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Indonesia News Digest 1 – January 1-8, 2006
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Stay alert always and keep a watchful
eye when roaming Jakarta streets so that you won't become easy
prey for street criminals, Jakarta Police warn in their latest
2005 report.
Jakarta police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said in the year-end
report that the number of crimes taking place on the streets had
soared to 1,214 cases in 2005, or 253 percent higher than the 343
cases reported to police in 2004.
Auto theft remained at the top of the police crime list with
10,230 cases last year, or an 13.78 percent increase from 2004's
8,991 cases. Other offenses that jumped significantly were
gambling and drug-related cases.
Gambling, which is illegal, is still rampant in the city, despite
an aggressive police crackdown recently. Reported gambling cases
skyrocketed to 1,350 cases last year from 919 cases in the
previous year.
"Since August last year, we have launched a massive crackdown to
eradicate gambling in the city and apparently we have managed to
significantly reduce it. Unfortunately, in the past few months,
we have received reports of gambling, especially among poor
residents through illegal lotteries, locally known as toto gelap
and toto kampung," Firman said.
Police launched a massive crackdown against gambling after Gen.
Sutanto, known for his stance against gambling, took his post as
National Police chief last year and instructed all his
subordinates to join the nationwide war against gambling.
Drug-related cases have also increased significantly by 31.88
percent this year from 4,510 cases in 2004 to 5,948 cases in
2005. Police apprehended over 7,780 suspects for drug cases,
mostly men (7,307) and only 473 women.
"At least 27 of the suspects were foreigners," he said, adding
that police had seized 5.6 kilograms of heroin, 72.7 grams of
crystal methamphetamine (locally known as shabu-shabu), 205,270
ecstasy pills and 1,792,887 other psychotropic pills.
Certain other crimes, such as student brawls, extortion and
assault, showed a slightly declining trend.
All in all, the number of crimes in the city only rose slightly
by 0.83 percent to 54,391 cases last year, from 53,935 cases in
2004. However, only 3,413 of these cases had been brought to
justice.
"We encourage people to report crime to us as soon as possible.
The sooner we get the report, the faster a crime be uncovered,"
Firman said.
Crimes in Jakarta in 2005
Jakarta Post - January 8, 2006
Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – Two young men put on their goggles and
start counting down before jumping out of the window of their
house into their flooded garden. Then come two officials in a
rubber dinghy, announcing belatedly that the area was flooded.
This is the jist of an ad by PT Sampoerna, the country's third
largest cigarette producer after PT Gudang Garam and PT Djarum.
While the ad is designed to sell Sampoerna cigarettes, it also
vividly depicts the reality of floods that are annual occurrences
in the capital.
"I moved my electronic equipment, furniture and home appliances
to the second floor yesterday as I heard the warnings of heavy
downpours and storms to come in the days ahead," said Yati, whose
home is located only meters away from the Ciliwung River in
Kampung Melayu, East Jakarta.
She was referring to the latest alert from the Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency (BMG) that strong winds and heavy downpours
would hit Greater Jakarta this week and that flooding could
result.
"Having to take precautionary measures to save our belongings
before the floods come is one consequence of living along a
river. It is a must. Otherwise, we would lose everything," she
said, recalling the massive floods of 2002 that ruined most of
her belongings and innundated her home to a depth of three
meters.
Suprapto, who resides in the flood-prone area of Kedoya Utara in
West Jakarta, has also moved his sofa, refrigerator and cupboards
to the second floor of his house for fear of the floods.
"The floods often happen suddenly, and the water level can climb
really high in a matter of minutes. We wouldn't be able to save
our belongings if we didn't move them now," he said.
At least 78 areas in the city are prone to flooding, and the
administration has deployed 112 water pumps in these areas in an
attempt to prevent flooding.
The city administration classifies the measures taken into four
categories depending on water levels at the main sluice gates.
The higher the water level, the higher the rank of the officials
taking charge of city agencies. Agencies playing important roles
during floods include the city public works agency, public order
agency and health agency. In an extreme emergency, the Jakarta
governor takes command.
Recent figures show that Jakarta has at its disposal a total of
256 rubber dinghies, 244 trucks, 244 pick-up vans, four
helicopters, 94 water trucks and around 40,000 personnel from
city agencies to help the victims during floods.
Another problem in Jakarta is the low-lying nature of the city,
with 40 percent of its land area being below sea level, making it
impossible for water to drain away quickly. Worse still, 13 major
rivers slowly meander their way through the city.
Jakarta's governor, Sutiyoso, has acknowledged that his
administration's crisis center was not yet fully ready to cope
with flooding in the city.
"We have taken lots of flood mitigation and anticipation
measures, including the provision of rubber dinghies and
monitoring posts, but I don't think our crisis center is
sufficiently well prepared that it can function adequately during
flooding," he admitted.
The BMG has forecast that the rainy season would reach its peak
this month. The agency also warned that major floods could hit
the city if heavy rain fell in both Jakarta and upstream area in
Bogor, West Java, for three consecutive days.
The worst flood in the city's modern history took place early in
2002 when floodwaters inundated two thirds of the metropolitan
area, killing at least 31 residents and forcing over 300,000
people to flee their homes for shelter. The floods also paralyzed
the capital for nearly a month.
Aceh
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Human rights/law
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Jakarta streets favorite places for criminals
The floods come, the bureaucrats follow
Government gets slap on wrist
Jakarta Post - January 6, 2006
Jakarta – The House of Representatives rebuked on Thursday the Ministry of Health for refusing to share responsibility for the widespread use of harmful preservatives, such as formaldehyde, in various basic foods.
Such additives were used in food well before the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) was separated from the ministry in 2001, House Commission IX on health said.
However, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said the agency was to blame, arguing that her office no longer had the authority to monitor the safety of food being sold in markets.
BPOM became an independent government agency during the Abdurrahman Wahid administration, and was ordered by his successor Megawati Soekarnoputri to monitor the use of food additives.
Commission head Ribka Tjiptaning said finger pointing by the two institutions would simply exacerbate the problem, and that lawmakers would summon their representatives to clarify the issue after the House reconvened on Jan. 16.
"The two should instead complement each other, as well as seek cooperation from other ministries, such as the trade ministry, to monitor the supply of harmful chemical substances," said Ribka, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Commission IX deputy chairman Charles Mesang of the Golkar Party said the use of formaldehyde and other dangerous preservatives should be monitored more strictly.
"That's where coordination with the trade ministry, for example, could come in as the use of such substances cannot be completely banned but they can be strongly monitored," he said. No monitoring suggestions were given.
The House also urged the government to come up with safe food preservatives that were as widely available and reasonably priced as formaldehyde.
Channel News Asia - January 4, 2006
Valarie Tan, Singapore – A Singapore-made film "Passabe" was recently banned in Indonesia while Eric Khoo's "Be With Me" was disqualified from the Oscars.
Experts say these can only spice things up for Singapore's film industry. "Passabe" is a documentary about a remote village in Timor, home to the worst massacres following an independence vote in 1999. Shot over a year, the film captures the lives of those affected four years on. It features a former militiaman who was forced to kill during the violence.
The filmmakers were invited by the United Nations-backed Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation to document the "Truth Hearings" and efforts at bridging deep divisions in post-conflict East Timor.
But the documentary was banned at last month's Jakarta International Film Festival. Two other films on the same subject were also banned.
"The reason they gave for banning the film was that it would open up old wounds. But in trying to cover up that way, they let the wounds fester. They need to let them air. They need to let people understand what went on at that time," said James Leong, co- director of "Passabe."
"We really wanted to show it in Indonesia. We feel that it's important to show it there. That is where our audience should be," said "Passabe" co-director Lynn Lee. "We've been invited back to the next Jakarta International Film Festival. So hopefully the government will reconsider and allow us to show it there," she said.
Eric Khoo's award-winning "Be With Me" was recently disqualified from running for Best Foreign Film in the Oscars. Organisers said it contained too much English, not considered a foreign language.
But the director said he had intended "Be With Me" to be a silent film. Total dialogue lasted about three minutes in the 90-minute feature. And in most parts, the spotlight was on a deaf and blind woman.
"Whenever we see Theresa Chan, we just read her thoughts. For the Singaporean audience, it has English and Chinese subtitles. Where it's playing now, France, it has French subtitles," said "Be With Me" director Eric Khoo.
But analysts say both incidents are part and parcel of a developing film industry. "I do not view these things as setbacks at all. In fact, I think they are in a way, good things that have happened. It's like applying for a job, attending interviews and finding your footing in the process," said Kenneth Tan, president of the Singapore Film Society.
Golden Village will distribute "Passabe" in Singapore while "Be With Me" is travelling to Korea next.
Agence France Presse - January 5, 2006
Surabaya – The sweet, pungent scent of cloves and tobacco hangs heavy in the air as women paste, roll and snip cigarettes, their fingers flying faster than the eye can follow as tourists observe the public face of one of Indonesia's most successful companies.
Staring down the global trend towards demonizing tobacco, Sampoerna, which was snapped up by US giant Philip Morris in March for 5.2 billion dollars, proudly showcases itself at this gleaming museum in Indonesia's second city, Surabaya.
Pegged on the rags-to-riches tale of its founder, Chinese immigrant Liem Seeng Tee, House of Sampoerna claims it is highlighting a great Indonesian story rather than glorifying smoking to the 5,000 visitors coming here each month.
"We got so many requests from university students and others to visit our factory that we could not accommodate all of them, so we built this museum," says marketing manager Hengki Setiawan.
Using the former premises of a Dutch-era orphanage that the company bought in 1932, it opened two years ago.
"We want to share with the public the history of Sampoerna, the struggle of the owner and family to make Sampoerna a success," Hengki says.
Students crouch to earnestly scrawl notes at a replica of the first hand-cart opened by Liem, and stroll by the framed black- and-white photographs of the business in its early years, speaking in library-hushed tones.
A fountain gurgles in the foyer, muffled by heavy red ceiling-to-floor drapes and surrounded by tasteful Chinese furniture.
Four generations on from Liem, the company has diversified into numerous industries – but the focus here is firmly on the cigarettes.
Cabinets display everything from old printing plates for cigarette packs to a book titled "Smoking is Good For You": a title perhaps meant to provide solace to the millions of smokers in the world's fifth largest tobacco market.
According to a 2004 Ministry of Health report, 62.2 percent of Indonesian men smoked in 2001, compared to 1.3 percent of women. More than two-thirds started before they turned 19.
Most popular are kretek, produced from a blend of tobacco and cloves and named for the sound they make when a smoker inhales on them. Liem started pre-rolling them in 1934 to produce Dji Sam Soe, still one of the country's leading brands.
Upstairs in a display room, with a view over a factory floor where hundreds of women churn out hand-rolled cigarettes, a half-dozen workers show up close how it is done. One picks up 50 sticks in her hand without needing to count.
If a worker rolls 4,000 cigarettes per day, she earns 60,000 rupiah (about 60 dollars) per week. Sampoerna has a workforce of more than 37,000 and the company booked revenue of almost 1.0 billion dollars in 2004.
"We are here to look around and learn about the management of Sampoerna, its history," says Ayu Setiarimi, one of four tourism students from Airlangga University.
"Indirectly it's promoting Sampoerna, but in another way our knowledge is now wider about cigarettes and how Sampoerna has grown." None of the four women smoke.
"In Indonesia, if men see women smoke they will think that maybe that's not a good woman smoking," Setiarini says. "The perception among Indonesians, especially guys, is like that."
Indonesia and Nepal are the only two countries in Asia that have not signed on to the UN's 2003 Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which among a slew of other measures, requires signatories to impose restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion when it comes into force.
"If they put their logo there, it means promotion," Hakim Sorimuda Pohan, an MP working on tobacco control, says of the museum, which he has not visited.
He tells AFP he believes it would not be allowed if Indonesia signed on to the convention – but fears are rife that employment would drop off as a result, so he says it is unlikely to be signed anytime soon.
Museum general manager Ina Silas says that no complaints from anti-smokers or health authorities have so far been received.
"We have to prevent this, so that's why we have policies about people being of a certain age," she says. Visitors aged under 18 must be accompanied by their parents.
A swish cafe where company logos are prominently displayed and an art gallery with changing exhibitions are other drawcards the company hopes will lure visitors, who do not pay for admission.
Sampoerna bought the premises in 1932, turning it first of all into a theatre visited by Charlie Chaplin the same year. Founding Indonesian president Sukarno also used it to make a series of speeches in 1938.
"This has really become one of the tourist destinations – in Surabaya, there are not so many places to visit," marketing manager Hengki concedes.
"We want House of Sampoerna to become the new icon of Surabaya... The kretek is very Indonesian." Dutchman Willem Van Schendel is among the 1,000 foreigners streaming through the door each month, and he sees it as something akin to wine company museums in France.
"Of course there's a trend in the world now to focus on the health issues, the health hazards of smoking, but for alcohol it's the same thing and for me it's not very different – and I'm a non-smoker," he says.
"I think it's very well done." Representatives from new owners Philip Morris agreed, Hengki says, so no changes are planned for now.
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
Jakarta – After the chaos that met the first disbursement of the government's cash assistance program in October, the first day of the second disbursement went off without a hitch on Monday.
Some 94,809 low-income families in Jakarta were slated to receive the money that the government allocated to help the poor cope with the fuel price increases, Jakarta Central Statistics Agency (BPS) chief Sanusi Sarwono said on Monday.
"We are still disbursing the money according to previous data," he was quoted by Detikcom as saying.
The agency recorded 8,080 poor families in South Jakarta, 23,871 families in East Jakarta, 17,771 families in Central Jakarta, 19,388 families in West Jakarta, 24,908 families in North Jakarta and 791 families in the Seribu Islands.
Among 14 criteria used to measure whether a household is classified as poor are the family income and expenditures on health services, food and clothing.
If a family meets at least eight of the criteria, then it is entitled to receive Rp 100,000 monthly to help offset the effects of the recent fuel price increases, distributed every three months.
The first disbursement of the cash was for the October to December period. However, there have been numerous reports that thousands of the aid cards – needed to claim the money – had fallen into the hands of people who do not qualify for the program, including civil servants.
BPS Jakarta admitted it made errors, saying that the office had been checking over the initial data and found that many families and neighborhood unit heads falsified their data.
Unlike the first disbursement, however, long lines of people lined up at post offices – the designated centers for fund disbursement – were absent.
"Because there has been no overly long lines there was no need for extra security," the South Jakarta Post Office's quality control supervisor SMR Sitompul said.
He said that the post office would distribute Rp 2.5 billion in cash to its 31 branch offices in South Jakarta. "The biggest disbursement will be in Tebet Barat for 1,159 families, and the smallest in Astek Guntur Summitmas Tower for nine families," Sitompul said.
The Kebayoran Lama Post Office also saw no special increase in activity on Monday. "Today we gave service to only two people every 10 minutes, there have been no long queues, everything is relatively quiet," Kebayoran Lama Post Office head Sumi said at his office on Jl. Ciputat Raya in South Jakarta.
The post office had received Rp 33.6 million (about US$3,428) to be distributed to 112 families in Kebayoran Lama.
PT Pos Indonesia has appointed 22 branch offices in Central Jakarta as distribution points for the fund, 10 in South Jakarta, eight in West Jakarta, eight in North Jakarta, and 33 in East Jakarta.
| Aceh |
Antara News - January 6, 2006
The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said the tenure of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) in Aceh should end as originally scheduled because otherwise a bad precedent would be set, a spokesman said.
"AMM's existence in Aceh should not be prolonged and a new institution should be created if there is a need for a body to observe further developments in Aceh, to give inputs to the central government. It should not be a technical one, like AMM," Henry T Simarmata, the assocaiton's external affairs coordinator, said.
The AMM which began functioning in Aceh after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) on August 15 in Helshinki, Finland, is to terminate its mission on March 15.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said recently AMM's tenure might be extended by up to three months.
Henry added AMM should end its task in Aceh as stipulated in the MoU and thus it would make the agreement credible. "All actors in the MoU should work hard to complete their tasks based on the agreement, as credibility is very important for the peace process itself," he said.
He added AMM had implemented its tasks very well by completing its tasks, namely observing GAM's demobilization, arms decommissioning, observing the relocation of Army troops, non- organic police and the reintegration of GAM members into Aceh society.
He said AMM could be said to have successfully observed the transition of the armed conflict into a democratic peace. If a new institution like AMM would be set up, he said, it should be in different form and have a different mandate.
He said in PBHI's view establishment of a new institution was needed to gain international support and consolidate the reconstruction in the aftermath of the tsunami with the peace process.
Besides, he said, the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Body (BRR) also needed the presence of a multirateral and multinational body that would work in tandem with it in aceh. "If the bodies work seprately, the peace process will move slowly," he added.
Associated Press - January 5, 2006
Lhokseumawe – Indonesia withdrew the last of its police from Aceh province Thursday under a peace agreement with separatist rebels that was propelled by the tsunami one year ago.
The withdrawal – delayed several times in the past week due to a shortage of ships – was the last military step required under the deal to end a 29-year war that claimed 15,000 lives.
Some 2,150 officers left the port town of Lhokseumawe on a warship Thursday afternoon, said Lt. Col. Mulyatno, chief of North Aceh Police. "This is the last batch," he said.
Some 24,000 non-Acehnese troops were withdrawn from the province late last month as part of the peace pact. For their part, the Free Aceh Movement rebels handed in more than 800 weapons and announced the abolition of their armed wing. The weapons were destroyed by international monitors.
Peace efforts picked up pace after a massive earthquake struck off Aceh's coast on Dec. 26, 2004, causing a tsunami that struck a dozen countries on the Indian Ocean's rim, killing or leaving dead at least 216,000 people. Aceh was worst hit, with 156,000 people killed and 500,000 others left homeless.
The rebels and the government responded by hammering out a peace deal that was credited with helping get international assistance to the survivors.
Jakarta Post - January 5, 2006
Aguswandi, Banda Aceh – The one-year commemoration of the tsunami could be the last time the world focuses on Aceh. Despite promises that the world will not forget Aceh, it is very likely that the commemoration marked the beginning of the end of global attention to Aceh. After all, second anniversaries are rarely heard of.
But while the world might not be paying as much attention to Aceh in the new year, the key to Aceh's future lies in the events that will unfold throughout 2006. In fact, this could be the most important year in Aceh's modern history.
The international Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) will come to the end of its mandate this year, and it is very unlikely the mandate will be extended beyond 2006. This means peace will be in the hands of Indonesians soon. We should right now begin preparing security arrangements for Aceh without the presence of the AMM. There will be no more AMM offices for locals to go to in order to report their problems.
A complaints commission should be established to replace the AMM. The Acehnese should be fully informed about the AMM's forthcoming departure so they can prepare for the change. The building of trust between the Indonesian government and the former separatists from the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) is going to take time, and will have to be done without ASEAN or European observers.
This year also, prior to the first-ever direct local elections in Aceh, scheduled for April, the House of Representatives and the government in Jakarta have to approve (or reject) the new Acehnese administration draft law that has been submitted by the Acehnese. This law could be a turning point, where an unhappy past can become a hopeful future. It is the outcome of 30-plus years of conflict articulated in a single piece of legislation. After thousands of deaths and the wreckage of war, everything must be resolved in this draft.
Unfortunately, so far is not so good. I am not suggesting that the draft is inadequate but, perhaps more importantly, that the drafting process seems to have been monopolized by Acehnese elites. A bad draft created through a strong process is better than a strong draft built on a bad process, but it is unlikely that where there is a strong process a bad draft will result.
The process should have been strengthened with more involvement of the public and marginalized Acehnese groups, especially woman. As things are, there have been fewer public consultations than expected. The time line is important, but an overly tight deadline for the draft's submission has not been helpful. More time and more support for public consultations on the draft should have been allocated, especially to gain a sense of public ownership in the process which could have contributed to the building of trust and hope.
After the draft's approval, the elections should be next on the agenda for the year. These direct elections will be, hopefully, the freest ever held in Aceh. At this stage the main issue will be whether GAM and Acehnese civil society groups will be able to compete in and have involvement in the electoral process, through the establishment of local political parties and the nomination of their own candidates without any intervention by Jakarta. While technically this will depend on whether the new legislation allows this democratic engagement, practically it will depend on the maturity of all the parties involved.
All in all, 2006 will determine whether the armed conflict can really be transformed into a political battle, where GAM and other Acehnese groups can compete with national parties at the local level. If this happens, it will be a landmark of building democracy in Aceh, which might set a good example for the rest of Indonesia.
And of course, 2006 will also be the year when the post-tsunami reconstruction really has to show its worth. Reconstruction can be judged more fully this year, whether there is progress or stasis, chaos or coordination. The success or failure of the reconstruction work depends on whether we are delivering on our promises to the Acehnese people.
Since the Aceh conflict looks as though it can finally be resolved peacefully, authorities can no longer cite the excuse of the conflict as a reason for the lack of progress. As we now have peace, if things do go wrong with the reconstruction it can only be through our own mistakes. We are all equally responsible: the international agencies, central and local governments, and civil society groups.
This must be the year when the Acehnese can finally see a better future. If the Acehnese see that their hopes can be realized, it will disarm their minds and make peace in their hearts.
[The writer is working as a postconflict reintegration consultant based in Aceh. The views expressed here are personal.]
Aceh Kita - January 4, 2006
Radzie, Banda Aceh – The earthquake and tsunami at the end of 2004 and the signing of the peace agreement between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in August 2005 has resulted in a drastic decline in the number of human rights violations in Aceh.
According to Mashudi, from the research and policy analysis division of the Aceh Coalition of Non-Government Human Rights Organisations (Koalisi NGO HAM), the tsunami and the Helsinki memorandum of understanding (MoU) were the two principle factors in this decline. In 2005 there were only 311 cases of violence in Aceh, far lower that 2004 when there were as many as 779 cases. "The decline was more than 50 percent", Mashudi told Aceh Kita at his office on Wednesday January 4.
In 2005, out of a total of 311 cases of human rights violations, the majority of victims were civilians, totaling 217 people. Meanwhile 41 victims were from the Indonesian Military (TNI) or police and 53 from GAM. The most prominent cases were the mistreatment of civilians, which was as high as 136 cases. Meanwhile there were 25 cases of mistreatment of TNI/police officers and only nine against GAM.
Also this year, there were only 101 cases of killings while in 2004 the figure was as high as 373. "These represent the cases that have declined most in 2005", said Kurdinar, the head of the coalition's campaign division.
Although in terms of quantity, the number violations declined rapidly, the type of violations however were the same in 2005 and the years proceeding it. "The quality was the same, such as killings and arrests", said Kurdinar.
Koalisi NGO HAM said it regretted that there have been no investigations into human rights violations since 2005. Conversely, the opportunities to solve human rights cases are extremely good, in concert with the signing of the peace agreement between the two parties that have fought for 30 years. "There has not been one case that has been brought to trial by the state", said Mashudi.
Mashudi said that impression of neglect over human rights violations has also been worsened by the natural disaster, where it has been as if it has legitimised the state in avoiding its responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.
The peace agreement said Mashudi, also does not yet give guarantees on resolving the various cases of rights violations prior to and after the MoU was signed. "Post the MoU (August 16 to December 31 2005), we recorded 46 cases of rights violations as taking place", said Mashudi.
In order to address this, the coalition is calling on the government to solve the human rights violations that have taken place during the Aceh conflict, which has been going on since 1976. In addition to this, the coalition is also calling on the government to not distinguish between victims of the conflict and the tsunami. [dzie]
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Tempo Interactive - January 3, 2006
Jakarta – The spokesman of ther Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in Aceh Irwandi Yusuf confirmed that GAM high-ranking officials, Hasan Tiro and Malik Mahmud, would not visit Aceh in the near future.
Previously, the chairman of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM) Peter Feith said in a seminar held in Banda Aceh at the end of December 2005 that GAM officials, including Hasan Tiro and Malik Mahmud, would go to Aceh in January 2006.
According to Yusuf, now representing the GAM at the AMM, GAM's officials are to return to Aceh and this is to be discussed in GAM's internal organization. Yusuf also said that the arrival of Hasan Tiro and other GAM officials in Aceh depended on the political situation, particularly in Aceh.
"They will come if the political situation is conducive. Although the security situation is quite good, the political situation is not yet stable, " stated Yusuf.
Other matters that have become the reason of whether or not GAM's officials would arrive in Aceh is the implementation of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) local government law, that has been established by the Indonesian Home Affairs Department. "They will see whether or not local government law is according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed last August," stated Yusuf. (Sunariah-Tempo News Room)
| West Papua |
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has denied reports that the world's biggest gold and copper mining company was polluting rivers near its mining site in Papua.
The US-owed firm has never violated any environmental legislation or regulations during its more than three decades of operations in the resource-rich province, Freeport spokesman Siddharta Moersjid told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He said Freeport would comply with any regulations set by the government and would also protect the environment in Papua.
"PT Freeport Indonesia will work cooperatively with the State Ministry of Environment to address any concerns they may have, as we had always done in the past," he said in an email to the Post. "We share the same goal, which is to continually improve environmental management," Siddharta added.
Earlier, the office of the State Ministry of Environment told PTFI to find alternatives to disposing of its hazardous waste rather than dumping it into the nearby Otomina River.
The tailings system, called Riverine Tailing Disposal (RTD), is considered by many environmentalists to be a practice of the past that is no longer acceptable.
According to the Mines and Communities website, such a method of waste disposal causes severe damage to water bodies and the surrounding environment.
However, Freeport's 2004 Working Towards Sustainable Development Report said a Tailings Review Committee, consisting of various government agencies and PTFI, concluded that RTD was the best option of the 11 available alternatives discussed by the team.
The assistant to the deputy minister of environment, Rasio Ridho Sani, has confirmed that PTFI had secured an AMDAL (environmental impact analysis), but said it was not a permit for it to dispose of its mining waste to the river.
"However, Freeport officials are very cooperative and we're hoping to grant the tailings disposal permit by mid this year," he said, adding that his office wanted the company to shift its tailings onto land.
Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) executive director Siti Maimunah supported the call for PTFI to shift its tailings method as RTD violates government regulations on water sources protection.
"The regulations stipulate that tailings are not allowed to be disposed of into water sources," she said, projecting that up to the present, Freeport's tailing could reach 800 million tons.
Maimunah also said that with the company's production capacity increasing every year, the environmental capacity of the river could not accommodate the mining waste.
A study of PTFI's tailings system carried out by the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development organization said the disposal method was selected when production was only some 7,500 tones of ore per day. PTFI's report said the company's production last year averaged 43,600 metric tons of ore per day.
Maimunah further said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should take firm measures to resolve the problem. "Why? Because the President had dealt with Freeport when he was once the minister of mines and energy," she added. Susilo held the ministerial post during the administration of former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
The Post reported in May 2000 that Susilo forced Freeport to cut its daily output by about 30,000 tons of ore to prevent landslides at the company's dumping site in Wanagon Lake, where earlier in the month a landslide had injured four workers.
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
A'an Suryana, Jakarta – Four years after special autonomy legislation came into effect in Papua, it has been called a failure for not living up to the expectations of the people.
Special autonomy has not improved the lives of Papuans, many of whom live in poverty in spite of the funds channeled to regional administrations for the autonomy drive, which total between Rp 1.3 trillion and Rp 1.5 trillion a year.
Many Papuans feel alienated as they continue to lack representation in the process of public policy-making on their own soil.
It was not until November this year, for example, that the central government established the much-awaited Papuan People's Council (MRP).
The government's commitment to special autonomy has always been questionable, particularly after then president Megawati Soekarnoputri took the surprising step in 2003 of instructing the partition of Papua into three provinces – Papua, Central Irian Jaya and West Papua.
The instruction violated the law on special autonomy issued in 2001. The law rules that the MRP must give its approval – or at least have been consulted – before a new province is established. But, at the time of the partition, the MRP was yet to be established.
Since that year, protests by Papuans have been frequent, but all have fallen on deaf ears. The discontent culminated in August this year when some 10,000 Papuans stormed the office of the Papua legislative council in Jayapura, demanding the government review the special autonomy law.
The Papuans, in the largest protest ever staged in the province, also demanded that the central government hold a national and international dialog to solve Papua's problems. The protest was an accumulation of displeasure among Papuans on the way the government handled the special autonomy drive.
Aware that the Papua discontent could escalate, the central government then prepared several measures to win the hearts and minds of Papuans. In the MRP case, the government has expedited the MRP's establishment with 42 MRP members finally elected and inaugurated in October this year.
The government has also delayed indefinitely the election of West Papua governor set for Nov. 28 amid mounting protest over the legitimacy of West Papua province. As earlier stated, many Papuans have considered the establishment of West Papua province invalid as it violated the special autonomy law.
In tackling the issue of wealth distribution, the government has taken a tough stance against local government officials allegedly involved in corruption. Such stern measures are needed as corruption has been considered the culprit behind the faltering wealth distribution process under the special autonomy drive, with the money going to the coffers of Papuan officials and not the people.
Some Papuan government officials are being prosecuted including David Hubi, the regent of Jayawijaya, who has been accused of embezzling regental budget funds in 2002 and 2003 amounting to Rp 100 billion (US$10.4 million).
But, the above measures are not enough. The government has to identify areas where there is room for improvement. Sending corrupt government officials to jail may deter others from committing crimes, but combating corruption is just one issue that the government has to deal with in terms of wealth redistribution.
The most important issue in wealth redistribution is that Papuan officials lack training, experience and awareness in redistributing wealth through development. Local government officials have to be trained in order to enable them to plan and execute development programs. Awareness that the money under the autonomy drive is coming from the people, and is for the people, must be instilled in their minds.
The prudent use of special autonomy funds is important as vast funds have been allocated.
Under the autonomy law, Papua receives 70 percent of oil and gas revenues, while before special autonomy, the easternmost province received 15 percent of state revenues, with the remaining 85 percent going to the central government's coffers. Despite the considerable money going into the autonomy drive, the funds have not been well spent.
Papuan opposition leader Fadel Al Hamid said the distribution of wealth in Papua continued to be poorly implemented. The funds disbursed this year totaled Rp 1.7 trillion for a population of some 2 million people, but only 400,000 of them benefited from the money, he claimed.
"Those 400,000 consist of Papua government officials and their families," said Fadel, the secretary to the Papuan Customary Council, quoted as saying by Kompas daily on Aug. 6.
It is ironic that Papua is rich in natural resources but its people still live in abject poverty.
Meanwhile, in the issue of representativeness, the government has still excluded pro-independence Papuans from the policy-making process, thus keeping their spirit for independence alive. The pro-independence leaders are not represented in any of the people's representative institutions, be it the MRP or political parties. Including them in the policy-making process has become a challenge for the government, which hopes to put to an end the ongoing struggle in the region for self determination through their inclusion.
Granting them the opportunity to set up local political parties like in Aceh under the Helsinki peace deal could be one option, though some are of the opinion that this could result in a backlash against the central government later on.
The government should also work at winning back Papuans' trust, which is at an all-time low due to the partition of Papua and the long delay before the MRP was set up.
From a Papuan perspective, the two examples reflect the central government's habit of bending the law. In order to regain trust from Papuans, the government should respect the law above all else.
Metal Bulletin News - January 3, 2006
Sean Barry – Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold has hit back at reports that were critical of its financial support for Indonesian military personnel guarding the company's giant Grasberg copper and gold mine.
Freeport has been transparent about providing "logistical support" to the security forces in Indonesia, it said, maintaining that all payments were part of a deal with the government.
It follows a report in the New York Times that alleged Freeport made payments totalling $20 million over the past seven years directly to military and police personnel for protection at the mine.
But Freeport said the government of Indonesia was responsible for providing military and police protection and that under the deal the company provided the security operations with food, housing, fuel, transport and vehicle repairs.
A spokesman for Indonesia's military confirmed the payments on Thursday but said no one personally profited from Freeport's support.
Human rights groups have criticised direct payments by foreign mining and energy companies to the military, saying they were undermining efforts to bring the politically powerful armed forces under civilian control.
According to the Times report and other sources, only one-third of the financing for Indonesia's military comes from the state. The rest comes from "non-transparent sources" such as protection payments, which allow the military to operate independently of the government's financial controls.
About 2,400 government security personnel are assigned to the Grasberg area, including members of the Coast Guard and Air Force, riot control personnel to deal with civil disturbances, and both perimeter and on-site security at the mine and mill.
Freeport spent $7.5 million in 2004 to cover the support costs, it said. According to Freeport, the costs are necessary because of the limited resources of the Indonesian government and lack of development in remote Papua province, where Grasberg is located.
"This article is part of the (New York Times') negative series of articles on the gold-mining industry," a Freeport spokesman said in a statement. "We have been transparent about our logistical support for the Indonesian security forces, which has been public for years and has been detailed the last several years in our annual Working Toward Sustainable Development Report."
In addition to military and police protection, Freeport said it also has an internal security department that protects company facilities, monitors the shipment of goods and provides assistance in rescue operations.
The total cost of running the internal security department was $13.4 million in 2004, the company said. Meanwhile, Freeport has moved back to its headquarters in New Orleans after it was forced to move offices after Hurricane Katrina hit in August.
The company had set up a temporary headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after their building in New Orleans was damaged by the Category 4 storm.
| Human rights/law |
Jakarta Post - January 6, 2006
Tantri Yuliandini, Jakarta – In a face-saving society, most women would rather die than admit that their husbands beat them -- and many women have.
However, thanks to the courageousness of TV drama stars Five Vy and Novia Ardhana, as well as popular presenter Dewi Hughes – all of whom made headlines last year in connection with domestic violence – more and more people are becoming aware that violence within the home, like all crimes, is punishable by law.
"These celebrity cases, widely reported by the media, have helped open people's eyes," the head of the Jakarta chapter of non- governmental organization Legal Aid Society for Women (LBH-APIK), Ratna Batara Munti, said on Thursday.
She said that a year after the enactment of Law No. 23/2000 on the eradication of domestic violence, there were increased reports of abuse, particularly domestic violence, at her office. The increase, however, did not mean that there was increased violent activity, rather that more people were willing to report abuse, she said.
The NGO said that 1,046 cases in Jakarta were reported throughout 2005 compared with only 817 cases the previous year, with domestic violence making up the biggest share at 314 cases.
"The increased number of domestic violence cases coming in through the LBH-APIK shows that women are becoming more aware that domestic violence is a crime and no longer something shameful to be hidden away," Ratna said.
Further proof of this is the fact that more law enforcers are willing to take seriously and make reports about cases of domestic abuse, no longer considering them private matters between husband and wife.
"Law enforcers no longer refuse to write up a complaint report like they used to, nor do they try to dismiss the case unless it was the victim who decided to drop the charges," Ratna said.
Despite this headway, however, a number of problems must be overcome before domestic violence against women can be totally eradicated.
Many police officers still prefer to lay charges under the Criminal Code on abuse rather than the law on domestic violence, which allows, among other things, the victim's statement to confirm an act of crime, allows medical records to prove an act of crime, and names sexual violence in the home – as opposed to sexual violence in the commercial sphere, such as the rape of sex workers or the trafficking of women – as a crime.
This, together with fears of stigma, contributes to the fact that of the 314 cases of domestic violence last year, only 19 cases were reported to the police, and only eight were tried using the Domestic Violence Law.
"There are concerns over who will take care of the family should the father be jailed, that the children will be teased because they have a father who is a criminal, as well as fears of retaliation when he gets out of jail," Ratna said.
On the side of the victims themselves, many prefer to file for divorce as a solution to stop the violence rather than reporting the actor to the police.
"This goes to show the criminal court has yet to make victims feel secure about its proceedings, they prefer to take their case to the civil court instead," Ratna said.
Australian Associated Press - January 6, 2006
Indonesia is braced for a public backlash in Australia against any death sentences meted out to the Bali Nine.
Prosecutors in Denpasar will in the next fortnight start making sentence demands for the nine Australians, who were arrested last April over a failed bid to smuggle 8kg of heroin worth $4 million from Bali to Sydney.
Most trial watchers expect them to demand death sentences for some or all of the group, possibly straining fast-warming relations with Australia.
The requests to judges in the Denpasar District Court will be delivered less than two months after a public outcry in Australia over Singapore's decision to hang Australian drug courier Nguyen Tuong Van.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, speaking to AAP after his annual foreign policy statement, said he was aware of the backlash in Australia to Nguyen's hanging, including Attorney- General Philip Ruddock's description of it as "barbaric". "We anticipate in terms of bilateral relations between Indonesia and Australia that the sentence that might be delivered by our courts might create an emotional reaction on the part of the Australian public," he said.
But he said any fallout from death sentences would likely pass quickly. "Like the case of the Australian citizen in Singapore, I think after a while there will be a good understanding, because it is not only that the death penalty is imposed to Australians, but also to other traffickers, both foreign and domestic," Wirayuda said.
Wirayuda recently described relations between Jakarta and Canberra as at an all-time high following the 1999 nadir after a bloody rampage by Jakarta-backed militias in East Timor during a vote that led to the territory's independence.
"Australia recognises Papua as part of the unitary state of Indonesia, so there are no more obstacles in the two countries' relations," he said.
He said the legal process in Bali was a domestic affair for Indonesia alone, a position well understood by Australia's government.
"They understand that in Indonesian positive law the death penalty is there and in practice our courts often impose the death penalty for serious offences like drug trafficking," Wirayuda said.
Nguyen, 25, who was of Vietnamese descent, was hanged at Singapore's Changi prison despite repeated pleas for clemency from the Australian government. He was convicted of carrying nearly 400 grams of heroin at Singapore airport while travelling from Cambodia to Australia.
Lawyers for the Bali Nine have called on the federal government to begin lobbying Indonesia for clemency immediately. But Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has refused, saying the court process should be left to run its course before Australia lodges any appeals.
Jakarta Post - January 5, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has endorsed the Judicial Commission's plan to reselect all the 49 justices at the Supreme Court as part of sweeping reforms to the country's corrupt judicial system.
The move is seen as the first step to major reforms in the Supreme Court, although it will likely draw strong opposition from the country's highest judicial institution.
Commission chairman Busyro Muqoddas said on Wednesday the plan would address the court's chronic problems of serious mismanagement and a lack of leadership, which had resulted in a culture of corruption.
Five Supreme Court employees have been detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in connection with a major bribery case involving former president Soeharto's half brother, Probosutedjo, who was earlier convicted of graft.
Probosutedjo claims three justices, including Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan, received bribes from his lawyers before the court considered reviewing his case.
"The reselection must be conducted to find whether the justices' qualifications have met clear, transparent and accountable standards," Busyro said after a meeting with the President on Wednesday.
During the meeting, the Judicial Commission asked Susilo to issue a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to allow for the reselection process.
Although the commission is authorized to select Supreme Court judges, there is no law allowing it to reselect the incumbent justices. It started work last year, after most of the justices had been selected by the House of Representatives.
Busyro said Susilo welcomed the commission's request for a Perppu and immediately ordered Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin to follow it up.
"'The sooner the better'," Busyro quoted the President saying. The commission was currently completing the draft for the Perppu, he said. Hamid said he would examine the draft soon after it was completed and before it was approved by the President.
"The mechanism is in the hands of the President... I'll examine it and look into the structure. It will take time before we can hand it over to the House of Representatives for deliberation," he said.
During the meeting with the commission, Susilo assured members he had no intention of intervening in the judicial system, although he was concerned about its poor track record.
The commission was established under Article 24(b) Paragraph 1 of the amended Constitution, which rules that it is an independent institution authorized to propose candidate judges and uphold their honor and conduct.
Since its establishment, the commission has summoned several judges after public complaints. There has been tensions in its relationship with the Supreme Court, particularly after it called in Bagir for questioning in connection with the Probosutedjo case. Bagir ignored the summons.
Jakarta Post - January 4, 2006
Hera Diani, Jakarta – The official secrets bill, which will be deliberated by the House of Representatives later this month, should respect and uphold the freedom to access information, activists warned on Tuesday.
Agus Sudibyo of the Freedom of Information Coalition said that while the bill was necessary, it had to be comprehensively drafted with the involvement of every stakeholder.
"The problem with the bill is its imprecise definition of official secrets, the scope of secrets, those who have the right to access them and so on," he said. Moreover, he said, the government had not involved the public in the drafting process, which he said set a bad precedent.
"Based on the principles of law reform, the group that is most affected by a legislative provision should be asked for its views and participation," Agus said.
The government-sponsored bill has sparked criticism as many say that the effort to keep information out of public reach violates the spirit of transparency. Press freedom could also be at risk.
The latest draft of the bill proposes the establishment of an official secrets agency that would be authorized to declare certain information classified. The inter-departmental agency would also have the power to determine the people and institutions allowed to access information deemed to be secret.
Generally, the bill defines confidential information as anything that has the potential to endanger the state's sovereignty or security if it falls into the hands of the wrong parties. Such things include information on defense, international relations, law enforcement, the economy, the state cryptography and signals system, intelligence and vital assets.
Institutions possessing such information have the final authority to deny any request for access to information they classify as secret, with an exception where it is required for use in court.
Agus said that the bill could allow manipulation to protect the secrets of bureaucrats. "For instance, the bill stipulates that civil servants at all levels are obliged to maintain official secrets, but it does not oblige them to provide access to information that is not categorized as an official secret," he said.
Meanwhile, Ignatius Haryanto of the Institute of Press and Development Studies (LSPP) said the bill needed to be more tightly drafted as regards the definition of an official secret and the length of time it would remain secret.
A bill could also be declared a secret before it was passed, he said, even though it required public participation.
"We believe that the big picture is still the freedom to access information. If there are to be exceptions, that's fine. But don't spin it out and jeopardize freedom in the name of protecting state secrets. A lack of transparency will only breed corruption," Ignatius said.
| Labour issues |
Jakarta Post - January 4, 2006
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Police fired warning shots as around 500 former employees of state aircraft maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) and university students were about to stage a protest against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on his visit to the company on Tuesday.
A police officer fired four shots soon after a truck-loaded with Air Force personnel attempted to disperse the protesters, who were marching toward the company's compound on Jl. Padjadjaran at about 9.30 a.m.
The warning shots were not an effective deterrence, however, as the demonstrators forced their way through a security cordon of around 200 police officers and Air Force soldiers. Minor scuffles occurred, but no injuries were reported.
Violence has never previously marked protests by the former PT DI employees, who have many times protested in Jakarta following their dismissal in July 2003.
There was no explanation from security authorities in Bandung about the decision to fire warning shots. According to standard operating procedures, warning shots should only be fired when a crowd begins to attack.
Susilo is currently under tight protection by presidential details after National Intelligence Body (BIN) head Syamsir Siregar revealed reports of possible plots to assassinate or kidnap a number of state officials.
The plots were allegedly linked to terrorist groups under Malaysian fugitive Noordin M. Top, which have apparently changed their strategy from suicide bombings to assassinations or abductions, following the death of master bombmaker Azahari bin Husin in November.
The terrorists are said to be members of Jamaah Islamiyah, which has been responsible for a series of bomb attacks in the country since 2000.
Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said he expected the public would understand that tighter security measures would probably prevent the President from making direct contact with the people.
Arief Minardi, former PT DI labor union leader, complained about the extra security measures. "It's too much. We haven't even entered the compound and did not do anything wrong, but they used trucks and bullets to disperse us," he said.
The protesters, he added, wanted to ask the President to help them obtain fair compensation for their dismissal. Arief said that he had asked Andi to allow the former PT DI employees to convey their complaints directly to the President, but to no avail.
Some 1,000 former PT DI employees rejected compensation offered by the company because they considered it inadequate. They were part of a total of 9,600 employees who were dismissed in 2003 as the cash-strapped company was struggling to survive.
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
Jakarta – Five years after entering into a legal process against her employer, Marni Abyim, 25, was finally awarded a payout.
Working as a maid in Malaysia, Marni filed a lawsuit on January 2001 against Shalini Shanmugam for torturing her with a number of appliances, including scissors, a hammer and a screwdriver.
A Malaysian court awarded her on Friday a lump payout of Ringgit 51,000 (US$13,494). Shalini, meanwhile, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined Ringgit 1,000 for the infliction of grievous bodily harm.
"It doesn't matter how much the payout is. No amount of money can compensate for the pain and suffering I endured. But I'm happy. I want to go home and see my family," she told the New Straits Times.
Marni is one of thousands of Indonesian migrant workers who are exploited or abused every year. The annual report from the association of Indonesian migrant workers Migrant Care has revealed that while their number increased in 2005 to around 600,000 workers, they are still perceived as a mere commodity by the government.
The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, the report said, had listed sending Indonesian workers overseas as one of its main schemes to reduce the unemployment rate.
Yet, in some countries, non-nationals in low-paid jobs are highly vulnerable to all types of violence, including assault, abuse and murder, as their own government does not guarantee their protection.
From February through March 2005, around 800,000 illegal migrant workers were forced to return from Malaysia after a series of raids marked by violence and the confiscation of their belongings.
Many returned home penniless as their employers refused to pay them. Moreover, conditions in the shelters set up to accommodate the returning workers in Nunukan, East Kalimantan were sub- standard. Migrant women are at particular risk of abuse, such as Wafi Nurohmat, whose body was sent home from Saudi Arabia in June with no statement given as to the cause of her death.
Meanwhile, the family of Nurmiyarti from Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, reported to the manpower ministry and the foreign ministry that she was assaulted by her Saudi Arabian employer, leaving her seriously wounded. Nurmiyati was, however, sentenced to 79 strokes of the cane by a Riyadh court in December.
Migrant worker Hasanudin Sinring, 22, has been sentenced to death by the Magistrate Court in Kinabalu, Malaysia, for stabbing his employer Elizabeth Wong Oi Chon, 47, to death. Siti Aminah and Juminem were also sentenced to death for the premeditated murder of a Singaporean employer.
In response, baffling policies have been issued by the Indonesian government, such as prohibiting families from picking up returning migrant workers at the airport. This policy has been criticized by many as Terminal 3 at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, which is designated for the workers, is notorious for blackmail, abandonment and assault.
Further complicating the issue, the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) has issued an edict prohibiting women who are not accompanied by their husband or another family member from working abroad.
Considering that migrant workers are a growing group with little national or international protection, Migrant Care has urged the government to improve the system of placing workers as well as to guarantee their safety and the protection of their rights abroad.
The government, the association said, must immediately ratify the 1990 International Convention on protection of migrant workers' rights and their families'. Though recruitment agencies are also responsible, it added.
| Natural disasters |
Jakarta Post - January 8, 2006
Slamet Susanto, Banjarnegara – Rescue workers on Saturday called off the search for bodies buried in the Banjarnegara landslide disaster, with the total death toll now at 58. Revising down earlier estimates that over 100 people had gone missing, the search and rescue team stated on Saturday that 16 people were still missing.
All the bodies recovered in the four-day-long search had been buried in a plot of land near the landslide-affected area in Sijeruk village, Banjarnegara regency.
"We estimate that only 16 are still buried in the mud and debris," said Banjarnegara deputy regent Hadi Soepeno, quoted by Antara news agency.
Local government officials announced the estimate after a meeting of chiefs of hamlets in Sijeruk village. At the meeting it was revealed that the total number of residents in the village was 655, with 525 now living in temporary shelters, 43 who worked in other cities and 13 who were at the hospital.
As the search for more victims had been stopped, the government would pull out the six excavators from the landslide affected areas, said chief of Central Java search and rescue team Edi Prayitno.
While the search for bodies was wounded up in Banjarnegara regency, search and rescue teams in Jember regency said they would continue looking for corpses.
As of Saturday, the search and rescue team there had recovered 78 bodies after flash floods smashed into three districts in Jember regency on Sunday. "The last body found today was identified as Sumiati, a tofu trader in the Bunot Market here," said Edy Susilo, the spokesman for the Jember disaster team, on Saturday.
He said the team would expand its search to hilly areas in Argopuro using helicopters provided by the Indonesian Air Force. The team had already flown several times into the hilly Argopuro areas where some survivors were still living, taking with them food, medical supplies and clothing.
The team was trying to persuade people to leave the areas prone to flash flooding and landslides for fear of further disasters, but many residents are choosing to stay, saying they said they could not leave behind their cattle and other valuables.
Regarding the spread of disease in refugee shelters in three districts in Jember regency, Edy said 700 of some 7,000 people taking refuge in the shelters were currently suffering diseases including diarrhea, respiratory-related illnesses and skin infections. On top of that, another 38 residents were being treated at Soebandi Hospital for serious ailments. "But they are getting better," said hospital employee Lely.
As of Saturday, food and medical aid was still trickling into the 15 refugee shelters in Jember regency.
Reuters - January 5, 2006
Dwi Prasetyo, Sijeruk – Indonesian rescuers searched on Friday for more bodies buried under tons of mud after massive landslides on Java island while helicopters flew food and medicine to some villagers still cut off.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would investigate whether environmental degradation had caused the disasters this week. The combined official death toll stands at 120.
Soldiers and police used excavators to clear mud and logs off hundreds of flattened homes after torrential rains sent landslides crashing into several villages.
Rescue officials said their efforts were being hampered by a lack of equipment, thousands of onlookers and those who lost their homes converging on the sites.
Meteorologists have predicted more heavy rains for the country in the coming days.
Officials said they had found 43 bodies so far at Sijeruk village in Central Java province, after a pre-dawn landslide on Wednesday.
Arif Sudaryanto, head of the search and rescue agency in nearby Banjarnegara, said based on residents' reports an estimated 40 people were still buried, much less than the hundreds some officials said they feared had died.
In neighboring East Java, rescuers have found 77 bodies from several villages hit by landslides and floods on Sunday.
Arifin Muhaji of the Indonesian Red Cross told Reuters that helicopters were being used in East Java because some villagers were difficult to reach after bridges were washed away.
"We have distributed tents, hygiene kits and food to them. Military helicopters are carrying the injured out," he said.
Speaking near the site of the East Java disaster, Yudhoyono promised action.
"We will look in-depth at what has caused these landslides and floods, whether it is the stripping of forest or the destruction of forest," Yudhoyono said in remarks carried on El Shinta radio after he visited some villagers made homeless.
Floods and landslides are common in Indonesia, especially at this time of the year during the wet season. Many landslides are caused by illegal logging or the clearing of farmland that strips away natural barriers to such disasters.
Officials have blamed rains for the Sijeruk landslide as the village lies at the foot of a tree-covered hill. Mud up to 20 feet high encased the remains of many homes, although not all were hit by the debris.
But logging has come under the spotlight around the East Java villages. Most residents there lived on coffee plantations and river banks where many trees had been felled.
Meteorologists had predicted heavy rain in the coming days, raising fears of more landslides and floods, Red Cross official Muhaji said.
The Indonesian Red Cross had put 50,000 volunteers on standby across Indonesia, he added.
Flooding and small landslides have damaged roads and bridges this week in other parts of densely populated Java island, where 130 million of Indonesia's 220 million people live.
Sijeruk lies about 220 miles east of Jakarta, while the East Java landslides occurred around 500 miles east of the capital.
[Additional reporting by Nury Sybli and Achmad Sukarsono in Jakarta.]
Jakarta Post - January 6, 2006
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – Environmentalists and government officials on Thursday urged the immediate relocation of people living and working in flood plains or hilly areas to prevent massive human casualties, as more landslides and flooding disasters would probably occur in the near future.
Director-general of the Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) David Kaimowitz told The Jakarta Post that the sharp increase in economic and human losses attributed to flooding was simply caused by the fact that more people were living and working in flood plains.
"Deforestation and illegal logging may have contributed in a minor way to landslides. But in this case, it is because more and more people are now living in very vulnerable places," Kaimowitz said over the phone from New York.
"As a result, many floods that previously would have been only minor events now become major disasters." Executive director of state forestry company Perhutani Transtoto Handadhari agreed with Kaimowitz, saying relocation was the only choice to avoid loss of human life.
However, Transtoto said his company lacked funds to move people who lived in disaster-prone areas to safer places.
In his recent study,"Forests and Floods: Drowning in Fiction or Thriving on Facts?", Kaimowitz found no scientific evidence linking large-scale flooding and landslides to deforestation.
The study says that as far back as the 19th century and continuing to the present, the conventional view has been that forests prevent floods by acting as giant sponges, soaking up water during heavy rainfalls.
"But the massive floods that are blamed on deforestation almost always occur after prolonged periods of rains, which saturate the soil, including forest soil, so that it can no longer absorb additional water. Rainfall then has nowhere to go but into rivers where it fills them to the point of overflow," the study says.
Transtoto confirmed the study, saying that his company assessment showed that the flooding in Jember and the landslides in Banjarnegara were a result of massive and lengthy rainfall.
He said that before the disaster, about 115 millimeters of water per day, three days in a row had hit Jember, while rain came down for 15 hours per day for eight days running in Banjarnegara, eroding soils in forest areas.
"We found that 92 percent of forest areas there are still covered by trees, while another 8 percent was lost to plantations set up by the locals," said Transtoto, whose company manages some 3,000 hectares of production forests in Jember.
He urged the government to take drastic measures to save people living in flood plains and hilly areas as he projected that the heavy rain would continue in Java until February. "My company has found 20 spots across Java, mostly in West Java, which are prone to similar disasters," he said.
In the short term, he suggested that the government build spillways in disaster-prone areas. A spillway is a structure used to provide for the controlled release of flood flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, typically being the river that has been dammed.
Jakarta Post - January 4, 2006
Iman Dwianto Nugroho, Jember – Salimah, a woman at her 40s, looked pale. Her clothes blackened with mud, the frail villager has not had food for two days. "Unless food aid is dispatched into our area soon, the death toll, especially among the children, will rise," she told Antara.
Salimah was one of 110 Panti district residents still isolated on Tuesday after flash floods swept through three districts in Jember regency East Java, killing at least 63 people.
Access into the area has been hampered after a main bridge collapsed, preventing rescue workers from evacuating residents and searching for survivors.
Rescue workers moved slowly through Jember on Tuesday battling thick mud and drizzle, and having to ford strong rivers. While some villagers were rescued, others remained trapped in remote areas without food and proper shelter.
Three only helicopters in the area that could have evacuated residents were being used by central government officials to drop food aid into remote areas, Agus Syamsuddin, the chief of local forestry office, told Antara.
Officials believe the death toll is likely to rise as search teams find more people buried in the mud.
Many flood survivors already occupy makeshift shelters in East Java's Sukorambi district, with the luckier ones camped on simple mats in the lobbies of government buildings.
Officials say there is a real fear of a disease outbreak among survivors. "One (person) has already become sick with typhus and has been admitted to the community health center," Sukorambi district government head Ismu Adi said.
Food and medicine aid trickled in on Tuesday into refugee shelters, with large Muslim organizations like Nadhlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah starting to erect public kitchens in several areas affected by the flooding.
Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah arrived in the area the same day and handed over Rp 500 million in cash to emergency agencies.
As volunteers were busy distributing food and medicine, environmentalists blamed deforestation for the flash floods and landslides.
The floods hit the districts after water catchment areas above villages were destroyed by deforestation from illegal logging, they said. Indonesian Forum for the Environment East Java member Bambang Catur Nusantara said total forest area in Jember had been reduced by more than 21 percent in three years.
However, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and forestry chief Agus Syamsuddin rejected Bambang's analysis, insisting the disaster stemmed from natural causes.
"The rain filled natural reservoirs, lakes and water catchment areas with water. However, apparently the water volume was too large, leading to the flash floods and landslides," Agus said.
The roaring floods and mudslides crushed everything in their path, destroying hundreds of houses, schools, bridges and government offices. About 80 percent of telephone lines in four districts in Jember were down after the flooding, an official said.
Salimah from Panti said it was too early to place blame yet. "We desperately need help," she said.
Australian Associated Press - January 3, 2006
Hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers have struggled to reach villages devastated by floods and landslides in Indonesia's East Java. The known death toll has now climbed to 63.
Eddy Susilo, head of the Information Ministry branch in the town of Jember, not far from the scene, said the bodies of 61 villagers had been found. Two rescue workers had also drowned in swollen rivers on Tuesday, he added.
Heavy rains late on Sunday triggered the floods and landslides at six hillside villages near Jember, around 800km east of Jakarta. Most of the villagers lived on coffee plantations and river banks where many trees had been felled, stripping the area of natural protection from such a disaster.
A few villages were still cut off because of collapsed bridges and landslides blocking access, said Muhammad Suryadi of the state disaster management agency. "Thousands have sought refuge and more than 300 can't get out," Suryadi said.
As well as the fast flowing rivers, sporadic rains were slowing evacuation efforts, rescue officials said.
One survivor said he had fled with his baby to nearby woods after surging water killed his wife and flattened his home. They had not eaten since Sunday evening, he said, after arriving in the village of Kemiri, where rescuers are based.
"I am depressed because I lost my wife and my house. The only one left is my baby," said Ratimin, 38. His baby looked pale and virtually lifeless.
In Kemiri, around 100 soldiers used fallen trees to build emergency bridges to try to cross raging waterways and reach those in need. Mud was waist deep in some parts of Kemiri, where an avalanche of mud had flattened most houses along the river bank.
Flooding and landslides are common in tropical Indonesia. Many mudslides are caused by illegal logging or clearing farmland that removes natural protection.
"How did the mud smash through if not because of the lack of barriers?" said Susilo. "Residents say if they don't cut trees, others will. This is what happens in the end. The forest looks thick from afar but when you enter you can see chopped areas in the middle." One local politician blamed corporate coffee planters.
"Those who cut the trees are now watching the disaster on television while villagers suffer," said Suyoto, a member of the East Java legislative council.
Separately, landslides killed two people in a hillside village in Central Java, local media reported.
| Regional/communal conflicts |
Jakarta Post - January 6, 2006
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Defying opposition from critics who demanded an independent probe, the government officially set up a Security Operation Command (Koopskam) on Thursday, in a bid to halt attacks in Central Sulawesi and find the unknown assailants.
Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko, a two-star police general, will lead the command that will involve a large intelligence operation aimed at finding the masterminds behind the violence in Poso and Palu, Central Sulawesi.
"The problem in Palu and Poso is quite complex, and we're unable to deal with it using ordinary steps," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Adm. (ret) Widodo Adi Sutjipto explained during a news conference after chairing a special meeting to form the command.
The command comprises the three security institutions – the National Police, the Indonesian Military and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).
"Considering that each of the security institutions has different functions, today we have officially set up the command... to reintegrate their functions," Widodo said.
"We hope the command will be able to resolve the criminal and violent cases in the areas," he added.
However, many critics expressed doubt that the command could work effectively given that certain security officers were believed to have masterminded or been involved in a series of attacks in the province.
The Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) said that with the exclusion of civilian legal minds, such as prosecutors and judges, the command could not be effective.
"The government has authorized this team with greater roles, ranging from restoring security in the areas to legal processing of suspects. However, the government has forgotten one thing: that the command only consists of three security institutions which have no authority for legal processing of suspects," PBHI activist Henry Simarmata said on Thursday.
The restive province has seen a series of violent attacks despite a peace accord in 2001 to end two years of sectarian bloodshed in Poso, which claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people. Almost all the recent incidents have targeted Christians.
Intelligence authorities have blamed the Jamaah Islamiyah terrorist network for the attacks. They have branded some Central Sulawesi areas as hotbeds of terrorist activity.
The command's establishment came after local non-governmental organizations called for the government to set up an independent fact-finding team to investigate the violence.
The setting up of the command would be followed up on by deploying some 1,100 reinforcement police officers to Central Sulawesi, where there are already more than 5,000 security personnel, including 2,000 soldiers. "The military will send more reinforcement troops to the areas if needed by the command," Widodo said.
Thursday's establishment of the command was witnessed by Indonesian Military chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf and State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Maj. Gen. (ret) Syamsir Siregar.
Command chief Paulus and his deputy Brig. Gen. A.Y. Nasution, the current chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command's first division based in Cilodong, West Java, were also in attendance.
Jakarta Post - January 5, 2006
Tiarma Siboro and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government's decision to establish a Security Operation Command (koopskam) to investigate and curb the violence in Palu and Poso has sparked strong reactions from local non-governmental organizations.
The Poso Center, an umbrella group of local NGOs, said the move was merely to "protect certain parties believed to have played roles in creating conflict there." Center coordinator Yusuf Lakaseng said the establishment of such a command would create an image that Central Sulawesi was riven by communal conflicts, which could later "pave the way for the government to launch a military-style operation".
"We urge the government to listen to our voice because all we need is the establishment of a fact-finding team to investigate a series of violent incidents in Palu and Poso, instead of setting up a Koopskam.
"We are talking here about the public distrust of security personnel. No local people have come to the police and helped provide them with information," Yusuf told Antara on Wednesday.
The NGOs also rejected a plan to redeploy troops and police personnel to Palu and Poso, saying it would only worsen the situation. "I think what is needed is to launch a professional intelligence operation," Yusuf said.
The Central Sulawesi command will be directly under the office of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Adm. (ret) Widodo Adi Sutjipto.
It aims to uncover the masterminds behind a series of terror attacks that have plagued Poso and Palu following a peace deal signed in 2001.
"The conflict in Palu, Poso and in other Central Sulawesi areas need special measures," Widodo said after a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday.
The meeting, also attended by National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, Minister of Home Affairs M. Ma'ruf and State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Syamsir Siregar, discussed the plan.
A two-star police general, Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko, will lead the command, with former Aceh's Lilawangsa military commander Brig. Gen. A.Y. Nasution serving as his deputy.
Nasution is the current chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command's first division based in Cilodong, West Java.
The command will have to complete its tasks within three months in the first phase. Its term could be extended to another three months if deemed necessary.
The government has also set up a task force to probe Saturday's bomb attack on a traditional market, which claimed 22 people lives and injured 56 others. The task force will be commanded by a police officer, Brig. Gen. Wahono.
The government was trying to link the violent incidents in Palu and Poso with the same actors involved in sporadic attacks in Maluku and Java island.
As part of the command's first operation, the government plans to send 1,100 police reinforcements to Poso and Palu, along with an unspecified soldiers.
About 4,000 reinforcement police and soldiers were sent to restore order in Central Sulawesi in 2005.
Earlier, the government set up a Poso Task Force as part of the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 14/2005, which was issued weeks after a bomb attack rocked a traditional market in the predominantly Christian town of Tentena in May 2004. Twenty- two people were killed in the incident, while dozens others were wounded.
Associated Press - January 1, 2006
Abdi Mari, Palu – Authorities searched Sunday for the suspected Islamic militants who set off a bomb at a Christian market in central Indonesia, killing seven people and underscoring the ongoing battle against terror in the world's most populous Muslim nation.
Police spokesman Rais Adam said officers were questioning two people detained near the scene of the blast in Palu on Sulawesi island, but stressed the pair had not been formally charged with any crime.
The explosion sent nails and ball bearings tearing into vendors and shoppers at the market, which was packed with people buying pork for New Year's celebrations.
Authorities initially said eight people were killed and 45 injured in the attack, but they revised the death toll to seven on Sunday, said Anton Bachrul Alam, national police spokesman. A critically injured 13-year-old child had been erroneously included in the dead.
The bombing followed warnings that Islamic extremists were planning attacks against Christian and Western targets over the holiday season.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono condemned the blast, which occurred despite more than 47,000 soldiers and police being deployed nationwide to ward off attacks.
The country's security minister, Widodo Adisucipto, told reporters the bombing was likely linked to terrorist groups.
He refused to elaborate, but suspicion immediately fell on Jemaah Islamiyah, an al-Qaida-linked group that has been blamed for a series of bombings in Indonesia, including two attacks on Bali that together killed 222 people, many of them foreigners. It is also accused in Christmas Eve church bombings five years ago that left 19 dead.
Sulawesi's 12.5 million people are mainly split between Christians and Muslims, but there are tiny Buddhist and Hindu communities.
Central Sulawesi was the scene of fierce battles between Muslims and Christians in 2001 and 2002 that killed about 1,000 people and attracted Islamic militants from all over Indonesia responding to calls for a holy war.
Despite a peace deal, Islamic militants have continued a campaign of bombings, shootings and other attacks on Christians, including market blasts in May that killed 20 people and the beheadings of three Christian schoolgirls in October. No one has been charged in those attacks.
| Environment |
Jakarta Post - January 2, 2006
Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – Sawmill owners operating in West Lampung can easily get permits saying wood taken from the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park is legal, an activist says.
Joko Santoso from the Lampung chapter of the Illegal Logging Response Center said the local forestry office's failure to properly check up on loggers and enforce regulations, meant the certificates it issued were no better than fakes.
To process timber, sawmill operators must possess small-holding timber permits (IPKTM) issued by the West Lampung Forestry Office. However, according to the law, only operators who grow and harvest their own trees are entitled to the permits.
Joko said an owner of a sawmill on the Krui highway between the Bengkunat and Lemong districts was a known fence of illegal timber and was believed to be part of an illegal logging syndicate operating from Lampung. However, the businessman could not be brought to justice because the company's documents were supposedly in order.
"We have found many (sawmill) operators possess IPKTMs but do not grow the trees they process. They simply buy timber from residents, who take the timber from the national park," Joko said.
The center's data found that the forestry office had issued operating permits for 12 sawmill operators, which produce at least 1,200 cubic meters of sawn timber a month – the equivalent of 2,400 hectares of forested area in the park.
"Since the companies hold these timber processing permits, illegal timber becomes a legal commodity in their hands. They generally use these to dupe the authorities when they conduct illegal logging raids, claiming the timber comes from community forests. But community forests in Lampung no longer produce such timber," Joko said.
West Lampung Forestry Office head Warsito said that any timber trader could apply for an IPKTM permit, which allocates quotas in 100-cubic-meter units for sawn timber. Administrative fees cost Rp 64,500 a cubic meter for meranti wood or Rp 36,500 per cubic meter for racuk wood, he said.
Investigations by the center, however, showed many sawmill operators held permits that were issued without a field inspection, meaning the operators did not have to prove they could meet the quota legally.
"This is when the timber traders come in. Some of them pay residents to steal timber in the national park," Joko said.
Businessmen holding IPKTM permits could also arrange for a license to approve forest products (SKSHH) from the West Lampung Forestry Office, thus legalizing the sale of their sawn timber.
"No one can take timber out of West Lampung without the SKSHH license," Warsito said.
Activists from environmental groups had found that applying for a SKSHH license was easy; officers rarely followed up applications to check them, Joko said, and the whole thing resembled a rubber-stamping process.
National park officer Iwen said forestry officers should ideally check the validity of all the sawn timber they encountered.
"The sawn timber is often of high quality, like meranti wood, which can only be found in the park. If they are carrying such timber, it is most likely being stolen from the park," Iwen said.
West Lampung Military commander Albar Hasan Tanjung said sawmill operators usually attempted to trick authorities by stacking stolen timber from the park behind regular racuk wood or tree resin taken from community forests.
"Offenders usually place the resin at the rear part of the truck. But after unloading, the truck contains kruing, meranti or tenam wood taken from the park. They will not be detained because they usually bring along documents that are supposedly valid," Tanjung said.
A timber trader in West Lampung, Mustalipi, said he held a IPKTM license that entitled him to carry 600 cubic meters of timber of various varieties. He claimed he never took timber from the park but admitted to buying it from residents.
"The residents sell me the timber taken from their farms. I don't know if they take it from the park," he said.
Data from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature and the Illegal Logging Response Center shows deforestation in the park has reached an alarming rate. Of its 360,000 hectares, around 50 percent has been damaged by illegal logging.
National Park Center head Tamen Sitorus said many residents got involved in illegal logging because it was lucrative – they could earn up to Rp 150,000 a day.
He said that after being felled, the trees were usually floated down one of the 32 rivers flowing through the park before being transported to the sawmills.
The center has recorded 19 known timber drop-off points along the Way Biha, a river that flows through the park and empties at the West Krui coast.
From there, the logs are transported by four-wheel-drive trucks to the main road, and later taken by larger vehicles to the sawmills.
Jakarta Post - January 2, 2006
Stevie Emilia, Jakarta – When the world's biggest timber smuggling operation from Papua to China was exposed last year, it marked a turning point in the fight against illegal logging in the country.
Released in February by the London-based Environmental Investigative Agency (EIA) and its local partner Telapak, the report – which openly accusing high-ranking Indonesian Military (TNI) officers of being in cahoots with other government officials and law enforcers in running the racket – worked like magic.
Wasting no time, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rounded up his subordinates and ordered a huge crackdown led by the National Police and supported by the Indonesian Military against the smuggling operation – estimated to be worth around one billion dollars a year in merbau logs from Papua to China amid a log export ban in place since 2001.
Just within three months after the report was launched, Telapak recorded that the Rp 12 billion (US$1.2 million) crackdown has netted 173 suspects and seized over 385,000 cubic meters of logs.
The police also reported in May that they had submitted case files on at least 25 suspects, including three middle-ranking Papua police officers, to prosecutors, while case files on the remaining 151 suspects were still being completed.
The crackdown has also affected the market for merbau timber, a hardwood used mainly for flooring, with shortages and price rises reported in both Indonesia and China.
But the crackdown failed to impress long enough, nor failed to stop the country's rapid deforestation rate, claimed to be the world's worst with an area the size of Switzerland being lost every year.
Telapak's forest campaigner, Muhammad Yayat Afianto, said the crackdown had an immediate affect on reducing illegal logging but lamented the significant fact that the major criminal networks were not broken although the government has been informed of the officials involved in the racket.
Come December, the magic has completely worn off. Around the country, illegal logging continues as before – even reaching deep into protected forested areas like national parks.
From 144 million hectares of tropical forests that the country had in 1991, it has shrunk to 110 million hectares in 2003 as deforestation caused by illegal logging, forest fires, forest conversion is unstoppable at a rate which is estimated at more than 2.8 million hectares per year.
Weak law enforcement, political will and conflicting policies – which look good on paper, but because capacity and resources are lacking, cannot be enforced – have meant that deforestation is still on the rise in many parts of the country, like Kalimantan, Sumatra and Sulawesi.
In Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, millions of hectares of forest are currently at risk if the government proceeds with a plan to open the world's largest palm oil plantation on the island.
The plan – which is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares along the 850 kilometer Indonesia-Malaysia border in the northern areas of West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces -- is feared might harm not only the forest but also the rich forest biodiversity in Kalimantan, which has a vast area of tropical rain forest and is home to several near-extinct species, like orangutans.
All these years, according to the World Wife Fund for Nature, Kalimantan, which has 27 million hectares of forests, has suffered from rapid deforestation at the rate of 1.2 million hectares per year. The World Bank even predicts that by 2010, all of Kalimantan's lowland forests will disappear if nothing is done to curb deforestation.
Timber smuggling operations are also hard to miss in Lampung where illegal logs are being shipped out of the Way Kambas and Bukit Barisan Selatan national parks to illegal sawmills in broad daylight.
The illegally processed logs are then openly transported to ports -- equipped with all the legitimate documents like the Processed Timber (SAKO), Log Transportation (SAKB) and Forest Products Validation (SKSHH) certificates – to reach Java and other islands, causing the country an estimated Rp 15 trillion in losses per year.
However, during raids, the bosses escape arrest, leaving their smalltime workers in the hands of law enforcers.
Bukit Barisan Selatan and West Lampung Police recorded only 17 cases of illegal logging and apprehended 24 suspects from January to November, 2005.
Out of the 17 cases, only suspects in three cases were given up to four months jail and fined up to Rp 200,000 (US$20) per person, while six other cases are still under trial and the remaining eight cases are still under investigation.
In line with Article 50 F and H of Law No. 41/1999 on forestry, smugglers could face a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Head of Lampung Forestry Office, Arinal Djunaidi, claimed there were extensive operations being conducted to curb illegal logging, which caused the province to lose 12,500 hectares of forested area per year, but they mostly exposed small cases since the province only relies on 200 forest rangers.
The absence of proper employment was also blamed for the spread of illegal logging in Lampung, with residents willing to spend up to five months in jail as long as they can get Rp 50,000 each for carrying illegal logs, according to Joko Santoso of the Lampung- based Illegal Logging Response Center.
In Papua, however, the Bogor-based Telapak did see some significant progress after the crackdown with almost no more illegal shipments reported from April to November 2005.
"But we have heard no progress on the trial, although the attorney general said that 87 percent of the cases were already in their hands," Yayat said, adding that if the timber mafia are removed it will give a chance to the Papuans to benefit from their own natural resources.
With the magic gone – no real law enforcement by handing down the maximum sentence for big timber bosses involved in illegal logging, no support for the forestry community, more natural forest conversion and no coordination among institutions like law enforcers and officials – the future of the country's forests is bleak.
"I think the government still has to work hard to reduce illegal logging in 2006. If we fail to stop it, Indonesia will have no more natural forest by 2010," Yayat said.
[With additional reporting by Oyos H.N. Saroso in Lampung and Nethy Dharma Somba in Papua.]
| Islam/religion |
Jakarta Post - January 6, 2006
Jakarta – Dozens of students from the Jakarta State Islamic University (UIN) protested in front of the Jakarta Police Headquarters on Thursday condemning the arrest, for blasphemy, of Lia Aminuddin, the leader of The Eden sect.
The students, organized under the banner of the Ciputat Student Forum (Formaci), carried banners and posters saying "reject violence in the name of religion", and "stop discrimination towards the Eden community".
Coordinator Kusnandar said that the protest was organized to support the freedom of religion and religious beliefs as stipulated in Article 29 of the Constitution.
"We believe that freedom of religion and religious beliefs are no longer protected by the state as mandated by the Constitution," he was quoted by Antara as saying, while adding that they were there to make sure the Constitution was honored and the rally did not mean that he or his colleagues were necessarily Edenists.
"We also demand that the law that includes blasphemy be revoked because it is in contradiction to the Constitution," Kusnandar said.
He emphasized that every person has the right to freedom of religion and no one, not the police or any other government institution, can deny that.
"Differences in religion should be resolved through dialogs, not repressive action. After all, Lia's group was only conducting what they believed in, not blasphemy," Kusnandar added.
Lia Aminuddin, or Lia Eden, as she is known to her followers, was arrested and declared a suspect for blasphemy of Islam on Dec. 28.
The devotees believe in the path to perennial philosophy. But it caused unrest when the leader declared herself the Holy Spirit and the mouthpiece of the archangel Gabriel.
Jakarta Post - January 4, 2006
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The arrest of Lia Aminuddin, the leader of Salamullah or God's Kingdom of Eden sect left several questions as to why she is being prosecuted, while other "heretics" have not.
It also begs the question as to why it took eight years – the length of time she has been practicing – for her to be declared a heretic by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and the Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Noted criminologist with the University of Indonesia, Adrianus Meliala, acknowledged that the police had the right to charge Lia with religious blasphemy as stipulated in the Criminal Code, due to "public unrest" over the group's presence by neighbors.
"But I question the police's inconsistency in such religious blasphemy cases. They detained Lia soon after the unrest emerged, but no leaders of Ahmadiyah have been charged, although their teachings have been declared heretical," he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
Agreeing with Adrianus was noted legal expert from the University of Indonesia, Luhut M. Pangaribuan, who said that police should seek out the opinions Islamic experts to be able to determine whether Lia, for instance, was indeed a heretic or not. "They should get a balanced opinion to prove that Lia has been blasphemous," he told the Post.
Lia, who claims to be the Holy Spirit and also God's messenger Gabriel, was evacuated along with her followers on Dec. 28 from their headquarters on Jl. Mahoni No. 30 in the Bungur neighborhood in Senen, Central Jakarta. They were safely escorted to the city police headquarters after thousands of locals surrounded their house of worship.
Jakarta Police then declared Lia on Dec. 30 as the sole suspect in a religious defamation case, and detained her subsequently. Her followers were released.
Police also announced that the sect members could not go back to their headquarters because the residents and local administration had decided that the group had "disturbed the neighborhood".
Police said that they had charged Lia under Article 156a of Criminal Code on religious defamation, which carries a maximum punishment of five years in prison. Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh also insisted on prosecuting the group, and stated that it was in adherence to MUI's edict.
"Actually, legal institutions don't have the right to say whether this or that teaching is heresy... But we have to uphold public order and work against those who create social disturbances," he said after the police named Lia a suspect.
Last June, police also evacuated members of Ahmadiyah from their headquarters in Parung in Bogor, after thousands of Islamic extremists attacked them. Police only questioned a handful of Ahmadiyah members, and then released them. No further legal action has been taken.
"If they released all Ahmadiyah members, then they should release Lia as the police applied the same charges to them. I guess the police have discriminated against Lia as she only has a small group of followers while Ahmadiyah has many," Adrianus said.
Ahmadiyah has hundreds of thousands of devotees across the country while Lia has only 48, and 13 of them are children.
Adrianus said the inconsistency had sent a confusing message to public, and it could undermine law enforcement in Indonesia.
"I don't Lia and her small number of followers are a threat at all. They actually represent a form of pluralism, so we should leave them alone. They've never intimidated or forced anything on people, have they?"
| Armed forces/defense |
Jakarta Post - January 4, 2006
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – An active duty Army soldier has been arrested for piracy in the busy Strait of Malacca, in another blow to the already tarnished image of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
First Adm. Halim Hermanto said the low-ranking soldier was arrested on Monday along with four civilians in the waters off Aceh province.
The five suspects kidnapped the crews of two commercial ships 10 days ago and were demanding a ransom for their release, said Halim, the chief of the Belawan Naval Base in Medan.
When the naval base in Medan learned of the kidnapping, plainclothes Navy personnel arranged a meeting with a representative of the pirates, saying they were prepared to pay the ransom.
During the meeting at a location in Langkat regency, North Sumatra, the Navy detained the representative and interrogated him. During questioning, the man told interrogators the kidnapped crew members were being held on a ship sailing in the waters off Aceh Tamiang.
Scores of Navy personnel descended on the ship, were they arrested the four civilians and one Army soldier, who has been identified as Sur, who is with a battalion stationed in Aceh. They also confiscated one pistol and 17 bullets, and released the hostages unharmed.
"They (the pirates) are old players. They have been operating around Aceh Tamiang and in the Strait of Malacca for a few years, extorting fishermen and kidnapping crew members from ships for ransom," said Halim.
Piracy continues to be a major problem in the Malacca strait, with 10 pirate attacks reported in the first nine months of last year. In the same period in 2004, the number of pirate attacks in the narrow strait which is bordered by Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore reached 25. The threat of piracy has made the strait and nearby waters a high risk area for underwriters.
The Lloyd's Market Association's Joint War Committee in July added the strait to a list of 20 areas worldwide – including Iraq, Lebanon and Nigeria – that it said posed a security threat to shipping. The LMA is an insurance body that advises members of Lloyd's of London.
The Indonesian Military is struggling to improve its battered image after being blamed for past atrocities, including rights abuses in Aceh and East Timor.
Tempo Interactive - January 5, 2006
Jakarta – Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has obligated the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police to purchase weapons or other products produced by the ten strategic industry State Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
This instruction is aimed at developing the domestic strategic industry, and will start to be carried out again this year.
"I have instructed the Indonesian Military and the National Police as well as users of domestic strategic industry equipment to be obligated to purchase products with existing funds," said Yudhoyono in Bandung on Tuesday (03/01).
While visiting PT Dirgantara Indonesia, President said that he would help in developing this company and the nine other strategic industry SOEs consisting of PT Inti, PT Krakatau Steel, PT Barata, PT BOMA BISMA Industri, PT PAL, PT INKA, PT LEN, PT DAHANA and PT Pindad.
The President said that he himself did not want to make any promises as regards purchasing products manufactured by these SOEs, however, "I'm convinced that next year many domestically produced military products will be in use," he stated.
The Indonesian government, continued the President, would handle these 10 SOEs in different ways because the problems faced by each SOE were different. However, he acknowledged that the government had a limited budget with which to help in developing these SOEs.
Therefore, one of the solutions was to obligate Indonesian the TNI and the National Police as well as all users to purchasing products manufactured by these SOEs. "The government will help, however on definite condition will be that they must carry out good governance," said the president. (Sunariah-Tempo News Room)
Jakarta Post - January 4, 2006
Rendi Akhmad Witular and Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The government has gathered its strategic state enterprises together to develop the country's arms industry and increase self-reliance in defense.
On Tuesday, 10 strategic state firms, the Ministry of Defense, the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Office of State Minister of State Enterprises signed memorandums of understanding to improve cooperation.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono witnessed the signing, which took place at the head office of state aircraft-maker PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI) in Bandung.
The move came as the United States resumed sales of lethal arms to Indonesia after a 13-year embargo. However, the cash-strapped government currently plans only to buy transport aircraft from the US because it can afford little else.
The agreements signed include cooperation deals between the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Industry, the Office of State Minister of State Enterprises, and the Office of the State Minister of Research and Technology to accelerate and enhance the production of defense utilities.
The four ministries also agreed to boost research in the defense sector, while the companies signed MOUs to synchronize their businesses and begin producing weaponry.
Among the companies signing the MOUs were PT DI, Army weaponry firm PT Pindad, state explosives supplier PT Dahana, state steel producer PT Krakatau Steel, state ship builder PT PAL, state telecommunications equipment producer PT INTI and state train builder PT INKA.
"Our defense industry should function both as a commercial entity and as a provider of domestic defense and military needs. The industry should produce war machines based on our geographic conditions and the threats that we are facing," Susilo said.
Susilo repeated his order to the Ministry of Defense and the TNI to prioritize the procurement of arms from domestic suppliers before looking overseas.
"Should we need to seek (arms) from overseas producers, make sure that they don't come up with conditions that prevent us from utilizing the weapons when we need them," Susilo said. He was referring to the arms embargo imposed by Washington over the TNI's poor human rights record.
Susilo also said the government would immediately seek ways to restore the production capacity of ailing PT DI by seeking several strategic investors or by requiring the TNI to increase its purchases from the company. The inefficient and mostly idle PT DI will need an estimated US$200 million to fully resume production.
Hundreds of Bandung university students followed Susilo on his visit to the aircraft maker and PT Pindad, demonstrating outside. The students called on the President to boost efforts to combat corruption and to slash the high fuel prices.
Susilo later met student representatives at a restaurant to hear their complaints and to explain to them the problems the government faced.
Jakarta Post - January 4, 2006
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono surely has his own way of measuring the capability of the three candidates for the top post in the Indonesian military (TNI), in the form of a shooting contest.
Held at the headquarters of state-owned arms producer PT Pindad on Tuesday, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Djoko Santoso, Navy Chief of Staff Adm. Slamet Subiyanto and Air Force Chief of Staff Marshall Djoko Suyanto scrambled to accurately shoot their targets.
Incumbent TNI commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto opened the contest by accurately firing shots at all balloons at a range of 150 meters using a SS-2 Pindad-made rifle, before the other generals started shooting at paper targets.
The most accurate shooter turned out to be Suyanto, who managed to put three holes in the target paper from the five allocated bullets. In second place was Santoso, who secured two holes, while all of Slamet's bullets missed the target.
"Come on. This is a fit-and-proper test for securing the TNI commander's post. You should do better than that," shouted State Minister of State Enterprises Sugiharto to the candidates.
President Susilo will reportedly only be submitting one name for the new TNI chief to the House of Representatives later this month. Rendi Akhmad Witular/The Jakarta Post/Bandung
Tempo Interactive - January 3, 2006
Jakarta – General Endriartono Sutarto, Commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI), has stated that reforms carried out by the TNI were not to please the United States, nor the US government or Congress.
"The interest is the national interest," stated Sutarto after attending a limited coordination meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs on Monday afternoon (02/01).
The objective of the reforms, said the TNI Commander, was how to position TNI as being more professional. Because this is the wish of the public, "And this is what we will do," added Sutarto.
However, if what had been carried out by the TNI made the US happy and this led to the lifting of the military embargo, then according to the TNI Commander, this was the right of the US itself. "Please. We're quite happy. But, this has nothing to do with what we're carrying out," stated Sutarto.
The TNI Commander made this statement in response to the plan of the US foreign minister, Condoleeze Rice, to visit Indonesia.
Sutarto said he hoped that the TNI budget would be adequate to meet the needs of the TNI primary weapon systems equipment. "(The budget) is to meet our equipment needs and to obtain spare parts, most of which come from the US," said the TNI Commander. (Fanny Febiana-Tempo News Room)
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – It has been more than a year since President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took office. Active though he has been as a president, he remains suspiciously lethargic in appointing a four-star general to take over the reins of the Indonesian Military (TNI).
This despite his initial promise to replace serving TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto within a few months.
It remains unclear whether Susilo's promise – which was made only days after the General Elections Commission declared him the winner of the 2004 presidential election – was forced from him by a situation in which lawmakers agreed to endorse Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu as the new TNI chief, as requested by president Megawati Soekarnoputri in the last few weeks of her presidency.
Susilo revoked Ryamizard's nomination immediately after his election and eventually replaced all three of military chiefs of staff, including Ryamizard, who was at the time the Army chief. This move gave Susilo the luxury of having more candidates to select from for the TNI's top post.
According to Law No. 34/2004 on the military, only active or former officers who have held a chief of staff post are eligible to become TNI commander. Besides Ryamizard, there are three other officers eligible for the position: Navy chief Adm. Slamet Subianto, Air Force chief Marshall Djoko Suyanto and Army chief Gen. Djoko Santoso.
The President's decision is even more complicated as the TNI Headquarters struggles to adjust to the new retirement age stipulated in the Military Law. Previously, a soldier who reached the retirement age of 55 could have his or her term of service extended for any period deemed necessary by the president. The 2004 Military Law, however, does not allow officers to serve in the military beyond the age of 58.
TNI Headquarters is still adjusting to this change. Active duty soldiers who had reached the age of 54 when the new law took effect will now retire at 56. While those who were 53, will retire at the age of 57.
There was one caveat: Soldiers who were 54 when the law was passed will be required to retire at the age of 55 if within six months they are not placed in a strategic post.
Rumors over a high-level TNI reshuffle continue, and the president himself has said that he will focus on the "TNI's regeneration process" later this month.
Ryamizard is the most senior officer among other strong candidates for the TNI's top post. He was 54 when the Military Law was endorsed in September, 2004. Based on the "adjustments", he will reach his mandatory retirement age in April, 2006 when he turns 56.
Since he has been placed in a nonportfolio job for over 10 months following his replacement as Army chief in February, 2005, it is "technically" possible that he may be required to retire early.
There has been much speculation on why Ryamizard – the son-in- law of former vice president Try Sutrisno – has been left idling in a nonstrategic post for so long.
Some have suggested Ryamizard's close relationship with Megawati is the reason he has been removed from strategic responsibilities. Many have said that Ryamizard – who is politically controversial due to his tough dealings with separatist movements in Aceh, Papua and Maluku – is not a favorite to lead the TNI in an administration that has opted for diplomacy over military tactics.
But Ryamizard's initiative in Aceh after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami could have been "the final straw" that killed all chance of his taking over as TNI chief. Susilo ordered Ryamizard to stay in Aceh for an "indefinite time" after the tsunami destroyed nearly one-third of the province.
Ryamizard then reportedly initiated an ambitious project, mobilizing thousands of troops to construct a new road connecting the provincial capital of Banda Aceh and the town of Meulaboh. The project seemed well intended and access to Meulaboh and the surrounding areas could have helped many tsunami survivors cut off from the rest of the province.
But there were differences among the TNI leadership, with quite a few officers refusing to use combat troops for the road construction project. TNI chief Endriartono said at the time the project should have been given to Acehnese to "provide them with jobs".
There is also the issue of rotation among the Army, Navy and Air Force as to who holds the TNI's top post. If the system of rotation was followed, it would be the turn for the Air Force to hold the top job at the TNI.
For the real political battle, however, Susilo's Democratic Party only won 52 of the 550 seats at the House of Representatives – which could force the President to seek political support from outside the legislature.
Being a retired four-star Army general himself, Susilo may be more naturally empathetic toward the Army. Appointing an Army officer to the top TNI job may also be the most rational political choice given the Army's sociopolitical network, which reaches down to the village level.
The Military Law itself stresses the importance of civilian supremacy over the military, and puts much greater responsibility into the hands of a civilian defense minister, with the TNI chief only dealing with "paperwork". This should not then create a psychological problem within the ranks as to who is TNI chief.
But the stark reality of everyday politics remains somewhat different. This is the reality and the compromises the President must face.
[The writer is a journalist at The Jakarta Post.]
| Police/law enforcement |
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – Have you ever complained about the police? You are certainly not the only one, as public complaints against the police hit a record high at the National Ombudsman Commission in 2005, a record previously held by district courts.
Commission chairman Antonius Sujata said his office received 217 written complaints about the police force's poor service, which accounted for 21 percent of all the 1,008 letters of complaint sent to the ombudsman, the highest in a single year.
"In 2005, the police outdid the judiciary in terms of upsetting people," he said. Courts have topped the list since the ombudsman's inception in 2000.
Through the end of 2004, the ombudsman received 4,373 letters of complaint, 35 percent of which were connected with courts, 9 percent for the police, 6 percent with prosecutor's office, 8 percent with local administrations, 5 percent with the National Land Agency (BPN) and the rest with other state institutions.
In 2005, most complaints filed against the police were directed at the provincial and precinct police departments, most of them concerned the police's sluggish service, discriminatory treatment and procedural violations.
Despite being the main target of complaints, the police have always followed the ombudsman's recommendations, compared to the Supreme Court, which has been resistant to advice.
When conveying public complaints to designated institutions, the ombudsman always attaches its recommendations on how to settle the cases. "The government shall focus more on eradicating corruption through empowerment of supporting institutions in 2006," Antonius said.
More complaints have been reported to the ombudsman from year to year. Antonius said the positive trend was a result of the opening of ombudsman representative offices in Yogyakarta and Kupang and the commission's intensive activities to promote itself to the public.
The ombudsman was established under a presidential decree in 2000 in a bid to help promote good governance. Many have suggested that the ombudsman be granted an authority to conduct investigations into reported abuses of power.
In countries where the function of ombudsmen has long been institutionalized, its independence and the legal basis guaranteeing that independence is very solid.
But in Indonesia, the ombudsman's duties are limited only to conveying the results of an investigation into complaints it receives to the related state agencies for further follow up.
According to the presidential decree, the ombudsman is authorized to "clarify, monitor or investigate based on public reports about state organizations, especially the implementation by the government apparatus, including law enforcement bodies during their public service."
It is also stipulates that the aims of the new body is to create a favorable environment for the nationwide drive against corruption, along with the protection of the rights of the general public in receiving pubic services, justice and better welfare.
The House of Representatives has agreed to deliberate on an upcoming ombudsman bill that may give the body more power.
Jakarta Post - January 2, 2006
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Consistent law enforcement remained elusive in 2005, which a legal aid foundation said was the fault of the Supreme Court.
In its year-end review issued over the weekend, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) said the subpar performance of the Supreme Court was evident in its failure to supervise judges and prevent violations of the profession's code of ethics. YLBHI said the establishment of the Judicial Commission would help the Supreme Court carry out its supervisory task, but "there is a tendency for the commission to restrict its work to examining verdicts delivered by judges instead of investigating whether certain judges abuse their power".
"In several places, such as Papua, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, judges dismissed charges against businessmen accused of involvement in illegal logging during preliminary hearings. This discouraged the work of prosecutors and the police, who might have expanded their investigations," YLBHI executive director Munarman said.
Once of the cases he referred to was the South Tapanuli District Court's decision to dismiss charges against D.L. Sitorus, an executive at timber company Torganda, in October during the preliminary hearing.
There was a similar case in Padang, West Sumatra, where the local district court dropped a case against Teddy Antoni from PT ATN and two officials from the regency transportation agency in Mentawai.
"Officials in charge at the Supreme Court lack the political will to improve the performances of judges. They are reluctant to take action against judges who may have abused their power.
"The principle of independence has only helped the judges escape punishment," Munarman said.
The Supreme Court is being scrutinized by the Corruption Eradication Commission over allegations of bribery.
Regarding human rights issues, Munarman called the ongoing investigation into the killing of leading human rights campaigner Munir as "a critical point in the country's commitment to human rights".
"Many parties not connected with the judiciary have meddled in the investigation into the murder. At the same time, the police lose their power when they have to confront an institution seen as more powerful (than the police)," Munarman said, referring to the National Intelligence Agency (BIN).
The Central Jakarta District Court found Garuda pilot Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto guilty in the Munir murder, but said there were indications the killing was a conspiracy involving other parties.
However, the police have said they lack the evidence to expand their investigation and look at the possible involvement of other parties in the crime.
The court heard that several phone conversations took place between Pollycarpus and former BIN director Maj. Gen. (ret) Muchdi Poerwoprandjono and other BIN officials prior to the murder.
The YLBHI also praised the House of Representatives' ratification of international covenants on civil and political rights, and on economic and social rights.
But it regretted the government's failure to follow up the ratification with supporting regulations.
Doni Hardiyanto, who heads the foundation's political rights division, said the government had discouraged the implementation of the two prominent covenants.
The government's policies in contravention of the covenants include the submission of a state secrecy bill and the decision to raise fuel prices, Doni said.
| Business & investment |
Jakarta Post - January 3, 2006
Rendi Akhmad Witular and Mustaqim, Jakarta – The government will push through a number of crucial policies this year to promote robust economic activity for the private sector and help spur growth, with most efforts centered on providing certainty and stability for the business community.
The efforts will include reform in the bureaucracy, revisions to the labor law, rearrangement of the management of provincial taxation and improved integrity in the capital market sector.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Monday the government would try to reinvigorate the real sector by ensuring the maintenance of economic and social stability as well as better security.
"What investors buy here is an expectation. We can assure them that expectations are running high this year for an improvement in the economy," Kalla told industry players after opening this year's first trading day at the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX).
Kalla was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, chairman of the Capital Market Supervisory Agency Darmin Nasution and JSX president director Erry Firmansyah.
Kalla said the business community should start taking into account such expectations immediately as the government had already disbursed some Rp 204 trillion (US$20.8 billion) worth of projects from the state budget to provincial governments.
With the disbursement, the government expects to help revive the slowdown in the activity of the real sector, as a result of the 2005 economic slowdown.
To support the activities, the government plans to issue in the next two or three months an official guide book for the bureaucracy in providing public services, which will include a timeframe for processing a document and its exact price.
"Kickbacks within the civil service are mostly caused by the uncertainty set out by the government bureaucrats on the ground. If there is a time target and clear price guidance, such practices will definitely be reduced," said Kalla.
In the labor sector, the government expects a draft revision of the labor law could be delivered to the legislators for deliberation in February or March. Several articles in the law, which require a company to pay compensation for workers filing for resignation are likely to be amended to encourage companies to hire more workers.
"There will be a new philosophy in the revised labor law. It will not only prioritize those who already have a job, but also those currently unemployed. With a law that is more conducive to hiring new workers, the private sector will help alleviate unemployment," said Kalla.
The business community will also be protected from uncertainty created by the administrations in the provinces and regencies, especially on the problem related to regional fees and taxes, which contribute unnecessarily to the higher cost of doing business across the archipelago.
"Several central government regulations will be issued soon to prevent local administrations from issuing the fees and taxes that are merely a burden on the business community. This will not only reduce the cost of doing business, but will also create more business certainty," said Sri Mulyani.
The government will also start reviewing several capital market regulations that provide windows of opportunity for irregularities. "The integrity of the capital market should be upgraded. Loopholes in regulations will be reviewed, and players should also start showing a good attitude in improving the integrity," said Sri Mulyani.
The Jakarta stock market ended the day higher by 9.07 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,171.71. It was the largest gain in two weeks
Jakarta Post - January 2, 2006
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Debate over the need to request a delay on the payment of government debts, both interest and principal, from overseas creditors is unlikely to ease anytime soon, with some senior lawmakers pledging to push ahead for the facility at all costs.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla now supports the proposal, saying a debt rescheduling would be needed if the state budget was deemed insufficient to service the payments, at a time when the country is in dire need of financing to stimulate the slowing economy.
With such support, it will not be impossible for the government and the legislators to sit together and seek a rescheduling this year by revising this year's state budget. Such a revision is usually made regularly in July, after first-semester fiscal assessments have been completed.
"Debt rescheduling is a common facility for a company or even a country. If there is too much burden on our state budget, I think we could arrange that (the rescheduling). Such a facility is not a bad one," said Kalla, who is also leader of the powerful Golkar Party, which controls the largest number of seats in the House of Representatives.
Indeed, the government will face a challenge in managing the fiscal situation this year due to the impact of the 2005 economic slowdown, which is estimated to continue through the first semester of 2006.
As the country is still struggling with rising costs caused by the increases in fuel prices in October and their multiplier effects, tax receipts, which account for more than 75 percent of government revenue, will most likely fall short of the 2006 budget forecast.
Under the budget, revenue from tax is set at Rp 416.3 trillion, or 13.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
At the same time, the government will have to pay Rp 73.47 trillion (US$7.49 billion) in interest and Rp 60.38 trillion in principal – all of which is due this year.
The payments account for 21 percent of government expenditures this year, far higher than the 2.7 percent of the budget allocated for capital spending – a crucial allocation to help stimulate the economy.
The debate on debt rescheduling began weeks ago after Kalla's fellow Golkar Party member, State Minister of National Development Planning Paskah Suzetta, said the government should propose a delay in the payment of debts.
Paskah, a former chairman for the House of Representatives's financial commission, argued that rescheduling would help the country allocate more resources to finance infrastructure projects and provide incentives for the business community in order to spur higher economic growth.
Deputy chairman of the House's financial commission, Max Moein, said the commission would fully support Paskah's proposal since it had already recommended the Ministry of Finance explore such a facility during a hearing last September.
"We are supporting Paskah's proposal. Our first hearing with Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani will be focused largely on this issue," said Max, who is from the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Max could understand the opposition for the proposal – also supported by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono and Sri Mulyani – since the country was no longer entitled to any debt rescheduling from the Paris Club since it ended its special arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in January 2004.
"What the government needs is a good negotiating team to present the proposal. I know it will be hard, but there is no damage in trying," said Max.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, has around $133 billion in domestic and overseas debts, with around $30 billion from the Japanese government alone.
Some legislators are currently gearing up to attack the government, particularly Sri Mulyani, who they perceive as "a stout supporter of IMF", unless there are serious efforts in pushing for the rescheduling.
Before becoming minister, Mulyani was a former IMF executive based in Washington.
"The government should not think under the IMF framework, as several ministers close to that agency do. We will oppose any efforts trying to financially invade our country," warned Commission XI member Rama Pratama of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
| Opinion & analysis |
Jakarta Post - January 5, 2006
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Despite the precious little progress the Indonesian Military (TNI) has achieved in the area of internal reform, it has does have something to be proud this year: the lifting of the arms embargo by the United States.
The US decision last November was linked to George W. Bush's global war on terror. It came after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met Bush and ordered the TNI to actively assist National Police in fighting terrorism.
It was clear however that the lifting of the 14-year embargo on arms sales to Indonesia had nothing to do with the TNI's achievement in boosting its track record in human rights issues.
Aside from that, some analysts believe the decision might have been a US move to prevent Indonesia from seeking military supplies from other countries, especially Russia.
The arms ban was imposed in 1991 after TNI soldiers shot dead hundreds of mourners in Timor Leste (formerly East Timor). It was extended due to human rights violations linked to the military- backed militia rampage also in East Timor after the 1999 autonomy plebiscite.
The involvement of soldiers in the national campaign against terror has raised strong criticism from human rights activists and others, who said the government should have instead further empowered the police to handle such matters.
A retired police general says that "certain forces" within the military institution have close ties with radical Muslim groups, including the Islam Defender's Front (FPI) and Laskar Jihad. "This fact is part of the reason why the government involved the military in the domestic war to crack down on terrorist cells," he added.
Another reason was power. The government had been warned to be cautious in attempting to strip power from the military, otherwise it could create social disturbances in retaliation. "We should not keep cornering the military because they will not stop playing terror games until they can seize back power," said the police general.
President Susilo issued orders for the military to join the national terror war in response to the second Bali attack on Oct. 1, 2005, which killed 23 people including the three suicide bombers. The resort island had also been bombed on Oct. 22, 2002, in which 202 people, mostly Western tourists, were killed. Terror also rocked Jakarta when bombers attacked the Australian Embassy in 2004 and the J.W. Marriott Hotel in 2003.
The President didn't give clear guidance on how the military should deal with terror threats, but TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto quickly responded to it by saying he would reactivate the much-criticized military territorial role to collect information from the community and to set up an early warning system aimed at preventing more terrorist attacks.
According to Endriartono, the territorial role would give military intelligence officers the ability to "infiltrate" communities where terrorist groups had developed their networks.
Should that be the argument, why has the military been singularly unable to stop violence in conflict-torn areas where it had established territorial commands? In fact, the military has often been accused of actually being behind or involved in communal clashes.
It is still fresh in many minds that the scrapping of the military's territorial function was one of the strongest demands raised by the pro-democracy movement in 1998, which was marked by the ousting of former authoritarian president Soeharto.
Analysts and human rights campaigners say the revival of the territorial role shows that the military has not been at all serious in undertaking its internal reform programs.
During the Soeharto era, the military abused its socio-political function to intimidate and subdue government critics, even kidnapping and murdering them.
Officially, this role was scrapped after Soeharto's fall, but in fact the military remains politically very influential as evidenced by the victory of many of its former officers in certain local direct elections.
Civilian and military intellectuals have repeatedly warned that civilian incompetence could give the military an excuse to come back to the political fore.
There seemed to be a little good news when the military allowed its generals to be tried in a human rights tribunal for their roles in the 1999 carnage in East Timor after it voted for independence from Indonesia.
The same court had also tried senior military officers on charges of serious human rights violations in connection with the 1984 shooting incident in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. But the good news quickly evaporated when none of those tried were convicted of any wrongdoing.
Also, all military officers were exonerated by a human rights court in Makassar, South Sulawesi, from all charges resulting from the Abepura shooting incident in Papua province.
Other progress seemed to be made by the TNI when it allowed civilians to design national defense policy, allowed its seats in the House of Representatives to be scrapped, and for some of its businesses to be taken over by the government.
However, with regard to these issues the military has been put to the test as to whether it is really serious about bowing to civilian control, of abandoning politics and of handing over all its businesses.
On Line Opinion - January 3, 2006
Gary Brown – One can only boggle at the folly of the Federal Government's decision to resume co-operation with the Indonesian Special Forces unit, Kopassus.
This unit's atrocious human rights record is one thing; and certainly I agree with those who argue that this of itself is sufficient reason to refrain from co-operation. But, as I will show, this is by no means the only reason.
It is true, as the government argues, that Kopassus is the principal repository of counter-terrorist capability in the Indonesian Armed Forces. This is the principal reason offered for the resumption of co-operation.
It is also true Indonesia is trying very hard to establish democratic principles and the rule of law, in place of the arbitrary and corrupt authoritarianism which characterised the Suharto era. In that era Kopassus was a principal instrument of repression and coercion. It was the hard core enforcement unit in support of the notorious dwi fungsi (dual-function) pseudo- doctrine, which was manufactured solely to legitimise military dominance of Indonesian politics, censorship, brutal repression and the rest of the authoritarian smorgasbord.
The Indonesian military as a whole was then a vast corrupt business enterprise. Nominal salaries, even for officers, were low and were routinely supplemented by corrupt payments. This became an entrenched and institutionalised system. We saw the sort of military this produced in East Timor after the independence referendum and notably during the Indonesian pullout, when the military trashed everything not already destroyed by its militia stooges.
Despite the best efforts of the Jakarta government, democratic principles, in particular the primacy of the elected civilian authority over the military, are being assimilated by the amed forces much more slowly than by most other areas of the Indonesian body politic. It is proving particularly difficult to wean the military away from corrupt practices, while it certainly worked to sabotage the late 2002 peace process in Aceh, which eventually collapsed.
The military was also accused – allegedly on the basis of communications intercepts by an Australian intelligence agency – of involvement in the attack on Freeport mine personnel in August 2002, which Indonesia vociferously blamed on the OPM, the Papuan independence movement. The present post-tsunami Aceh peace process depends heavily on military compliance with the new agreement.
Within the armed forces, it is probably Kopassus, due to its position at the core of the old regime's system, which is the slowest of all to develop a real and effective commitment to the principles of civilian and democratic government.
These might indeed be considered adequate reasons to refrain from co-operation with Kopassus, and I would not disagree.
But there is another equally compelling reason having nothing to do with the human rights issue. I outlined this at some length in an earlier On Line Opinion contribution warning against co- operation with Kopassus, and will not repeat it all here. Suffice it to say there is reason to fear that Kopassus itself harbours elements which would not be averse to the use of terrorist tactics, and that it may even harbour some who are sympathetic to the kind of extremist Islamism which drives much contemporary terrorism.
One problem is that while Kopassus is well-equipped and trained for counter-terrorist operations, such capabilities are equally useful for the commission of clandestine acts of terror. Even in the West, an undisciplined French intelligence agency committed an act of lethal terrorism, bombing the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior in a New Zealand port. That Kopassus is still significantly less "disciplined" – subject to complete control by the civilian government – than most Western forces, is I think, hard to dispute.
It is well to recall the case of Pakistan, where for decades the military intelligence organisation ran its own agenda and operations in complete disregard of any policies enunciated by the government of the day. Indeed, as a Muslim country with a secular regime often dominated by the military (as Pakistan is today), Indonesia has certain parallels with Pakistan. Even now it is difficult to avoid the suspicion that if the democratic regime in Jakarta got into serious difficulties the military might yet step in and resume control in the name of "order and stability".
The issue is further complicated by the question of what hold religious fundamentalism, or support for extremist acts, might have on Kopassus personnel. It takes only one such individual, strategically placed in Kopassus' intelligence section, for an intelligence feed from Australia or elsewhere to be compromised.
The core of the case I advanced in my earlier article, and which I still believe to be valid, is this: if we help Kopassus develop its military skills, we might be helping those who will later covertly attack us, our friends or interests. If we share intelligence with Kopassus, we might be providing a pipeline for Jemah Islamiya or even Al-Qaida straight into sensitive western counter-terrorist intelligence material.
The government is making a potentially disastrous mistake if it believes that Kopassus has truly changed its spots. This decision is bad enough on human rights grounds; on intelligence and security grounds it is simply insupportable and we may yet have reason to regret it.
Until June 2002 Gary Brown was a Defence Advisor with the Parliamentary Information and Research Service at Parliament House, Canberra, where he provided confidential advice and research at request to members and staffs of all parties and Parliamentary committees, and produced regular publications on a wide range of defence issues. Many are available at here [http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/index.htm]
[On Line opinion is an Australian e-journal of social and political debate.]
Jakarta Post Editorial - January 5, 2006
For thousands of East Java residents, the new year had a nightmarish beginning. Like a thief in the night, flash floods and landslides rudely awoke residents late on Sunday night. The floods killed more than 60 people, displaced thousands more and damaged thousands of houses and vehicles.
There is never a good time for a disaster, but it seems particularly cruel for such suffering to occur as people are celebrating the arrival of the new year.
But any celebrations were cut short for the residents of the three districts in Jember regency affected by the floods. The sad fact is that floods have become an almost yearly occurrence for people in the area. What distinguished Sunday's floods was their severity. And meteorologists have predicted more rain is on the way, which could spell more suffering for residents.
One small consolation is that East Java is not a remote province. It is more accessible than more far-flung provinces like Papua or Aceh and has better infrastructure, which should mean the speedy arrival of necessary food and medical aid.
What caused the floods is not clear, but witnesses have talked about collapsed hills, which could point to a possible link with deforestation.
The government was quick to say deforestation played no part in the floods, maintaining this was a natural disaster caused by heavy rains that overwhelmed reservoirs, lakes and water catchment areas. It denied a claim by the East Java chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment that about a fifth of the province's forests have been destroyed in the last three years. The Ministry of Forestry also claims there is no illegal logging in Jember regency.
Whatever the truth is, it is no secret that Indonesia's forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. One indication of this is that disasters like the one on Sunday night have become increasingly common over the past few years. Dozens of people died when a flood and landslide swept through the East Java resort of Pacet in 2002. In 2003, flooding killed more than 200 people and destroyed 450 buildings in Bohorok, North Sumatra. And in 2004, 16 people died in a flood in South Blitar, East Java.
The Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bappedal) estimates that Indonesia is losing an area of forest the size of Switzerland every year. Another agency says a total of 2.8 million hectares of forests have been destroyed every year since 1997. That amounts to an area the size of more than 400 soccer fields per hour. The government says illegal logging costs it US$3 billion a year in lost revenue.
The tragedy in Jember once again brutally demonstrated that environmental protection must become a priority for the government. Authorities must provide an answer why the country experiences these yearly floods and landslides. And in the case of Sunday's flood, the government must determine whether deforestation on the nearby Mt. Argopuro contributed to the tragedy. It must also look into charges by local legislators that a huge coffee plantation recently developed by a state-owned company was responsible for the destruction of a large area of forest.
In the short term, authorities must make sure survivors of Sunday's flood receive the aid they need to prevent an outbreak of disease. The post-tsunami aid effort in Aceh is a good example of how to organize relief efforts. If large outbreaks of disease could be prevented after a natural disaster on the scale of the tsunami, there is no reason the same cannot be done in Jember.
International Herald Tribune - January 2, 2006
Tom Benedetti, Vancouver – The attention that the tsunami brought to the previously overlooked conflict in the Indonesian province of Aceh is contributing to an end to three decades of insecurity and terror there.
But while Aceh may be moving toward peace, West Papua, at the other end of the Indonesian archipelago, has been witnessing the opposite trend – a sudden escalation of military activity by the same force that occupied Aceh, and East Timor before that.
For more than 40 years, the world has looked the other way while West Papua has been ravaged by the Indonesian military in a well-documented program of repression and plunder. In 2004, a Yale University report concluded that there is "a strong indication" of genocide against the Papuans.
Since the tsunami, the number of Indonesian troops in West Papua has grown to an estimated 50,000. The Indonesian military's power is further augmented by police forces and local militias that they fund and protect.
This escalation of military activity is ostensibly to bolster security in the region, even though the vast majority of indigenous Papuans remain true to their ideal of a land of peace. The Free Papua Movement has never been known to attack civilians during 42 years of Indonesian oppression.
Yet Indonesia has labeled the movement a terrorist organization, enabling the Indonesian military to regain military support from the United States, Britain and Australia that had been withheld after the East Timor massacres in 1999.
West Papua's coalition of 250 tribes has repeatedly asked the Indonesian military and its militias to lay down arms and show respect for human rights so that conflicts can be resolved peacefully, through dialogue, to no avail.
If Indonesia was willing to talk peace in Aceh, why not in West Papua? There are three major reasons. First, foreign journalists and most researchers and aid workers are still banned from West Papua. Unlike in Aceh after the tsunami, no one is looking.
Second, peace in West Papua is not what the Indonesian military wants. It earns millions selling security services to resource companies such as the gold-mining company Freeport-McMoRan – as documented by Jane Perlez and Raymond Bonner in the IHT (Dec. 28) and The New York Times – and conflict is good for business.
Third, most of the military's revenue does not come from the government but is generated from all kinds of businesses, legal and illegal. Under the auspices of its own network of foundations, the military generates income from private security contracts, extortion, prostitution, smuggling and illegal logging.
A study released last November by the Dutch government calls Indonesia's annexation of West Papua in 1969 "a sham," and explains why West Papua is so important to the Indonesian military: "There's a lot of money available in the territory and the troops go where the money is,... the military has to find 60 percent of its own budget." Others estimate that the military finances an even higher fraction of its operating budget, and West Papua is the Indonesian military's most lucrative area of operations.
As the number of troops mounts, so does the environmental destruction in West Papua, Asia's largest remaining expanse of untouched tropical rainforest. Since 2002, West Papua has been declared by Conservation International to be the home of Asia's largest illegal logging industry, which threatens to wipe out the bulk of its forests by 2015.
In 2005 Yan Christian Warinussy, West Papua's only indigenous independent human rights lawyer, described human rights abuses "carried out with total impunity by members of Indonesia's armed forces" including "torture, rape, summary executions, arbitrary arrests, disappearances, the killing of indigenous leaders and civilians alike, the displacement of indigenous populations and confiscation of their lands."
In 2005, the US Congress condemned human rights abuses in Papua, and parliamentary committees in Britain, Ireland and New Zealand also expressed concerns about injustice, crimes against humanity and military impunity. We can only hope that mounting international pressure will encourage Indonesian military reform, and lead to fruitful dialogue in West Papua and other outlying regions of Indonesia.
[Tom Benedetti is the moderator of the West Papua Action Network, a group of Papuans and Canadians working for justice and the environment in West Papua.]
Jakarta Post Editorial - January 2, 2006
The first phase of the Aceh peace agreement ended pretty much on schedule before the turn of the year. The Indonesian Military (TNI) withdrew the last of its non-local troops. The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) handed over all its remaining fire arms and formally disbanded its military wing.
With the exception of the remaining local TNI troops, we could safely say that Aceh has been demilitarized. Kudos to both sides for seeing through the peace process. And congratulations to the independent Aceh Monitoring Mission for a job well done.
Having gone through so much for the past year or so, including the devastating tsunami amidst a raging 30-year civil war, the people of Aceh could not have asked for a better present to begin the New Year. They already face a difficult challenge as it is in rebuilding their shattered lives without the war. The ongoing peace process raises their hopes for 2006.
The demilitarization of Aceh, however, is half of the story of the peace agreement that GAM and the Indonesian government signed in Helsinki in August. The other half is the political concessions Indonesia has to give to GAM in return for the latter's decision to work for peace within the framework of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, commonly known by its Indonesian acronym NKRI. Although it has not publicly denounced its aspirations for an independent Aceh state, GAM's decision paved the way for the peace deal.
A lot of the concessions government negotiators gave in Helsinki are still subject to approval by lawmakers in the House of Representatives (DPR).
But they are doable and agreeable, for otherwise the government would not have given in to them. Even GAM's demand that the people of Aceh be allowed to form local political parties to contest national and local elections seems reasonable if we profess to be a democratic country.
Now, the ball is in Senayan's court; in the dome-shaped DPR building.
If the cool-to-lukewarm response one heard from Senayan around the time of the signing of the peace agreement was any indication, then the government could be in for a tough battle over the next few months. The road to peace in Aceh could come to a stumbling block unless the government plays its cards right.
Under the Helsinki agreement, the government must ensure that a new law on Aceh government should be in place by the end of March, thus allowing for local elections to choose the governor and regency chiefs to take place in April.
The Aceh provincial legislative council had already drafted a bill taking into account GAM demands in the Helsinki deal. The bill is now in the hands of the Ministry of Home Affairs in Jakarta, which appears to want to revise it before sending it to the House of Representatives.
House Speaker Agung Laksono has promised to give the bill priority so that it can be enacted in time as scheduled. But Agung and his Golkar party do not necessarily control the House, despite holding most of seats. A lot will depend on the political skills of Golkar, and particularly of their leader Jusuf Kalla, who is also vice president, whose initiative it was to begin the negotiations with GAM in 2004.
Those who understand Indonesian politics know that peace in Aceh is not most important thing on the minds of politicians and their political parties in Jakarta. Most are already looking at the 2009 elections, and the last thing parties outside the government coalition want is to allow President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono bask in the glory of bringing peace to Aceh. As important as peace is to Aceh and to the overall nation-building process, the dynamics of Senayan may dictate differently.
Many politicians from parties outside the government coalition have already denounced the Helsinki agreement as a sellout, as they consider it a danger to the future of Indonesia as a unitary state. They have many friends in the military and in media to mobilize support for their cause.
It does not take much to derail a peace train. All they need to do is delay the deliberations of the bill on Aceh government and the Helsinki agreement will be in tatters.
We have also seen their maneuvers in attempting to carve Aceh into three provinces as another way of botching the Helsinki deal. This is a classic divide-and-rule approach that has been applied with devastating effect in Papua, creating an even bigger mess than before. The move to carve up Aceh was carefully timed to coincide with the upcoming deliberations of the bill on Aceh government.
The real peace spoilers are here in Jakarta, and not in Aceh.
The challenge is for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to secure the support of all the factions, or at least the majority of factions, in the DPR to make sure that the law on Aceh government is enacted on time, and, where appropriate, incorporating the terms of the Helsinki agreement.
The price of failure is too high. It will irreparable hurt Indonesia's international reputation, it will ruin the Helsinki agreement, and it will create renewed uncertainty in Aceh.
Jakarta Post Editorial - January 3, 2006
Sometimes, it's the little things that count. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should receive recognition for his decision to refuse a pay increase, despite the House of Representatives earlier agreeing to give him a hike of some 10 percent.
At a time when sensitivities are high and envy is too, his move is in solidarity with the majority of Indonesians who now shoulder an increasing burden.
A token gesture though it may be, it comes at a time when the grass roots are increasingly fed up with the behavior of state officials, especially legislators, who summarily approve themselves pay increases in times of national hardship.
We applaud the President for his initiative and hope his actions are an example others will follow.
It is not, however, sensible to oppose all pay increases for high-ranking state officials. It is obvious that better remuneration is necessary for positions that warrant technical expertise and competence. But such increases should be based on merit.
Positions of high office should first and foremost be a public service. But to get the best there are certainly occasions when one has to fork out more than average to attract talent. Especially when such positions carry with them critical responsibilities that affect the entire nation.
The President, for example, as the most important decision-maker in this country, could be considered worthy of receiving a 10 percent increase to his current salary of Rp 62.6 million a month (US$6,225). Particularly since the pay for the job has not been increased since 2000.
What is not acceptable is elected officials of dubious quality, who are eager to grant themselves perks or raises. These are the very same people who, despite national censure, go on worthless overseas "study trips" to holiday on the public purse.
It seems bizarre that they can guiltlessly engage in this unnecessary folly, when they know their less fortunate countryfolk are queuing for hours just to receive a mere Rp 300,000 in government benefits.
The President was smart enough to recognize that accepting any pay rise would only give more political ammunition to his critics and lower public perceptions of him.
He also refused to increase the pay of his deputy, Vice President Jusuf Kalla; a successful business magnate. The operational budget for both the presidential and vice presidential offices will also remain at its current level of Rp 2 billion and Rp 1 billion, respectively. These budgets have not increased since 2003.
The additional raise of about Rp 6.2 million a month to the president's salary would have had little effect on the state budget. That is a mere Rp 75 million a year. But the political fallout would have been high.
Ultimately Susilo's decision was a political one – to bolster his image as a compassionate democrat – but it was not necessarily made out of feelings of compassion. But while we cannot read Susilo's heart, we can certainly read his actions.
It is this ability to exhibit a sense of crisis that has meant Susilo has stayed in the nation's good books despite the tough economic medicine he has made the country swallow. His ability to project a frugal lifestyle and the lack of corruption scandals within his office are also assets.
The President is willing to cancel foreign visits when natural disaster strikes. He has a gift for mingling with people and listening to their concerns.
Apart from building a strong political coalition with the Golkar and the Prosperous Justice parties, these virtues of Susilo's presidency are the main reasons why there has been a relatively muted response to the hefty fuel price increases.
No one should doubt the willingness of the Indonesian people to endure sacrifice for the greater good. It was a feature during the war of independence and has been evident again in other times of hardship.
And more sacrifices will be needed in the coming years ahead. But with a leadership that is willing to show it is in touch with the people, we are confident that the nation will preserve its traditional spirit of gotong royong (mutual assistance).
| Book/film reviews |
Jakarta Post - January 8, 2006
[Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels (Jalan Raya Pos, Daendels' Highway). Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Lentera Dipantara, October 2005, 145 pp.]
Tasyriq Hifzhillah, Contributor, Yogyakarta – A book is an attestation; through books we can hail the changes in mankind's history and celebrate the birth of cultural forerunners. A book may also recount events in an era. Although only one individual may be singled out in a specific period, this figure can serve as witness to the experiences of those unrepresented masses during this time.
Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels (Jalan Raya Pos, Daendels' Highway), the latest work by Indonesia's distinguished writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, bears testimony to the most horrifying genocide behind the construction of Jl. Raya Pos, better known as Daendels' Highway, a 1,000-kilometer road spanning the northern part of Java, from Anyer in the west to Panarukan in the east.
In its time, the quality of this road was comparable to the Amsterdam-Paris highway. Though it may sound incredible, the achievement came from one of several tragedies of large-scale forced labor in the history of the Dutch East Indies, upon the massacre of indigenous people in the course of its creation.
According to Pramoedya, another genocide also took place on Bandaneira Island in 1621, as ordered by Jan Pieterszoon Coen, governor in the early period of the Dutch colonization of Indonesia. Victims of forced labor were never mentioned because the common man could never be appreciated. Still another mass murder was recorded after the Java War of 1825 to 1830. Exhausted by the war, the Dutch East Indies was facing bankruptcy. In order to overcome the financial crisis, then Governor-General Van den Bosch initiated forced crop cultivation on various plantations and in railway construction.
In the 20th century, history also noted the tragedy inflicted by Japanese fascist troops in West Kalimantan. And in South Sulawesi, under the instruction of Dutch Captain Westerling, some 40,000 Indonesian people were slaughtered.
In Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels, Pramoedya reveals the murkiest side of mass killing in the building of this highway, which was laid down with the blood and tears of thousands of locals whose corpses littered the road. Jl. Raya Pos was built and widened under the direction of Dutch East Indies Governor Herman Willem Daendels (1762-1818) and spanned the cities of Anyer, Cilegon, Serang, Tangerang, Batavia, Depok, Bogor, Cianjur, Cimahi, Bandung, Sumedang, Cirebon, Brebes, Tegal, Pekalongan, Semarang, Demak, Kudus, Rembang, Tuban, Gresik, Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Pasuruan and Probolinggo, ending in Panarukan.
The idea of building Jl. Raya Pos struck Daendels on April 29, 1808, while on a tour from Buetenzorg, or Bogor, to Semarang and to Oosthoek, or East Java. On May 5 that year, he decided to construct en route a 250-kilometer road from Bogor to Karangsembung in Cirebon. The road was designed to reach a width of 7.5 meters where possible.
In building the road along the Java Sea coastline, forced laborers were not only worn out but also suffered from malaria. Most workers perished from exhaustion, harsh treatment and malaria as they were draining marshland. The same was true in areas where the road had to penetrate difficult terrain like in Ciherang Sumedang, now known as Cadas Pangeran, where they were forced to build through hilly zones with only simple tools.
Under such tough conditions, the first reported death toll reached 5,000; but a report from British sources put the number of people who died in the construction of Jl. Raya Pos at 12,000. This, however, was only the recorded toll, and the actual number is believed to have been greater. No official commissions have ever investigated the case.
In 1809, Daendels' 1,000-kilometer Anyer-Panarukan highway was completed – in only one year, a world record during his time. While he had covered the Anyer-Batavia route in four days, it took only a day for the next segment – by past standards, building a stretch of the major highway in a single day was a great accomplishment, one which raised him to world fame.
At the end of Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels is a brief biography of Daendels written by Koesalah Soebagyo Toer, Pramoedya's younger brother. Koesalah notes that "every secondary school student in Indonesia is very familiar with the name Daendels, described as a ruthless and cruel figure so that he is also called Tuan Besar Guntur (thunder boss), Marsekal Besi (iron marshal) and in West Java, Mas Galak (fierce guy) for causing the death of thousands of Indonesians".
Daendels was born on Oct. 21, 1762, in the small town of Hattem, Gelderland, the Netherlands, to father Burchard Johan Daendels and mother Josina Christina van Tulleken, the eighth of 13 children, of whom only four survived into adulthood.
He was named Dutch East Indies governor-general in 1808 by Dutch King Louis Napoleon, younger brother to Napoleon Bonaparte of France, which then occupied the Netherlands. Daendels was assigned to defend the Dutch East Indies against a possible occupation launched by Britain from its colony, India.
In detail, Pramoedya describes the history of the cities traversed by Jl. Raya Pos, including the social impacts during their establishment as well as their present conditions. Naturally, their dark times when the highway was under construction are also presented in this book.
Though published in 2005 as the newest work of Pramoedya, Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels was completed by the author in 1995, but it is unclear why the book's publication was delayed for 10 years. Despite its belated appearance, this book is still relevant for all readers, because it serves as testimony to the worst genocide of Indonesian people behind a giant road project through forced labor.
Pramoedya, through this paperback, styled after a travel journal, brings to the reader's mind the satirical notion that we are a rich but weak nation: We are a nation with a broad horizon yet we are always losing in all respects, that we are a nation with a long-standing mentality of submission to other nations.
[The reviewer is a researcher at the Institute for Salvation Studies, Yogyakarta.]