiday, and called for assistance for 13 Indonesian workers in Hong Kong infected with the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.

The rally was organized by the May 1 Action Committee, which comprises several unions, including the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union, the Women's Alliance, the Federation of Metal Workers Unions (FSPI), and the Indonesian Workers National Front (FNBI).

Rallies were also held in Bandung, West Java; Surabaya, East Java; Medan, North Sumatra; Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara; and Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Labor unions have become a growing force in Indonesia since the authoritarian regime of former president Suharto ended in 1998. Trade unionists and protesters risked being jailed or murdered by the Suharto regime.

Critics of unionists claim that higher labor costs have prompted some manufacturing companies to leave Indonesia in favor China and Vietnam. But unionists argue that government corruption and red tape are more to blame for the departure of investors.

Government enforces new law on industrial relations

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2003

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta -- Despite opposition from minor labor unions, the government has enacted Law No. 13/2003 on industrial relations and labor protection to develop harmonious industrial ties between employers and workers.

The new law, the first draft of which contained many contentious articles that met with strong opposition from workers and employers, was approved by President Megawati Soekarnoputri on March 25.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea told The Jakarta Post here on Thursday that the government had no intentions to change its mind and drop the newly enacted law, nor even to review it, since it had won the support of most employers and investors, as well as a majority of the 68 labor unions registered with the manpower ministry.

"Only seven out of 68 labor unions expressed their objections to the law; so, should the government annul the law or should I quit [my job] for only 100,000 people going into the streets to protest it? "I doubt that the seven unions knew about the changes made in the new law, and the protesters were probably workers or paid hoodlums. The utmost importance is that the law has gained the support of the majority of labor unions representing around 40 million workers nationwide," he said.

Tens of thousands of workers protested in several cities across the country to mark May Day, the International Labor Day, demanding the government to drop the new law and the manpower minister to step down.

The new law regulates workers' rights in regards their salaries, severance and service payments of up to 900 percent, annual leaves, an employees' holiday of one month for three years' employment, days off and social security protection. Employers are also obliged to provide health, transportation and food allowances and special provisions for voluntary child laborers. The law also covers industrial relations, regulating bipartite and tripartite negotiations on industrial disputes and company rules or collective labor agreements.

The government and the House of Representatives are still making final revisions to the bill on the settlement of industrial disputes, regulating bipartite and tripartite institutions, arbitrations and labor courts.

Senior researcher Payaman Simanjuntak hailed the new law, which he said accommodated a greater part of both workers' and employers' aspirations.

"It is impossible for the new law to accommodate all aspirations of both workers and employers simultaneously, since both sides have different interests. But both sides could intensify their bipartite negotiations in making collective labor agreements or deals (KKB) at the corporate level," he said after the launch of his book, Manajemen Hubungan Industrial (Industrial Relations Management) here on Thursday.

Payaman, who is also a professor of labor economics at Krisnadwipayana University in East Jakarta, commended the new law for trying to encourage workers and employers to become harmonious partners in developing better industrial relations.

"Likening a [Western] dance, industrial relations is a process in which workers and employers are complementing, following and supporting one another. After much practice, they become harmonious partners," he said.

Arief Sudjito of the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI) stressed the importance of campaigning the new labor law and of the government closely supervising its enforcement.

"All labor unions and their units at a corporate level should be empowered to campaign the law and to enforce it in bipartite negotiations with employers. Besides, the central government should have on-line contact with provincial and regental administrations in supervising its implementation," he said.

Djimanto, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo), called on the government to exempt small-scale enterprises from ruling on severance and service payments.

"Both the government and workers do not want small-scale companies to close down from facing the difficulties of the current climate," he said, adding that middle-scale and large companies had no major points of contention with the new law.

Thousands of workers mark Labor Day nationwide

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2003

Jakarta -- Thousands of workers took to the streets in Jakarta and other cities across the country on Thursday to commemorate International Labor Day, which falls on May 1, demanding improvements in legal protection and their welfare.

Besides Jakarta, Medan in North Sumatra, Surabaya in East Java, Semarang in Central Java and Makassar in South Sulawesi also saw massive labor rallies.

Representing many labor unions, the workers also demanded the revocation of newly endorsed Law No. 13/2003 on manpower and the draft law on settlement of industrial disputes, which they said favored employers. The workers also said the government should declare May 1 a national holiday as demanded frequently by workers.

Cirebon-based Workers and the Environment Foundation (YBLH) chairman Yoyon Suharyono said that besides marking solidarity with workers around the globe, May 1 also marks victory day for Indonesian workers in their fight for their rights and justice.

"Founding president Soekarno declared May 1 as a national holiday in Government Regulation No. 153/1956, which is still in effect. So, it makes sense if his daughter, incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri, revives the policy," he said, adding that they were disappointed with the government for paying inadequate attention to workers' welfare. The workers also demanded the resignation of Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea.

Besides the labor rallies, thousands of students in Jakarta and Makassar also staged demonstrations, demanding that Megawati and Vice President Hamzah Haz step down for their failure to control the increases in utility rates.

In Jakarta, the rally was organized by the Action Committee for May 1, which includes the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI), the Women's Alliance, the Federation of Indonesian Metal Workers Union (FSPMI) and the Indonesian Labor National Front (FNBI).

Holding free-speech forums at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, the workers also staged a rally in front of the Presidential Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, Central Jakarta, but no Cabinet members met them.

Student groups and many social welfare organizations also joined in the May Day rally, providing more reasons for the resignation of Megawati and Hamzah, who they said had ignored the people's suffering. They said workers have been worst hit by the economic crisis and the increasing prices of basic commodities.

Turning a deaf ear to the workers' demands, minister Jacob praised the demonstration for not erupting into violence, but said the protesters did not represent Indonesian workers and suspected they were hoodlums paid to rock the boat.

"The rallies were carried out by a small number of people, not more than a few thousand, compared to the 40 million-strong Indonesian work force," he said before attending the launch of a book on industrial relations written by labor economist Payaman Simanjuntak.

He added that the rally in Jakarta was organized by only seven labor unions, while there were 68 unions registered with the ministry.

He claimed that 38 unions had expressed their support of the new law on manpower and warned the demonstrators not to provoke other workers to skip work to join the rallies demanding the annulment of the law.

He said the government would not revoke the law on manpower, which was endorsed by the House of Representatives on Feb. 26, saying that "it is the final and best result, which should be accepted by both workers and employers".

Indonesia's work safety worst in SE Asia: ILO

Jakarta Post - April 28, 2003 (slightly abridged)

Jakarta -- Indonesia's safety standards remain the worst in Southeast Asia, as it has the greatest number of workplace accidents, a report says.

A report issued by the International Labor Organization (ILO) in conjunction with the World Day of Safety and Health at Work on Monday, showed that 57,000 accidents took place in companies throughout the country in the first semester of 2002.

"That is the equivalent of 300 accidents per day," the ILO said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Saturday. The report, however, did not provide comparable data from other countries.

Citing a report submitted by the Indonesian Occupational Safety and Health Council, ILO said that only 80 percent of some 16,000 local companies had complied with the regulations and had been granted zero-accident certification.

"The ILO calls for joint efforts to improve worker safety," said ILO, stressing that a strong safety and health culture in all enterprises was a key to preventing both occupational death and disease. "Experience has also shown that a strong safety culture is beneficial, not only for workers, but also for employers and governments," it said.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri called in January on companies operating within the country to improve the safety of their workers.

Worker social insurance company PT Jamsostek reported earlier that the total number of accidents in 2001 reached 104,000, with more than 1,000 fatalities, with hundreds of workers suffering from permanent injuries.

Students/youth

Students demand Supreme Court head resign

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2003

Jakarta -- Some 200 students from the Student Movement for Anti- Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism (Gema KKN) demonstrated in front of the Supreme Court (MA) here on Thursday.

The students demanded that the head of the court, Bagir Manan, send Akbar Tandjung, the chairman of the Golkar Party and the speaker of the House of Representatives, to prison or resign.

"Akbar had been sentenced to three years imprisonment by two courts, so the MA must reject Akbar's appeal and send him to jail," Gema KKN spokesman Julian said as quoted by Antara. Gema KKN, which groups students from several universities and colleges here, urged the Supreme Court to rule immediately on the status of Akbar, who remains free pending his appeal to the court.

"The MA must decide on Akbar's status as soon as possible. If not we will deploy more and more students to occupy the MA," said one of the protesters.

"Akbar Tandjung, who was obviously involved in a graft case involving Rp 40 billion, is still able to smile and to walk around swinging his arms as if he is innocent, just because he is a high state official," a statement from the group said.

Gema KKN said Akbar Tandjung's uncertain legal status would set a bad precedent for just and fair law enforcement.

'War on terrorism'

No compassion for one Bali bombing victim

Green Left Weekly - April 23, 2003

Sarah Stephen -- Ebrihim Sammaki fled Iran after the fall of the Shah, and fell in love with an Indonesian woman, Endong, while he was living in Indonesia. Nine years ago, they married and had two children. Then, two years ago, Ebrihim decided to seek a better life for his family.

Unfortunately, coming by boat to Australia landed him in the Woomera detention centre. He has been in detention ever since.

Because Ebrihim's marriage is not recognised by Indonesia, and he is not a permanent resident, it is unlikely he will be accepted back into Indonesia. Sammaki and his wife asked the Iranian embassy about returning to Iran, but was told his marriage and children would not be seen as legitimate.

In October, exploring a way to be reunited with his family, Ebrihim asked his wife to find legal advice. Endong heard of a lawyer in Bali, who she travelled there to see. In Bali, she was badly burned in the bombing on October 12. Because of Australian immigration department delays, Ebrihim missed an opportunity to be with her when she died.

Their two children, three-year-old Sara and seven-year-old Safdar, remain in Indonesia, under the custody of non-government organisation Zero to One, which was set up in honour of another Bali bombing victim. But it can't take care of them indefinitely.

It's a sad story which Australian authorities have made immeasurably sadder. On April 14, the immigration department rejected a request for a visitors' visa to allow the children to visit their father. Immigration minister Philip Ruddock maintains that it's up to the Indonesian or Iranian governments to reunite the family -- not the Australian government.

In a letter to supporters, written soon after the death of his wife, Ebrihim wrote: "The desert has shown no mercy for our tears and heartache or the cry of the children for their papa."

Shopkeeper jailed over Bali bombing

Sydney Morning Herald - May 2, 2003

Matthew Moore, Jakarta -- The first person charged in connection with the Bali bombing was yesterday found guilty of illegal possession and sale of explosive materials and sentenced to seven months' jail.

Silvester Tendean, 47, a shopkeeper from Surabaya, was convicted of selling more than a tonne of explosives to Amrozi who transported them to Bali where they were made into the car bomb used to kill most of the people who died last October. Taking into account time already served, he is likely to be out of jail in another month.

Tendean owned a chemical shop, Tidar Kimia, in Indonesia's second largest city about three hours' drive from Amrozi's home, in the East Java hamlet of Tengulun.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of only nine months for Tendean after deciding they did not have sufficient evidence to convict him under new anti-terrorism laws being used to prosecute 33 suspects awaiting trial in Denpasar for the Bali bombings.

Instead prosecutors relied on an old law dating back to the Soekarno years covering emergency security situations and he was convicted for not having a proper licence.

"If he had a proper licence, there would be no fault on him. The panel of judges have an opinion that his actions had no link to Amrozi," presiding judge M. Alim told reporters after announcing the verdict.

Tendean's lawyers had argued that their client sold a legal substance and had no knowledge about how the chemicals would be used. Prosecutors were unable to bring Amrozi to court to testify as a witness and had to rely on a police interrogation report of Amrozi. That report said in a conversation between Tendean and Amrozi, Amrozi told Tendean he wanted the chemicals for sale in Nunukan, in East Kalimantan.

Prosecutors decided they could not argue successfully that Tendean knew the explosives were intended for a terrorist attack. Defence lawyer Soediro said because the judgement was brought down late yesterday, he had not had time to talk to Tendean about an appeal.

There was also a matter of difference between the panel of judges, the defence and the prosecution, which needed to be discussed he said, without giving further details.

Amrozi, a mechanic, bought chemicals from Tendean three times from 2000, and took them back to his home. Amrozi faces several terror-related charges, with a primary charge of plotting and arranging people to carry out terror acts. He is expected to appear in court on May 12. The charges carry a maximum penalty of death.

Bashir tells trial that God will be his judge

Agence France Presse - April 30, 2003

Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir began his defence against accusations that he leads a deadly Islamic terror network, saying God would be his judge.

"I testify that there is no other absolute ruler, protector or judge except Allah," the white-robed Bashir, who allegedly heads the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, told the five judges.

"There is no source of law except Allah." A calm Bashir denied the allegations and urged the court not to be swayed by domestic or foreign pressure.

He called for a trial "free from political intervention or the intervention of the powers of the government or the intervention of the subjective interests of parties outside Indonesia."

Bashir is formally charged with treason -- waging a JI jihad, or holy war to topple the government and set up an Islamic state. JI, which is thought to be linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, is suspected of staging the bombing of two Bali nightspots, which killed 202 people last October and a string of other bloody attacks in the region.

Bashir, who is not accused of involvement in the Bali blasts, described accusations against him as "inhumane".

Judges who passed fair verdicts would go to heaven, those who did not would go to hell, he warned in a short statement before his lawyers began addressing the court.

About 70 white-clad supporters demonstrated outside but there were no clashes. "The government should not bow to foreign pressure," one of them shouted through a loudspeaker. "Abu Bakar Bashir is unjustly accused." "Allahu Akbar," (God is Great) supporters shouted. About 100 police imposed tight security and blocked off the court approach road.

The case is seen as a test of Indonesia's commitment to fighting extremism but Bashir has dismissed it as "slander made up by the United States." Prosecutors say the 64-year-old cleric co-founded JI in 1993 in Malaysia.

In an indictment, they say he authorised the Christmas Eve bombings of churches and priests in 2000 which killed 19 people in Indonesia. He is said to have approved a plot to bomb US interests in Singapore, which was foiled with the arrest of 13 JI suspects there.

The cleric is also accused of ordering the assassination of current president Megawati Sukarnoputri when she was still vice president. The attempt on her life was not made. Treason is punishable by 20 years' imprisonment.

Bashir's lawyers said the charges are based on the alleged word of one man -- suspected al-Qaeda operative Omar al-Faruq, who was arrested in Indonesia and secretly handed over to US authorities. Indonesian police say he implicated Bashir in bomb plots during questioning by Jakarta investigators at an undisclosed location.

"The charges against Abu Bakar Bashir were mainly based on the alleged statement of one man ... statements that have been carried by the press and not been confirmed by the person himself," lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution told the court.

The lawyers also said a Jakarta court has no authority to try Bashir since the allegations refer to events at Sukoharjo district in Central Java, where Bashir founded an Islamic boarding school at Ngruki.

They said the main charge also relates to events in Malaysia, where Bashir lived in exile from 1985 in 1999. The hearing was adjourned till May 7.

Security concerns following airport attack

Radio Australia - April 28, 2003

First to Indonesia, where security has been stepped up across the country following yesterday's bomb attack at Jakarta's international airport. Eleven people were injured after a pipe bomb exploded near an airport restaurant. It was the second bomb attack in three days. Jakarta is pointing the finger of blame at local separatists or the Jemaah Islamiah terror group. The airport attack is a major setback for the Indonesian Government which is trying to persuade foreign governments that security is improving.

Presenter/Interviewer: Sarah Gibson

Speakers: Former Indonesian Defence Minister, Professor Juwono Sudarsono; Tim Gerhardseon, assistant information officer at the US Embassy in Jakarta; Dr Sandy Gordon, terrorism expert at the Australian Defence Force Academy

Gibson: Initial suspicion for the bomb blast at Jakarta's Sukarno Hata international airport fell on the Jimah Islamiah terror group. It went off four days after the start of the treason trial of alleged JI spiritual leader, Abul Baka Bashir and the subsequent arrest of 18 JI suspects.

Doctor Sandy Gordon teaches terrorism at the Australian Defence Force Academy and was an intelligence advisor and security analyst for the Australian Federal Police, which has worked closely with the Indonesian government on the Bali bombing. He says it's still not clear whose responsible.

Dr. Gordon: "I notice that the minister for police and security affairs has made that link. The police on the otherhand has said it's possibly linked to the Aceh rebels and it's similar to a bomb according to the police that was detonated in Medan and they blame that on the Aceh rebels Sakam."

"These aren't new events in terms of Indonesia. We had the bombings on the churches and the Bali bombings of course were of a vastly different order in terms of the sophistication of the bombs and the numbers killed. But definitely this is an ongoing cause for concern."

Gibson: Professor Juwono Sudarsono, a former Indonesian defence minister who currently lectures in International Affairs at the University of Indonesia veers towards JI in his assessment, pointing out the symbolism of the bomb which exploded at the airport and near a US fast food outlet. But importantly, he believes this bomb won't be the last.

Sudarsono: "I think that these bombings will probably be repeated over the next couple of weeks simply because these constitute the symbols of resistance against the government on the part of the sympathisers."

"At the moment, we are not to sure about the identity of these current bombers, but we suspect strongly that these would constitute symbolic resistance to the holding of the trials and to the general -- the climate of defiance against the government."

Gibson: Last week, US authorities declared Indonesia safe for the return of non-essential personnel and diplomatic families who were evacuated in the aftermath of the Bali bombings. And despite the latest bomb, the US is not reversing its advice.

America last year gave 50 million US dollars towards police training and counter terrorism. Tim Gerhardseon, assistant information officer at the US embassy in Jakarta, rejects suggestions that Indonesia's campaign against terror has suffered a setback. He says authorities have been heartened by recent arrests and increased security around US diplomatic facilities.

Gerhardseon: "We believe that yes the police training has had a positive impact here in Indonesia. We also feel that the support that we're giving the Indonesian police is just one small part and certainly not the entire driving force towards reform. We think it's a very long process, something that has just recently got underway and also feel that there's been very substantial progress."

Gibson: Former Indonesian defence minister, Juwono Sudarsono, agrees that reform of the police force is a long process that has only just begun. He says Indonesia will never be able to deal with these or any other crimes until the police force has the resources to do its job.

Sudarsono: "One must think that in the circumstances and there are too many cases that are being handled by the police, not just terrorism but even for domestic security, we have never been able to establish a strong and effective police force because the resources and the manpower are just not there."

Gibson: If they don't have the resources now when there's so much publicity, so much of an international spotlight on these problems, do you think they're ever going to have it?

Sudarsono: "Well, I think it's a matter of the statistics, the population of Jakarta is around 8 million and the police force is no more than about 35,000, so I think it's probably too much to expect that they can anticipate every kind of bombing or terrorist acts or semi-terrorist acts."

Gibson: And what else needs to be done to make sure Indonesia is safe for its own citizens and for visitors from other countries?

Sudarsono: "Well, I think realistically we need at least we need at least a 10 year plan to bolster the Indonesian police and the military budget to make them more accountable, more transparent and more fair."

Police link airport blast to Islamist terror trial

The Independent (UK) - April 28, 2003

Kathy Marks, Sydney -- Eleven people were injured, one seriously, when a bomb exploded yesterday in a crowded terminal at the main airport in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

Hundreds of passengers fled Sukarno Hatta international airport in panic after the explosion, which went off at 6am in the departures hall, between a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet and a ticket counter for the national carrier, Garuda. The blast blew out windows, spraying glass around the terminal and tossing rows of chairs through the air. One victim was said to be a girl aged 12.

The Indonesian government blamed the bomb attack on separatist rebels from the troubled province of Aceh, while police said it could be connected with the trial in Jakarta of Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

It was the second blast in the city in four days; on Thursday a small pipe bomb went off outside the main United Nations building in downtown Jakarta. No one was injured in that attack. Chief Detective Lieutenant General Erwin Mapasseng said of yesterday's bomb: "This was meant to terrorise people. If people are scared, then these people have achieved their goal. We're asking people not to panic and to remain calm."

Mr Mapasseng said the blast was caused by "a home-made bomb, of a low explosive type". A spokesman for Jakarta police said the crude bomb had a timing device and was left in a backpack under a bench near the restaurant. "This incident occurred because of the lack of security measures at the airport," he said.

Passengers said there was a brief electrical power cut moments earlier. A deafening blast followed, sending smoke billowing through the terminal. "I was having a cigarette in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and then suddenly there was a big explosion," said Supryanto, a taxi driver. "There was smoke everywhere. I saw people running and two people were on the ground passed out."

The theory that Acehnese rebels were responsible was advanced by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Security Minister, although he gave no reasons. The claim was rejected by leaders of the Free Aceh Movement, who have been fighting a civil war for 26 years with government forces.

Mr Bashir went on trial last Wednesday, charged with organising a series of church bombings that killed 19 people and plotting to overthrow Indonesia's secular government.

General Da'I Bachtiar, the National Police Chief, said: "We believe there are three groups that could have done this: the Free Aceh Movement, those linked to the Bali bombings or Jemaah Islamiyah." Police said they were questioning six witnesses but no arrests had been made. Jemaah Islamiyah has been linked with the Bali bombs, which killed 202 people last October.

Government & politics

PDI-P mulls coalition with Golkar

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2003

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta -- Despite mounting criticism against Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) forging a coalition with Golkar, PDI Perjuangan leader Taufik Kiemas said on Friday that the ruling party was ready to join forces with the political vehicle of former dictator Soeharto.

Taufik, who is also the husband of PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, said that Golkar had listed the best people to be presidential candidates in the 2004 election.

"They [Golkar leaders] named the best people. If I were a presidential candidate, I would be more than willing to run as their running mate," said Taufik, who is the most influential PDI Perjuangan leader.

Asked if PDI Perjuangan was ready to form a coalition with Golkar, Taufik said: "The most important thing is we share a common nationalist platform with the party [Golkar]." Noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid, Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla are just some of Golkar's presidential hopefuls in the upcoming elections.

It was not immediately clear if Taufik was voicing the view of the majority in the party as some party leaders had stated during their national meeting in March that the party should form a coalition with a Muslim-based party.

Presidential candidates from big parties are counting on their running mates to win the 2004 election, when the country is holding its first ever direct presidential election.

Over 200 political parties have registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to contest the election, making it necessary for them to form a coalition to win more than 50 percent of the vote required to form a government.

On Thursday, the New Order Alert Committee (KWOB) and the Petition 50 expressed strong opposition to a coalition between PDI Perjuangan and Golkar, whose chairman Akbar Tandjung had been convicted of graft and sentenced to three years in jail. He is free pending his appeal.

Taufik contended that sharing the same nationalist platform and pluralism were the main conditions for PDI Perjuangan to form a coalition with other parties. However, the final decision of the party's running mate will rest with Megawati, the President, who has been entrusted to choose her own running partner in the upcoming election.

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung said on Friday that his party was ready to form a coalition with any parties that share a common nationalist platform, including PDI Perjuangan. He said so far there had yet to be an official discussion regarding that possibility and that it would be further discussed after the legislative election in April 2004. "Should we have a significant vote in the elections we will find a running mate for our candidates in the presidential election," Akbar told Antara.

Golkar is slated to hold a national conference in October to discuss the issue and will finalize the list of names in February.

Jusuf Kalla, who is also a senior member of Golkar, said on Friday that he was ready to be Megawati's running mate in the elections as long as it was in line with Golkar's decision.

Meanwhile, Vice President Hamzah Haz said that it would be better to have many presidential candidates to enliven the democratic election. "The naming of several presidential candidates opens up the possibility for many capable persons to come forward and lead the country," he said after Friday prayers.

Amien Rais urges Megawati to curb her husband's influence

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2003

Jakarta -- Amien Rais, the Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, here on Friday urged President Megawati Soekarnoputri to curb the influence of her businessman husband, calling him "a disservice to this nation."

In an interview with Associated Press, Amien said Indonesia had made some important strides toward implementing democratic freedoms since the fall of former dictator Soeharto five years ago. But, he said President Megawati, daughter of Indonesia's founding father Sukarno, had surrounded herself with the same kind of corrupt politicians that had plagued the Soeharto dictatorship.

"That has severely hurt Indonesia's attempts to move forward, both politically and economically, in the post-Soeharto era," Amien, who is the contender in the 2004 presidential election, said.

As for the president's husband, businessman Taufik Kiemas, Amien said: "It is a public secret that he is not an asset. He is a liability," adding that "He is a disservice to this nation." AP noted that Western diplomats and the Indonesian media have repeatedly criticized Taufik for using his presidential connection to win lucrative business deals for himself and his cronies. But, the US news agency said efforts to reach Taufik by phone weren't successful.

Media/press freedom

'Tempo' journalists testify to violence

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2003

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta -- Tempo magazine journalists Ahmad Taufik and Karaniya Dharmasaputra testified on Tuesday that defendant David Tjioe, alias A. Miauw, an aide to tycoon Tomy Winata, had physically attacked the weekly's chief editor, Bambang Harymurti, at the Central Jakarta Police station.

Taufik, who failed to turn up at last week's trial due to concerns regarding security, said that David and hundreds of Tomy's supporters had also intimidated Tempo journalists soon after they arrived at the weekly's office on Jl. Proklamasi, Central Jakarta.

"When they first arrived, I heard them shout, 'Burn the office of a provocative media', something they threatened over and over again if we refused to be taken to the police station for an 'investigation'," he told the Central Jakarta District Court.

Tuesday's trial heard the testimonies of Taufik and fellow journalist Karaniya against David. The defendant was charged with violating Article 335 of the Criminal Code on encouraging others to perpetrate acts of violence, which carries a maximum jail sentence of one year.

David, along with hundreds of Tomy's supporters, stormed the weekly's office in early March to demand the retraction of an article implicating their boss with the fire that ravaged the Tanah Abang textile market in Central Jakarta earlier.

Taufik said that the initiative to take those persons responsible for the article to the police station came from David, and not from the policemen present at the weekly's office.

Taufik further added that the assault and acts of intimidation were conducted also by David and a number of Tomy's men inside the Central Jakarta police station.

"Inside the police compound, David physically attacked Bambang three times, hitting him in his stomach and kicking his left leg," he said, and that David ended by caressing Bambang's head while threatening him verbally.

Meanwhile, Karaniya said in his testimony that David threatened to kill him after he objected to the way David treated Bambang. He said that one of Tomy's men beat him from behind after he objected to the assault on his chief editor.

Both Taufik and Karaniya regretted that the police had apparently turned a blind eye to the assault and even appeared to side with Tomy's minions.

"After we had gone through a series of assault and acts of intimidation during the 'interrogation', it was the police who forced us to sign a written agreement with David. Also, when a rumor about us being kidnapped by Tomy's men started to spread, it was the police who forced us to meet with reporters to deny the rumors," he said.

Taufik claimed the police also ordered him to calm down Tomy's supporters by meeting the angry crowd in front of the weekly's office.

Separately, a trial scheduled on Tuesday for Hidayat Lukman, alias Teddy Uban, who is being charged with violating the same article, was delayed because the defendant claimed to be ill.

Presiding Judge Sunaryo announced that the hearing would resume next Tuesday.

Local & community issues

Mob attacks police post in Indonesia

Radio Australia - May 4, 2003

A mob has attacked and ransacked a police post in Indonesia. The incident happened in Palimanan, in West Java, a day after a policeman allegedly shot dead a bus driver following a traffic accident. The company's bus drivers went on strike today to protest the shooting.

The mob, arriving in three buses, swiftly ransaked the police post, burning the contents of the office on the highway in front of the building. Police have arrested two of the assailants.

The head of the local police subdistrict has been dismissed and is under investigation by military police.

Human rights/law

Tanjung Priok case gets prosecutors

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2003

Jakarta -- The Attorney General's Office has appointed 14 prosecutors to handle the case of the 1984 Tanjung Priok shooting incident in which at least 33 people died.

At least 14 active and retired military officers, including the incumbent commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus), Maj. Gen. Sriyanto, have been named suspects in the case.

On September 12, 1984 soldiers opened fire on antigovernment protesters outside the Tanjung Priok mosque in North Jakarta. The shooting left 33 dead and 55 injured, according to a probe by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM). Families of victims say the number of casualties was much higher. Sriyanto headed the North Jakarta military operation at the time.

Attorney General's Office spokesman Antasari Azhar said that most of the 14 prosecutors had handled the prosecution in the East Timor human rights tribunal. "They have had experience with cases on gross human rights abuses at the ad hoc human rights tribunal," he said, referring to the special court set up to try gross human rights violations.

Around 1,000 East Timorese died in the violence that followed East Timor's vote to separate from Indonesia in 1999. The United Nations blamed military-backed militias for the violence.

The tribunal acquitted almost all military and police figures who stood trial for the East Timor violence. Critics blamed the prosecutors for ignoring evidence presented by the UN, among others.

Focus on Jakarta

Tebet land scandal, case of city losing its assets

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2003

Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta -- The illegal sales of the city administration's nine-hectare site in the subdistrict of Tebet Barat, South Jakarta, to private companies was another example of how the city lost its assets.

A reliable source at the Bung Karno Sports Complex Management (BP Gelora Bung Karno) said on Friday that the asset sales was conducted by a former high-ranking official in the city administration in the 1980s. But, he added, how it was sold to the private sector remained a mystery.

"The land is still registered as an asset of BP Gelora Bung Karno, but in actuality, its ownership had already been transferred to private companies when it was being managed by the city administration," said an official at BP Gelora Bung Karno, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He said that, when the government wanted to develop the Senayan Sport Complex in the 1950s, it cleared 320 hectares of land in Tebet to relocate residents who had previously lived on the site for the construction of the sports complex.

Of the total 320 hectares, 30.5 hectares -- consisting of 11.5 hectares of an area known as Rawabilal and 19 hectares of green areas -- were not developed, as they were swamps and wetlands.

Based on an agreement between the city administration and BP Gelora Bung Karno on May 24, 1965, the 30.5 hectares of land was managed by the city administration, on the condition that the Senayan Sports Complex management would receive a 50 percent share if the land was sold.

A document from BP Gelora Bung Karno reports the current condition of the site in Tebet as follows: Of the 11.5 hectares of Rawabilal, five hectares have been developed into the Vila Tebet Mas housing complex and four hectares into warehouses belonging to private companies. The remaining area was turned into public facilities, including mosques, schools and subdistrict office buildings.

Meanwhile, parts of the 19 hectares allocated for green areas are now occupied by a variety of buildings, including gasoline stations and illegal housing.

The BP Gelora Bung Karno management wondered how the nine hectares of land could have been sold to private companies without its knowing. "If the land was sold, we should have been informed," the source added.

Responding to the BP Gelora Bung Karno management, the city administration said that it had bought 60,508 square meters of the land from PT. Taman Tebet Indah, and another 36,860 square meters from Loa Sek Tjoe. However, a question follows as to how state lands could have come into the hands of PT Taman Tebet Indah and Loa Sek Tjoe.

Another source at BP Gelora Bung Karno said that the land had been sold by a former high-ranking official. The source, who also requested anonymity, said that he was informed by a former official of Tebet Barat subdistrict. "The subdistrict head at that time refused to sign the land sales document, but he did not know how far the sales had proceeded, nor could proceed," the source said.

City Assets

Bureau director Rama Budhi admitted recently that the city administration had lost much of its assets due to poor management at private companies and because of the fact that it had no deeds to the properties.

He refused to elaborate further, but he did say that of the 8,000 or so properties belonging to the city, worth Rp 74 trillion (US$8.7 billion) in total, the city only has deeds to 2,600.

News & issues

Where women are sold as sex slaves for $500

Sydney Morning Herald - May 3 , 2003

Matthew Moore. -- She cried often, fainted once and she lied a lot. But mostly Adistia just laughed and laughed with a mother's irrepressible delight at being reunited with kids she thought she would never see again.

It was not just hugging them and having them again that kept Adistia beaming for much of Wednesday; it was the fact she knew how lucky she was to have finally made it back to the slum that will be her home.

Sold into prostitution last year, the 30-year-old mother of three had resigned herself to never escaping the brothel on Karimun Island near Singapore where she had spent nearly all of the past 15 months.

When two Indonesian police officers, including the local police chief, booked her on Friday night eight days ago, she was naturally suspicious about their explanation that they wanted to take her to a Koran reading competition. But that is where they took her to hear her story.

It all began on January 12 last year when she visited two friends in Cikampek, just outside Jakarta.

A husband-and-wife team named Dewi and Hen dropped by. Skilled at making the implausible sound convincing, the two chatted to the women for a while before offering them jobs in Singapore or Malaysia, a chance to join thousands of unskilled Indonesians working there to support families left behind.

"I don't know why but I simply accepted. I told them I wanted to go to see my family, to bid farewell, but they said they couldn't wait. I had nothing; I only brought a few clothes, my praying kit -- nothing else." Unemployed and desperate, the three women agreed to go.

Asked how she could believe the promise of a job as a cashier or a maid in Singapore, Adistia said: "They were so convincing. They said in one week I could earn enough to buy 10 handphones." Dewi and Hen bought ferry tickets to Tanjung Balai in Karimun and escorted the women on the 900-kilometre trip. As there was no connecting ferry to Singapore, they told them they would have to stay overnight.

"So we went to Best Karaoke. They said it was a shelter, and when I entered I was surprised there were a lot of girls with heavy make-up and a lot of tattoos. And then I realised I was sold. I cried and I was told to go upstairs." Dewi and Hen were paid about $500 for each woman and Harry, the club manager, was in no mood for sympathy when Adistia initially refused to work. "I was put in a toilet and locked up. I did not get food and drink for a week." Two months later Best Karaoke sold her to a nearby brothel called Payalaboh. Adistia knew she had been sold because her new "mommy" told her she owed $350, plus $160 each month for her food and board.

When police asked why she had not complained earlier about being sold, Adistia asked incredulously: "To whom could I complain?" Officers from the police station at the entrance to Payalaboh are the ones who make sure the women do not escape.

Indonesia has no specific anti-trafficking laws and relies instead on the general criminal code, which provides a theoretical maximum sentence of six years for those who buy and sell people.

Despite the distress trafficking causes, what happened to Adistia, and most of the women she worked with, is not regarded as a crime.

In its report this year, Eradication of Trafficking in Persons, by the Ministry of Co-ordination of People's Welfare, the Government openly admits its own officials help traffickers by issuing fake identity cards and simply turning a blind eye. No government official has been imprisoned and the worst they can expect if caught is a delay in promotion or in the next increase in salary.

And yet there are signs that mounting international pressure as well as lobbying from some Indonesians are starting to change things.

Her chance to see her family again came in March, when an Indonesian group, the Women's Journal Institute, managed to talk to her while making a film on trafficking. Adistia told the group's head, Gadis Arivia, that she was desperate to get out and Dr Arivia took up her cause. She approached senior bureaucrats in Jakarta and raised Adistia's case in a videoconference including participants from the United States. Finally the director-general of the welfare ministry agreed to contact Jakarta police headquarters, which in turn instructed the local police to get Adistia out. No one was more surprised than Adistia's "mommy" when the local police chief told her Adistia was going with them.

Adistia recalled: "She asked, 'Do you have relatives working in the police office in Jakarta?" Police intervention was enough to waive Adistia's "debt", still standing at $280 after more than a year's work, even if it did not lead to the "mommy's" arrest or prompt any wider police inquiry into the hundreds of women in Karimun who have been sold.

The Division for the Informal Economy for Women in the Welfare Ministry says laws make it difficult to prosecute most traffickers. "If we ask the girls to give evidence they refuse," an official said. "I don't know why but maybe they are scared." He said Indonesia was rated tier three -- among the worst of the world's trafficking nations -- and he wanted new laws and equipment to tap traffickers' telephones and laws to protect witnesses who testified against them.

On the five-hour drive from Jakarta to Adistia's home, she talked about her own fears about going home. How would she readjust to impoverished village life? What would she tell her children who thought she had been overseas, and how could she explain her empty pockets when everyone thought she had been to Singapore?

One thing she knew was that she would never tell the truth. "I will never tell my friends what happened. I will probably tell my mother, but otherwise only I will know. Of course I feel ashamed of myself. I know that people look down at you if you do this kind of job, but I am prepared for this kind of reaction.

"People in general don't know about trafficking; they just think you're a prostitute. Maybe they would think differently if they knew about trafficking." When she got close to home these worries evaporated as Adistia grew desperate to see her children. She collapsed when she learnt her family had moved. Finally she tracked them down to a maze of rice paddies. Along tracks too small for cars, she walked from village to village, asking directions, getting steadily closer until some mother's instinct told her she was there.

And then she ran, shouting their names, soaking her clothes as she rushed through puddles until she had them to hug and to kiss.

Environment

Malaysian plantation firm to pay 1.1 million over haze

Agence France Presse - May 1, 2003

A Malaysian-owned plantation firm whose director was ordered jailed for causing smoke haze on Indonesia's Sumatra island has agreed to pay more than one million dollars in compensation, an official said.

"Following an agreement on April 23 with the company, PT Adei Plantation agreed to pay 1.1 million dollars in settlement money to the government," said Nixon Silalahi, an environment ministry official.

He said the government would drop a civil lawsuit against the firm following the agreement. The money would be used to finance reforestation programs.

Silalahi said the company was earlier taken to court on criminal charges of allowing fires to burn at its plantation in Riau province in 1999-2000, worsening the haze that blanketed the region during the dry season.

PT Adei's president, a Malaysian identified only as Goby, was originally ordered jailed for two years. The Supreme Court cut the sentence to eight months plus a 100 million rupiah (11,300 dollar) fine, Silalahi said.

Environmental officials found that 17 fires burning on Adei's land had engulfed 3,000 hectares, the Jakarta Post reported. The government has outlawed the use of fire to clear land for cultivation in an attempt to combat smoke haze but prosecutions are rare.

The haze, an annual hazard for millions of Indonesians and sometimes for their neighbours, is largely from such fires. In 1997, and to a lesser extent in 1998, choking haze from Indonesia blanketed parts of Southeast Asia for months and caused serious health and transport problems.

The Center for International Forestry Research, in a recent report, said 11.7 million hectares of Indonesian forest and other land were destroyed by fire in those two years alone.

Jakarta's floating N-plant idea hits rough water

Straits Times - April 28, 2003

Shefali Rekhi -- Indonesia's plan to buy a floating nuclear power plant from Russia is raising concerns about pollution, terrorism and accidents.

When and if a deal is signed, the floating power plant could be in place sometime between 2015 and 2017, Research and Technology Minister Hatta Radjasa has told reporters.

But many believe Indonesia should give the project a second thought. Environmentalists and anti-nuclear campaigners point to the risks of radioactive discharge and possible leakage of nuclear waste that could contaminate waterways.

Imagine a terrorist strike on such a soft target, its detractors say, while asking what might happen in the event of an accident such as the meltdown which caused the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

An accident along the coasts of Indonesia could lead to widespread contamination of neighbouring countries, Greenpeace activist Jean McSorley told The Straits Times from London.

The campaigner, who spent six years in South-east Asia, said Indonesia should also not forget that it lies in a geologically unstable area, vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

A floating nuclear plant with a ship-based reactor to generate 40 megawatts of power was offered to Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri during her visit to Moscow earlier last week.

Russia has recently started work on its own seaborne nuclear power plant off the Barents Sea port of Severodvinsk. It is due to become operational in about five years.

"Indonesia must be cautious about investing in sensitive infrastructure capabilities as long as there is an active terrorist network in the country," said Mr Rohan Gunaratna of Singapore's Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies.

"The project would be a soft target. Let's not forget that the Jemaah Islamiyah mounted surveillance for maritime attacks before and after Sept 11 and is working closely with the Al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the USS Cole attacks," he said.

There are also questions about whether Indonesian workers are capable of handling both the project itself and any emergency work that might be required in the event of an accident.

"My key concern as an Indonesian is that we as a nation are careless people," said Mr Agus Pambagio, a Jakarta-based public- policy and consumer-issues observer. "There could be no problems in obtaining the plant and getting it operational -- but finally we have to run it. Past experience shows we have been careless in maintenance and there is corruption. To me, the proposal sounds dangerous."

But Indonesia's guiding factor could be its growing energy needs, with demand expected to exceed supply by as early as 2005.

Health & education

305,000 illiterate in NTB

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2003

Mataram -- Around 305,000 people in West Nusa Tenggara are illiterate, according to estimates by a local official on Friday.

Head of the West Nusa Tenggara office for education, youth and sports affairs Zaini Arony said that the 305,000 illiterates were in the 10 to 40 age group. The province has a population of around 3.8 million.

Governor Harun Al Rasyid said he hoped to eliminate illiteracy within five years. "For the time being, we are targeting 30,000 people. In coming years this figure will be doubled and more," he promised.

Zaini said the local government had a six-month program to teach people reading and writing. The focus of the program was to provide them with practical knowledge that they could apply during their daily activities, he said.

Illegal drugs reach established community, minister says

Jakarta Post - April 30, 2003

Arya Abhiseka, Jakarta -- Indonesia's role in drug trafficking has increased significantly in recent years as it has not only become a transit port but also a major producer.

The death sentence handed down to businessman Ang Kiem Soei, who owned a large factory producing ecstasy for worldwide consumption, made the nation aware of the fact that illegal drugs were not so distant.

It is alarming as illegal drugs have nowadays reached the established community, restricting the nation's development and limiting the number of qualified human resources, manpower and transmigration minister Jacob Nuwa Wea said here on Tuesday.

"Illegal drugs have directly endangered the productivity of the nation as more workers and professionals consume them," he said during a briefing on creating a drug-free working environment.

The briefing was organized by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) on Tuesday involving some 297 participants from about 40 companies. The meeting was aimed at urging each individual to become aware of the use of illegal drugs in their work community.

According to data issued by BNN about 80 percent of drug users in the country are in their productive years of between 20 and 45. Some 85 percent of them hold permanent jobs including some who are top executives. This has affected the nation's productivity as work related dangers have increased three to four fold, the data said.

Drugs have become more commonplace and popular among professionals, who consume various drugs such as ecstasy, cocaine, heroine, marijuana and shabu-shabu (crystal amphetamine).

BNN chairman Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, who is also the National Police chief, said on Tuesday that drugs, which were a worldwide concern, "had infiltrated our society, restricting the nation's potential to further develop".

He said the use of illegal drugs by established professionals has retarded the nation's economic growth and productivity. "It can impair human resources and threaten political instability," he said.

There were some 3,751 drug related cases in 2002, showing an increase of around 3.7 percent from the previous year.

"We have come to the conclusion that fighting drug trafficking is mainly about how to limit demand and supply. "I propose a 'prevention is better than cure' slogan for our campaign against drugs," Da'i said.

He explained that the police had planned to implement several measures such as imposing more strict punishment to prevent production, trafficking and drug abuse.

Art & popular culture

Indonesia's controversial star

BBC News - May 1, 2003

Becky Lipscombe, Jakarta -- Indonesians have a new idol -- a hip-swinging singer who's gyrated her way into fame, fortune, and a whole lot of trouble.

Inul Daratista has achieved the level of success where a second name becomes unnecessary. Inul is what her legions of fans scream, it's what the chat show hosts gossip about; even those who denounce her call her just Inul.

To all intents and purposes there is only one Inul, and you'd be hard-pushed to find an Indonesian who doesn't have an opinion on her. The reason? Her dancing. Inul may be a fine singer, but the controversy is all about the way she wiggles her hips. The local media have christened it "ngebor" -- "drilling".

"I dance by moving my hips in a circle, first slowly, then faster and faster" Inul said. "It's not erotic, it's energetic, mixed with Indonesian traditional dances." Inul came to prominence singing "dangdut" -- the infectious blend of Indian, Malay and Arab sounds popular in rural Indonesia. In her skin-tight, sequinned costumes, a blur of movement, Inul has brought dangdut to a whole new audience.

Hottest star

Sexually suggestive dancing has long been part of the dangdut tradition, but it's rarely made the transition from the small towns of rural Java to the big stage. Now Inul's shown how it can be done, music industry professionals must be wondering why they didn't think of it earlier.

Pirated VCD recordings of Inul's concerts sell in their millions; her TV show pulls in more viewers than any of its rivals. She is, without doubt, Indonesia's hottest star. But the very qualities that have won Inul fervent admirers right across Indonesia have got her into trouble with more conservative elements of society.

Indonesia's senior Islamic clerics, the Council of Ulemas (MUI), have described Inul's dancing as pornographic, and likely to encourage "lustful acts".

Dr Sulkieflimansyah, of the Islamic Justice Party, said the fear was that other artists would follow Inul's lead. "Many people in show-business will see this kind of phenomenon as a short cut to being famous," he said. "If Inul does something erotic, people will want to do more than that to be famous very quickly." Inul's response to the criticism is heartfelt. "I don't want people to tell me what to do," she told me. "They can give me advice, but they can't stop me singing or dancing the way I want to. I'm a Muslim, but I'm also an artist. I don't want to mix religion and art."

'Authentic'

Dangdut experts say Inul's performances are actually far closer to "real" dangdut, as performed in rural East and Central Java, than the more refined, sanitised, version Indonesians are used to seeing on their TVs.

"Dangdut as presented by Inul is a kind of dangdut that most people in the villages are familiar with," said Bre Redana, editor of Sunday Edition newspaper. "And those people, they never judge that entertainment as morally corrupt." It seems those who pronounce Inul bad for the nation's moral health are not necessarily speaking for those they seek to represent. And it's just possible the latest twist in the Inul tale could herald a small triumph for freedom of expression in Indonesia.

After an astonishing attack by the self-styled "King of Dangdut", Rhoma Irama, Inul has found herself back in the headlines once more. Rhoma, a favourite of former President Suharto, called for a boycott of Inul, describing her dancing as vulgar, and even suggesting her concerts could lead men to rape.

Those comments, not so very different from those the MUI made, have been met with outrage from women's groups, artists, journalists, and, this time, from some Muslim leaders too.

"This is a case of freedom of expression," said former President Abdurrahman Wahid, a senior figure in Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation, Nahdlatul Ulama. "There is no argument for limiting her expression, because she does not violate any law."

For as long as she keeps dancing, Inul's popularity shows absolutely no sign of declining. Quite the opposite. It seems the self-proclaimed "moral majority", who are so offended by Inul, may not actually represent the majority of Indonesians this time.

Many Indonesians are seizing the opportunity to champion free speech and free artistic expression. The repercussions could remain long after the fuss over Inul has died down.

International relations

Canberra moves to re-assess relationship with Jakarta

Radio Australia - May 2, 2003

Ministers from around the Asia Pacific region have wound up a two day conference on people smuggling and other trans-national crime in Bali. The meeting was co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia, and both countries describe it as a positive first step on which to build further co-operation. That comes as Australia re- assesses its relationship with Indonesia at a Parliamentary Inquiry in Canberra.

Transcript:

Dobell: Australia's diplomats start from the perspective that the relationship with Indonesia over 55 years has had turbulent periods and will inevitably continue to be tested.

Foreign Affairs says Indonesia's government and its people expressed strong opposition to the war in Iraq and Australia's military involvement. But top Australian diplomat, Jennifer Rawson says the Indonesian government defined limits which helped relations with Australia.

Rawson: At the governmental level while making clear its opposition to military action, it also stated clearly that it was not a war against Islam, it did not see it as that, it made it clear that while people were fully free to express their views in peaceful demonstrations, the government would take action against those who chose to demonstrate their opposition in a violent way, and it certainly not only in what it said but what it did, met that commitment.

Dobell: Foreign Affairs says one positive outcome from the Bali bombings in October has been what's described as unprecedented and effective cooperation between the two governments. Australian police experts are to continue working in Indonesia for the foreseeable future to help track down terrorist networks.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Anti Terrorism and Intelligence Policy, Bryce Hutchesson, says teams from the AFP, the Australian Federal Police, are investigating the Bali bombings and helping with wider work on terrorist groups in Indonesia.

Hutchesson: The AFP is part of an investigative taskforce that has been established, that is to be an ongoing thing and certainly as part of this training package we do expect to have AFP advisors on the ground for the foreseeable future working with their Indonesian counterparts on a range of capacity building initiatives and also in more direct operational investigative ways.

Dobell: Mr Hutchesson says there's been good progress in Southeast Asia in disrupting links with Al Qaeda and in dealing with the local extremist group, Jemaah Islamiah with 30 arrests connected to the Bali bombings. But he says the threat of further attacks in the region remains.

Hutchesson: The reality is that these organisations still do retain a capability, it's harder for them now, a lot of targets have been hardened, that may in fact suggest that what we are looking at is the possibility of more opportunistic attacks or attacks on softer targets of the sort that we saw in Bali.

Indonesia lambasts Australia for its part in a 'gruesome' war

Sydney Morning Herald - April 30, 2003

Wayne Miller, Bali and agencies -- Indonesia has lashed out at Australia, the United States and its allies for "a gruesome war" in Iraq, saying it had brought human suffering to a new level.

The country's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, launched his broadside during an international conference on people smuggling in Bali yesterday -- after first thanking Australia for co- chairing the meeting of 32 countries.

"Much to our dismay, we meet today under the shadow of surging unilateralism," Dr Wirajuda said. "That unilateralism has brought about a gruesome war in Iraq and a new level of human suffering. In the process, the spirit of multilateralism embodied in the UN has been shunted aside."

There have been large demonstrations against the war throughout Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. But Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said Australia had gone out of its way to tell Indonesia the war in Iraq was not a war against Islam.

"Both the Prime Minister and I very much appreciate the way that domestically Indonesia has managed to keep the population under control," Mr Downer said in Bali. "The demonstrations didn't get out of control, there was no significant violence and I think the Indonesian Government deserves a good deal of credit for its careful management of this difficult issue."

The Prime Minister, John Howard, is due to meet the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, soon to support a permanent non-veto seat for Indonesia on a revamped Security Council.

Dr Wirajuda's comments were the harshest yet by the Indonesian Government, which strongly opposed the American decision to invade Iraq without the support of the UN.

But Mr Downer played down Dr Wirajuda's comments, saying Indonesia had to manage its problems in its own way. He said the relationship between Australia and Jakarta had strengthened considerably over the past 18 months.

The UN did not always have the ability to resolve conflicts in the international community, he said. "It didn't achieve a very good outcome in Rwanda, where 700,000 people were killed. It achieved a good outcome in East Timor. It varies." The conference focused on people-smuggling and related transnational crime. Reports were delivered behind closed doors.

Dr Wirayuda said Indonesia would work with international authorities to return asylum seekers to their countries of origin. He said it was against his government's policy to help boats continue their voyage to Australia.

But Indonesia also said it would not detain boat people who arrived on its shores, because it did not want to encourage the development of camps of thousands of boat people like those that grew up on Galang island, off Sumatra, following the Vietnam War.

Today's talks will deal with co-operation to combat terrorism.

Economy & investment

BP sidesteps extortion of Indonesia's army

The Times (London) - May 2, 2003

Tim Johnston -- If the shipping lanes of South-East Asia have their dangers, doing business on land can be just as fraught. Western oil and mining companies have discovered to their cost that the locals are not always welcoming. BP is the latest multinational to test the area's resolve.

The oil giant has just announced the winners of a tender to construct a $1.4 billion (A$870 million) natural gas liquefaction plant to serve the Tangguh liquid natural gas (LNG) project in Indonesia's restive eastern province of Papua. The project is due to come on stream in 2007.

Corruption in Indonesia, unrest in Papua itself and an increasingly fragmented gas market make Tangguh a higher-risk project than most. Indonesia is noted for its corruption and ranks 96 out of 102 countries in Transparency International's Global Corruption Index. Most investors pay the price.

PT Freeport Indonesia, part of the Freeport McMoRan mining group, admitted paying $5.6 million to the Indonesian military last year for protection of its Grasberg copper and gold mine, which is also in Papua province. The Indonesian military receives only 30 per cent of its funding from central government and makes up the shortfall by having its fingers in almost every pie in Indonesia, from hospitals to illegal logging.

Until now, paying protection money to the security services has been all part of doing business in Indonesia. BP has vowed that it will not follow this path. The company has taken a very public stance against corruption and says that it will not pay any bribes or pay the military or police to carry out their duties.

Instead, it is backing a community-based security policy, which involves everyone from the local Papuan communities in the vicinity of the plant, to the local authorities and the regional and national security forces. By creating a web of mutual reliance and protection, BP hopes to create an atmosphere in which an attack on the project or an attempt at extortion would be seen as an attack on the community and nation as a whole.

Some believe that although the community-based approach is likely to be effective in minimising threats from Papuan separatists, BP's attempt to deny the military a slice of the Tangguh project is bravery bordering on foolishness. BP disagrees, arguing that paying the army for security has been part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

Arian Ardie, a senior consultant to BP Indonesia, says the policy of surrounding businesses with a ring of steel has been at the root of the security problems. He says: "If you look at Papua -- the basis of conflict there and the security incidents there -- many have happened because of an actual security presence that companies have brought in, and that is what we have to avoid. What we don't want is where the military takes a role in protecting us from the community: we are part of the community. We have contingency plans but those contingency plans cannot rely on ever-increasing use of force or the threat of violence. That will not lead us to a more secure and stable work environment."

Ardie says that there has already been considerable consultation with the military -- known locally as Tentara Nasional Indonesia, or TNI -- as well as with local and national government, and the response has been favourable. He says: "The community-based security programme is not a novel concept. It is very much in line with the overall security policy of TNI and the police. The problem is that in terms of implementation, that has not always been the case."

BP is taking a brave stance in a country where the military has a well-earned reputation for stepping outside its allotted role and where, five years after the fall of the disgraced dictator, President Suharto, the civil government still seems unwilling to challenge the power of the army. Sidney Jones, a respected observer of Indonesian politics, believes that BP is following the morally correct route, but cautions that it will not be easy. Jones, who heads the office of the International Crisis Group in Indonesia, says: "I think they are doing the right thing, and the right thing is not to hire TNI as security, but there will clearly be a lot of manoeuvring with TNI, particularly when the money starts to flow."

Three Freeport employees, including two Americans, were murdered last year in an ambush near the Grasberg mine. No one has been brought to justice for the crime, but the police have accused the army special forces of being behind the killings. Some observers allege that the attack was part of an attempt by the military to extort more money from Freeport. The military has denied the accusations.

Ardie says that if BP is the victim of repeated extortion attempts that cannot be solved through official channels, the company could invoke the ultimate sanction of shutting down the project. He says: "By [paying protection money] we have a much greater risk to our reputation, and that loss in reputation [would be] much bigger than the specific assets we have on the ground."

One observer says that whether or not BP is prepared to carry out its threat is less important than whether the Indonesian authorities believe it is prepared to carry it out. Gavin Thompson, a senior energy analyst with Wood Mackenzie Consultants, says he believes that BP would follow through on its threat. "It is undoubtedly realistic," he says. "We have ingrained in their company policy that they won't give bribes. It is a question of whether they would walk away immediately or go back to the table."

Privatization has led to selling of state assets: Golkar

Antara - May 2, 2003

Jakarta -- Golkar Party has expressed concern over the Indonesian government's program to privatize and divest a number of state companies, as it has led to the selling of state assets, which could undermine the country's economic independence, its chairman has said.

Golkar is thus urging the government to consider the people's interests and the economy in proceeding with its privatization and divestment program, Akbar Tandjung said while conveying the results of the meeting of the party's leaders which ended here Friday.

Akbar, who is also speaker of the House of Representatives, said the government should give priority to efforts to stabilize the price of basic necessities for the sake of the people, especially the poor.

Can Jakarta bid IMF goodbye?

Business Times - May 2, 2003

There have been some economists who have argued that exiting the existing IMF programme while simultaneously devising a new economic strategy puts Indonesia's macro-economic stability at risk. They also argue that without the IMF, the government could stray from maintaining economically prudent policies. Furthermore, Indonesia could also forfeit some US$3 billion worth of a debt rescheduling facility next year from lenders grouped under the Paris and London Clubs if it does not renew the IMF programme. And without such facilities, foreign investors could get spooked, and that in turn could put pressure on the rupiah and force interest rates to rise again.

But many Indonesians seem convinced that five years after the multilateral lending institution signed its first Letter of Intent with Jakarta, it may indeed be time for the country to go its own way. Certainly, there is no denying that over the past five years, the IMF's support has allowed Indonesia to not only rebuild its devastated economy but to also emerge from a long- drawn-out political crisis. Since Suharto's fall in May 1998, the Fund has seen the country through three presidents and has worked with at least five chief economics ministers. To its credit, throughout this time the Fund has kept to its central economic message of the need for Indonesia to practise fiscal sustainability and financial prudence.

But for Indonesia to move on from dealing effectively with a financial crisis to putting in place a long-term economic development strategy, there is a case to be made for cutting ties with the IMF when the current programme ends in December. It must be remembered that the IMF is a crisis-driven supra-national agency whose key mission is to provide crisis-hit countries with emergency financial assistance. Truth be told, the Fund is neither geared nor mandated to play the role of formulating and implementing a long-term economic growth strategy. Its policies are specifically targeted at helping crisis-hit countries rebuild their foreign reserves and restore macroeconomic stability. On both these counts, its mission in Indonesia has been completed, given that the country's foreign reserves now stand at US$32 billion -- even higher than before the crisis -- and macroeconomic stability has been attained, as reflected by falling interest rates and a strengthening currency, despite ongoing security concerns in the country.

Indonesia now needs to build on these achievements by devising a broad economic blueprint that leverages on its own strengths. Such a blueprint should encompass re-attracting foreign direct investment flows into the country; reviving the mass-production manufacturing base given its cost-competitiveness vis-a-vis its regional neighbours; and developing local SMEs which can leverage on the country's wealth of natural resources.

Domestic investment

To attain sustained gross domestic growth of 6 per cent or higher, the country needs to boost domestic investment, as private consumption -- which has fuelled economic growth over the past two years -- cannot continue to expand at the same rate for much longer without new capacity. And as part of its push on regional autonomy and development of the provinces, the government should encourage private domestic investments to build up infrastructure.

Indonesia has sufficient foreign reserves to prevent another economic meltdown and enough experience to recognise potential problems early. Moreover, as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank will still play a crucial role in the country, external creditors can sleep soundly knowing their interests will be looked after. So by going it alone and developing its own economic development paradigm, the government could gain a crucial psychological edge and Indonesians will regain their self-confidence.

IMF says indonesia may surpass 2004 GDP growth target

Dow Jones Newswire - May 2, 2003

Linda Silaen, Jakarta -- The International Monetary Fund said Friday that Indonesia's economy in 2004 could grow by more than the government's forecast of between 4% and 5%.

The IMF's director for Asia Pacific, Daniel Citrin, who is leading a review of Indonesia's economy, also said the government's 2004 budget deficit target of 1% of gross domestic product was "reasonable." The Washington-based fund believes growth could surprise on the upside in 2004 due to Indonesia's efforts to stabilize its economy, Citrin said. The exchange rate remains stable, which has allowed the central bank to reduce interest rates, he added.

Over the next two weeks the fund team will review Indonesia's efforts to reform its economy. The IMF lends money to Indonesia under a $5 billion program, in return for which the country commits to overhauling its economy.

Key commitments under the current program include selling a controlling stake in the nationalized PT Bank Danamon by this month, and offering shares in state-owned PT Bank Mandiri through an initial public offering in the second half.

Indonesia has said it won't ask the IMF for more loans when its current program expires at the end of this year.

The country must prove to investors it is serious about reforms, especially in the judicial sector, in the coming months to win back foreign investor confidence before the IMF pulls out.

Indonesia almost certain to part with IMF this year

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2003

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta -- The Indonesian government is almost certain not to extend its contract with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which will terminate at the end of this year.

Aside from forming a team to review the most suitable exit strategy, the government has also set a team tasked with reviewing policies to be applied after the program ends.

On Thursday, both teams conducted closed-door meetings with various parties to draw up the most suitable policies for the government. The exit strategy team, headed by Anggito Abimanyu, met with representatives of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and a number of business associations.

Sources said that the meeting discussed the future of tax reforms, when the IMF was no longer in charge of its supervision. Kadin, the sources said, wanted to make sure that the tax reforms would not place additional burdens on businesses.

At present, the exit strategy team has yet to come up with options on how to part ways with the IMF, but there are several available alternatives.

Meanwhile, the policy review team, headed by State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, met with Japanese economists to discuss recommendations on how to improve the country's macroeconomic conditions in a post-IMF era. The Indonesian- Japanese think tank is known as the Joint Indonesian-Japanese Cooperation Team.

Economist Sri Adiningsih, a team member, said the recommendations from the team had been presented to President Megawati Soekarnoputri on the same day.

"The recommendations cover the problems that might lie ahead and what measures should be taken, as well as the preparations that should be made after the IMF era," Adiningsih told The Jakarta Post after the meeting.

Other members of the Indonesian team include economist Sri Mulyani Indrawati, education expert and legislator Mochtar Buchori and legislator Herry Ahmady -- the latter two are both from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

The Japan team, led by Shujiro Urata, a professor at Waseda University, comprises of professors from Japan's noted universities and experts from economic and trade policy institutions.

Also present at Thursday's meeting were Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman Syarifuddin Temenggung, Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Abdul Irsan, and officials from the Japanese Embassy and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the recommendations basically covered strategies on how to deal with state financial issues as well as the confidence crisis among foreign creditors that would possibly arise, as most creditors currently rely on the IMF to gauge Indonesia's credit-worthiness.

To maintain foreign creditors' confidence in the government, the joint Indonesian-Japanese team of experts recommended that the government "make the most use of" the Consultative Group for Indonesia (CGI). The CGI may serve as a platform for the government and its international counterparts to discuss various macroeconomic policies and their applications.

Further, the team also suggested that the government continue with the structural reform programs as outlined in the government's letters of intent (LoIs) to the IMF.

On how to boost revenues, the team suggested the government launch a tax reform by focusing not on a higher tax rate, but a higher revenue yield and by creating a more balanced burden for all taxpayers.

According to the team, the government needed to increase the state budget revenue by up to 2 percent in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to fund important expenditures.

To cover the possible budget deficit, the team also suggested that the government borrow from the domestic market by issuing bonds. More and more investors have recently invested in government bonds, in addition to the central bank's promissory notes (SBI), as both tools are considered safe.

As of December last year, the country's domestic debts stood at Rp 650.4 trillion (US$72 billion) -- all in the form of government bonds to salvage domestic banks, with a large chunk of them due to mature between 2004 and 2009.

Economist differ on the future role of IMF

Jakarta Post - April 29, 2003

Dadan Wijaksana, Jakarta -- The debates on whether the government should continue the existing International Monetary Fund program in the country were brought back to life again on Monday when prominent economists aired the need for an extension of the program to help instill investor confidence and avoid damage to the economy.

"We need to retain the current IMF program for another year, and then leave it to the next government to decide further steps. The best scenario for now is to stick to business as usual," said Mohammad Sadli, one of the country's respected economists, referring to the relatively stable macroeconomic condition gained through the IMF-sponsored reform program.

He was speaking during a seminar on a Strategy for Indonesia's Economic Development, held to commemorate The Jakarta Post's 20th anniversary.

He explained that failure to extend the current program when it expires later this year would create uncertainty among investors, thus risking another massive capital outflow as occurred during the late 1990s financial crisis.

Another prominent economist Djisman Simanjuntak shared Sadli's view, saying that the need for a continued IMF role was even greater next year when the general election is expected to take place. He said that if the country's vision was to return to the path of high economic growth, and if success in doing so required an anchor of stability in a probably chaotic environment of the election year of 2004, then, "maintaining the IMF program for another year or two should be seriously considered. At least under the post-program monitoring [PPM] arrangement."

The remarks came as a campaign against the role of the Fund has been intensifying, with various groups saying that the economy would be better off without the IMF program. The country is entering its final year of the IMF-sponsored aid program, which started in 1999. The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) has ruled that the government should not extend the IMF program when it expires.

Under the IMF bailout program, the country can seek up to US$5 billion in loans in return for meeting a number of key economic reform targets.

The IMF assistance benefits the country not only in terms of financial aid, but also in terms of gaining crucial debt rescheduling facilities from foreign lenders under the Paris Club or the London Club whose judgments on Indonesia's economy are always based on the IMF's assessment.

Analysts have said that the cash-strapped government would lose around $3 billion worth of debt rescheduling facility next year alone, which would otherwise be available with the presence of the IMF.

What's more crucial, however, is the fact that parting with the IMF would risk market confidence in the country's economy. The question lingers on the government's ability to execute tough economic reform programs, without being closely watched by the IMF.

However, the above views were immediately challenged by Rizal Ramli, former chief economic minister and a staunch critic of the IMF, who said that to achieve higher growth, it would be better to completely terminate the IMF program.

"We are a resource-rich country. If we could take maximize advantage of that, who needs the Paris Club and others, we could even generate a huge fund of our own to stimulate the economy," said Rizal, also a speaker at the seminar.

Rizal is not alone. He joined another prominent figures who have long opposed a continued role of the IMF.

The mixed reactions have come as the government's stance itself over this issue remains unclear. A special team has been set up and is currently exploring options available for the country.

Illegal fishing hurts Indonesia's net income

Asia Times - April 29, 2003

Tony Sitathan, Singapore -- The giant Indonesian archipelago enjoys enormous potential fishery resources, as yet under- exploited by the legal fishing industry. However, illegal fishing is threatening this potential.

The fishery resources of Indonesian waters and coastal areas are estimated at about 6.7 million tonnes per year. The official exploitation of this resource in 2001 totaled only 3.9 million tonnes, or about 60 percent of the annual sustainable yield. Adam A S, the head of the South Sulawesi Fishing Cooperative (PUSKOPIN), says the annual sustainable yield has not risen above an estimated 5 million tonnes. "There is still much room for growth," he said. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) maintained in its annual report last year that 15 of the world's 17 major ocean fisheries are either depleted or over-exploited. Although Indonesia does not fall into that category, it may face soon face similar problems, said Adam.

"Illegal commercial fishing is the No 1 threat to us in the fishing business. While we remain passive to this crime, Indonesia is robbed an estimated US$1.5 billion to US$2.4 billion of income per annum. We need to protect our fishing grounds and impose stiff penalties to those that go out of their way to break the law," he said.

That is by far the greatest challenge to the Indonesian Fishing Association and in fact a sore point for the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries. It has largely been unable to deal with this problem because of limited resources. Reports that the province of North Sulawesi has lost about Rp5 trillion ($55.5 million) to illegal fishing is starting to gnaw away some of the hopes that the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries and the Indonesian Fishing Association would be more proactive in enforcing the law.

Its been estimated that Indonesia exports $4 billion to $5 billion worth of seafood annually and only 30-40 percent of this is actually accounted for by the government. More has to be done for the preservation of aquaculture and in developing the seafood industry as one of Indonesia's prime export earners. The costs of economic negligence is considerable, for Indonesia cannot afford to neglect its rich natural sea resource.

Illegal vessels, mostly registered in Australia, China or Thailand, sneak into Indonesian territorial waters catching the navy patrols off guard. This problem has accelerated in recent years as the international prices of skipjack and yellowfin tuna as well as other seafood such as shrimp and lobster have steadily climbed. "Demand has far outstripped supply in recent years. Even canning plants are finding it difficult to cope with the demand for canned seafood," said Effendi Mahmod, a private businessman who supplies tuna and other seafood to the Middle East and South Korean markets.

A greater concern for the government is the fact that there are not enough navy patrol vessels to thwart the attempts of illegal fishermen. According to Indonesian senior marine officials, at least 80 naval vessels are needed to patrol Indonesian waters adequately, especially off the north of Sulawesi in the Celebes Sea. However, the Indonesian navy can rarely spare more than six vessels to fend off intruders. And each year it has been estimated that at least 3,000 Thai vessels alone enter Indonesian waters without proper licensing fees or payment of taxes. The Indonesian Maritime Association maintains that last year alone,Thai vessels avoided paying license fees amounting $75 million to $90 million.

Those same Thai vessels evade annual taxes worth about $30 million to $60 million, equivalent to about 2.5 percent of the value of their catch.

An official with Institutional Capacity and Marketing at the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries said there is some hope that more patrol vessels will be added to the North Sulawesi region. But another problem the ministry faces is the fact that many of its officials are found to be receiving bribes to allow foreign vessels to operate in their national waters. "For [about] $10,000-$20,000, you can get forged papers instead of paying $25,000-$30,000 for permits meant for standard vessels. For larger vessels like 300-ton trawlers, the fee is about $55,000 per year," said Ridwan Yakob, a retired naval official based in Manado, North Sulawesi. "Also by getting these forged permits you would ... be exempt from paying the 2.5 percent tax that is considered an export tax," he said.

But putting an end to graft is easier said than done. Indonesia's territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) cover a total area of 5.8 million square kilometers. And whatever happens in the sea is difficult to monitor and prove from Jakarta.

The canning industry, which is a natural export earner for Indonesia, complained that the capacity utilization rate of canned fish products is only 30 percent of the annual 400,000- tonne installed capacity.

Roy Harnuputra, the export manager of PT Sadewa Dinamika Samudera, a fishing concern with cold storage and processing plants in Manado, said there seems to be less mackerel and sardines for canning in recent years although Indonesian waters are teeming with fresh stocks. "It's ironic that while we are blessed with abundant sea resources like tuna, mackerel and sardines, we seem to record lower catches by almost 40 percent since 2000. The high exports by illegal trawlers are affecting our canning business, [as] exporters are able to get higher prices for their illegal exports instead of selling to local processors like us," complained Roy.

"When you compare Thailand to Indonesia, you see vast difference in the way the Thais and the Indonesians manage their natural resources," remarked Adam. "In Thailand the talk is on optimization and managing their limited sea produce and catches. But in Indonesia the greater concern is how much money you can make in the shortest possible time. Although corruption exists at most levels of the government decision making process whether in Thailand or Indonesia, we seem to be on the losing end, especially the fisherman."