Aceh

Umno Youth accused of helping GAM

Bernama - May 8, 2005

Sik -- Umno Youth said it has been accused of helping the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) when its members were in Sumatra to help victims of last year's tsunami.

Its international relations and non-governmental organisations bureau chairman Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said he was surprised when asked by reporters in Aceh as to why the movement was providing assistance in Ujung Batee and Sunabok, which they claimed were GAM areas.

"It is regrettable that in our efforts to assist those in need, there are those who want to dispute the location where the assistance was rendered," he said yesterday after opening the Sik Umno Youth delegates meeting here.

Mukhriz, who led the aid mission to Aceh, said it was solely to help the tsunami victims there and not to interfere in Indonesian politics.

He said Umno Youth obtained the cooperation of two organisations, Dewan Dakwah Islamiah Indonesia and Parti Keadilan Sejahtera, both recognised by the Indonesian Government.

Malaysian non-governmental organisations, he added, had always adhered to instructions from the Indonesian authorities in carrying out aid missions.

BIN suspects foreign NGOs 'crossing the line' in Aceh

Jakarta Post - May 6, 2005

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- Aside from conducting humanitarian work in tsunami-stricken Aceh, a number of overseas non- governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the province are abusing their original mission, says the head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).

BIN Chief Syamsir Siregar told The Jakarta Post the agency was closely monitoring a number of foreign NGOs for their activities in Aceh which he said could disturb reconstruction work in the province.

"There are one or two NGOs which are engaged in tasks outside humanitarian work," said Syamsir at the State Palace.

Syamsir, however, refused to specify whether the NGOs were conducting espionage activities or provoking local people to cause instability in the province which has been plagued by a separatist movement.

"I can only say that their activities can harm the security situation in Aceh as well as national unity," he said, adding that the issue had been discussed during his meeting with Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Widodo Adi Sucipto recently.

Currently there are some 180 registered foreign NGOs helping tsunami victims in the province.

The government had reregistered foreign NGOs before screening them to decide which groups will be allowed to stay in Aceh. Only NGOs linked to the United Nations and donor countries will be allowed to continue their humanitarian work there.

Syamsir said BIN was currently monitoring the work of all the NGOs to ensure they "do not cross the line", with some of them already blacklisted.

"We are now still studying the possibility of banning some NGOs that have violated their original purpose," said Syamsir, a retired Army general who spent most of his military career in the intelligence unit.

Before the tsunami devastated Aceh on Dec. 26, 2004, Aceh was under a civil emergency. Foreigners, including journalists, were barred from entering the province as the military went all out to crush the Free Aceh Movement, which has been fighting for independence since 1976.

However, the December disaster, which left more than 230,000 people killed or missing and feared dead, forced the government to ease the restriction as it was unable to tackle the disaster alone.

The government reopened the door to foreigners, including military personnel, to assist tsunami survivors.

Indonesian spy chief lashes Aceh aid groups

Australian Associated Press - May 5, 2005

The head of Indonesia's intelligence agency says some foreign aid groups in tsunami-hit Aceh province are "harming the security situation" with their activities.

Intelligence agency chief Syamsir Siregar told The Jakarta Post that the agency was monitoring a number of foreign non- governmental organisations because of their "irregular" activities in Aceh.

The report will likely alarm international aid groups working in Aceh. Some fear they may soon be asked to leave the province, which was closed to foreigners before the December 26 tsunami struck.

The province is home to a long-running separatist war, and the military fears the influx of aid groups could lead to increased international sympathy for the guerrillas.

The government is currently registering all aid groups in the province, and plans to announce a list of those who can remain in a few weeks.

"There are several NGOs that we should ask for clarification," said Siregar in a report on the paper's website. "There are one or two NGOs that are doing other things aside from their humanitarian work.

"I can only say that their activities could harm the security situation in Aceh, as well as the unity of the country," he said, without elaborating.

The government welcomed foreign help in Aceh in the early days of the disaster that killed more than 128,000 people in Aceh and other parts of northern Sumatra Island. Since then it has indicated it wants more control over those working in the province.

Sections of Indonesia's political and military elite blamed international aid groups and the UN for East Timor's break from Jakarta-rule in 1999. The military regularly blames unnamed foreigners for fanning separatist sentiments in outlying provinces.

Most of the 4.2 million people in Aceh have welcomed the foreign help, saying the government alone is unable to rebuild the battered province on the northern tip of Sumatra.

Rebels in Aceh have been fighting a low-level war for independence since 1976 in which more than 12,000 people have been killed. The separatists have welcomed the spotlight the tsunami has thrown on their movement.

Survivors take brave, first step toward new life

Jakarta Post - May 3-4, 2005

[Upon the invitation of the International Migrants (IOM), The Jakarta Post's Chisato Hara days observing developments in the tsunami-devastated province, including the hand over of shelters to displaced people in Tingkeum, Banda Aceh.]

Tasya is six months old, perhaps a little underdeveloped for her age, but bright-eyed and quick to smile -- even at strangers.

"She is a good baby. She was about two months old when the tsunami came," said her grandmother, Zabaidah. "A week before, she started crying non-stop... We took her to the doctor, but nothing was wrong with her. A couple of days before the tsunami, she suddenly stopped crying. Then the tsunami came. She knew -- the baby knew."

Tasya's brother, Athafayyath, is three and a half and just as welcoming, introducing toy after toy -- all donations: "This is a lion. This is a boat." From somewhere, he gets a bucket, fills it with murky water and releases the wind-up boat with a single passenger in it -- a ping-pong ball. Who is the ping-pong ball? "Fayyath," he grinned.

Inside their hut made of salvaged wooden panels, their 28-year- old mother, Zuhrasafita -- Ira for short -- is cooking breakfast. "Please have some. It's just fried fish in chili sauce -- Acehnese food. I thought maybe you haven't had any breakfast, you were out here so early." The rice steaming in a dented pot is food aid; the fish and spices were bought with money her husband, Muammar Ma'ruf, 37, who has electricity, construction and wood- working skills, had earned from the odd jobs he goes out to find every day.

Ira's family is just one of nine camping on the outskirts of Tingkeum village in Daruimalah, Aceh Besar regency, waiting to move into the first mobile shelters provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) under its Transitional Shelter Project. In Tingkeum, 107 families left homeless by the tsunami of Dec. 26 will be given new homes.

The nine families comprise 75 internally displaced people (IDPs) and represent four villages -- Lamno, Lamlumpu, Pungai Blangcut and Lagun, all coastal villages decimated in the disaster and have either a direct or indirect familial connection with Tingkeum village, which has a population of about 100.

The villagers are active participants in the project, and not only have they agreed to host the IDP families, but they have also willingly welcomed the families into their community. This acceptance and willingness of the host community is a key criterion of the project.

Pak Ajis, a Tingkeum villager, is housing five relatives from Uleulhe on the northern coast. "Some have lost wives, others husbands, still others have been orphaned. Many [here] arrived four or five days after the tsunami, some immediately afterward, and the [emergency] tents didn't arrive until about nine days after [the tsunami]. Before that, the villagers gathered together plastic tarps and helped them settle onto an open plot. We're happy to be able to help. We're happy to have them here. They are family."

Ira's brother, Eddy Saputra, formerly a construction worker, phrases the same sentiment differently: "Kami saudara tsunami (We are 'tsunami family')." The shelters belong to the IDP families, and the units are now configured into two three-meter-by-four- meter rooms and a living area; they can also be disassembled, moved to a different site and reconfigured into single-room units. The units are wired for electricity and have private toilet/bathing facilities, as well as space for a kitchen.

"We don't know what these families will decide to do over the next two years -- they might stay, they might try to get back to their original villages -- so the shelters were designed to be flexible [mobile]," said IOM shelter project manager Graeme Rapley. They are also earthquake-proof, as was tested and proven during a recent 6.7-magnitude tremor.

The land for the settlement in Tingkeum was donated to the project through the local Ministry of Public Works office by villager Umardani, and by agreement, the IDP families may live there for at least the next two years. Any further extension of their stay is to be decided in discussion with the local government and the village community.

The morning of moving day, the camp is not bustling with preparatory activities; instead, its residents are going about at a routine-like pace, mending fishing nets, cooking breakfast and bathing, and the children are playing in the narrow "alleys" between tents. Visiting from tent to tent, each family offers a warm welcome, opening their homes, introducing themselves. They answer sensitive questions graciously, and the overall sense is that they want to tell their tales.

Pak Yatim is an elderly gentleman, formerly a fisherman of Lagun, Aceh Jaya, like many of the men in the camp. Asked about the move, his slow smile widens into a broad grin that crinkles the sun-wizened features of his face. "About 10 people live in this tent, including a few babes, my younger sister and brother, my wife. We will be happy to have a proper home again."

Inside the tent -- assembled from blue plastic tarp and canvas sheets stamped with UNHCR and UNICEF logos over a slim wooden frame -- is a ramshackle of cartons stuffed with secondhand clothing and toys, and sleeping mats with bedsheets of varying designs lie directly on the bare earth. One corner holds a gas burner propped on a wooden crate and a small assortment of beaten-up pots and pans. The tent is stuffy, and it is easy to imagine how it would heat up during the day or from cooking, and how the chill would creep in during the night.

Yatim's wife suddenly pops her head from around a flap and pipes up, her eyes darting here and there, yet intensely focused at the same time: "What about doctors? What about formula milk for the baby? We have one here who lost his entire family. And food? Water? If there's a well [at the shelters], how many are there? If it's only one, how will it provide for more than 100 people? Will the new house have a kitchen? Or space for a kitchen? And beds? Will we have beds? The little ones catch a chill from sleeping directly on the ground. Will we have a roof? The tents leak when it rains." And she is off before she can give her name, fussing through a pile of clothing.

"My wife is a little worried about moving," her husband said apologetically.

And it is no wonder. These and thousands of other families who survived the tsunami -- regency head Zainin Aziz estimates up to 94,000 IDPs in Aceh Besar alone -- have had to face so many drastic changes in their lives, the least of which was losing everything they ever owned. The "black water", as they call the tsunami, swept away life as they knew it. Many then journeyed days on foot to reach safety, carrying only what they wore and traveling with whatever family they could locate, in some cases taking in orphans on the way.

Suwardi, a fisherman and construction worker in his 30s, lived 100 meters from the sea in Lagun. He grabbed his family -- a wife and two children -- when the sea rose, but lost everyone. He shares his tent with his sister-in-law, Nur Akmal, her two children -- one an infant -- and a cousin's orphaned child.

Cut Ayah is a fisherman from Pungai Blangcut -- he spells it out and was carried three kilometers inland by the water "into the hills". He grabbed his wife Rostiawati, five months pregnant at the time, and his 12-year-old son Tuku Rafdi and ran. His daugher Defi Rosita, 21, was away at university and so lived. His wife was lost in the waves, and Rafdi was torn from his grasp -- but got caught in a tree and survived.

"Several people found [Rafdi] and kept him safe. I reached him a few days later... he wouldn't move. He just sat and kept waiting for his mother to come for him," said Cut Ayah, who speaks mostly with his eyes closed, especially at points that touch on his late wife and unborn child.

Both father and son sustained gashes on their legs from being "rolled by the black water" -- the wounds have healed, treated by emergency medical workers, but Cut Ayah has difficulty bending his right leg. They live with Ferdi Setiawan, 10, the son of Rostiawati's younger sister Desi Marlini, who was also lost, and Ferdi's father Muhammad Ali. Like the boxer? "Yes," smiled Cut Ayah. "Like the boxer."

Rafdi is sitting nearby on a coconut tree log with his cousin, smiling shyly, and gets up to show the discolored scars that zig-zag up both legs. Ira's father, Pak Sumino, 65, is originally from Madiun, Central Java, and stowed away on a ship from Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, when he was 17, following his Coast Guard brother to Aceh. He also lived in Pungai Blangcut, and while he, wife Zabaidah, Ira, her children and son Eddy survived, he lost his four other children in Uleulhe, and the whereabouts of two grandchildren are unknown; he presumes them to be lost.

More than three months since the tsunami, the memories are still fresh and survival is foremost in his mind: "If we're given food, we eat; if we're told we can move, we move." He pauses. "But now we can laugh. Before, we couldn't think, couldn't chat or joke amongst ourselves." Asked how he feels about moving, he replied, "Alhamdulillah aja [It's God's will, is all]."

Ira worked as a secretary at an economics university in her life before the tsunami, and speaks a little English -- of which she is teaching Fayyath the basics. The university, she said, "is no more. It's completely gone." "We appreciate everything that has been provided for us, these clothes I'm wearing, rice, shelter... but what concerns us is the future... sending our children to school, having work to support ourselves." As a large IOM truck arrives at the camp to transport the families' belongings, she excuses herself to take a bath and get ready to move into her new home.

The shelter settlement is located on the far end of Tingkeum next to a small stream and along the village's main road. A wide gravel pathway lined with potted plants leads up to the numbered shelters, and on each door is a pink placard indicating the head of household and their dependents who will live there. Roped, coconut-log "fences" painted white mark the boundary of the settlement, as well as cordon off the three village graveyards in the area.

There is a well in a rear corner of the settlement; on the opposite end are two "open-bottom" septic tanks buried in the ground and sealed with concrete -- one for "grey" water, such as dish- and laundry water, the other for "black" water, or sewage.

While bed mattresses were not part of the original shelter contract, IOM Banda Aceh received approval for their procurement from its Jakarta headquarters, purchased and delivered them within 24 hours after the families identified the need.

Even as the families move in, dozens of construction workers in IOM T-shirts, hardhats and rubber boots -- all recruited locally -- are busy building across the road. There, foundations for an additional 32 units have been excavated, another site for 55 units is being marked and laid out, and concrete panels and cement tiles are stacked. Another site slightly apart from the main settlement has been located for the remaining 11 units, so that all 107 IDP families in Tingkeum will be accommodated.

"It is essential that we maintain the cohesiveness of previous communities," said IOM Indonesia Mission head Stephen Cook during the symbolic handover ceremony that afternoon.

The families are visibly more relaxed as they sit together under a marquee erected for the event, and their faces emit a quiet radiance. The women have donned clean, white head-scarves for the occasion, and several IDP boys are playing in the vicinity with village children.

"I'm happy. Everyone is happy. My wife is happy," said Yatim, who is wearing a fresh shirt. Eddy seconds him: "We are happy beyond belief." Cut Ayah is sitting with Rafdi, and his face is lit up by a smile. "We lost everything... now I can be proud [as the head of a household]. I have a house again, a place for my family to stay together. It is very important that we stay together, and now we can." "I am so happy. We are all so happy. We have homes again. We are so grateful to the IOM, the regency head, the district head, the provincial government, the people of Tingkeum, the donors and everyone else who made this possible," said Ira after moving, then became uncharacteristically solemn.

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful in any way, but we still need jobs. We can't keep receiving donations for the rest of our lives. We can't continue to live on rations... we want our children to have better lives than us. We want to live in dignity," she said, then burst into tears.

Two days later, the families have settled down somewhat in their new homes.

Samsinar, 41, lost her husband, a child and her only grandchild, and is living in a shelter with four surviving children and son- in-law Bahrum, whose younger brother is married to a Tingkeum villager. She has covered the concrete floor tiles with a vinyl sheet in a gay, green pattern, and has set up her kitchen with racks provided by Bahrum's in-laws in Tingkeum. Bahrum has found construction work in Banda Aceh and brings home salvaged wood and other recyclable material when he can.

"Today, someone gave us an old wardrobe they'd thrown out, so this place will look more like home." Just as Samsinar finishes speaking, a small rickety truck backs up outside with the wardrobe, and Bahrum hops down with fellow workers to unload it. "Come, come! I'll put on some tea."

Villager Salbia is visiting a shelter where her younger sister Fatimah's husband, 45-year-old Samsuddin, his mother Khatijah and eight nieces and nephews -- the youngest of whom is two years -- live. Fatimah, 35, and her eldest daughter Safrida, 19, were lost. Samsuddin, a farmer, is out working a field in Lhoknga, the same job he had before, and won't return until late in the evening.

One of Salbia's nephews, 17-year-old Julaidi, is one-half of a twin with niece Julaida. He has made some friends in the village, and is beaming: He must share a room with several siblings, but he is happy because he can sleep in a room again.

"We can remain a family," Salbia said. "But there's not enough water, no electricity. The children can't study at night... if we only had a street lamp out front, it would make a difference." The units are wired for electricity, but sourcing power is another matter -- not all houses in Tingkeum have electricity and who would pay the bills? Certainly, conditions are not perfect, and the most common worry in the settlement is that there is not enough water. Due to the unusually high clay content of the soil, the well does not fill with water fast enough to keep up with the consumption rate of 75 people.

IOM water/sanitation engineer Rob Garlick has identified a location for a second well, and his team will break ground on it after the weekend. In the meantime, many residents are bathing at the house of a village relative and have set out plastic pails and buckets to collect rainwater -- just in case.

The high clay content also presents another challenge: the possibility of a slow ground absorption rate of residual liquid from the septic system. In anticipation, Garlick and his team are completing a back-up filtering mechanism to aid absorption -- a gravel pit designed to catch excess residual water from the grey water tank through a perforated pipe grid. As a further precaution, a second back-up system is being installed -- a run- off pipe from the gravel pit to the stream.

"It's a learning process... and every site is different," said Garlick. The IOM has 708 other units in various stages of planning and development in Aceh Besar, and a total commitment of 11,000 units across the province.

As Cut Ayah said of his new house, "It is a start. A step at a time." Meanwhile, Ira has placed woven mats on the floor, set up the kitchen and hung makeshift curtains in the windows, but she is a little out of sorts today -- Fayyath is being naughty and won't take his nap, she is trying to give Tasya her bath, and she wants to fold and store a pile of clothes that has arrived. Ma'ruf is out looking for work.

"Water is a problem," she sighed, a sleepy Tasya in her arms."We just have to be patient a little while longer." Then she added, "Please, come in. Won't you have some tea?"

NGOs warned not to interfere if they wish to stay

AsiaNews - May 3, 2005

Jakarta -- Foreign NGOs that wish to continue their post-tsunami aid work in the Indonesian province of Aceh must not "interfere in the internal affairs of the country" by favouring the local pro-independence guerrilla.

The Indonesian government's warning comes amid fears that the influence of NGOs and other aid groups operating in the area after the December 26 tsunami might increase international support for the separatist Free Aceh Movement.

Indonesia's Welfare Ministry, which is in charge of aid coordination, said that aid groups wanting to remain in the province will have to sign 'a memorandum of understanding' (MOU) which they should receive this week.

Within 15 days a list of "eligible foreign NGOs should be announced.

Komet Mangiri, an adviser to Welfare Minister, explained that the MOU would contain "the procedures and conditions that must be fulfilled by the Non Governmental Organisations, such as not interfering in domestic affairs and not working for separatist interests".

Sections of Indonesia's political and military elite are concerned that, like in East Timor in 1999, international aid groups and the UN might facilitate the region's secession.

Jakarta had welcomed foreign NGOs in the days immediately following the tsunami, which killed 130,000 people in northern Sumatra alone.

Last month however, the government announced that only those groups involved in "reconstruction" would be able to stay.

Many in Aceh believe that after the disaster international aid is essential for the region's renaissance.

Aceh rebels have been fighting a war of independence since 1976 in which more than 12,000 people were killed. Humana rights groups have accused the Indonesian army of abuses against the civilian population, including summary executions, abductions and torture.

Rebuilding lives, impatiently in Aceh

Washington Post - May 3, 2005

Ellen Nakashima, Lamteungoh -- With a flick of her henna-painted hand, the teenage bride adjusted her gold batik head scarf, opened her mouth and accepted a spoonful of cooked white rice from her beaming husband. Then, as tradition dictates, she returned the smile and fed a spoonful of wedding rice to him.

In a temporary wood house built amid the ruins of the world's worst natural disaster in decades, Saleha and Muliadi celebrated their marriage on Saturday. Theirs was the third in this village -- all three in one week.

Four months after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated coastal zones in a dozen countries, this fishing village in Aceh province, the worst hit of all areas, is struggling to restore the normal rhythms of life.

As in hundreds of other villages reduced to a fraction of their former populations, three to four times as many women and girls than men were killed in Lamteungoh. Many men in these coastal towns were fishermen who survived at sea or were farming in the hills when the tsunami hit on Dec. 26. But their wives and children were killed by the waves not far from the beach.

Unions such as that of Saleha, 18, and Muliadi, 24, are one sign of the survivors' determination to rebuild their lives and homes and renew their communities.

"It's a good omen. It's like spring," said a jovial village cleric, Marwadi, one of dozens of widowers who is seeking a new bride among a vastly reduced female population.

Here in villages near the provincial capital on the northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia's northernmost major island where Aceh is located, the coastline is still strewn with debris. But the corpses have been mostly cleared, and tents, government-built barracks and temporary wood houses put up by private groups dot the mud-caked wasteland. People are returning to their villages, brushing aside fears of a repeat tsunami and beginning to rebuild where and what they can.

The Indonesian government last week announced a new agency to oversee reconstruction. A multi-donor trust fund was also set up to handle $500 million in grants, and international audit firms will work with the Indonesian government to try to ensure that the billions of dollars in aid pledged from public and private sources is spent as intended. US

officials say that given the scale of destruction, recovery work could not have proceeded any faster.

Many people, however, are not waiting for the central government to carry out its 12-volume, three-year master plan for reconstruction. The tension between the government's desire to rebuild cautiously and people's yearning for homes and jobs has been growing.

"I don't care about any blueprint," said Baharuddin, Lamteungoh's village chief, who had discussed rebuilding with a reporter two weeks after the tsunami, already eager to get to work. Last week, he said in an interview that he was still impatient. "If I have to wait for the central government, it will be a long time," he said.

In fact, Lamteungoh, with 250 people, showed early signs it was helping itself. Five days after the tsunami, the men began burying corpses -- 500 by mid-February. In mid-January, they built a small community shelter.

That spirit impressed representatives of the US Agency for International Development, which has given the village $33,000 in project money, paying residents to clean the land and build a community center, volleyball court and garden. Uplink, a consortium of Indonesian and international development groups, provided materials for the 40 temporary homes.

Other groups donated, too. The Prosperous Justice Party, rooted in Islam, was the first group to help, providing a canoe and material for a small, temporary mosque. CARE International donated $1,500 worth of rice, toiletries, cooking oil and other goods. Pugar, an Indonesian group, is donating eight fishing boats that will arrive in June and financed a one-month program paying people about $4 a day to clean the village. Another Indonesian group supplied a generator and a motorbike.

The pace of reconstruction is uneven. A half-hour drive east of Lamteungoh, the fishing village of Lambada Lhok is building an ice factory, fish market and cooperative store with help from a French aid organization. The fishermen have returned to the sea in boats spared by the tsunami, hauling in tuna that they sell to buy gold jewelry for their prospective brides.

Other villages have not much more than some temporary wood houses and a token government stipend for residents of 30 cents a day.

Baharuddin and Marwadi did not attend Saleha's wedding because they were at a meeting organized by Uplink. There, they discussed plans to build 164 permanent houses made of steel-reinforced concrete to be finished by year's end. Uplink would provide the materials and technical advice.

At 2:30 p.m., Baharuddin's voice boomed over a village public address system. "Everybody to the rice field!" he commanded. Men brandished shovels and scythes, donned rubber boots and blue canvas hats, and trudged 100 yards toward the green hills behind the village. This was Day 1 of a 25-day USAID project to clean the village rice field, still littered with metal, wood and coconut tree trunks washed up by the tsunami.

Baharuddin, 49, took a shovel and began to retrieve bones from damaged graves to rebury them. "I believe their spirits will be at peace," he said.

He lost his wife, his parents and all five children in the tsunami, and is still grieving. A sun-bronzed, balding fisherman, he expresses his sorrow in poems. He has hung two on his wall. One is to his wife. "I am alone. Like a boat without a rudder, I am aimless. I would like to find someone to take your place. But I'm afraid that her heart will not be as good as yours."

Baharuddin is eager to repopulate his village. He offered money to buy three grams of gold for the first villager to get married. The money went to Muzibullah, 26, a fishmonger who before the tsunami barely knew Afnizar Munawar, 24. But in the emergency shelter, they bonded over the loss of parents and siblings. Afnizar cooked and cleaned for Muzibullah. "Day by day, we got closer," said the slim, pretty bride. A week ago Monday, they wed.

Time has brought other changes. Jarfandi M. Juned, 43, who in January asked Baharuddin for a letter to help him bring his buffalo to town, lost his animals but has opened a kiosk selling thick, sweet coffee. He has saved enough, he said, to find a bride. Fitriah, 26, a widow whose leg was badly injured, is now healed. She is considering a marriage proposal from a man in another village.

The men without wives live together now, as many as five to a house. The oldest in each group, seen as the nurturer, usually does the cooking and cleaning. They sleep side by side on wooden platforms, putting up with snores.

In some ways, Lamteungoh feels like a community again. The women decided on Friday to set up a school in a tent so their children would not have to travel an hour on a school bus. In the afternoon, a group of men played soccer in a rubble-strewn field. To cheer people up and distract himself, Baharuddin has built a Christo-like fence of plastic water bottles strung together, and covered the facade of his house with the bottles. Villagers call it the Aqua House.

But life has not returned to normal. "We feel like newcomers in our own home," said Fitriah. Every few hours a military truck passes, and soldiers in camouflage lean out, brandishing guns. Occasionally villagers hear the gunfire between the soldiers and separatist rebels, who live in the mountains.

The imbalance between the sexes has given women an advantage in the courting game. "It's woman power now," Baharuddin said. "It's up to the women to decide who they want."

On Saturday afternoon, two women were laughing about the competition for wives. One widow received five proposals, said Yeni, 32, a teacher who lost her husband and two children. She said she has had one proposal.

Unfortunately, her suitor asked two other women as well. "He even used the same words," she said, doubling over in mirth. "I told him why doesn't he just tape-record his proposal!"

Just then Marwadi, dressed in a crisp blue button-down shirt and gray slacks, walked up and sat on the bench near the women. They tried to hide their chortles. They didn't want the Lamteungoh Lothario to know they had had a chuckle at his expense.

After sundown, Baharuddin, Marwadi and 20 other men went to the house of Saleha's uncle, where Saleha had arranged plates of beef, shrimp, rice and deviled eggs on rugs on the floor. The men prayed. Then they ate what remained of the wedding feast.

West Papua

Papuans protesters reject integration

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

About 300 protesters demonstrated outside the Jayapura provincial council buildings on Monday against the United Nations' decision to give Indonesia control of the province in 1963.

The group, calling itself the Papua People's Civil Rights Coalition, protested the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority's (UNTEA) decision to hand over the control of Papua to Indonesia in 1963, after Indonesia invaded the former Dutch colony a year earlier.

The province officially became part of Indonesia in 1969 under the controversial Act of Free Choice (Perpera).

"We, the Papuan people, challenge the handing over of the control of West Papua to the Unitary Republic of Indonesia on May 1, 1963, because the process did not involve the Papuans and UNTEA did not do its job according to the New York Agreement on Aug. 15, 1962.

"And there were many ploys used by Indonesia, especially the military, to ensure Papua's [later] integration," the coalition said in a statement.

The Papuan people, the coalition said, requested the international world reevaluate the Act of Free Choice and pushed for an international dialog on the matter. The coalition rejected any special autonomy status for the province before the matter was settled.

A day before the protest, about 100 students and residents gathered at Abepura Trikora field to commemorate May 1, which they said was a day of "human rights violations", and declared their rejection of the act. (JP/Nethy Dharma Somba)

Papuan's demand review of 1969 'Act of Free Choice'

SPMNews - May 2, 2005

Port Numbay (Jayapura) -- Around 500 indigenous Papuans organised by the Papua Youth Group (Kelompok Pemuda Papua) held a demonstration against the integration of West Papua in to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia on the morning of Sunday May 1 at the Trikora Abepura Square. They presented five demands, three of which were directed at the secretary-general of the United Nations, Koffi Annan.

The three demands were for a review of Pepera documents (the 1969 UN sponsored referendum on integration with Indonesia) as it is legally flawed, full of irregularities and intimidation, urging the Indonesian government to immediately withdraw all of its troops (organic and non-organic) from West Papua by the end the year and for the government as a member of the UN to give an opportunity to the Papuan people to determine their own future though a free and confidential referendum under the supervision of the UN and other international agencies.

In the document containing the demands which was signed by Kwila Nungga Penggu two demands were presented to the Indonesian authorities, the immediate and unconditional release of all Free Papua Movement political prisoners and that the Papuan people explicitly reject special autonomy and the Indonesian sponsored Papuan People's Council and for Indonesia to give an opportunity for the people of West Papua to determine their own future.

The action appeared different from usual because it was conducted in the form of a joint prayer led by a Papuan student activist who is a candidate priest and was wearing traditional Papua clothing.

After hearing that Brimob (Mobile Brigade) planned to attack the peaceful demonstration, the demonstrators immediately dispersed at around 12.30pm and proceeded towards the Pendopo Sentani in an orderly manner to join up with Mamta (Mamberamo-Tami) demonstrators and a number of prominent Papuan Cultural Council members who were preparing to hold an event marking the third anniversary of the council and to lay a wreathe of flowers on the grave of Theys H. Eluay(1).

Notes:

1. West Papuan pro-independence leader, Theys Eluay was found dead in his car in November 2001 after attending a party thrown by Indonesia's Kopassus Special Forces. Seven Kopassus soldiers were later found guilty of the murder and sentenced to short terms in jail.

[Abridged translation by James Balowski.]

In bed with the killers

The Guardian (UK) - May 2, 2005

George Monbiot -- It all seems a very long way away. But what is happening in an obscure island nation in the south Pacific has now become our business. A few weeks ago BP, the British company that has invested most in "corporate social responsibility", received final approval to start developing a gas field in West Papua, the western half of the island of New Guinea. There is nothing unusual about this: oil and gas companies are opening new fields all the time. What makes this operation interesting is the question of whether BP has any right to be there.

Its case seems, at first sight, clearcut. The licence to operate, BP says, "is granted to us by the Indonesian government which is internationally recognised as the sovereign government of Papua, including by the UK and the United Nations". That is true. But its truth arises from a grotesque injustice.

At the beginning of 1962 West Papua was being prepared for independence by its colonial ruler, the Netherlands. But in April of that year JF Kennedy wrote to the Dutch prime minister, warning him that if he did not give the country to Indonesia, "the entire free world position in Asia would be seriously damaged". The Indonesian government would "succumb to communism" if it were not appeased. Robert Komer, Kennedy's CIA adviser, was even more direct. "A pro-bloc, if not communist, Indonesia is an infinitely greater threat... than Indo possession of a few thousand miles of cannibal land."

But it couldn't be done overtly. Kennedy proposed that the Indonesians be allowed control of West Papua for "a specified period", after which the Papuan people would be "granted the right of self-determination". An agreement was drawn up in New York, stating that the UN would supervise a referendum in which "all adult Papuans have the right to participate".

The problem, as the US ambassador to Indonesia observed, was that "85 to 90%" of the population was "in sympathy with the Free Papua cause". A free vote would produce a clear result in favour of independence. So the US told the UN that the result had to be rigged. As a letter from the US embassy to the state department in 1968 revealed, the order was obeyed. The UN's representative was "attempting to devise a formula... which will result in affirmation of Indonesian sovereignty".

So instead of a referendum in which "all adult Papuans" participated, in 1969 the UN oversaw a rather different process: 1,022 men were selected by Indonesian soldiers, taught the words "I want Indonesia", then lined up at gunpoint. One man who refused to say his lines was shot. Others were threatened with being dropped out of helicopters. This rigorous democratic exercise resulted in a unanimous vote for Indonesian rule. No one who has studied this transfer of sovereignty believes it was fair.

Four years ago the former UN undersecretary-general CV Narasimhan confessed, "It was just a whitewash. The mood at the United Nations was to get rid of this problem as quickly as possible... Nobody gave a thought to the fact that there were a million people there who had their fundamental human rights trampled."

In a parliamentary answer in December last year, the British foreign office minister Baroness Symons agreed that "there were 1,000 hand-picked representatives and that they were largely coerced into declaring for inclusion in Indonesia". Like East Timor six years later, West Papua was, in effect, annexed.

BP has a legal right to obtain a licence from Indonesia to operate in West Papua. But it is hard to see how this translates into a moral right.

By working under Indonesian consent, BP is at risk of lending legitimacy to the occupying power's presence. This is dangerous moral ground. A recent report by academics at Yale Law School concludes that there is "a strong indication that the Indonesian government has committed genocide against the West Papuans".

Human rights groups suggest that around 100,000 Papuans have been killed by Indonesia. The armed forces have bombed, napalmed and strafed tribal villages and tortured and murdered their people. The government has sought to wipe out Papuan culture through forced assimilation and mass immigration. The purpose of these schemes, according to a former governor of West Papua, was to "give birth to a new generation of people without curly hair, sowing the seeds for greater beauty". Indonesia's genocidal intent is undimmed. Today, villages in the Papuan highlands are still being burnt out by soldiers, and their people killed or forced to flee into the forest.

All this is overlooked by BP. There is a page on its website labelled "Context: Papua". It tells you about tree kangaroos and birds of paradise, but mentions only that "human rights abuses" took place under Suharto (who was deposed in 1998). Since then, it suggests, the Indonesian government has started granting autonomy to the Papuan people.

It has done no such thing. It has failed to implement the "special autonomy" laws it passed, and instead has divided the nation into three regions, controlled directly by Jakarta. When the Papuans tried to set up their own assembly -- the Papuan presidium council -- its chairman, Theys Eluay, was murdered by the army. The Indonesian government is currently flying in an extra 15,000 troops. In the last few weeks the repression has intensified.

The lack of autonomy causes a particular problem for BP, which has justified its scheme by claiming that "Papua" will benefit by obtaining a share of the revenue. But who is Papua?

There is no legitimate government of the Papuan people through which it could be channelled. The "central, provincial and local governments" to which BP will be giving the money all answer to Jakarta. Indonesia sits close to the top of Transparency International's corruption list. In March the Indonesian army was accused by the head of the West Papua Baptist Church of stealing $267,000 of aid destined for West Papua. How confident can we be that the money from the gas project won't go the same way?

BP has sought not to become directly involved with the perpetrators of the genocide. Instead of hiring soldiers to guard its gas plant, it is training local people. But, as the Free West Papua Campaign (points out, the Indonesian army has a standard technique for gaining control of extractive industries. It creates an incident, often attacking its own soldiers or burning down a village or two, blames it on the rebels and then insists it must "secure the area" -- and, of course, any revenue arising from the area.

The army is already building up civilian militias close to the gas field. Some of them are controlled by Laskar Jihad, which is affiliated to al-Qaida.

But all this skirts around the major question: that of consent. BP has conducted consultations and discussions with local people. But there is no representative Papuan assembly with the power to decide whether or not the project should go ahead, and on what terms. BP derives its authority to act from an occupying power in the midst of an attempted genocide. How credible, then, are its claims that its hands are clean?

Military ties

US envoy urges Indonesia on ambush probe

Associated Press - May 7, 2005

Slobodan Lekic, Jakarta -- Indonesia must do more to pursue justice in the shooting deaths of two American schoolteachers three years ago before Washington can agree to restore military ties with Indonesia, a senior US diplomat said Saturday.

Washington banned military ties with Indonesia in 1999 after Indonesian troops devastated the province of East Timor following a UN-organized independence referendum.

But the Bush administration now wants to resume full ties with Indonesia's military, which it views as a bulwark against Islamic militancy in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

In February, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lifted restrictions on Jakarta's participation in the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program.

Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick described the $600,000 program as "very limited." "For us to do more, we need more progress in terms of that investigation," he said.

Zoellick said Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top officials had agreed to cooperate fully in the investigation of the ambush in which eight other Americans -- including a 6-year-old child -- were injured.

"I do see progress but I won't be satisfied until the culprits are brought to justice," Zoellick told reporters. "The sense I got is that the government understands the importance of this."

Local police in the eastern province of West Papua, where the victims worked at a school attached to an American-owned gold and copper mine, initially blamed the Aug. 31, 2002, ambush on an army special forces unit. The attack was seen as an effort by the military to discredit a pro-independence movement in the province.

A subsequent FBI probe led to the indictment by a US grand jury of an Indonesian civilian, Anthonius Wamang. He was described as a pro-independence guerrilla, but separatist activists maintain he was a military informer. He has never been captured.

Zoellick also met with Planning Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to discuss America's role in rebuilding Indonesia's tsunami- devastated Aceh province, including plans to finance a $245 million road project, embassy officials said.

He witnessed the signing of an agreement for the United States to contribute $73 million in aid to Indonesia, including cash to establish an anti-corruption court aimed at stemming the country's endemic graft.

US 'may revive military ties with Indonesia'

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Ivy Susanti and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- Adm. William J. Fallon, the newly-appointed commander of the US Pacific Command, said on Friday he was upbeat that his country would soon resume full military ties with Indonesia, which were downgraded 13 years ago.

"I'm very optimistic that we're going to be on a move forward," he said after separate talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other top officials in Jakarta.

Fallon said he believes the resumption was going to be "much sooner than later", citing Indonesia's progress in upholding human rights.

Fallon said his meetings with Susilo, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo Adisucipto, and Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto during his two-day visit gave him the impression that Indonesia was determined to boost its human rights record.

"From my last couple of days' meetings with your leadership, I come away with a very strong impression that the leadership is determined to put this business behind and to move forward in a very straight forward and aggressive manner, to not have this kind of activity and to have put in place the system of checks and balances that will really move us forward.

"I think the solid support that I have witnessed and I have heard, would be a good foundation that would enable me to convey back to Washington that there's real progress being made and that the leadership is certainly determined to move forward," Fallon told a news conference at the US Embassy here. He promised to "to do whatever I can to accelerate this process and to put us on a firm footing for the future".

"We both know there's a legacy from the past of issues that were causing friction and were obstacles to progress. I believe we're on the road to fixing many of these things." Fallon said Susilo would further discuss the likely resumption of full military ties with US President George W. Bush during his visit to Washington later this month.

Dino Patti Djalal, a spokesman for Susilo, confirmed the President will discuss the issue with Bush during the planned three-day visit. Susilo is scheduled to arrive in the United States on May 24.

"It will be discussed because it is an important aspect. Our position is clear that the military ties will be normalized if both sides are ready. It's just a matter of time that Indonesia and the United States will resume military relations," said Dino who accompanied Susilo in Friday's talks with Fallon.

Washington froze its International Military Education and Training (IMET) program for Indonesia in 1992 amid concerns over Jakarta's human rights record. The superpower state stepped up sanctions in 1999 after TNI-backed pro-Indonesia militias were believed to be responsible for the deaths of some 1,500 people when East Timor voted for independence.

The ties soured further in 2002 when the Indonesian Army was accused of blocking a US investigation into the murder of two US school teachers near PT Freeport Indonesia's copper mine in Papua province.

However, the United States decided to resume a training program for TNI officers after the horrific earthquake and tsunami devastated Aceh province and parts of neighboring North Sumatra.

Washington also eased the embargo on the supply of US military hardware to support relief operations in Aceh. It sent the USS Abraham Lincoln to the tsunami-ravaged province for a humanitarian mission in response to a request from TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto.

Fallon said the US military's involvement in Aceh's humanitarian mission had provided another impetus for restoring military ties.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had signaled last February that she was in the "final stages" of consultations with the US Congress on certifying Indonesia as eligible to benefit from the IMET program. Her proposal, as part of the 2006 budget, is awaiting congressional approval.

US determined to restore military ties: Naval chief

Associated Press - May 6, 2005

The United States is determined to normalize military ties with Indonesia, America's top commander in the Pacific said Friday, despite accusations by human rights groups that Jakarta's armed forces are continuing to commit abuses.

"The fact that I'm here meeting with leaders of this country is a good demonstration of the fact that we are re-establishing military-to-military ties that were being held in abeyance for a number of years," Adm.

William J. Fallon, chief of the US Pacific Command, told reporters after meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The armed forces of the two nations cooperated closely in the 1970s and '80s, during the military-backed government of former dictator Suharto.

But the Clinton administration imposed a ban on ties in 1999 after Indonesian troops devastated East Timor following a UN- organized independence referendum.

The Bush administration now wants to resume full ties with Indonesia's military, which it views as a bulwark against Islamic militancy in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Indonesia also is strategically located in critical sea lanes linking the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

In February, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice lifted restrictions on Jakarta's involvement in the Pentagon's International Military Education and Training program.

Restoring the training program, worth about US$600,000 (B per year, was generally seen as a first step in normalizing military ties.

US admiral upbeat about full resumption of military ties

AFX News - May 5, 2005

Jakarta -- A US navy commander expressed optimism that the US will soon resume full military cooperation with Indonesia, citing progress by Jakarta on human rights issues.

"I'm very optimistic that we're going to be on a move forward," said Admiral William Fallon, the newly-appointed commander of US Pacific Command, adding that he believes full military cooperation will resume "much sooner than later."

"I'm determined to do whatever I can to accelerate this process and to put us on a firm footing for the future. We both know there's a legacy from the past of issues that were causing friction and were obstacles to progress. I believe we're on the road to fixing many of these things," said the admiral, who met President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono earlier in the day.

The US decided in February to resume training members of the Indonesian armed forces. Earlier Washington also eased an embargo on the supply of US military hardware to help boost relief efforts in Indonesia's Aceh province, the region hardest hit by the December tsunami disaster.

The US imposed restrictions on contacts after the Indonesian military massacred pro-independence protesters in East Timor in November 1991.

The restrictions were further tightened in 1999 after the Indonesian army was accused of being behind the killing of about 1,500 people in East Timor in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the territory from gaining independence.

Fallon said his talks with Yudhoyono, armed forces chief General Endriartono Sutarto and top security minister Widodo Adisucipto during his two-day visit left him with an impression that Indonesia is determined to improve its human rights record.

"I think the solid support that I have witnessed and I have heard would be a good foundation that will enable me to convey back to Washington that there's really progress being made and that the leadership is certainly determined to move forward," he said.

Fallon said the US military's involvement in the tsunami relief effort in the Aceh province has provided another impetus for restoring military ties.

Military ties high on the agenda at meeting

Antara - May 5, 2005

Jakarta -- Military cooperation between Indonesia and the United States was high on the agenda at a meeting between Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto and US Pacific commander Adm. William J. Fallon here on Thursday.

TNI's acting spokesman Brig. Gen. Suhartono Suratman said that the discussion at TNI headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, included International Military Education Training (IMET).

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hinted in February that the US was ready to restore military cooperation with Indonesia. Rice said at that time that she would consult with Congress before fully restoring the IMET program which was frozen in 1991 after Indonesian soldiers massacred demonstrators in a graveyard in mostly Catholic East Timor.

The ties were further scaled back in 1999, after the Indonesian military orchestrated a scorched earth campaign killing hundreds, following East Timor's vote for independence in a UN-sponsored plebiscite.

The embargo on the sale of Hercules aircraft's spare parts, however, was lifted after the huge natural disaster that devastated Aceh and Nias in North Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004.

Endriartono also conveyed the Indonesian people's gratitude to the US government for its military aid in the aftermath of the disaster in Aceh and Nias.

Fallon is scheduled to meet President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday with Endriartono.

Human rights/law

Government issues crucial decree on land acquisition

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta -- The government has finally issued the much-awaited regulation on land acquisition in an effort to speed up the construction of massive infrastructure projects, sacrificing rights of property owners opposed to the projects.

Presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had already signed Presidential Regulation No. 36/2005 on Land Provision for the Development of Public Interests. The regulation was issued to resolve problems in land acquisition for state infrastructure projects for the sake of the public.

"The regulation is to speed up the planned massive infrastructure construction. We understand that land acquisition has become an obstacle for infrastructure construction," he told reporters at the State Palace on Friday.

Andi reiterated that uncertainty caused by the problem had quelled investors' interest in the infrastructure sector, at a time when the country was in dire need of investment in the sector to support higher economic growth and reduce unemployment. The massive infrastructure projects are part of the government's effort to prevent congestion in distribution, which significantly increases the cost of doing business here.

However, numerous infrastructure projects in the country have run aground due to problems related to land acquisition, with investors facing widespread protests and rejection from land owners.

Land owners' objections in the East Flood Canal construction in the eastern part of Jakarta and in the construction of a few sections of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road have halted those projects.

Therefore, the government has included in the regulation an authority to eliminate the land owners right to protect their properties, unless an agreement is made on the compensation payment given by the government for the land.

The right, however, can only be applied to a minority of land owners who fail to agree on compensation payments offered by the government for their land that will be used for public facilities or infrastructure.

The regulation allows land disputes to be resolved in court, while the construction of the project continues.

It also stipulates that the compensation to land owners be based on the land's taxable value of property (NJOP) and its current market price. The price assessment for the land will be conducted by an independent property appraiser.

To prevent land speculation, the regulation also stipulates a safeguard arrangement for land owners -- whose land will be used for public facilities -- in selling their lands to other parties aside from the government.

"People who want to buy a land allocated for public facilities in the future, should seek a written approval from local administrations before they seal the deal," said Andi.

In the approval, the buyer should agree that he or she will not sell the land to other parties at a higher price than that initially set by the government.

At present, the government and private investors have to spend additional funds to buy land at higher prices due to the emergence of land speculators.

Andi said the safeguarded locations should be allocated by local administration's spatial agencies for public facilities.

In Greater Jakarta, for example, a land safeguard will be applied for the toll road connecting Cikarang in Bekasi and Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta; a road section from Depok to Jl. Antasari in South Jakarta and the Cinere and Jagorawi route in Bogor.

Discriminatory law spells trouble for mixed marriages

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2005

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- Some Indonesians might still remember the case of Samantha, a little girl who made headlines here during the 1990s in an international child abduction case.

The girl was a child of a mixed marriage. Her mother, Erna, was an Indonesian and her father was Dutch. They married in the Netherlands and hold their respective citizenships.

When the couple separated, a Dutch court granted sole custody of two-year old Samantha to Erna, despite opposition from the family of her Dutch father.

Erna brought baby Samantha, a Dutch citizen, back to Indonesia after the divorce. As a foreigner, Samantha only held a short visit visa that was only valid for five weeks. The Immigration office in Bandung later summoned Erna and told her to arrange another visa for her daughter.

While Erna was preparing the necessary documents, her former Dutch mother-in-law went to the immigration office. Samantha's grandmother somehow convinced the Bandung immigration office that Samantha should be taken back to the Netherlands.

Despite Erna's protests, the immigration office "detained" Samantha and then gave her to the grandmother, who then took her back to the Netherlands.

After a series of lengthy hearings in the Netherlands and diplomatic intervention, the court finally ordered her father's family to give Samantha back to her mother.

Zulfa Djoko Basuki, a professor in international civil law at the University of Indonesia's (UI) school of law, said that international child abduction cases occur because the country's existing laws on citizenship and immigration are gender discriminatory.

"The existing citizenship law is discriminatory as it discriminates between the rights of women and men in determining the citizenship of their children in mixed marriages," she said.

Zulfa was presenting a speech at her inauguration as a UI professor on Saturday.

According to Law No. 62/1958, which is now under revision, children of mixed marriages automatically follow the father's nationality until legal adulthood, or 18 years of age, when they must choose their permanent citizenship.

The stipulation, in many cases, creates unnecessary trouble for the children and their mothers, particularly after a divorce. In order to be able to raise their children in the country, mothers must extend the stay permit for their children -- meaning they must spend time and money going to a neighboring country in order to get visa from an Indonesian diplomatic mission.

Should they violate this law, they and their children are subject to imprisonment.

The existing citizenship law also opens the possibility for children of mixed marriages to become stateless, as most countries do not automatically give citizenship to children whose mothers are not their citizens, Zulfa said.

Some Indonesian women married to foreigners even choose to register their children as being born "out of wedlock" in order to obtain Indonesian birth certificates in a bid to secure sole custody of their children in the event they separate from their foreign husbands.

Often also, such a decision is taken for financial reasons, because going abroad to extend a stay permit several times a year is very expensive.

The "out of wedlock" status acknowledges that a child only has a legal relation with the mother and no relation the father, as no father is listed on birth certificates for children born out of legal wedlock.

In some cases, such a decision also created trouble, Zulfa said. She referred to a case of an Indonesian woman who married a Malaysian. The couple had two children, both of whom were registered as being "out of wedlock" children.

Tragically, the woman died in a traffic accident. The Malaysian father then had to go through very complicated legal proceedings before getting sole custody of his own children.

"The government must quickly revise the citizenship law. There's no reason to retain these gender discriminatory laws. We cannot not stop globalization, which opens more opportunities for mixed marriages," Zulfa said.

She called on the government to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was ratified in 1984.

The convention requires signatory countries to give equal rights to men and women in relation to the citizenship of their children.

"We actually already have a draft for the revision of our citizenship law. But to date, it remains just a draft," Zulfa said.

Reconciliation & justice

Indonesia opposes UN Human Rights Council

Laksamana.Net - May 4, 2005

Indonesia is opposing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's proposal to abolish the UN Human Rights Commission and replace it with a smaller Human Rights Council that would meet year-round and have its membership restricted to countries that "abide by the highest human rights standards".

Indonesia's rejection was voiced the country's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Adiyatwidi Adiwoso Asmady, during a meeting of UN officials in New York on Monday (2/5/05).

"I think it is hard for the developing countries to support such a proposal," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

He said that if the UN Human Rights Council is formed, its performance is predicted to be less credible than that of the existing Human Rights Commission.

The transfer of powers from the Human Rights Commission to Human Rights Council would also raise a number of questions, he said.

"I think it is much better to improve and strengthen the existing Human Rights Commission instead of eliminating it totally and forming a new body that could not possibly function well," he added.

The Human Rights Commission was established in 1946 as a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The commission presently has 53 member states and meets annually in Geneva for six weeks with a mandate to establish and monitor international human rights standards.

There has been growing criticism of the commission over recent years and mounting calls for it to be reformed. Critics complain the body is bureaucratic, excessively political, and ineffectual. The commission has also come under for allowing membership of states with appalling human rights records. Indonesia presently holds the chairmanship of the commission.

In addition to rejecting the proposed Human Rights Council, Indonesia has also been opposing Annan's formation of an independent commission of experts to conduct an inquiry into serious human rights violations committed in East Timor in 1999.

Labour issues

Gloomy picture of a worker's life

Jakarta Post - May 6, 2005

ID Nugroho, Sidoardjo -- An old bicycle is parked among hundreds of motorcycles near a machinery assembling factory in East Java town of Sidoardjo. The bicycle is rusty, and its seat torn.

"It's bad, I know, but this bicycle gets me to work every day," Haryono, a factory worker, told The Jakarta Post.

He is one of 16 million workers who earn their living in 870,000 companies across the 37 regencies and municipalities of East Java.

As workers across the country observed Labor Day by holding street rallies on Sunday, bringing their aspirations into the spotlight, Haryono joined in.

The father of two has been working as a cleaning service employee in the same factory for seven years, but after all this time, he's still a contract worker. He's never actually seen the contract himself.

"I know there's a contract, but I've never seen it," he said, adding that it did not matter much to him anyway. "The most important thing for me is that I get paid. That's good enough for me." The senior high school graduate admitted that he did not earn enough money for his family. His basic monthly salary is Rp 626,000 (US$65), and in addition to Rp 1,800 per day meal money and Rp 1,300 per day for transportation expenses.

Haryono said whenever he gets paid, the money disappears very quickly. "When I receive my salary, I have to pay my debts, and there's only about Rp 100,000 left for me and my wife," he said. The idea of saving money is there, but not the money, he added. "Even to eat is already hard," he said.

In order to be able to save on transportation costs, he uses a bicycle to get to work, even though it means having to pedal 15 kilometers. "I usually leave at five in the morning and reach the factory at 6 a.m. After resting for a while, I go straight to work," he said.

As a contract worker, Haryono is not protected by health or social insurance from his factory. If he falls sick, it means he has to find extra money in order to get medical treatment, forcing him to opt for cheaper herbal medicine instead.

A legal commentator from Airlangga University in Surabaya, I Wayan Titip Sulaksana, said that of the 271 cases being handled by Surabaya's Legal Aid Institute in 2004, labor cases constituted 16 percent of them.

He said that the solution to incessant labor problems was still a long way off. "Workers' lack of awareness [of their rights] is the main problem, as well as the labor committee's [for the settlement of labor disputes] preference to take the businesspeople's side," I Wayan said.

The matter was complicated by government's policies that did not take into account the welfare of workers.

In its annual report, the legal aid institute's director, Deddy Prihambudi, said that such policies force workers to take alternative paths in dealing with problems, such as by staging protests. "Workers' protest will become increasingly stronger because many are dissatisfied with government's policies," Deddy said.

Workers still have little bargaining power

Jakarta Post - May 4, 2005

Ridwan Max Sijabat -- A labor dispute bothering a major plywood company in Banjarmasin, the capital of South Kalimantan, reflects in many ways the general labor conditions in the country.

About 1,700 striking workers of PT Gunung Meranti Raya Plywood protested in front of the governor's office, demanding the administration force the company management to pay them their two months of overdue wages. They said their wages had been suspended for two months because the company lacked a supply of raw materials.

The workers said they were paid Rp 563,000 (US$55) a month in line with the monthly minimum wage in the province. There were no allowances for transportation, medical costs or meals. Following mediation by local authorities, the management agreed to pay 50 percent of the two-month's worth of salaries in two phases.

Elsewhere, tens of thousands of workers in the forestry industry have been dismissed during the past several months without any severance pay; many from plywood and molding companies that relied on illegal logging for their raw materials and have since collapsed after the government crackdown on the practice. Large- scale layoffs have also happened in other sectors.

Weak bargaining power -- some labor analysts might say almost none at all -- remains the crucial problem for Indonesia's workers, more so with the lingering effects of the economic crisis.

Workers' lack of bargaining power is reflected by the low quality of most collective labor agreements (CLA) submitted to the employment ministry. Most medium-sized to large companies have made CLAs with their workers but their content is no better than the minimum standards as stipulated by Law No. 13/2003.

"It is no secret that most CLAs contain articles [that are meant to benefit businesses], instead of those aimed at improving labor conditions," a source at the ministry said.

Workers' weak bargaining power has been worsened by increasing national unemployment after massive layoffs in crisis-hit industries. Examples include the more than 15,000 workers retrenched form the state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI), the tens of thousands of workers from state- owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda and textile firm, PT Texmaco. What is known as here "open unemployment" has increased to an estimated 11.5 million in 2005 from 9.5 million in 2003 while "disguised unemployment" -- defined as people who work for less than 35 hours in a week, and often for much less -- has increased to 47 million from 35 million during the same period.

Fear of dismissal has led to more submissive workforce, with legions of other workers ready to replace any people who speak out about poor conditions or pay. Contracting and outsourcing in businesses is becoming more common and for the increasingly desperate jobless, it is a way to get a stable income, even if only for a few months.

The shortage of skilled labor negotiators has also contributed to workers' loss of bargaining power. Most labor activists at the company level have no ability to read or properly understand their company's balance sheets or to conduct negotiations with management in drawing up CLAs because they have never been trained in negotiation techniques.

The quality of CLAs in the banking sector is relatively better than those in other sectors because workers are more often professionally qualified and their advocates have been trained to negotiate with management. However, even here, the presence of skilled negotiators has not automatically improved the labor conditions in the sector. While bank profits are now slowly but steadily improving the one most-common reason given for the lag in employee working conditions is the slow economic recovery. Many banks have also subcontracted parts of their business to outside companies and recruited temporary employees to save money. Again the message is clear, profits are put before people.

Meanwhile, by far the most workers employed in the country are those in the informal sector; workers in small-scale companies that have no CLAs to protect them, giving their employers complete freedom to ignore and breach core labor standards, including remuneration, allowances and social security programs. Many small companies may have some form of contract or pretend to abide by general employment laws but any serious inspection reveals their remuneration packages and conditions are worse than those set out by labor laws.

This has left tens of millions of workers unprotected. Out of a 110 million strong workforce, only 7.6 million currently take part in social security programs (Jamsostek).

The end of the authoritarian Soeharto regime in 1998 also marked the end of a state monopoly -- the single national union. Since 1998 there have been 87 labor unions -- but many are little more than nameplates on the doors of their head offices.

The content of collective labor agreements (CLAs) in the banking sector and in other big companies may be relatively better than those set out in labor laws since most employees are professionals and at least semi-skilled. However, more than 80 million workers employed in the informal sector remain uncertain of their future because they are either completely unprotected or employed in short-term, insecure contracts.

Many employers prefer to employ temporary workers they can fire at any time as they try to make large profits, sometimes far in excess of what they pay their workers. Shouldn't these profitable companies be made to pay their workers fairer living wage, with better conditions? The government's inability to attract more foreign investment and to maintain strategic industries will not only worsen the unemployment problem but also further ingrain the image of Indonesia overseas as a country with a low-skilled, low-paid and easily exploited workforce.

[The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.]

Public minivan drivers on strike

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Tangerang -- About 500 public minivan drivers in Tangerang went on strike on Monday to protest the presence of a new public minivan route they said took away their business.

Tangerang Public Minivan Drivers Solidarity group chairman Ujang said the regency and Tangerang Council should cancel the license for the new route which was depriving drivers on 12 other routes of their daily earnings, Tempointeraktif reported.

The new route traverses Kotabumi, Jl. Raya Pasar Kemis, Jati, Dumpit, Harapan Kita and Lippo Karawaci.

The drivers also demanded the administration take stern action to stop drivers passing through Binong village being charged illegal levies of up to Rp 3,000, Ujang said.

The drivers promised a larger protest if the administration and councillors ignored their demands.

Lively May Day commemorations held across the country

Sinar Harapan - May 2, 2005

Jakarta -- Lively commemorations of May Day on May 1 were celebrated in demonstrations by labour organisations, political parties and other social organisations in a number of parts of the country. The largest demonstrations were held in Jakarta and the West Java provincial capital of Bandung.

Around 4,000 people from a number of labour organisations held an action in front of Hotel Indonesia then marched to the State Palace. In speeches they demanded that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono provide employment opportunities with reasonable wages for workers and the Indonesian people, that is around 1-2 million rupiah per month.

The labour organisations which were present at the action which began at around 9am included the United Bogor-Bekasi Labour Alliance, the Farmers and Fisherpeople Cooperative, the Indonesian Migrant Workers Federation (FOBMI), the Association of Independent Trade Unions (GSBI), Indonesian Labor Union Confederation (Gaspermindo) and the All Indonesia Trade Union (SBSI)

A number of non-government and student organisations such as the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), the Association of Indonesian Women for Justice (LBH Apik), the University of Indonesia Student Alliance Front (FAM UI) and the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) were also present at the action.

The organisations took turns at presenting speeches and articulating there demands which included reducing the price of basic good and fuel, which were accompanied by shouts of "Viva Workers".

They also demanded that the government provide employment with a reasonable wage and the abolition of contract labour and subcontracting or "outsourcing". Among the thousands of workers present, the labour activist Dita Indah Sari who is also the chairperson of the People's Democratic Party could also be seen.

In Bandung meanwhile, around 1,000 workers held a demonstration. They came from a number of different labour organisations and began the action at the Monument to Struggle on Jalan Dipati Ukur. (ant/dio)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Workers mark Labor Day with rallies

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2005

Jakarta -- Thousands of people across the country took to the streets on Sunday to mark Labor Day with demands for better working conditions and the protection of workers' rights, as well as calling for the government to declare the day a public holiday.

In Jakarta, about 4,000 people gathered at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta before marching to the presidential palace, where they held a rally under the gaze of some 300 unarmed police officers.

Carrying flags representing different labor organizations, participants also waved posters demanding "Entrepreneurs oppressing workers be arrested" and rejecting "low-wage standards", AFP reported.

The demonstrators demanded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was not in the palace at the time of the rally, create more good-paying jobs.

According to the secretary-general of the Federation of Independent Workers Unions, Rudi H.B. Zaman, normal workers now made between Rp 600,000 (US$63) and Rp 700,000 a month.

He said workers were demanding a monthly salary of between Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million. "That is ideal," he told Antara during the rally. "At their current salaries, workers cannot live decently." The demonstrators unveiled a list of 14 demands, which included making Labor Day a public holiday, stopping the dismissal of workers, eliminating the contract system and revoking Law No. 13/2003 on manpower.

"We will never stop demanding the government improve the welfare of workers," Rudi said.

In Surabaya, hundreds of workers and students criticized the government for failing to protect workers and always siding with investors. During the rally, workers demanded the government introduce a fair salary system.

"We also demand the government protect migrant workers and the rights of all workers, and reject free trade deals that hurt workers," a person taking part in the rally said.

Atok Illah, the head of the labor division at Surabaya's Legal Aid Institute, called on all workers to learn their rights. "Many workers still do not know their rights," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said the dismissal of employees and contract workers were among the most significant labor problems in the country. "Many workers are being dismissed unfairly." However, whenever workers report unfair dismissals to the authorities, they rarely receive support.

In Bandung, workers and students marked Labor Day with a march along the city's main thoroughfares and speeches, Antara news agency reported. Speakers condemned the oppression of workers and demanded free education and health care for workers.

The information coordinator for the May 1, 2005, Solidarity Movement, Sidharta, said they were demanding the government revoke all laws and regulations that harm workers.

In Surakarta, Central Java, hundreds of people rallied outside the heavily guarded house of Surakarta Mayor Loji Gandung, waving banners accusing the government of failing to protect workers.

Labor conditions worsening: Union

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2005

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta -- Labor unions have blamed the government for the worsening labor conditions in Indonesia, which they say are a result of a bad investment climate, the absence of legal certainty and the high unemployment rate.

The All-Indonesia Workers Union Confederation (KSPSI) said the election of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla in September last year had not brought change to political and economic conditions or improved labor indicators which weakened following the resignation of former dictator Soeharto in May 1998.

"Labor indicators have been worsening because of the absence of significant changes in the social, political and economic fields over the last seven years. This is evident in the frequent massive dismissals of workers, rampant violations of freedom of association by employers and the high unemployment rate," KSPSI deputy chairman Alboin Sidabutar said on Sunday.

He was speaking on the commemoration of Labor Day, popularly known as May Day, which falls on May 1.

Alboin pointed out that the new government's failure to take short-term measures as a kind of shock therapy to enforce the law, to rid the bureaucracy of corruption and to eliminate the high-cost economy has resulted in little change in the investment climate and a lack of job opportunities.

"President Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla have been in power almost six months, but the political and economic situation is not recovering. There are many foreign investors who wish to come but no actions have been taken to eliminate the high-cost economy.

"Worse still, the government raised fuel prices, weakening workers' purchasing power. Many companies in the forestry, textile and manufacturing sectors collapsed following the fuel increase, causing massive dismissals," he said.

The poor labor indicators, he added, were shown by the labor agreements in companies that gave workers weak bargaining power, the trend in the employment of contract workers for permanent jobs, and the increase in open unemployment to 11.5 million this year from 9.5 million in 2003.

Chairperson of the National Front for the Struggle of Indonesian Workers (FNPBI) Dita Indah Sari, said the government lacked the vision to improve labor conditions as it failed to maintain strategic industries that employ millions of workers.

"The new government has instead given priority to industries that yield maximum revenue," she said.

The government's refusal to help the ailing strategic industries such as aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia in Bandung, textile firm PT Texmaco in West Java and fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda in Aceh is a clear example of the government's ignorance, Dita said. Subsequently, the firms suspended tens of thousands of workers.

"The government could do something to salvage the industries. It could reduce its export of liquefied natural gas to Singapore and China to secure the supply for PT PIM so that the fertilizer factory could resume operation. It could also renegotiate its foreign debts with donor countries and international financial institutions to enable it to put aside a part of its funds to salvage Texmaco and PT DI," Dita said.

Peaceful actions greet international Labour Day

Tempo Interactive - May 1, 2005

Deni Mukbar/Siswanto, Jakarta -- May Day was commemorated today by hundreds of workers and mass organisations from Greater Jakarta at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta.

The action, which began at around 10am, was joined by a number of organisations including the Indonesian Association of Trade Workers (ASPEK) and Student's Solidarity for the People (SMUR) who called for improvements to workers' welfare and the proper application of the law on labour affairs.

Meanwhile at 11.20am, another mass organisations calling themselves the United People's Alliance held an action at the State Palace calling on the government and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to strengthen domestic industries. Other demands including opposing the use of contract workers and improvements to the performance of national industries.

Since 7am in the satellite city of Bekasi, workers from a number of organisations had packed roads leading towards Jakarta concentrating in at number of points such as the Social Affairs Department in front of the Bekasi regional government offices.

The coalition of workers came from the Bekasi branch of the National Workers Union (SPN), the Bekasi branch of the Association of Indonesian Trade Unions (GSBI), the Permindo Oil Trading Workers Association, the PT Hirose Electric Indonesia Trade Union and other trade unions from the Bekasi regency.

Prior to this, they commemorated May Day by holding a long-march through Bekasi but delayed holding a demonstration as they plan to this later at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Thousands gather to commemorate May Day in Jakarta

Tempo Interactive - May 1, 2005

AJI/AT, Jakarta -- The commemoration of international labour day (May Day) in Jakarta today involved thousands of workers and other social organisations such as students, the urban poor, farmers and women.

The participants had been commemorating May Day since 10.30am by holding a people's theater at the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta then marching to the State Palace.

This May Day the teams raised were national industrialisation for the people as an alternative economic concept to resolve welfare problems that have yet to be solved by the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice-president Jusuf Kalla.

National industrialisation is industrialisation that gets rid of the neoliberal framework and must be carried put by a clean, democratic, modern, independent and populist government. The Yudhoyono administration has no commitment to implement industrialisation that is truly free from the interests of neoliberalism.

Action commemorating labour day, May 1, were also held in the satellite city of Tangerang (Cisadane/KBC Worker Committee), in Jakarta (Indonesian Transportation Trade Union for Struggle, SBTPI) and dominated by opposition to illegal payments at the North Jakarta port of Tanjung Priok and in the satellite city of Bekasi in front of the Indomobil car factory followed by a march to Bekasi's Tongyang industrial zone.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Workers pelt effigies of Yudhoyono-Kalla with stones

Detik.com - May 1, 2005

Gunawan Mashar, Makassar -- Like pelting the holy wall with stones to excise evil. That's what it was like at a demonstration in the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar during the commemoration of May Day -- they pelted effigies of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice-president Jusuf Kalla with bottles of Aqua and stones.

Actions by workers commemorating May Day on Sunday were held in a number of places. As well as workers, students from a number of other organisations also took to the streets.

One of the places used by demonstrators was the Reformasi toll road where hundreds of workers and students from the United Student Worker Front (FBMB) linked up with the Association of Islamic Students (HMI) and demonstrated by 'sleeping' in the middle of the toll road intersection.

Their action was carried out as a symbol that workers no longer trust the Yudhoyono-Kalla government and that since they took office workers have continued to have no power and are still left to flounder with no clear future. As a result of the action traffic on road leading to the Reformasi toll road slowed to a crawl.

Demonstrators had also made effigies with pictures of Yudhoyono and Kalla that were pelted with bottles of Aqua and stones. This act was a symbol of protest against the president and vice- president.

At around 11am demonstrators left the Reformasi toll road and are currently travelling towards the Karebosi Square to meet up with other workers who will arrive from other locations.

Each year Karebosi Square is a focal point for workers commemorating May 1. As of going to print around 500 workers had already gathered and this will increase because many are still on their way such as workers who had gathered at the Makassar Industrial Zone on Jalan Ir Sutami who are now on their way to the square.

Hundreds of police officers have been put on alert to maintain security during the demonstrations. (asy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Workers blockade road in front of mayor's office in Malang

Detik.com - May 1, 2005

Budi Hartadi, Malang -- Thousands of workers in East Java city of Malang commemorated May Day by blockading the road in front of the mayor's office on Jalan Tugu.

As well as the demonstration in front of the mayor's office workers also held an action in the grounds of the Gajayana Stadium and the Malang City square.

During the action workers called on the government to make May 1 a national holiday and for the government to immediately abolish all anti-worker policies which are contained in Law Number 13/2003 on Labour Affairs and Law Number 2/2004 on the Settlement of Industrial Disputes as well as an end to liberalisation in the labour sector.

"Workers are being dismissed, workers' wages do not conform to the minimum regional wage and fuel price increase indicate that the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice- president Jusuf Kalla are puppets of imperialism", shouted a worker during a speech.

As well as giving speeches, they also brought a number of posters with the messages such as "Stop fuel price increases", "Increase workers' wages" and "Fuel price increase are further strangling the working class".

The action was also joined by a number of activists from the Joint People's Movement against Fuel Price Increases, the People's Democratic Action Committee, Indonesian Labour Solidarity for Struggle and the Malang branch of the All Indonesia Trade Union.

Although the action proceeded in an orderly manner, hundreds of police officers were deployed to maintain security and supervise the hundreds of workers commemorating May Day. (asy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Thousands of workers inundate Central Jakarta on May Day

Detik.com - May 1, 2005

Iqbal Fadil, Jakarta -- Commemorating May Day on May 1, thousands of workers inundated the Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta resulting in a massive traffic jam on Jalan Sudirman.

The workers, who were from a number of trade unions from Jakarta and the satellite cities of Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi, arrived at the roundabout at around 9am on Sunday.

At around 10am they began leaving the roundabout to march to the State Palace so right now the Hotel Indonesia roundabout and Jalan Thamrin is filled with a sea of people.

To get to the State Palace on Jalan Medan Merdeka Utara, they used all of the lanes on Jalan Thamrin except the busway and as a result traffic on Jalan Sudirman between Senayan and Hotel Indonesia came to a total standstill. The busway was intentionally left empty but ended up being used by private vehicles and ordinary buses.

Workers brought a number of banners, their trade union flags and the majority wore headbands. In addition to those going on foot, a number of workers also traveled in a convoy of motorcycles.

A number of demands were taken up for this May Day: that May 1 become a labour day and national holiday; an end to mass dismissals; an end to the use of contract labour; the repeal of Law Number 13/2003 on Labour Affairs, Law Number 2/2004 on the Settlement of Industrial Disputes and Law Number 39/2004 on the Protection of Migrant Workers; upholding and protecting the freedom of workers to form trade unions; establishing mechanisms to protect Indonesian migrant workers and their families and; providing free education, health and cheep housing for the poor.

They also called on all parties to end violence against and the trafficking of women and children, an end to privatisation and the sale of state assets, the arrest and trial of corrupters and the seizure of their assets, bringing employers to trial who violate workers and an end to interference by the IMF, World Bank, the Consultative Group on Indonesia and the Asia Development Bank in national economic policy. (asy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

May Day, thousands of workers rally in Bandung

Detik.com - May 1, 2005

Ahmad Yunus, Bandung -- May Day was also commemorated by workers in the West Java provincial of Bandung. Around 3,000 works spilled into the streets of Bandung organising a long-march and convoy.

Demonstrators began gathering at the Monument to the People's Struggle on Jalan Dipati Ukur at around 8am where they gave speeches in which they called for workers welfare to be improved. They also rejected the use of contract labour. A number of banners and posters were brought to the action with messages such as "Reject Cheap Wages" and "Abolish Contract Labour Systems".

The demonstrators then held a long-march and convoy from Jalan Dipati Ukur via Jalan H Juanda and Jalan Diponegoro. At 11.40 demonstrators were still at the Radio Republic Indonesia building on Jalan Diponegoro where they plan to broadcast their demands though the radio station.

The workers came from a number of organisations including the National Workers Union, the West Java National Trade Union Congress Alliance, the Greater Bandung Employees Brotherhood Forum and the Indonesian Association of Free Trade Unions.

The long-march and convoy resulted in traffic jams and a number of places such as Jalan Supratman were even closed off by police. (asy)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

War on terror

US, military meet to work on anti-terror cooperation

Associated Press - May 3, 2005

US and Indonesian military officers are meeting in the Indonesian capital to discuss ways to cooperate in the fight against Islamic terrorists in Southeast Asia, a US Embassy spokesman said Tuesday.

The meetings, which will run through May 14, reflect the growing closeness between the two militaries after all contacts were cut in 1999 amid concern in Washington over Indonesian human rights abuses.

"The purpose of this exchange is to improve cooperation... in the war on terror," said spokesman Max Kwak.

The Bush administration wants to resume full ties with the military in Indonesia, which is the world's most populous Muslim nation and a key country in the war on terror. Islamic militants with links to al-Qaida have launched three bloody attacks on western targets since 2002.

The armed forces of the two nations cooperated closely in the 1970s and 80s, during the military-backed regime of former Indonesian dictator Suharto. But Washington imposed a ban on military ties with Indonesia in 1999, after its troops devastated its former province of East Timor following a UN-organized independence referendum.

Moves to restore full ties got a boost after the Dec. 26 tsunami devastated much of Indonesia's Aceh province. Washington dispatched a Navy carrier group to the region, which cooperated closely with Indonesia's military in distributing aid and treating survivors.

Politics/political parties

PKB won't recall dissenting lawmakers

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Tony Hotland, Jakarta -- Chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Muhaimin Iskandar asserted on Friday he would not dismiss or recall any dissenting PKB legislators who had opposed the party's national congress last month.

Muhaimin, also a House of Representatives deputy speaker, made the statement because he was perceiving fears from these PKB members that he would recall them from their legislative posts. Despite strong demands for their dismissal, Muhaimin said having dissenting members was common and he would not recall them unless they kept on creating negative public opinion to the level that it affected the party's consolidation process.

"They're having this fight simply because they're afraid of being dismissed. Like AS Hikam, who probably fears that I'd dump him for betraying me after everything I've done to help him," said Muhaimin, referring to the PKB lawmaker at House Commission I who supports the opposing Alwi Shihab's camp. PKB holds 52 seats in the House.

The party slipped into a chronic dispute between supporters of Muhaimin and Alwi, following the party's congress last month that elected Muhaimin as the new chairman, and former president Abdurrahman Wahid as chief patron.

Alwi, the Coordinating Minister of Social Welfare, called the congress illegitimate as it did not involve him as PKB chairman, or State Minister for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions Syaifullah Yusuf as PKB secretary general.

The two were suspended after joining President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet, whose presidential bid was not supported by the PKB. Alwi and Syaifullah have questioned the suspension because holding dual positions was not regulated at all in the party's statutes.

"But they, along with other four PKB members who were expected to be appointed ministers had previously agreed in a plenary meeting to resign party posts should they become ministers. They also signed an agreement letter," Muhaimin said.

Alwi later filed a lawsuit at the South Jakarta District Court on the grounds that the party had failed to inform the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights about the suspension during the maximum 30 day period, and thus the leadership remains in his hands.

Despite this, Muhaimin submitted the party's new line up at the ministry for registration. However, the ministry has asked all disputing parties to resolve their conflict first, and that it would not make any legal registration pending a court decision.

"The submission of the party structure is for administrative reasons only. There's no legal element there," Muhaimin argued.

He said, however, that the party would take unspecified actions against PKB members and senior clerics who support Alwi in East Java, the party's main stronghold, who have held exclusive meetings and are calling for their own congress.

"These clerics have three hidden agendas; to keep Alwi and Syaifullah in the Cabinet, to (maintain) local conflict in East Java, and to prevent PKB from being an open party as they wish to keep the PKB as an Islamic party forever," said Muhaimin.

The pseudo-regeneration of the political parties

Kompas - May 2, 2005

BE Satrio, Litbang Kompas -- Democratisation in Indonesia appears to be taking a step back. After successfully holding peaceful general elections in 2004, these days political upheavals are centred on the political processes with the political parties. Unfortunately, the internal dynamics within the political parties tend to be overshadowed by power rather than a positive political process.

At first glance, it appears that regeneration has occurred in the leadership of a number of large political parties at recent party congresses. The reality is however that their political culture is very dependent on the charisma of party leaders and conservative tendencies heavily influence the election of party leaders. In the eyes of the public, the processes and dynamics that are occurring at party congresses at the moment are not seen as an example of a democratic model of life. In general terms however, the public on the other hand is starting to have a positive assessment of democratic life in Indonesia.

This was the conclusion drawn from the results of a Kompas survey of phone owners in 10 large cities. In general terms, the majority (60 per cent) of respondents in fact had a positive assessment of the process of democratisation in Indonesia at the moment compared to the period under the previous government. Only 15 per cent of respondents said the process of democratisation in Indonesia at the moment is poor and only 19 per cent said it was getting worse.

Nevertheless, within this a positive assessment which has resulted from the Indonesian nation moving forward with political reform and its success in holding direct elections in 2004, more than half (56 per cent) of respondents believe that the political parties have provided bad political examples at their congresses. Only one in three (32 per cent) respondents believe that the current political parties are providing a good political example to the country.

The issue that appears to have attracted most attention with regard to the political parties' congresses so that in the eyes of the public they are seen as lacking in democracy, is the issue of the succession of party leaders. The same old figures surfaced, and if they did not interfere in the nomination of their favoured candidate, it was demonstrated by dominance of the charismatic influence of party figures. The problems which occurred within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Star Reform Party (PBR) clearly showed signs of this.

The election of leaders by acclamation coloured the parties' congresses and in the end, culminated in party splits as happened with PDI-P, PKB and PBR. Meanwhile the election process that took place within PAN showed the strength of the charisma of old leaders in influencing the election of a new leader.

At PAN's congress, Soetrisno Bachir was considered on paper unlikely to gain PAN's the top post because he was previously unknown in national politics. The fact was however, that in he succeeded in marginalising other candidates who already had a name for themselves. The election of the businessperson from the East Java city of Pekalongan as the general chairperson of PAN could not be separated from the influence of its former chairperson Amien Rais. Although the election was still conducted though a formal vote, the informal support given by Rais for Bachir obviously jacked up the number of votes and secured the leadership for him. A number of observers have said that Bachir's election indicates that in the future the dynamics of PAN will continue to be a dominated by Rais.

PAN sympathisers, who were netted in the survey, appeared to be unsure about the nature of PAN's new leadership. Only half (50 per cent) said they were optimistic about the new PAN leadership while the remainder (42 per cent) are pessimistic that PAN will do better under Bachir's leadership.

But this is not just the case within in PAN. PKB and PDI-P are even more dependent on party figures. Within PKB, which has an extremely strong traditional links with the Islamic mass organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, the role of the Kiais (heads of traditional Islamic boarding schools) did indeed become central. Thus a number of political observers have said that the reelection of Gus Dur (former President Abdurrahman Wahid) as the head of the Advisory Council and Muhaimin Iskandar as PKB's Tanfidz (chairperson) was a victory of the traditional forces over the those who wanted to democratise the party.

PKB's voters themselves appear to have a negative view of the outcome of PKB's congress that elected the two members from the political elite. At least two in three (67 per cent) of respondents in the survey who voted for PKB believe that PKB's congress did not give a "fair" chance to all of the candidates and only accommodated particular individuals. In fact the Gus- Dur/Iskandar duet only generated an optimistic response from half (46 and 50 per cent) of PKB respondents about the future leadership of PKB and with regard to an increase in the vote for the PKB in the 2009 general elections.

If within PKB the figure of Gus Dur as a Kiai was central, within PDI-P the legitimacy of its leader is based on her hereditary background, that as the daughter of former President Sukarno, former President Megawati Sukarnoputri. It isn't surprising that in its last congress the other name that emerged as a candidate for the leadership was also a close family member, Megawati's younger brother Guruh Sukarnoputra.

In responding to the reelection of Megawati as the chairperson of the party symbolised by a bull in a round circle, only 32 per cent of PDI-P voters who were netted in the survey said that the PDI-P congress gave the same opportunities to other candidates. The dynamics of the congress prior to and following the reelection of Megawati by acclimation resulted in more than half of respondents who are PDI-P voters (56 per cent) believing that there was manipulation during the congress. Nevertheless, most members of the public in the survey who voted for PDI-P in the 2004 general elections are still optimistic about the future of the party under Megawati's leadership and optimistic that the party's vote could increase in the 2009 general elections.

The continuing role of old political party leaders no doubt, resulted in a majority (69 per cent) of respondents saying that there is still a dependency by Indonesian political parties on political figures and even that this is getting worse. Less than a third (28 per cent) believed that the present dependency on party figures has declined.

Among the party congresses which have taken place recently, there appears to be quite a high level appreciation for the former state ruling party Golkar. More than 60 per cent of respondents who voted for this party believe that the Golkar congress at the end of last year proceeded in a fair and democratic manner. Although there were still (37 per cent) Golkar respondents that believe the congress only accommodated particular candidates, the remainder (45 per cent) believes that all of the candidates had the same chance. Relatively speaking, a dependency on dominant figures did not feature within Golkar where Vice-president Jusuf Kalla was chosen as Golkar's general chairperson after he defeated his competitor Golkar's former chairperson Akbar Tandjung.

The tendency for parties to split, because of the way the election of their general chairpersons took place has not accommodated the rise of new independent leaders and has indeed become a serious problem for the future of these parties. The conflict which occurred between the Megawati camp and the PDI-P Reform Movement group, between the Gus Dur/Iskandar camp and the Alwi Shihab/Saifullah Yusuf camp and between the Zainuddin MZ camp and the Zaenal Ma'arif camp in PBR, clearly show a polarisation between conservative and modern tendencies.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Internal conflict sign of parties' immaturity: Experts

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2005

Tony Hotland, Jakarta -- So much for maturity, let alone democracy, when political parties, which are supposed to serve the various interests of their members and supporters, instead pursue their own conflicting interests.

The internal rifts inside some of the country's leading parties that have exploded into the public view in the past few months are a sign of the immaturity of our political parties, according to several observers. These rifts also carry with them the considerable risk of rolling back the progress the country has made toward democratization.

Some of these parties were already dealing with dissension ahead of their national congresses, like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the United Development Party (PPP), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Reform Star Party (PBR), all of which had internal disputes that resulted in either splinter factions or the unilateral dismissals of party executives.

A political analyst with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Ikrar Nusabakti, said such internal squabbling was an embarrassment to the democracy Indonesia was trying to build, and that parties that could not handle their own disputes were incapable of leading the democratization process.

"There are three things that are apparent here. It shows that internal conflict management is not working, the hunger for power overrides the desire to sustain party ideology and the future of the party, and the internal consolidation of the parties is ineffective," he said.

Moreover, said Ikrar, these parties were risking the trust of their supporters. Nurturing public confidence should be a top priority for the parties if they wished to fare better in the next elections.

"Regardless of who is right or wrong, [the disputes] have damaged their ability to organize themselves. How are they going to organize the larger public then?" he said.

The PDI-P, PPP and the PKB performed well in the 1999 elections, but all received fewer votes in the 2004 polls.

Ikrar said these conflicts could mean less opposition for the government due to the stalled internal consolidation of parties.

"Note that conflicts like those in the PKB or the PPP involve party members who are in the Cabinet. Who knows whether they really want to lead the party or just want to guarantee their posts in the party in case the Cabinet is reshuffled," he said.

A political analyst at Airlangga University in Surabaya, Daniel Sparringa, said there was an oligarchy of older politicians who were putting the brakes on internal reform in some parties.

"These parties are going through a democracy deficit, where their elite members cannot seem to follow in the steps of a modern party.

"They do not have an ideology to glue them together. There are only a few exalted figures who have turned the parties into personal property or use their positions to get posts in the government or even money," said Daniel.

He warned that this would hurt democracy, which requires healthy political parties, as well as cause political disorientation among voters.

"Breaking up parties is never good because it only leads to the creation of more parties, while an ideal democracy here should only have about seven sound parties," Daniel said.

In the end, such conflicts are good news only for those parties that, at least in front of the public, can manage smooth successions of power and show to the public a good image.

"For now, this includes Golkar as a nationalist-oriented party and the Prosperous Justice Party [PKS] for religion-based voters," said Daniel.

People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nurwahid, a former PKS leader, said parties needed to settle internal conflicts with dignity to provide the public with a good political education.

"The public is more critical now and they will note these conflicts. Their supporters could abandon them," Hidayat said.

Regional elections

Regional electoral commissions limiting participation

Kompas - May 6, 2005

Jakarta -- The election monitoring group the People's Network for Voter Education (JPPR) believes that the provincial offices of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) in a number of parts of the country are taking an excessive attitude (over acting) in determining what documents are required for organisations to be accredited to monitor the election of regional heads. JPPR believes these actions are an effort to limit public participation in the control of regional elections.

This statement was conveyed by the JPPR's national coordinator Adung A Rochman at a press conference in Jakarta on the afternoon of Wednesday March 4.

Rochman, who was contacted by Kompas, said that the reality in a number of parts of the country is that the KPUD has added to the requirements for accreditation through new interpretations of the law which are not actually found in Law Number 32/2004 on and Government Regulation Number 6/2005.

In both pieces of legislation it states that a monitoring organisation is only required to provide data on the total number of members, the names and address of its directors along with the organisation's source of funds at a national level in order to obtain accreditation.

"There are KPUDs who are asking for all the NPWPs (tax file numbers) [of the organisation's members], there are those who are asking for the names and photographs of all volunteer observers. Does the KPUD want to limit the public participation in the regional elections?", said Rochman by way of explanation.

Rochman gave as an example the KPUD in the Sukoharjo regency of Central Java that is asking monitoring groups to provide the organisation's NPWP as a requirement of accreditation. In the Sumenep regency of East Java, monitors are required to hand over a bank guarantee as evidence that has funds. (dik)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Veterans supports TNI participation in elections

Detik.com - May 5, 2005

M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta -- The Armed Forces Veterans Association (Pepabri) supports TNI (armed forces) chief General Endriartono Sutarto's policy of TNI members participating in regional elections but being put on a non-active status and that those who participate must be prepared to win or loose.

"As citizens, members of the TNI and Indonesian national police have political rights, [whether they] use them or not [they have] the right to participate in the nominations for the upcoming regional elections. But [they] must be non-active and not allowed to wear uniforms anymore", the general chairperson of Pepabri, retired Inspector General Putera Astaman, explained to journalists during a break in Pepabri's National Working Meeting at the Hotel Kartika Chandra in Jakarta on Wednesday May 4.

According to Astaman, Sutarto's policy of allowing TNI members to take part in the nominations is in accordance with existing laws. Pepabri only asks that TNI members who participate must be prepared to accept it if they win or loose.

Pepabri is therefore appealing to the community of retired officers and army widows to make proper use of their political rights and on the condition that if they are elected they will work for the benefit of the electorate. "It's up to them if the candidate is a civilian or a non-active TNI [member]. Whoever is elected, Pepabri will stick to the principles of trust, hope, conscience and the political rights of each respective [person]", he said.

Udju S Dinata, the head of Pepabri's department of social and political affairs meanwhile, confirmed that there is concern within some circles that the TNI and police are becoming involved in politics again. "Actually, for Pepabri holding the view that there is a dichotomy between the civilian and military, Islam and non-Islam, old and young, Javanese and [non-Javanese -- word missing JB] is not a dangerous virus which is spreading", he explained.

Dinata added that Pepabri has never given any thought to or accepted tolerance toward this social dichotomy. According to Dinata, allowing TNI members to participate in the nominations is in accordance with existing laws. "That is the political right of every citizen, [whether it] is used or not, why make an issue out of it. If an issue is made out of it, this represents a overly sensitive attitude", he said.

Dinata explained that of course the policies of the TNI and police leadership in relation to this issue have been carefully considered. The concern that there will be a split within the TNI or police explained Dinata has no basis and will never happen.

Concerns that the participation of TNI members in the nominations will influence soldier's professionalism also have no foundation. The government, in this case the TNI continued Dinata, will of course give consideration to excesses that exist in order that friction doesn't occur within the TNI as an institution.

"I don't think it will undermine the professionalism [of the TNI or police]. Because professionalism is also determined by other factors. No matter how may soldiers take part in nominating themselves out of the total number of soldiers in Indonesia I guarantee that it will not happen", said Dinata. (zal)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Analysts urge election delays in all regions

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta -- The central government is being urged to delay local elections as most regions appear to be unprepared for the polls and existing regulations contain many legal loopholes, which are feared may spell chaos during the elections.

Former state minister of regional autonomy Ryaas Rasyid said the election of governors, mayors and regents, scheduled to start in June nationwide, would not give a boost to democracy because the central government was allowed to intervene in the polls.

The elections would instead be a setback for democracy as the regions were ill prepared to hold the events, he added.

"It would be better for the government to delay the elections without setting a deadline because each region has its own specific problems. Let the regions determine their own schedules to hold the elections," Ryaas told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Earlier last week, the government issued a regulation in lieu of law in response to the Constitutional Court's verdict that annulled several articles of Law No. 32/2004 on regional administrations.

The new ruling allows for possible delays in direct elections in certain regions due to security disturbances and natural disasters.

"We can't pick certain schedules to determine whether the regions can go ahead with the elections, because each region has its own specific problems. In Poso [Central Sulawesi], for instance, the elections may not be held within a year following a series of violent clashes.

"While in Aceh and Nias, the elections probably won't take place within the next five to six years," Ryaas said, referring to the Dec. 26 tsunami in Aceh and the powerful earthquake that struck Nias on March 28.

Ryaas said that apart from security and social concerns, the government should seriously consider other factors, including the late disbursement of funds and logistical materials for the elections, as strong reasons to postpone the polls.

A similar call was made by Indra J. Piliang, a researcher with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He said the local elections should be delayed until the many legal loopholes in the existing regulations were addressed.

Indra asserted that the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), which is supposed to be an independent body, could not be without bias as it must report to the local legislative councils that consist of members of political parties.

He called the planned direct elections (Pilkada) "the central government's political program for regions instead of supporting the spirit of democracy".

Indra referred to the establishment of the Pilkada desk at the Ministry of Home Affairs, whose main tasks are similar to those of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

The desk will undoubtedly meddle in the local direct elections, he added. "The project does not promote democracy as it shows a centralistic approach." The first ever direct elections will replace many local administration heads -- governors, mayors and regents who have ended or will end their five-year terms this year. The government has allocated Rp 1.25 trillion (US$135.87 million) from the state budget for the local elections nationwide.

A rigorous debate, however, is continuing between the government and the House of Representatives over the budget. Lawmakers disagree with the proposed spending on information campaigns about the elections directed at the public ahead of the polls.

Ryaas said many regions may decide to delay their elections due to financial problems, as the House will likely approve the disbursement of the election funds some time in June.

"The government has asked the regions to finance the election preparations at the earliest, while waiting for financial support from the central government. Of course, this will only create more financial problems in the future," he said.

Corruption/collusion/nepotism

All KPU officials 'got kickbacks'

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Tony Hotland, Jakarta -- Apparently not wanting to go down alone, General Elections Commission (KPU) treasurer Hamdani Amin, who has recently been declared a graft suspect, told investigators on Friday that all the KPU officials had received money from private companies, which had won business tenders from the commission.

Hamdani told reporters that all KPU members and several staffers had each received a portion of approximately Rp 20 billion (US$2.10 million) given by the firms, ostensibly as kickbacks for winning tenders to supply election materials.

"All KPU members received the money. Each received a portion of the money according to their positions and duties," said Hamdani.

His statement should boost the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) effort to crack open even wider the corruption inside the KPU, which has been long alleged by the public, and thus investigate all KPU members.

Eleven KPU members were elected in 2001. Imam B. Prasodjo and Mudji Sutrisno resigned in 2003 due to conflicts of interest, while Hamid Awaluddin was appointed Minister of Justice and Human Rights late last year.

The current remaining members are chairman Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin, deputy Ramlan Surbakti, Mulyana W. Kusumah, Rusadi Kantaprawira, Daan Dimara, Chusnul Mar'iyah and Valina Singka Subekti.

Suspected corruption linking all KPU members has also been alleged by the Supreme Audit Agency's (BPK) investigative audit report, which indicated misuse of over Rp 90 billion of some Rp 800 billion spent to procure materials for last year's legislative election.

In the report, the BPK alleges a conspiracy to ensure that particular firms obtained tenders in return for kickbacks. The allegation has also been authenticated by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU), which said it had discovered indications of unfairness in the selection of firms.

A number of firms that won tenders are PT Survindo Indah Prestasi, PT Tjakrindo Mas and CV Almas (for ballot boxes), PT Kertas Letjes and PT Temprina Media Grafika (ballot paper), PT Kertas Kraft Aceh (ballot envelopes), PT Elit Permai Metal Work (polling booths), PT Integrasi Teknologi (information technology), PT Pura Barutama (voter cards), and a number of Indian firms (ink).

KPU deputy Ramlan Surbakti refused to give a statement regarding Hamdani's confession, saying that the KPU chairman would be the one to give any statements regarding KPU matters.

"We've all agreed that all statements will be made by the chairman because he's responsible for the KPU inside and out," Ramlan said, adding that the KPU would be prepared to explain itself to the House of Representatives on Monday.

Nazaruddin did not answer a call by The Jakarta Post, but he has reportedly denied any knowledge about receiving any money from anyone, including tender winners, on the procurement of election materials. Hamdani was named a suspect on Wednesday after the KPK discovered evidence of him receiving money from winning firms, and found US$150,000 cash in his safe at the KPU office.

KPK deputy Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said it was the Rp 20 billion that turned out to be what the KPU called "tactical funds", which were partially used by KPU member Mulyana to bribe a BPK auditor to influence audit results.

Mulyana, the first to be named as a suspect, said the bribery had been agreed upon by other KPU members. Another suspect in the corruption case is KPU secretary-general Sussongko Suhardjo, who has been accused of ordering the bribe to be paid and providing the bribe money.

Anti-graft teams may overlap

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Eva C. Komandjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- The antigraft team set up recently by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono may overlap with the duties of other existing anticorruption bodies, thus could put efforts to eradicate the crime in disarray, observers say.

Romli Atmasasmita, who leads the Corruption Eradication Forum, said on Friday that the establishment of the new team had given a morale boost to law enforcers to eradicate corruption, but it did not guarantee the effectiveness of the country's anti-corruption drive.

"The team reflects the President's expectation to lead the antigraft movement directly. But, whether it will be effective will depend very much on the National Police Chief and the Attorney General," he told The Jakarta Post.

Secretary-General of Indonesia Transparency International Emmy Hafild shared the concern, saying the existing anticorruption institutions had yet to perform satisfactorily. "The presidential decree does not elaborate how the new team will coordinate the antigraft drive," Emmy said.

President set up the 51-strong anticorruption team, consisting of prosecutors, police officers and state auditors, in a bid to accelerate the antigraft drive.

It is authorized to investigate and prosecute graft cases, hunt and arrest suspects, as well as trace and keep their assets from possible laundering or illegal transfer abroad.

Many of the new team's jobs are exactly the same as Vice President Jusuf Kalla's team, called the Swindler's Hunting Team, which also comprises prosecutors, police officers and state auditors plus Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.

Earlier the country welcomed the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which is specialized in investigation and prosecution of corruption cases which cause Rp 1 billion or more in state losses. The commission is authorized to take over cases from prosecutors and police and bring suspects to the anticorruption court.

The Criminal Code refers to the police and prosecutors as the law enforcers in dealing with crimes of corruption. But the reform movement in 1998 suggested radical moves to combat corruption, which had plagued the country under Soeharto's New Order regime.

Romli called on the dissolution of the Swindler's Hunting Team to anticipate possible overlapping jobs with the new antigraft team.

"The hunting team should be dissolved or merged with the new team, because they do the same work," he said.

Romli suggested that the government amend the existing law to enable corruption cases investigated by police and prosecutors to be heard in the anticorruption court, which he deems to be cleaner than district courts.

"The Attorney General's Office and the National Police also need to talk with the Supreme Court, because no matter how clean the prosecutors and police officers are, their work will be decided by courts," he said.

Meanwhile, Emmy asked the President to reform the bureaucracy first before declaring war on corruption.

"The President may be committed to a fight against corruption, but it will be useless should the bureaucracy fail to support it," she said, adding the President should introduce a forum to regularly discuss the antigraft movement with all stakeholders.

Commenting on the new antigraft team, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the team reflected the President's expectation that law enforcement against corruption would run effectively.

"It will not strip the power of any (institution)," he said.

Da'i added that the team would work together with KPK and other antigraft institutions if necessary.

"It will not overlap with the duties of the KPK because the latter does fall under the president. There will be no overlapping, it's only a matter of coordination," he said.

Susilo puts the squeeze on corruption

Jakarta Post - May 6, 2005

Jakarta, Nusa Dua, Bali -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has repeated his promise to seriously fight corruption at all levels of both state and private institutions, establishing a special team to strengthen and speed up his antigraft drive.

"Once the anticorruption wheels and machine runs, (it must) never stop," he said in Jakarta on Wednesday after inaugurating the team, which is led by Deputy Attorney General for special crimes Hendarman Supandji.

The team, called the Coordinating Team for Corruption Eradication, was established under Presidential Decree No. 11/2005, and comprised prosecutors, police officials and state auditors.

Earlier on Wednesday, Susilo told the opening of the 15th Inter- Pacific Bar Association Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, that he would enforce the rule of law in combating corruption and bringing to justice anyone involved in corrupt practices.

"There will be no more room for corruption. Not anymore. The time has come to deal seriously with corruption, which has brought so many problems to the country," he said before more than 500 lawyers and legal practitioners from 40 countries at the five-day conference.

Susilo said his government would not only focus on improving macroeconomic conditions in the country, but also social and security conditions.

"Our main priority is to build a good legal framework and to enforce the rule of law in order to create legal certainty in the country and build good governance.

"You (lawyers) have to play a significant role in the fight against corruption. You are also important agents in creating a just and prosperous society," he said.

Susilo said last week his government was ready to begin tackling the problem of corruption, starting with his own office.

The government will soon audit the Office of the President, the Office of the Vice President, the Office of the Cabinet Secretary and the Office of the State Secretary, as well as their foundations.

Last year, Susilo issued a Presidential Instruction to accelerate the national anticorruption campaign. However, he has admitted that the drive has thus far borne little fruit.

The President had also reached an agreement with the Attorney General, the National Police, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Anti-Money Laundering Center (PPATK) and National Ombudsman to meet once a month to coordinate and synchronize the antigraft movement.

The government has also set up a team consisting of prosecutors, police officers, State Audit Body (BPK) officials, and those from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to hunt graft suspects and convicts who fled abroad.

The team, labeled the "Swindler's Hunting Team", was initiated and is led by Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi claimed the establishment of the new team would not overlap with other antigraft teams or commissions, such as KPK.

During Wednesday's opening session of the Bali conference that had the theme "Getting it Right in the New Asia: The Rule of Law in Regional Economic Development", Andrew Steer, country director for the World Bank in Indonesia, said economic development had fundamentally changed.

For the past 25 years, the stress had been on macroeconomic, trade and investment development.

"Now it has changed drastically," Steer said. "Asian countries have experienced rapid progress in macroeconomic conditions, social sectors and many others." "But these countries have done poorly in building good governance and in the enforcement of the rule of law," he said, adding that good policies were not sustainable without implementing laws to promote economic development.

Jusuf Wanandi, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said that over the past 30 years economic development in Indonesia had been built on "fragile" economic and political grounds.

During the New Order regime of Soeharto, the judicial system was marginalized. When the regime ended, Soeharto's political and economical stability crumbled overnight, he said.

"It is urgent to establish legal certainty to regain international trust and to draw back investment to the country," Jusuf said.

Special anti-graft team installed

Jakarta Post - May 6, 2005

Rendi A. Witular and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta -- President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono installed on Wednesday 51 members of a special team charged with the task of intensifying and improving the government's anticorruption campaign.

The Coordinating Team for Corruption Eradication is aimed at speeding up the anticorruption campaign. The drive, which was launched six months ago, has yet to record significant results.

Its members comprise prosecutors, police officers and officials of the Development Finance Controller (BPKP). The team is chaired by Deputy Attorney General for special crimes Hendarman Supandji.

The team will run for two years, but the term may be extended if deemed necessary.

It is assigned to investigate and prosecute graft cases, hunt down and arrest suspects, as well as tracing assets and preventing them from possibly being laundered or illegally transferred abroad.

The new team is obliged to report developments in their duties at any time to the president. Results of its activities must be presented to the President and his advisers every three months.

The first duty of the team will be to investigate possible graft cases in 16 state enterprises, four ministries and three private companies, as well as hunt down 12 white collar swindlers who have fled abroad.

"We have decided to take necessary legal measures against 16 state enterprises, four ministries and three private companies," Susilo said, adding that the decision was taken during a coordination meeting last week.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said there would be no problem with possible overlapping between the new team and other antigraft institutions set up earlier.

"So be it, because the purpose of all the institutions is to eradicate corruption," he said.

Da'i said that the team is mainly tasked with coordinating police and prosecutors in fighting corruption.

"So that prosecutors will not return case files on graft cases submitted by the police, or vice versa, which often prolongs the prosecution proceedings," he explained.

Team chief Hendarman Supandji concurred with Da'i, saying police and prosecutors should not waste time by returning case files on graft cases to each other.

The Coordinating Team for Corruption Eradication:

Advisors: Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, BPKP head Arie Soelendro

Head: Deputy Attorney General for special crime Hendarman Supandji Deputy Head: National Police director of anticorruption division Brig. Gen. Indarto and BPKP deputy head of investigation division Nasib Padmomihardjo

Members:

Prosecutors: Arnold Angkow, Ali Mukartono, Bambang Setyo Wahyudi, Daniel Tombe, Dicky Rahmat Raharjo, Heru Chaerudin, Hendrizal Husin, Muhammad Salman, Ninik Mariyanti, Pantono, Ranu Mihardja Teguh and Tony Spontana Police officials: Sr. Comr. Alpiner Sinaga, Sr. Comr. Didik Tato P., Sr. Comr. Noor Ali, Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang K., Adj. Sr. Comr. Farman, Adj. Sr. Comr. Iswandi Hari, Adj. Sr. Comr. Ismu Gunadi, Adj. Sr. Comr. Mahendra Jaya, Adj. Sr. Comr. Opik Taufik, Comr. Gupuh Setiyono, Comr. Ika Waskita, Comr. Slamet Pribadi, Adj. Comr. Didik Suyadi and Adj. Comr.

Joko Cipto BPKP auditors: Ade Suhendar, Andy Budiman, Andi Pamanius, Arman Sahri Harahap, Buntoro Hery Prasetyo, Didi Prakoso, Dulhadi Ganang Sugiarso, Gilbert Sihombing, Herry Supratman, Nanang Ariseno, Pratama Hary Nugraha, Sofyan Sunrizal and Yus Muharam

How a poll hero turned into 'public enemy'

Jakarta Post - May 6, 2005

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta -- This is a story of a hero-turned public enemy. Mulyana W. Kusumah -- a rights activist and member of the Indonesian Elections Commission (KPU) -- was one of the many so-called "heroes" who it seemed had succeeded in organizing a mammoth task, the 2004 general and presidential election. Last month, he was apprehended by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for allegedly bribing a Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) official to overlook suspected irregularities in the procurement of ballot boxes.

It is still hard to believe that a man known for his stout convictions and modest lifestyle would commit such an offense.

His record speaks volumes -- active in the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) for over a decade, founder of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), and the Commission for Missing Person and Victims of Violence (KONTRAS), Mulyana was also a pioneer who of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee (KIPP).

But the reality is that the 56-year-old ethnic Sundanese -- who claimed the bribe was made with the consent of other active KPU members -- is now incarcerated at Salemba Penitentiary, East Jakarta.

From the outset, the KPU faced a herculean task in organizing the biggest one-day election in the world. But it was a task which, by all accounts, was performed admirably. Or so we thought.

The success of the elections seemed to gloss over reports of suspected irregularities on various procurements by KPU as reported by certain NGOs and a few newspapers including The Jakarta Post.

These procurements included the provision of ballot boxes, ballot papers, information technology hardware, ink, and polling booths. It was Mulyana who headed the ballot boxes committee.

If the allegations directed towards Mulyana are proven to be true, then there is reason to be sad and rejoice at the same time. It will confirm the downfall a man who for years epitomized virtue and principle, and at the same time give hope to a new institution (the KPK) which is willing to pursue crime irrespective of the suspect's rank or reputation.

The other KPU members must also be ready to bear every consequence of irregularities committed during their tenure.

Looking back at the KPU procurements process, it was quite clear that it was far from being well-managed, or transparent. To put it bluntly, it was a mess! One of the most fundamental mistakes was the KPU management assuming the direct management of procurements and tenders; a process which they had little experience in.

They maintained that since they would ultimately be the ones held responsible for the success of the elections, it was best for them to directly be in charge of all aspects of the process.

Investigative journalists quickly dug up sources that revealed that in November 2003, the winning firm of Rp 324 billion (US$38 million) ballot boxes tender PT Survindo Indah Prestasi was in fact not a ballot-box producer at all and was incapable of producing 2.1 million boxes.

Nevertheless, KPU's ballot boxes tender committee, chaired by Mulyana, still awarded the contract to the company. It became a fateful decision which nearly jeopardized the entire election. After the company failed to deliver several months later, the KPU was forced to hurriedly split the tender and give part of it to another company.

Another sign of the KPU's ineptitude was found upon cross- referencing tax records of the firms participating in KPU tenders.

More than half of the firms, which reached the final stage of tenders, either had poor or no tax records at all. In fact several were not even operating in the sector which they were tendering for.

How could such companies reach the final stage of KPU's tender process? One also must question the degree of transparency KPU as the managing organization was willing to submit to.

While the announcement of the tenders and bidding process was made open to the public, the KPU refused to disclose the details of the financial statements of the selected firms or their core businesses, although they were dealing with millions of dollars of public money.

But a share of the blame should also be placed on the staff at the KPU head office who despite their long experience, seemed incapable of scrutinizing documents submitted by the firms.

It seems that financial statement and tax records of various firms were "overlooked". Add to this the presence of various "brokers" hovering around the KPU office in Central Jakarta, all acting like they owned the place. These brokers -- some of whom were ranking officials at a research firm -- pompously ordered around KPU staff with authoritative commands.

Without a buffer limiting face-to-face interaction between brokers and tender committee members, scheming was always a high probability.

Mulyana has said that KPU was understaffed to carry out thorough examinations of firms in the KPU tenders. It seems such a simple and costly oversight now. Whether this is a crime of negligence or one of greed is something the Adhoc Corruption Court will need to decide.

[The writer is a journalist of The Jakarta Post.]

Media/press freedom

Local media vows to keep fighting graft

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung -- Local journalists say the nine-month imprisonment of two of their colleagues over a report on alleged corruption will not discourage them from unveiling more graft cases.

The chief editor of the Lampung Pos newspaper Djadjat Sudradjat said on Friday that the press would not surrender its freedom to report on corruption as many state institutions remained unable to eradicate the crime.

"We always try to disseminate the truth, although many parties are unhappy about our efforts and therefore seek every avenue to obstruct us through criminalization of journalistic reports," Djadjat said.

He said he feared the resistance against press reports on graft cases would weaken the nation's drive to stamp out corruption, which has been declared a priority by the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"The sentence not only endangers press freedom, but the government's anticorruption campaign too, which is moving into high gear," according to Djadjat.

The chief editor and managing editor of Lampung's Koridor weekly Darwin Ruslinur and Budiono Syahputra, were tossed in the slammer for a report, which argued that the Golkar Party's Alzier Dianis Thabrani -- the head of the provincial branch -- had misused Rp 1.25 billion (US$131,500) of party funds.

Judges ordered the immediate imprisonment of the two.

Whistle blowers in corruption cases have often become the victims, and many now sit in this country's prisons, while many corruptions suspects are still free.

Djadjat said his paper would not back down from its commitment to the fight against corruption, "but through professional coverage." Bambang Eka Wijaya, a member of the Disciplinary Council of Lampung's Journalist Association Council (PWI), said the sentence was unfair and served as a reminder of the power of the nation's corrupt tyrants to influence legal processes.

"Corruption convicts here manage to evade imprisonment until a legally binding verdict from the Supreme Court. Now journalists who fight corruption have to serve their sentence immediately," Bambang said.

The sentence, he added, should instead serve as a rallying cry for the press to encourage people to free themselves from a corruption-infested tyrannical system.

Law expert Wahyu Sasongko questioned the judges' decision to try the case using the Criminal Code rather than the Press Law in the first place.

"The courts are supposed to be the last bastion of justice. I don't see that the judges were courageous enough to stand on principle. They've all used the dispute between Tempo and businessman Tomy Winata as a precedent," Wahyu said. Tempo magazine's chief editor Bambang Harimurty was sentenced to one year in prison last year for a report on a market fire that it linked to Tomy.

The People's Movement against Corruption, a coalition of antigraft groups, said the sentence was a setback for the nation-wide drive against rot, which has been energized by the President.

"The verdict contradicts the government's own commitment to eradicating corruption. If journalists are jailed for reporting graft, who will then inform the public about the practice?" the group's director Ahmad Yulden Erwin said.

He said Lampung was among the provinces vulnerable to corruption. The Supreme Audit Agency reported Rp 60.7 billion of state losses due to corruption in the first semester of 2004.

The lawyers for Darwin and Budiono filed an appeal early on Friday.

Media freedom under attack as newsmen jailed

Jakarta Post - May 6, 2005

Oyos Saroso H.N, Bandarlampung -- Media freedom in Indonesia is on the brink of ruin, with two senior journalists in Lampung being sentenced to nine months in jail for defamation.

The verdicts on Wednesday are hurtful to democracy, moreover coming on the heels of government efforts to produce a new Criminal Code that will be detrimental to freedom of expression, a legal expert commented.

The two journalists, Darwin Ruslinur and Budiono Syahputra, received the jail terms after they were found guilty of defaming Alzier Dianis Thabranie, chairman of Golkar Party's Lampung chapter. The case surfaced last year when defendant Budiono, the managing editor of Koridor weekly tabloid, was informed by an anonymous Golkar member that Alzier and his colleague Indra Karyadi had yet to disburse an amount of Rp 1.25 billion (US$131,500) to him. The money was supposed to have been distributed by the Golkar member to Golkar supporters. The supporters were to receive Rp 50,000 each during first round of presidential elections last year to encourage them to vote for the presidential candidate backed by Golkar. Darwin Ruslinur, the tabloid's chief editor, said that the case was newsworthy and that should be printed. The news article, printed on page 18 of the tabloid's July edition last year, was headed "Alzier and Indra Karyadi allegedly embezzle Rp 1.25b Golkar fund".

At Wednesday's court session, presiding judge Iskandar Tjake found that the tabloid never confirmed the story with Alzier and Indra Karyadi, and on this basis he decided that the two journalists were guilty of defamation.

Commenting on the verdict, legal expert Hinca Panjaitan stressed in Jakarta on Thursday that the verdict would hurt democracy and the anticorruption drive. The role of the media, according to Hinca, is crucial in the country's fight against widespread corruption. If media freedom is curtailed, the battle against corruption will fade, said Hinca.

Azwar Arifin, the lawyer representing the two journalists, said that the verdict was unfair. The judges should have used the Press Law to decide the fate of the two journalists, as this law focused on prosecuting matters related to the media, rather than the criminal law. As his clients were being sent to jail, Azwar said that they would file an appeal to the high court.

In a separate development, in yet another sign that media freedom was under attack, Bambang Harymurti, the chief editor of Tempo weekly magazine, revealed on Wednesday that last week the high court had upheld a decision by a lower court sentencing him to one year in jail for defaming business tycoon Tommy Winata.

Speaking to the media in Lampung, Bambang regretted the latest decision by the high court, saying that he found inconsistency in the decision. On one hand, the high court judges applied the Press Law, but on the other, they applied criminal law. "The inconsistency is suspicious," said Bambang, saying that he would appeal to the Supreme Court.

In order to prevent journalists from being sent to jail in future, groups of journalists and the Press Council would immediately lobby the House of Representatives (DPR) to reject the controversial draft of the Criminal Code being prepared by the government, said Bambang. If the bill is passed into law by the DPR, it will constitute a serious threat to media freedom as it contains 49 articles that are harmful to freedom of expression and could land journalists in jail, he said.

New Code threatens media freedom

Jakarta Post - May 4, 2005

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta -- The Press Council again called for the government to revise the controversial draft of the new Criminal Code, which allows for the criminal prosecution of journalists who violate the law in the course of their jobs.

Leo Batubara, a senior press figure, urged the Attorney General's Office (AGO) not to use the Criminal Code to prosecute journalists, saying this would threaten hard-gained press freedoms.

He was speaking to reporters following a meeting with Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh on Tuesday. He said he asked the attorney general to pass along the message to the President.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's main program is to create good governance, including eliminating corruption in the country, and the press is needed to supervise and criticize the government.

"The new draft threatens press freedom and will eliminate the press' function as a voice of the public. Any journalist who violates the new draft could be jailed for up to seven years," Leo said.

He said the Press Council had proposed that journalists who committed libel be tried in civil rather than criminal cases, in addition to media companies facing the risk of bankruptcy.

"What is the use of our Press Law if the new Criminal Code will be used to put journalists behind bars?" Leo said, referring to Press Law No. 40/1999.

"Countries like India, Sri Lanka, Egypt and the Philippines have long eliminated laws that could threaten press freedom," he said.

He said the Press Council had attempted to meet with the drafters of the new Criminal Code, including the chairman of the draft committee, Muladi, but no one had responded to the invitations.

"We will keep trying to talk with them and we will also continue our struggle in the House of Representatives so that they will understand that the new code will hurt the press," Leo said.

Attorney General's Office spokesman R.J. Soehandojo said the attorney general agreed with the Press Council that journalists should not be prosecuted under the Criminal Code.

However, Soehandojo said the attorney general did not have the authority to prevent the bill from going to the House of Representatives.

A member of the team responsible for the new Criminal Code draft, which is now in the hands of the Cabinet Secretariat before being forwarded to the House of Representatives for deliberation, said they had no intention of restricting press freedom.

"It is not true that the draft Criminal Code will be more restrictive against the press than the current one," said Chairul Huda on Tuesday after a panel discussion on the issue.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), in a press release, said if the bill passed press freedom would be threatened because at least 49 articles in the draft could land journalists in jail. These range from articles regarding the ban on the spread of communist doctrine to leaking state secrets and libel.

In marking World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday, the AJI urged the House of Representatives to remove all articles from the draft that could curb press freedom and limit public creativity.

Media freedom threatened more than ever

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

The fall of the New Order regime in 1998 and the formation of a new government after democratic elections in 1999 were seen as major boosts for press freedom in Indonesia. But the past two years have seen press freedom in the country take a hit, with several journalists brought up on criminal charges for allegedly defamatory stories. Press Council chairman Ichlasul Amal shared his views on the issue with The Jakarta Post's Sally Piri in conjunction with World Press Freedom Day, which falls on May 3.

Question: The principle of press freedom is actually adequately guaranteed in Indonesia at the moment. But the rapid growth of the industry seems to be hurting this principle. What is your view of this?

Answer: Yes, that is a problem because of the very tight competition among members of the media to produce accurate news. The lack of instruments in a press institution can cause problems, too. For example, when a reporter has to take a bus to pursue a news story, it will take a lot of time for a reporter to get accurate news.

Under the New Order regime, power was used to control the media. But now legal means are preferred. An individual or institution would now rather send a case to court. How do you see this?

This perception comes from the law enforcers, who tend to look at errors in news reporting as regular crimes and thus are inclined to apply the Criminal Code or Civil Code rather than the Press Law (to such cases). Under the Press Law a maximum fine of Rp 500 million (US$54,300) can be imposed. And what is currently becoming a concern is that the draft of the new Criminal Code takes a harder line than the old code. The media will be put in greater danger than before because there are more articles, which I cannot specify now, that could lead a journalist to jail when such errors occur.

Do you see any indications that the government is against freedom of press?

Actually, this is more on an individual basis. Basically, nobody wants to be criticized or discredited by the media. This is human. Everybody has his own way of responding to news. People tend to respond by going to court but the law enforcers apply the Criminal Code rather than the Press Law.

What needs to be done to avoid repression by the government?

Nowadays it is impossible for the government to use repression because that would work like a boomerang. However, the government can use its right to respond to the newspapers that have published the story, following the procedures prescribed by the Press Law.

As far as freedom of the press is concerned, who would be the best to put limitations on the press?

Society, the media and the law. For example, society, which may be considered as militant with regard to specific values, might mobilize to confront the media. And through the law, the government can keep national stability.

What are the challenges for today's media?

Newspapers need sophisticated technology, and that is expensive. The large number of publications at present causes tighter competition among the members of the media. In today's economic conditions, how can they survive?

For example, in Medan alone there are at least 20 newspapers. And information technology is growing rapidly around the world. The number of people reading newspapers has tended to drop. However, people who live in rural areas read more newspapers. In order to acquire information technology tools and to survive, the media must have strong assets.

What do you think about the quality of the press in Indonesia?

Generally, it still has not reached the standards that have been achieved in neighboring countries. However, there are several good publications. Ideally, the living standards of the people who work in the media need to be upgraded.

Local & community issues

Sidewalk traders stage protest

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Palembang (South Sumatra) -- About 5,000 sidewalk vendors staged a protest at a roundabout in Palembang city center on Monday, rejecting the mayor's decision to move them to the city's Jakabaring market.

"The mayor is not being fair. We are only trying earn a living in the Pasar 16 market," a trader, Effendi, said.

He said that Jakabaring market did not attract many customers, meaning it would be hard for traders to earn money. "We refuse to be removed. We ask the mayor to be wise." The protest started at around 10 a.m. with protesters demanding to meet Mayor Eddy Santana Putra. At 1 p.m., Eddy met 50 representatives of the traders.

Eddy said the city had prepared the new market for the traders.

"The market is very presentable and it's ready. So I object if people say we're evicting the traders." The old Pasar 16 market would be renovated, he said.

Environment

Officials hail anti-illegal logging operation

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta -- A two-month joint operation against illegal logging in Papua has ended with "satisfying" results, the National Police and the Ministry of Forestry said on Friday.

The head of the operation, Comr. Gen. Ismerda Lebang, who also heads the security and order department at the National Police, said his team met its target by preventing Rp 2 trillion (US$210 million) in potential losses from timber theft. He also said 173 people had been named as suspects during the operation.

"The operation went as smoothly as we planned and there were almost no obstacles, except for collecting evidence and witnesses in isolated areas in Papua," he said.

The team, tasked with fighting illegal logging in Papua, began operation Hutan Lestari (Sustainable Forest) on March 5 and completed the operation on Thursday. The Rp 12 billion operation involved the police, forestry officials, prosecutors and the military.

Ismerda said the team confiscated 80,768 logs, 20,162 cubic meters of processed timber, 850 pieces of heavy equipment, four boats, 43 trucks, 13 barges, 14 tugboats, 46 chain saws and 298 other pieces of equipment.

The case files on at least 25 suspects have been submitted to prosecutors and they will soon stand trial on charges of illegal logging. The case files on the remaining 151 suspects are still being completed.

The detained suspects include three middle-ranking Papua Police officers -- Comr. Hariyanto, Adj. Comr. Sumadi and Comr. Marthen Renau.

"We had better results than with previous operations. Most of the suspects this time are financial backers, not just operators or small-scale illegal loggers," Ismerda said.

"We are currently in the process of bringing the suspects to court, including police officers and forestry officials," he said.

The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency and the Indonesian environmental group Telapak recently announced their findings that illegal logging in Papua was backed or committed by high-ranking Indonesian Military (TNI) officers, working with the police and government officials.

However, the recent operation did not lead to the arrests of any senior police or military officers.

The Attorney General's Office, the National Police and the TNI are now setting up a team to coordinate the prosecution of suspects from different backgrounds.

Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban said the team also would sell the confiscated timber and heavy equipment, with the money going to the state.

"We are planning to hold an open auction so that every registered company can bid (for the seized goods). People involved in illegal logging will not be allowed to take part in the auction in order to prevent them from trying to buy back their illegal timber," Kaban said without specifying the auction date.

Although the joint operation has officially ended, the team plans to set up a working group to discuss and review the regulations on the issuance of logging licenses.

The working group will determine whether only forestry agencies are authorized to issue logging licenses.

"We will publish the results of the discussion so the public, especially forestry officials and law enforcers, can understand the concept of the regulations and how to enforce them," Ismerda said.

Mt Betung National Park on brink of destruction

Jakarta Post - May 2, 2005

Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung -- The Wan Abdurrahman forest preservation area in Mount Betung National Park, South Lampung, is in a sorry state, with 76 percent or 17,000 hectares of the 22,249-ha forest destroyed by illegal logging and land clearing, an environmentalist says.

Meanwhile, the local forest authority said it would take until 2007 to expel all the illegal businesses still operating in the area, many of which were "difficult" to take action against because they were backed by big business.

The destruction had caused Bandarlampung residents to face water shortages in the dry season and floods in the rainy season, Lampung Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) executive director Mukri Friatna said.

The forest, where large hardwood meranti, merbau and sengon trees once grew, has become wasteland and residents have turned it into patchouli, cacao and coffee plantations.

Businessmen had manipulated logging concessions in the area and illegal logging had stripped away most of the trees, Mukri said.

Walhi data shows that illegal logging was a long-term problem, which increased during the Reformasi era beginning in 1998. About 12,000 illegal loggers and land-clearers were estimated to have been involved in the recent destruction of the Mt Betung forest, data released in August last year showed. Some of them had even built houses in the forest, and others had established large plantations.

The group says it views the extent of the destruction as serious, and has called for the authorities to deal with the issue firmly.

The worst destruction was located on the slopes of the mountain in the Wiyono area, Mukri said.

The area had been damaged since the early stages of Reformasi, the destruction aggravated by the presence of charcoal and granite industries and plant oil distilleries.

"It's somewhat strange that forestry officers have not 'noticed' the illegal activities since their guard posts are located near the locations," Mukri said.

Residents had felled trees to burn to produce charcoal and Walhi had previously suggested to the provincial administration to restrict hikers and residents from coming into the area.

"We hope security personnel will not only arrest those caught red-handed, but also those who back them," Mukri said.

When asked by The Jakarta Post, a worker at a patchouli oil distillery said that there were 10 such facilities in the forest owned by people from outside South Lampung.

Lampung Forestry Office head Arinal Djunaidi said he did not think his office had been biased or negligent when handling issues of forest protection. He promised to slap sanctions on all illegal operations by closing down all plantations and oil distilleries operating without permits.

Djunaidi admitted that all of the distilleries, most of which had been established during the past year, were illegal because they did have permits from the forestry office to operate inside the forest.

He acknowledged that his office had faced "difficulties" in stopping people involved in land-clearing activities because they were backed by big businessmen.

The waste from the patchaoli oil distilleries, which are located on 70 to 90 degree gradients in the forest reserve, was likely to have a serious impact on the environment, Wahli said.

"Due to our limited funds, we can only target 2007 for all land clearers to leave the Mount Betung forest preservation," said Djunaidi.

Although they would be eventually made to leave the forest, they would still be allowed to go into it to manage and protect the area and would be issued identity cards, he said.

Meanwhile, head of the Wan Abdurrahman Forest Reserve, Guntur Harianto, acknowledged that illegal logging still prevailed in Mt Betung.

He said his office had faced problems stopping illegal logging because it had only 16 forest rangers over more than 22,000 ha.

The Wan Abdurrahman Forest Reservation encompasses seven districts, 36 villages and 67 hamlets. The area is divided in two zones, comprising of 11,099 ha. designated a "beneficial zone" and 11,150 ha. as a protected zone.

Based on 2002 satellite images, the condition of Register 19, which is known as a catchment area for Bandarlampung city and South Lampung regency, was of much concern.

Destruction had reached 72 percent, or 17,049 ha. Around 82 percent of the area had been deforested and turned into wasteland, rice plantations, grasslands and residential areas.

There were 2,063 huts or houses, and 403 of them had been torn down as of July 2004.

In an order to prevent forest destruction, the Lampung Forestry Office expelled 400 families from the preservation area last year.

There were 2,300 huts and other structures in the 22,249.31 ha. forest. There are still 5,000 families in the area now.

Health & education

Protesters critical of UGM salary increase

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Yogyakarta, Surabaya -- More than 500 lecturers, employees and students of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University (UGM) staged a protest on Monday against pay increases decided upon by the rector.

The new salary policy, for instance, raised the salary of a professor by between Rp 270,000 and Rp 900,000 each, while the university's rector and deans enjoyed a 400 percent rise, becoming Rp 25 million and Rp 15 million respectively.

"The salary increase was the trigger of our protest. There's many problems here at UGM and things just exploded at the same time as the new policy [was introduced]," said Arie Soedjito, a lecturer and coordinator of the protest.

The lecturer at UGM's School of Social and Political Sciences claims that ever since the university became a state-owned legal entity (BHMN), it has experienced education disorientation.

Ethically, he said, UGM should be responsible for developing knowledge. "But what's happen is the other way around. UGM has experienced disorientation and fallen into education capitalism," Arie said.

Monday's protest, he said, is just the beginning. Lecturers and relevant elements in the university will reanalyze whether BHMN's implementation meets true education goals.

"If the rector doesn't respond to this we might stop teaching, but first the rector must cancel the salary increase because it's unfair and needs to be tested publicly," Arie said.

The head of UGM's population study, Muhammad Maksum, said the problem was not the amount of the raises, but whether the policy would benefit and develop UGM, which claims to be a research university.

"A professor only gets Rp 15,000 per hour while conducting research. It would be better to use the money [for salary increases] to develop the sciences. Not that we don't need a salary, but raising lecturers' and rectors' salaries by up to Rp 25 million needs to be publicly tested. The plan should be canceled," Muhammad said.

A senior lecturer, Heru Nugroho, said the money to be used for the pay increases should instead be used to fund student activities.

The protesters also observed National Education Day by wearing black armbands to show their concern over the death of solidarity at the university.

They also distributed pamphlets and banners, including one reading: "the people's campus now only memory" and another changing the meaning of BHMN into "boss only thinks of his own salary".

UGM rector Sofian met the protesters briefly before leaving the scene. "I do not sympathize with their action. If they want to find an alternative solution, let us sit down and talk. This is not the way to go about it," Sofian said.

He said the salary increases were aimed at creating a transparent payment system. Previously, a rector was paid Rp 6 million, but with allowances and other things, the take home pay may have reached Rp 30 million, he said. "What the rector receives now is less. Back then, it was not transparent," Sofian said.

In Surabaya, a protest marked National Education Day, with protesting university students and members of the community demanding the government improve the country's education system.

The protesters also demanded the government allocate 20 percent of the state budget for education as well as improve teachers' welfare.

Islam/religion

Islam-state relations suffer setback: Scholars

Jakarta Post - May 7, 2005

Hera Diani, Jakarta -- The current uncertain relationship between the state and Islam stems from the Soeharto regime's unclear vision about how it dealt with extremist movements, Muslim scholars say.

Ulil Abshar Abdalla of the Liberal Islam Network (JIL) said the concept adopted by Soeharto's New Order regime, under which the state ideology and religion were separated, actually resembled the vision of progressive groups.

"[These groups believe] that Islam should exist, but not as a political power nor as an ideological force," he told a discussion during the launch of a book titled Islam, Negara and Civil Society (Islam, the State and Civil Society).

Despite the frequent government repression of Muslims of all beliefs, Muslim progressive intellectuals also emerged at that time, such as Nurcholis Madjid and former minister of religious affairs Munawir Sjadzali, he said.

In the so-called reform era, however, everyone was free to speak out and the pendulum was swinging further to the right, with more people behind the idea of imposing Islamic sharia law.

"Islamic teachings are spreading widely but they are still superficial. More people are aware of Islamic teachings but they understand them only in black-and-white terms." Progressive ideas about Islam were often prejudged and their initiators labeled infidels, he said.

One example was the alternative draft for the Islamic code (KHI) aimed at accommodating contemporary issues and women's rights, which conservative figures blasted as either laughable or satanic. "Protests against the KHI are very rude and uncivilized, and the critics are getting personal as well," Ulil said.

Islamic jurisprudence was being falsely mixed with sharia, and therefore becoming perceived as God-sent law. "Whereas the whole idea of jurisprudence is a human product, so it's OK to have different opinions. Yet, what is happening is the opposite [a lack of tolerance]," he said.

The challenges being faced by progressive groups were bigger now because few people, including the government, were brave enough to stand up and defend these ideas.

"All prominent Muslim scholars are getting older. Cak Nur is physically ill, while Gus Dur is more involved in politics. There are no such other Muslim intellectual defenders anymore," Ulil said, referring to Nurcholis and former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

It was worrying, Ulil added, that the intellectual and liberal resources in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, were following in Gus Dur's footsteps and switching into politics.

The teachers left in NU's Islamic boarding schools were now conservative figures, he said.

"The intellectual legacies from the progressive thinkers are on trial now." The 40 million-strong NU has produced many progressive Islamic thinkers, many who have joined the National Awakening Party (PKB) and other political groups.

Scholar M. Dawam Rahardjo said the state ideology of Pancasila could conceptually bridge the gap between the state and religion.

"The state is a worldly matter, not a religious one. Muslims may establish a state but this should result from ijtihad (exertion). If the most suitable ideology is Pancasila, then (we should) just follow it," he said at the forum on Wednesday.

Islam as a religion was one thing and ideology was another, and they were not opposites or rivals, he said.

Dawam said sharia did not talk about social relationships, and there were no clear concepts of succession or how to choose leaders in Islam.

"All of these (ideas) are the domain of human thought. Besides, there is no guarantee that sharia law will be upheld if a country is based on it," he said.

What happened usually, he added, was hypocrisy, such as the criticism of some Muslims regarding bank interest rates.

"People are against bank interest, saying it is not acceptable in Islam. But, they still keep their money in the banks they criticize," Dawam said.

Armed forces/defense

Ex-Aceh chief named Army deputy chief

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Jakarta -- Former Aceh military commander Maj. Gen. Endang Suwarya, who led an operation against separatist rebels, was officially installed as the new Army deputy chief on Monday.

After the inauguration ceremony at Army Headquarters in Jakarta, Endang expressed hope the government would determine the status of the tsunami-ravaged Aceh by considering all sectors, including security, to enable reconstruction work to continue in the province.

The government is expected to review the two-year-old emergency status in Aceh on May 19. Endang was appointed head of the Iskandar Muda Military Command overseeing Aceh days before president Megawati Soekarnoputri imposed martial law in the province in May 2003.

He then led a military offensive to crush the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM). The military says at least 3,000 guerrillas were killed or arrested during the offensive.

Human rights activists claim that during the operation under Endang's command about 663 Acehnese civilians were killed.

They urged Endang's successor, Maj. Gen. Syafiuddin Yusuf, who previously headed the Udayana Military Command overseeing West and East Nusa Tenggara and Bali, to use dialog in dealing with GAM.

Army, police to make up

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Jakarta -- Following a recent brawl involving soldiers and police officers, the Army has ordered members of the Cimanggis Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) to limit their activities in public areas.

"The Army chief [Lt. Gen. Djoko Santoso] and the National Police chief [Gen. Da'i Bachtiar] have agreed to impose tough actions against those who violate the law and undermine the good relations between the police and the military," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Monday after a video conference with Bachtiar.

Firman said each force was conducting an internal investigation to find out who started the brawl and those involved.

An Army soldier was attacked on Friday by an elite group of Police Mobile Brigade officers in revenge for a previous assault by a group of soldiers on a police station in Cimanggis.

There have been sporadic clashes between police and the military since the separation of the two forces in 1999.

Business & investment

Indonesia Q1 exports jumps 31.39%

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Zakki P. Hakim, Jakarta -- Indonesia's first quarter exports jumped 31.39 percent to US$19.76 billion from $15.04 billion in the same period last year, thanks in part to increased demand for coal, ores, copper and other minerals, as well as knitted apparel.

The Central Statistic Agency (BPS) announced on Monday the country's non-oil and gas exports led the surge with a first quarter performance of $15.43 billion, up by more than a third from 2004's first quarter of $11.50 billion.

Despite the strong performance of non-oil and gas exports, Ministry of Trade Mari E. Pangestu maintained a modest target of about 10 percent export growth for the year.

She said the weakening US dollar, raising oil prices and China's slowing economy would eventually put a brake on Indonesia's export growth.

Higher exports require more investment, but this fresh investment will not bear fruit until next year, she said.

The mining sector continued to pushing non-oil and gas exports in the opening quarter of 2005.

Exports in the mining sector rose 125.69 percent in the first quarter this year from the same period last year, with the main driver being the commodity group of ores, slag and ash, which include ores of manganese, iron, copper, cobalt, aluminum, lead, zinc, tin, gold and silver.

The agency did not provide individual breakdowns for the different minerals, only saying first quarter exports of the commodity group almost tripled to $702 million from $236.3 million in the corresponding period last year.

There was no explanation for this surge in exports of ores, slag and ash. The agency also said coal was a top performer.

"As oil prices soared to above $50 per barrel, countries sought cheaper alternative energy sources. They then turned to coal," said the head of BPS' exports statistics subdirectorate, Dantes Simbolon.

According to the agency, coal exports doubled from $550.1 million in the January-March period last year to $1.11 billion in 2005.

Dantes said demand for coal began rising last year and would likely continue to climb throughout 2005.

Rising oil prices further played a role in increasing total export value, as oil and gas exports shout up almost 22 percent to $4.33 billion in the first quarter of 2005, compared to $3.54 billion the previous year.

Japan, the United States and Singapore remained the top export destinations for Indonesia's non-oil and gas commodities in the first three months of the year, with exports to the three countries reaching $883 million, $862.8 million and $630 million, respectively.

Indonesia's exports last year reached an historic high of US$69.71 billion, up 11.49 percent from the year before, boosted by strong sales of non-oil and gas commodities including palm oil, electronics, clothing, coal and tin.

Non-oil and gas commodities last year expanded by almost 11 percent from 2003 to a record high of $54.13 billion, making up about 78 percent of national exports.

On-year inflation rate above 8% in April: BPS report

Jakarta Post - May 3, 2005

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta -- Monthly inflation began to ease in April from its sharp rise in March, but still leaves year-on-year inflation unchanged above the 8 percent level, official figures from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) show.

In its latest statistics of the country's consumer price index (CPI), the agency reported on Monday that the prices of goods and services in the country increased by 0.34 percent in April from their previous level in March. On a year-on-year basis, prices rose 8.12 percent as compared to April last year.

"This month's inflation was the result of a rise of all prices across the board, except in the prices of staple food," BPS chief Choiril Maksum said.

Monthly inflation shot up to 1.91 percent in March on the back of rising transportation costs, after the government cut fuel subsidies that were burdening the state budget, which increased domestic fuel prices by an average of 29 percent.

Inflation in March stood at 8.81 percent, with this year's first quarter inflation rate at 3.19 percent. The government is targeting full-year inflation at 7 percent this year.

BPS recorded that April's inflation was mainly driven by a 0.61 percent increase in the prices of household needs, followed by a 0.57 percent rise in processed food prices.

The cost of household needs -- comprising house rent, household supply prices, household fuel and electricity and water rates -- accounted for 0.17 percent of April's monthly inflation, while processed food prices accounted for 0.10 percent.

Transportation costs continued to increase by 0.62 percent last month, but have improved from the 15.44 percent surge in March.

The lower inflation rate in April as compared to March was also attributable to the 0.21 percent decrease in prices of staple food. The prices of staple food rose by 0.12 percent in March.

Choiril said April's inflation rate indicated the effects of increased fuel prices had begun to level out, but warned that inflation could pick up again on the recent volatility of the rupiah.

"The government should make sure that the rupiah does not hit the psychological level of Rp 10,000 per dollar," he said.

With an economy mostly driven by consumerism, a weaker rupiah would raise the prices of imported goods, further fueling inflation.

To further stem inflation, Choiril said the government should be prepared to ensure the supply of goods, particularly staple food, throughout the country.

"The recent harvest period might have helped keep down staple food prices, but if in the future there is a disruption in supply, then their prices could rise again," he said.

Analysts predict that the inflation rate will exceed the government's 7 percent target for this year, as several occasions prior to the end of the year may push prices up, particularly Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Potential exists for strong domestic industrial sector

Jakarta Post - May 6, 2005

Rachmat Gobel, Jakarta -- In recent years, there has been an exodus of international companies from Indonesia. Kyocera is just one of the most recent examples. Because of this exodus, and the reluctance of new investment to come into Indonesia, many are claiming that Indonesia is threatened by a "de-industrialization" process.

Yet, in view of our domestic market potential, Indonesia should be able to establish a strong industrial base from which to achieve sustainable development.

Take for example the electronics industry which I am most familiar with. A strong electronics industry in Indonesia is very feasible, one that not only produces end products but also electronic components.

The component industry supports not only electronics, but is crucial in other industries as well, such as the automotive sector, which also needs electronics parts.

The development of both the electronics and the automotive sectors would also encourage the development of the plastics industry, which contributes a lot to the making of electronic and automotive products. These industries are interconnected. More importantly, they are all labor intensive.

With 220 million people, our domestic market alone is big enough to support the development of the electronics industry. In addition, there is the huge potential of the regional and international markets.

Electronic goods are the country's second largest non-oil and gas exports after textiles and garments. Exports of electronics reached US$7.05 billion in 2004. However, that is a drop in the proverbial bucket compared to the exports from the Philippines and Thailand. Electronics exports from each of those countries reached at least $25 billion last year.

Indonesia could emulate them by establishing a strong base in the "low-tech" electronics sector by first supplying the domestic market as the main priority followed by exporting. "Low-tech" electronics include conventional color televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners and washing machines. Without domestic market support, it would be difficult for us to develop a strong low-tech industry, much less move into the high-tech sectors.

However, many problems beset the industry, such as rampant smuggling, unfavorable tax policies, unattractive labor laws and the lack of infrastructure. These problems of course apply to many other Indonesian industries.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) has submitted to the government a road map describing all problems confronting local industries -- problems that the government needs to immediately solve in order to boost the private sector and to attract the new investment badly needed to create jobs.

If the government is able to implement just 50 percent of the recommendations spelled out in the roadmap, I believe there will be fresh investment of up to $2 billion in the electronics industry alone within the next five years.

The next step that the government needs to take is to formulate its "target, vision and mission" for itself to anticipate the ongoing liberalization under the World Trade Organization. Without a broad overall understanding of where our industries are heading, our domestic market will be easy pickings for our neighboring countries. If that happens, we will lose our national pride and perhaps even our national heritage.

Take for example, the threat facing our own batik industry. Malaysia, under its new prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, wants to register a patent for Malaysian batik. If it succeeds in registering a patent for the word "batik," we may well have to pay royalties to Malaysia when we export our own homemade batik.

To take another example, a tourism association leader told me that they had to request the Japanese government's permission to use the song Bengawan Solo in a tourism advertisement. The patent for the song is held by Japan.

I have heard a similar story concerning our jamu (herbal medicine) industry. The jamu industry is an original Indonesian industry. We have, or should have, exclusive intellectual property rights over jamu, which we have inherited from our ancestors centuries ago. Yet here too we are facing a threat from Malaysia which also wishes to develop a jamu industry. In fact, when people from Brunei talk about jamu, they refer to Malaysia rather than Indonesia.

Both batik and jamu, as well as other traditional Indonesian industries absorb a huge number of workers. Sadly, however, we seem unable to protect the intellectual property rights of our traditional industries. If we cannot protect and develop these industries, how can we protect and develop the electronics and automotive sectors? How can we shift to the "middle-tech" level of electronics, automotive and other industries? This should be our main concern for the next five to 10 years. And we need to move fast, with both the private sector and the government working together to build the vision of where we want to head toward.

[The writer is a businessman and Kadin deputy chairman for industry, technology, fishery and maritime affairs.]

Opinion & analysis

Ethical dilemmas in Indonesian television

Jakarta Post - May 8, 2005

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta -- The rampant programs on television depicting violence and sex begs a question: Are people in the TV industry equipped with any knowledge of ethics? Magazine journalist Ferdiansyah, an alumni of the School of Communication at the University of Indonesia, said that he had only received brief instruction on ethics in communication during his four years of study.

"We were taught ethics and philosophy in communication. However, it was very broad and did not cover ethics in broadcasting," he told The Jakarta Post.

Ferdiansyah, who once worked for a production house that provided programs for TV stations, said that beside working for advertising agencies many of his classmates worked for TV stations and production houses.

Production houses play an important role in the TV industry as TV stations outsource the making of many programs to these companies.

Chairman of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) Victor Manayang, who is also a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's School of Communications, admitted that the lack of understanding of ethics among workers in the TV industry could be a factor behind rampant "unethical" programs on Indonesian television.

Universities should thus be blamed for failing to provide such knowledge.

"We at the University of Indonesia's School of Communications are still trying to improve the curriculum so as to raise the awareness of students about ethical values in the broadcasting industry from the beginning of their studies," he told the Post.

He noted that many of professionals and decision makers in the broadcasting industry didn't come from communication schools but from business schools or other faculties, which had different approaches to ethics.

"They have different values, and as they see TV as just a business enterprise, and they will prioritize profit over all other factors. The challenge now is how to reconcile ethics with profit motives," he said.

He said that the nature of the TV broadcasting business was that if a TV station had a program that succeeded in attracting viewers, other TV stations would copy the program.

"If they don't do this, their rating will decline. It explains why there are so many crime and ghost stories on TV," he said.

Agreeing with Victor, Amalia Kartika, an RCTI anchor, admitted that several programs on television had little educational values but that TV stations kept them in place due to ratings considerations.

"I think RCTI has dropped most of its controversial shows," said Amalia, who herself is an alumni of the University of Indonesia.

Ferdiansyah said that many new generation TV professionals had come to realize that many TV shows sucked and were ridiculous. However, they could not do anything to change their companies' policies as they were powerless, being at the bottom or the middle of the organization "I am sure that little-by-little these younger professionals will take their turn, and pursue different policies," he said.

Getting more polluted

Jakarta Post Editorial - May 6, 2005

When Director General for Land Transportation Iskandar Abubakar launched the idea of having all private vehicles undergo a roadworthiness test in 2003, he was met with strong resistance from the public. There was widespread suspicion that the test would be a ruse to extort money from motorists.

Tests for roadworthiness have been enforced for years but only on commercial and public transport vehicles. However, the only testing station in East Jakarta has become a den of bribery. Car owners prefer to bribe the officials in charge to get a certificate for their vehicles, which in fact should not be given one due to their poor condition.

A road worthiness test, including an emission test, would be an appropriate way to curb the already serious levels of air pollution in Jakarta. And Abubakar seemed to have found the best way to help keep Jakarta's air clean. The problem is that the vehicle road worthiness test has become a profitable illegal business for the officials in charge.

Tests for vehicles for commercial use is no doubt a total failure, and the test for private cars planned by Abubakar has been aborted. The obvious result is that there are run-down and noisy vehicles, mostly city buses, emitting clouds of thick black smoke from their exhaust pipes freely plying the city streets.

Jakarta, the third most polluted city in the world after Bangkok and Mexico City, urgently needs to do something to curb air pollution.

With at least 2.5 million private cars, 3.8 million motorcycles and 255,000 public transportation vehicles traversing the city streets every day (according to 2004 official records), the capital needs a serious commitment from its citizens and its administrator to clean up the city's air.

Official records showed in 2003 that the city had 1.2 million private cars and 2.3 million motorcycles.

Moves and campaigns for clean air have been launched. The Blue Sky program which encouraged motorists to use unleaded gasoline had apparently failed, with no single institution claiming responsible for the failure. With poor law enforcement, violations of Law No. 14 on traffic and land transportation continue, despite harsh punishment stipulated by the law.

Article 54 of the 13-year-old law says, states, among other things, that anyone operating a vehicle that is not roadworthy is subject to three months in jail or a maximum fine of Rp 3 million. The law, which drew controversy when deliberated by the House of Representatives, also stipulates that those violating the tolerable emission limits are subject to a two-month jail sentence or a Rp 2 million fine.

Surprisingly, there have been no reports of motorists jailed or fined for those offenses, as violations can be settled illegally on the street. Though vehicles are not the only contributors to air pollution in the capital, it is quite clear that the administrator's seriousness in curbing air pollution is questionable.

The five air monitors now standing at separate points in Jakarta display inaccurate, outdated data. A researcher of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has revealed that the air pollution indexes displayed by the monitors are years out of date, therefore they could not function as an early warning instrument for the public.

Maintenance is another serious matter. This means that the exact level of air pollution in Jakarta is thus unknown. If that is the case, how can air pollution be dealt with properly? The researcher also said that the city of 12 million people needed at least 60 monitors, not five. It is not surprising then that a South Korean professor who visited Jakarta at the end of April said that Jakarta was more polluted now compared to when he first visited the city five years ago. "The most noticeable change I found was the level of [air] pollution in Jakarta. It has become much worse," said the academician who has traveled many big cities around the world.

Sharing his experience when he visited India, he said that New Delhi, which is like Jakarta in terms of pollution and was badly polluted several years ago, is now much cleaner. The New Delhi administration now uses the European standard emission limit, and in the future, they will improve on the standard, he said.

If the New Delhi administration can make their city cleaner, why can't Jakarta? We have to admit, whether we like it or not, that poor law enforcement is the main contributor to the failure of efforts to reduce air pollution. And, we are all aware that poor law enforcement is a reflection of poor leadership within the administration.

Therefore, the administrator should be held responsibility for the failure. The promulgation of a bylaw on air pollution control on Feb. 4, 2005 and political rhetoric are meaningless, unless law enforcement, including actions against fraudulent officials, is toughened.