News & issues

Abu Bakar Ba'asyir - The voice of the Bali blast speaks

Asia Times - October 24, 2007

Interview by Philip Smucker. Solo, Indonesia – Even as Indonesia has gained the upper hand against religiously-inspired extremism, the spiritual mentor behind the Bali bombings, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, says he is confident that both time and Allah are on his side. He says that events across the Islamic world are conspiring to destroy the "crusade" of his greatest enemy, United States President George W Bush.

"Bush is a very stubborn man," says Ba'asyir, reclining in a white shirt and plaid waist wrap on a couch in the reception hall of his religious boarding school, al-Mukhmin, a series of dingy concrete classrooms set on the grounds of a former commune in Central Java. "Bush doesn't really know that he is losing this war and this is one of Allah's ways of undermining his crusade to destroy Islam," he adds.

Indonesia's own successful anti-terrorism efforts should give Ba'asyir and his associates pause. Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) radicals have been sidelined politically and ostracized in Indonesia for their inspirational roles in the Bali bombings. Ba'asyir, 69, who has consistently claimed that JI does not exist, recently served over two years in prison when Indonesian judges said that while he had not been involved in the Bali attacks, he had given his approval for the plot.

But temporary setbacks do not stand in the way of final victory in this long war of attrition, he insists. Ba'asyir, a man who couches his diatribes to avoid the appearance of inciting direct attacks, refers to the Bali bombers on death row as "counter- terrorists with good intentions gone awry", and also claims to take his own inspiration from al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Excerpts from his recent interview with Asia Times Online contributor Philip Smucker follow:

Asia Times Online: What kind of pressure has the Indonesian government put on your al-Mukhmin school and your religious colleagues?

Ba'asyir: There is certainly pressure from the government in the form of the police, particularly the special police force Number 88. This body of the police force was established in part by the US and has also been funded by the US and is basically a US tool to fight Islam in Indonesia.

ATol: What role does the US play in the war against radical Islamic groups in Indonesia and beyond?

Ba'asyir: The US is a tool for the Zionists. The US has a program and has a crusade that is being carried out in an unfair way, which is by spreading the message that there is Islamic terrorism in this world and basically all the enemies, all the terrorists are Islamists and all the people who fight for sharia law. Everyone who is active is left with the stigma that they are terrorists. They are being arrested and imprisoned.

Yes, there are cases when some persons in some Islamic groups carry out bombings here in Indonesia. It is also unfortunately the case that they are bombing places that are relatively safe. It is easy for them to become prey to US efforts to stigmatize all Muslims.

ATol: Have you rethought your initial approval of the Bali bombings?

Ba'asyir: The bombers were carrying out their acts in Indonesia, a relatively safe place. When events occur, they [are] taken as justification by the government and US. They say, "See what the Muslims are doing, this is why we have to fight terrorism!"

ATol: So you are saying that bombings in safe places – like Bali and at the Marriot Hotel in Jakarta – are bad ideas that give ammunition and fuel to the Americans?

Ba'asyir: Yes.

ATol: Are there young Indonesian Muslims bent on engaging in jihad against the United States? How strong is this movement?

Ba'asyir: Among the youth, many want to fight the US because of the aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan. And in Indonesia they attack US interests, but I think it is a mistake to do that here in Indonesia against US interests because Indonesia is a safe place, a safe country, safe from conflict.

So I, for instance, I prefer that it be done through dakwa, through preaching. America is instigating a war of ideas, therefore we should fight back with our own war of thoughts, issues, preaching.

ATol: So you are condemning the Bali bombers?

Ba'asyir: No. The bombers are actually counter-terrorists because they are opposing US terrorism. They are mujahids.

ATol: How do you fight back against what the US government is doing and saying? What is your strategy?

Ba'asyir: What we try to do is counter the lies, break down the lies. We want to uncover the truth that the Koran teaches. This activity in and of itself is much more productive and efficient than bombing because just by doing that – preaching the truth – I am being called all kinds of things. There was even an attempt to take me to Guantanamo, [Cuba] but fortunately I was saved by Allah.

ATol: You call the Bali bombers counter-terrorists, but some would argue that by calling them counter-terrorists, you are encouraging them to engage in this activity.

Ba'asyir: What I was saying before is that what they were intending to do was right. However, the method was wrong, they were bombing a safe place, so the point here is how you do it as well – the method you use.

ATol: Don't you think you are encouraging more young men to bomb?

Ba'asyir: They are not terrorists, they are not instigating terror, that is not their intention. They want to fight terror. I don't think that by saying this that it will encourage them. Only the method is wrong. But it is not right to call them terrorists. Theirs is a reaction, not an action.

ATol: Many people think that students who have attended your school here have taken their inspiration from Osama bin Laden. Can you tell me what kind of an influence he has been on students in your school and on young people in Indonesia?

Ba'asyir: Generally, the influence of [bin Laden] is good. His intention to fight the US is good. However, the methods and steps that he uses are not necessarily to be applied here in Indonesia. You have to take heed of the situation, but generally speaking it is good.

Again, the steps he uses in other countries are not necessarily applicable here. Some young Muslims here clearly idolize him and others would not. There are also students who have quit the school, my school, because they would not necessarily agree with his teachings.

ATol: Do you think [bin Laden] is a positive inspiration on young people in Islamic world in general?

Ba'asyir: Generally it is positive. What he is trying to teach, to pass on, is jihad against the US. He opposes US terrorism against countries. Jihad can be done through arms and can be done through words as I'm doing now – as preaching.

ATol: Has the US military's failure to catch bin Laden made him even more of a hero in the Islamic world?

Ba'asyir: As long as his intent is to uphold Islam, God willing he will always be safe and saved by God. You can start to see the effects now. Western power is weakening and, on the other hand, Osama has linked up with the Taliban and others and is gaining power. I always believe that in the end Islam will have victory. Whoever is trying to block or fight Islam will eventually lose. Therefore all the sacrifices will bear fruit.

ATol: What are the tools you use to fight back against George W Bush's "war on terror"?

Ba'asyir: For Islam, the truth is Islam. There were many prophets but Mohammed was the last and he trumps the others. We spread the truth, or dakwa, orally, over the radio and Internet; through all kinds of technical tools.

ATol: Do you think the US is getting the message that [in regards to Iraq] it may be inspiring more terrorists than it can possibly kill?

Ba'asyir: I'm sure that many Americans understand they are losing the battle in Iraq. We can see – at least domestically – that there is more pressure against the war. And there is no doubt that the US is failing and losing in Iraq and Afghanistan.

However, President Bush is a very stubborn man. He is very extremist. But this is also one of God's ways of destroying his entire crusade. Allah is letting him be stubborn, be himself and, in doing so, he creates all this mess and therefore eventually it will end in defeat.

ATol: So, you think it is a message from God but that Bush doesn't understand the message?

Ba'asyir: I have written a letter to Bush saying he should not use God's name to destroy Islam. The only way that Bush can survive is for him to do what is being ordered by God which is to believe in Islam, to convert to Islam. If he wants to be safe he should take up Islam.

ATol: Do you think it is possible for the US to change foreign policy and to live in peace with Islam?

Ba'asyir: In Islam, you cannot force someone to convert to Islam. But what is fair and just is Islamic law. It is quite possible to have peace with the US, but the US has to distance itself from Israel or decide not be used as a tool by the Zionists. But peace is the objective of Islam – to live in peace.

[Philip Smucker is a commentator and journalist based in South Asia and the Middle East. He is the author of Al-Qaeda's Great Escape: The Military and the Media on Terror's Trail (2004).]

Public services in demand after holiday

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Medan/Bandung – With the end of the long holidays, Indonesia's cities are returning to normal. That means traffic, smog, and big queues for public services.

In the North Sumatra capital of Medan, residents began lining up early in the morning at Pirngadi Hospital, where they were collecting new Askes insurance cards.

M. Yahya was among hundreds of people lining up at the hospital's Askes booth. The resident of Tebing Tinggi city left home at 8 a.m. but hundreds of people had arrived much earlier than him.

After two hours of waiting, and with no movement in the queue, the 67-year-old gave up.

"I came here only to ask for a stamp for my wife's Askes card. But I've been waiting for two hours and I'm too tired to stand up that long," he told The Jakarta Post at the hospital.

He attributed the slow service to the lack of hospital employees showing up for work on Monday. "The government has given a long holiday for this year's Idul Fitri but it's been a waste since many employees have still skipped work," Yahya said.

But hospital spokesman Indah Kumala Dewi said almost all employees and doctors were already back to work.

She said the long queue at the Askes booth was due to the large number of people who had come to update their Askes cards. "They all come in the morning so the work piles up," she said.

Slow service was also seen in many subdistrict and district offices across Medan on Monday, while at the North Sumatra provincial administration, 3.2 percent of the 6,952 employees did not show up for work.

The administration's spokesman, M.L. Tobing, said the number of employees who skipped work this year was lower than last year. "Last year, only 93 percent of employees showed up on the first day after the Idul Fitri holiday," he said.

In Bandung, West Java's capital city, a 500-meter queue of trucks stretched away from the transportation office on Monday. Truck driver Asep Dedih said he was waiting for his annual vehicle document inspection for his employer's truck.

"I should have conducted the test on Oct. 26 but since it was a holiday, I could only take care of it on Monday," said Dedi, who waited three hours to be served.

Bandung city administration said most employees returned to work on Monday. "We did not find any employees skipping work. Those who did not show up were those on official leave or those taking maternity leave as well as those taking study leave," a representative said.

However, only 50 percent of Bandung Legislative Council's 45 members showed up for work on Monday. Those coming in left early, leaving the building empty by 1 p.m.

At West Java provincial administration, some 100 employees could face punishments for skipping work on Monday.

Soeharto's camp denies misuse allegations

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Jakarta – Lawyers for former president Soeharto criticized Monday state prosecution charges alleging the misuse of Supersemar Foundation funds, saying foundation money provided to some companies was in compliance with the foundation's internal regulations.

But the prosecution said the foundation had no right to give state funds to a third party and that both Soeharto and Supersemar had acted illegally.

Soeharto's lawyer Muhammad Assegaf said at the civil case hearing in Jakarta the foundation's internal rulings stipulated it could establish cooperation with other parties as long as it complied with the existing law.

Assegaf said prosecutors had no right to interfere with the foundation's internal business, saying if conflicts occurred during the lending cooperation period, it should be discussed internally between the foundation and the company involved.

Prosecutors earlier accused Soeharto and several members of the Supersemar Foundation of giving US$420 million and Rp 185.9 billion (US$20.36 million) to several companies belonging to "Soeharto cronies" during his presidential tenure.

The prosecutors demanded Soeharto along with the foundation reimburse funds to the state through the civil lawsuit under trial.

"The fact is, instead of giving all of the funds donated as required to needy students throughout the country, they preferred to give it to companies without a clear reason," prosecutor Dachamer Munthe told reporters outside the court room.

"They won't admit the funds belonged to the state, but it has been proven the foundation received donations from state-owned banks.

"Each bank was required to give part if its net profits to the foundation," he said. Government Regulation No. 15/1976 stipulates 2.5 percent net profit of each bank must be donated to the Supersemar Foundation.

He said prosecutors were optimistic about proving Soeharto's misappropriation through a civil case trial because they had evidence of the corruption.

Soeharto's lawyers said the prosecutors did not have a clear legal basis because Soeharto was never proven guilty by a criminal court and therefore should be tried again.

The criminal trial against the former president at the South Jakarta District Court was stopped by the then-Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh in August last year on the basis of Soeharto's poor health.

Abdul said Soeharto suffered a stroke and this condition would not allow him to properly provide testimony.

Dachamer said his prosecution team did not have to prove Soeharto and the foundation were guilty of corruption in order to file a civil lawsuit. "We will let the panel of judges decide that matter," he said.

Presiding judge Wahyono adjourned the trial until Oct. 29.

Total of Indonesian rich people soars

Tempo Interactive - October 18, 2007

Jakarta – The growth in the total of rich people in Indonesia is the third highest in the Asia Pacific region.

The results of a survey by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, entitled Asia-Pacific Wealth 2007, was released in Hong Kong on Tuesday (16/10) and stated that Indonesia's number of high net worth individuals (HNWI) in 2006 reached 20,000 people. This means a 16.2 percent increase compared to 2005.

The highest billionaire number growth occurred in Singapore by 21.2 percent while in Indonesia the increase was by 20.5 percent. Overall, the largest amount of rich people in the Asia and Pacific regions is in Japan, amounting to 1,477 million people.

Asia-Pacific Wealth 2007 is a part of the World Wealth Report 2007 that was presented by these two US organizations in Paris, in June. Merrill Lynch and Capgemini defined a HNWI as a person with wealth of more than US$1 million (around Rp9.2 billion) in the form of financial assets such as cash money, equities and commercial paper.

According to the two US-based organizations, the increase in the total of rich people and their assets gave the largest contribution to the gross domestic product and the stock market capitalization in their respective countries.

Merril Lynch and Capgemini went on to state that rich people in Asia-Pacific including Indonesia prefer investing money in property or real estate, commercial paper and asset stock issued by property companies (real estate investment trust/REIT's). "They prefer investing in tangible assets," says the report.

In response to the report, Avilliani an economic observer from the Institute for Development and Finance, said she regretted that the increasing number of rich people in Indonesia had not affected the real sector's ability to absorb workers.

This means, from an economic point of vciew, the soaring number of people in the upper-middle class does not much benefit the country. "That shows that the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer," said Avilliani in Jakarta yesterday (17/10).

Iman Sugema, an economist from International Center for Applied Finance and Economics, said he was of the opinion that Merril Lynch's number was too conservative.

He said he assumed that the number of Indonesia's rich people was around 2 million or one percent of Indonesia's total population, higher than Merril Lynch's calculation.

- Gunanto Es, Yudho Raharjo, Padjar Iswara

Demos, actions, protests...

Employees demand unpaid wages

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2007

Jakarta – Hundreds of employees from state-owned bus company Perusahaan Pengangkutan Djakarta (PPD) braved the rain to rally in front of the company's Jl Panjaitan headquarters in East Jakarta on Tuesday to demand their unpaid salaries.

Several protesters said the company had not paid their wages since June. "Forget the Idul Fitri holiday allowance. The company hasn't even paid our monthly salaries," one of the protesters said.

Many of those protesting were still on annual leave, meaning the company's services were not greatly disrupted, protester Sipayung said. PPD employs approximately 2,500 staff to operate some 400 busses.

In April, PPD employees staged a rally in front of the State Palace to demand eight months in unpaid salaries, which were eventually paid. "Will we always have to stage a rally to be paid? Give me a break," a bus driver said, as quoted by Detik.com.

Workers demand payment of outstanding wages, salary increases

Detik.com - October 23, 2007

Hundreds of employees from the Jakarta Transport Company (PPD), who have yet to be paid five months in outstanding wages and holiday bonuses, went on strike and demonstrated at the PPD offices in East Jakarta on October 23.

"Ah how can we hope to have Lebaran holidays when holiday bonuses haven't even been paid, let alone wages", said driver L. Sipayung when speaking with Detik.com.

Although hundreds of drivers went on strike, PPD busses were still operated but without picking up any passengers. "The ones demonstrating are drivers who have taken a holiday along with the mechanics and management", said Sipayung.

Around mid-day, a sit in and strike at the PPD offices degenerated into a scuffle with workers and some 50 police officers push and shoving each other.

This is the second time that there have been delays in wage payments. On the previous occasions, it was only after holding massive protests at the State Palace in April 2007 that the workers were finally paid outstanding wages.

Demonstrators also calling for a clarification on the Jamsostek social security program because employees are still having to pay for health treatment even though deductions for Jamsostek are already being taken from their wages. (Andi Saputra, Jakarta)

Yogyakarta workers demand minimum wage be increased

On the same day scores of workers from the Yogyakarta Workers Alliance (ABY) held an action in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta demanding wage increases saying that the provincial regional wage is lower that that of other parts of the country.

In a speech in front of the Yogyakarta Labour and Transmigration Office, ABY coordinator Tigan Solin said that Yogyakarta workers' wages are extremely low, only 500,000 rupiah per month, while the cost of basic goods is increasingly out of control. "Even to fulfil their daily needs, many worker's families are having to put themselves in debt", he said.

According to Solin the wage increase is imperative and there are no grounds for the Yogyakarta government, the wage council and employers not to increase workers' wages in 2008. "We demand that the Yogyakarta Wage Council increase the wages of Yogyakarta workers to 740,000 rupiah. A wage increases of as much as this is reasonable because we have already done the calculations ourselves", he said.

The action was also enlivened with flags of the respective trade union federations taking part in the protest and posters and banners with messages such as "Yogyakarta wages should be higher than Klaten, Magelang and Purworejo", "Remember, the Yogya regional minimum wages is the lowest in the world" and "Rp 740,000 is substantial for us". (Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski from two Detik.com reports.]

Environmental activists in Bali oppose carbon trading mechanisms

Tempo Interactive - October 23, 2007

Rofiqi Hasan, Denpasar – Scores of activists from the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) held a demonstration in the Balinese provincial capital of Denpasar on Tuesday October 23.

The protesters were opposing carbon trading mechanisms that will be discussed at the Climate Change Convention to be held at Nusa Dua next December. The group said using carbon trading to deal with climate change is only a continuation of deceit by the advanced countries.

A theatrical action was also held depicting a businessperson offering sachets of dollars. As compensation, several activists playing the role of poor people were asked to take care of the forests. But the poor people refused pointing to posters with the message, "Our forest are not for sale". A large banner was also put up reading, "Our forests are not the rich countries' carbon toilets".

According to Walhi's regional coordinator Sri Widihiyanti, the measures that should be taken is to pressure the advanced countries to reduced carbon dioxide emissions. "The reality is that the United States and Australia continue to oppose [reducing carbon dioxide emissions] and then they offer this mechanism instead", she explained.

Without such a commitment said Sri, carbon trading will be of no use in reducing the global climate warming that has now increasing by 0.6 degrees Celsius annually. This is because 85 percent of the world's total carbon dioxide emissions originate from the advanced countries.

Carbon trade will also hurt traditional communities because their right to manage forest will be taken away and conflicts with government will be more likely to occur. On the other had, Sri is concerned that the results of carbon trade will only provide fertile ground for new forms of corruption.

Because of this therefore, Walhi is calling on the Indonesian government as the host for the Climate Change Convention to provide leadership to the developing countries to reject carbon trade mechanisms and renegotiate their bargaining positions in overcoming climate change.

Sri said that Walhi will be deeply disappointed if the Indonesian government continues with the plan to sell Indonesia's tropical forests that cover some 91 million hectares for carbon dioxide absorption at 5-20 dollars per hectare. "It will not compensate for the ecological disasters that we have and will experience so the advanced countries must provide compensation for all of these disasters", she said.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Teachers call for increased allowances

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Yemris Fointuna, Kupang – The Kupang Legislative Council agreed to increase the amount of a monthly allowance paid to teachers following a strike and street rally involving some 5,000 teachers in Kupang on Monday.

Early in the afternoon the council agreed to increase the allowance – which is paid to teachers in addition to salary – to Rp 450,000 (about US$50) from Rp 200,000 (about US$20) previously.

The rally started early in the morning when teachers left their schools and gathered outside the building of the Kupang Legislative Council.

The strike forced the closure of all elementary, junior high and senior high schools in Kupang, including those run by private institutions.

Some students, arriving for the first school day after the long Idul Fitri holiday, decided to socialize with friends on school grounds; others simply returned home.

"This morning the teachers told us that there would be no class today because they would attend a street rally," Mikael Taneo, a student from SLTP Negeri 5 Kupang, said.

Hundreds of police and public order officers tried to prevent the teachers from entering the building housing the council, where a plenary meeting was taking place.

Council Speaker Dominggus Bola and Kupang Mayor Daniel Adoe were both present at the meeting.

At 8:00 a.m. the protesters entered the plenary hall after breaking down one of the building's main gates. The teachers engaged the councillors, making reference to previous demands for an increase in the allowance. At one point the protesters took over the speaker's chair.

The protesters cheered as the council's leaders announced their decision. "We are not a bunch of beggars. We demand the raise because our workload is simply too heavy. We are glad that the council has accommodated us," coordinator of the Kupang Teachers Forum Dumul Djami said.

Annually, the allowance will now cost Kupang Rp 27 billion, the statistics suggest. The annual revenue of the city is Rp 21 billion.

Two injured in protest

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Tangerang – At least two residents were injured in a clash with police at a protest over a slaughterhouse in Sepatan district on Monday.

Tohir, 20, and Jamal, 23, who suffered head injuries, were taken to the police station for questioning without medical treatment. The police refused to comment.

Zaini, one of the protesters, said the slaughterhouse had recently been used to fatten livestock. "Cow dung has polluted the Mekar Jaya neighborhood... not only the smell, the workers flushed the dung into our waterways," he said.

The slaughterhouse used to be a home industry producing meat balls. "It is unclear how the company got permission from the regency's husbandry and agriculture agency to turn it into a slaughterhouse," Zaini said.

West Papua

West Papuan human rights lawyer arrested by anti-terrorist police

Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights - October 24, 2007

We received information from Jayapura on Sat, 20 Oct 2007 that a West Papuan lawyer Sabar Iwanggin has been arrested in Jayapura and was being interrogated by personnel from the Detachment 88 the special police anti terrorist force.

Human Rights workers in Jayapura are unsure what the point of the case against Sabar Iwanggin. He is said to be charged with spreading SMS messages which are insulting to the Indonesian President because they say that the President 'wants to kill Papuans'.

Sabar Iwanggin is said by these Human Rights sources to have only received this SMS message and did not send the message.

The Human Rights workers report that this message about the Indonesian President has been spread around Papua since July 2007 and that thousands of people in Papua have received the same message. Human Rights workers said that the case against Mr Iwanggin appears to be based on the Police recording his mobile phone messages.

The Human Rights workers report the involvement of the Detachment '88 from Indonesian Police Headquarters in arrest and interrogation of Sabar Iwanggin.

This Special Detachment 88 is the anti-terrorist and was trained and funded by both Australian and US Governments. It was set up to fight terrorism in Indonesian after the Bali bombings and other incidents of terrorism. The impetus for international support and seemingly the name of the Detachment came after 88 Australians were killed in the Bali bomb blast Christmas 2000.

The Human Rights workers ask why Detachment 88 should be involved in this law process and why they have arrested of Sabar Iwanggin who is a civilian lawyer who has acted on Human rights cases. Sabar Iwanggin did act as one of the lawyers for student tried after the violent Abepura demonstrations of March 16, 2006.

Human Rights workers in Jayapura said yesterday that Sabar Iwanggin was held at POLDA Jayapura and was to be sent to Jakarta soon.

Papuans fear for safety in PNG capital

Radio Australia - October 23, 2007

Members of the Papuan community living in the Papua New Guinea capital say they fear for their safety after the murder of a senior court magistrate at the weekend.

It is alleged a group of Papuan refugees stoned the judge to death after he crashed his car near their make shift camp site.

Our PNG Correspondent Steve Marshall reports PNG police expect to charge at least six Papuan men over the death of magistrate Ivo Cappo at the weekend.

The magistrate was a well known figure in Port Moresby and Papuan community leaders like John Norotouw fear revenge attacks.

"We Papuans in Papua New Guinea we're all threatened. We all want peace to be held all the time."

Mr Norotouw says the attack was not politically motivated in this particular Papuan groups bid for self rule from Indonesia.

Media access to Papua tightened, claims academic

Radio New Zealand International - October 23, 2007

A United States-based West Papuan journalist and academic says the media access to Indonesia's Papua region has become more restricted.

Octo Mote's comments follow discussion in the British parliament over how much Jakarta has opened up Papua for foreign journalists.

While the parliament welcomed the recent permission granted by Indonesia to BBC's Jakarta correspondent to report from Papua, it noted that her access to Papua was severely limited.

Mr Mote, who is based at Yale university, says until about five years ago it was easier for a journalist to apply for and receive a permit to work in Papua.

"But more tight now since the Independence Movement has become stronger and Papuans openly express their aspirations. So the Indonesian government is really afraid to open up."

Octo Mote says more international pressure needs to be applied to Jakarta to open up dialogue on Papua.

Crusader for West Papuan cause

Canberra Times - October 21, 2007

Emily Sherlock – They have been interrupting our TV viewing for months. And with the federal election campaign in full swing, advertisements on West Papua have become more prevalent.

The man behind this curious, relentless thorn in the side of the Federal Government is millionaire businessman Ian Melrose, who said he was driven by a child's preventable death into acting on the behalf of our West Papuan and East Timorese neighbours.

His advertisements which are appearing several times an hour highlight human rights abuses in West Papua and East Timor at the hands of the Indonesian military. They also call for human rights monitors and access for foreign journalists to West Papua in Australia's new security treaty with Indonesia.

Mr Melrose said the advertisements had been targeted to screen in areas were the Government held key marginal seats and across most capital cities.

"What we are trying to do is highlight the human rights abuses that the Indonesian military is currently committing in West Papua, there are killings every second or third day," he said. "Because media are not allowed in, none of these stories come out."

The Optical Superstore proprietor also put his weight behind a 2004 campaign for a better deal for East Timor over oil and gas rights in the Timor Sea, and was involved in the campaign to defeat a government move to declare Australia's northern borders outside the immigration zone.

Last year, he also commissioned a Newspoll asking Australians if they were for or against self-determination for Papuans, including the option of independence.

Mr Melrose was coy in disclosing how much the campaigns had cost and said putting his financial weight behind the advertisements had never been an issue.

"I know too many East Timorese that have been tortured or have had family members killed by the Indonesian military," he said. "You either get upset or you do something. Getting upset doesn't help them, doing something will, so that is why I decided I wasn't going to sit on the couch any more."

Initially he said he was motivated to get involved after reading in 2004 about a 12-year-old East Timorese girl who had choked to death on roundworms.

A worm tablet could have saved her life, but instead she was asphyxiated when hundreds of the 20-30 centimetre worms crawled from her small intestine to her stomach then to her oesophagus and blocked her trachea.

"I thought it was just horrific and unacceptable that for less than 50 cents she could have survived," he said.

Mr Melrose has also written to the Prime Minister about West Papua and is determined to continue his campaign, sending information to all 640,000 of his customers in the lead-up to the election. "When you eventually make money and I've made money it doesn't do any good to hoard it if you can do something good with it," he said.

"That is what I'm having a go at doing. Whether I'm successful or not is going to be another issue." The Prime Minister's office and Indonesian Embassy declined to comment on issues raised in Mr Melrose's campaigns.

West Papuans to go home in December

The National - October 19, 2007

Harlyne Joku – West Papuans numbering 600 have agreed to be repatriated to their home province in Indonesia, the independent group supporting special autonomous region of Papua (IGSSARPRI) said yesterday.

Secretary general Sawi Sitapai said IGSSARPRI was organising their voluntary repatriation which would take place in December and January.

Mr Sitapai said the West Papuans had agreed to return and build a new Papua under the Special Autonomous Law 21/2001 granted by the Indonesian government.

"IGSSARPRI is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in the country committed to support and promote the special autonomy in the region of Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) for the development and advancement of Papua and its people," he said.

About 100 of the 600 were from the group currently based at Nine Mile settlement. Those still camped outside the UNHCR office in Town were not part of the group, Mr Sitapai said.

He also announced that IGSSARPRI will be sending food rations to the families at Eight Mile who were also waiting to be repatriated.

Mr Sitapai said about 16 West Papuan families at Nine Mile were waiting for the Government and the Governor Powes Parkop to find alternative resettlement site for them. Majority of them would be repatriated, he said.

Food rations for the Nine Mile settlers will be distributed today.

Tribal violence kills eight in Papua

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2007

Markus Makur, Timika – Eight people have been killed and 19 others injured in ongoing violence involving four tribes in Tembagapura district, Mimika, Papua.

The situation remained explosive Wednesday in the Banti rural sub-district, the site of the violent clashes. More than 120 armed police officers have been deployed to the area to try and bring the violence under control.

"I can confirm that a fresh clash has taken place in Banti and I will immediately go to the area to assist the local authorities in defusing the volatile situation," Mimika Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. GC Mansnembra said Wednesday morning.

The violence reportedly pits members of the Dani, Damal and Moni tribes against the Amungme tribe. The first three tribes live in Kimberly village, while the Amungme reside in three villages: Tsinga, Arwanop and Banti. All of the villages are near the operation site of giant copper and gold mining company Freeport Indonesia.

Officer Mansnembra and the speaker of the Mimika Legislative Council, Yoseph Yopi Kilangin, arrived in Banti on Wednesday afternoon and began contacting leaders of the feuding tribes.

Initial police reports suggest Dani, Damal and Moni tribesmen attacked members of the Amungme in Banti. The ensuing battle reportedly left four people dead.

"As of Wednesday evening, the war has claimed eight lives; three from the Amungme and five from the other three tribes," said a source in Banti, who asked not to be identified. He said armed police officers had cordoned off the Banti area in an attempt to separate the tribes.

"This war was triggered by the death of Fred Magai," the source said. Magai was the son of a Dani man and an Amungme woman. About a week ago, Magai, under the influence of alcohol, scaled a three-meter high outer wall at Freeport Indonesia.

The young man fell from the wall and died the following day at the Tembagapura hospital where he had been taken for treatment. "PT Freeport Indonesia provided the Magai family with an undisclosed sum of cash. The money split the family in two along tribal lines," the source said.

Magai was buried by his relatives from the Dani tribe. This angered Magai's relatives from the Amungme tribe. The Amungme tribesmen then accused the Dani of keeping all the money from Freeport. "The accusation obviously enraged the Dani. With anger boiling on both sides, an open tribal war is just a matter of time," the source said.

Tribal violence is not uncommon in the region. Violence flared a month ago in Banti over an extramarital affair.

Human rights/law

Government's efforts to uphold human rights just for show

Kompas - October 23, 2007

Jakarta – Over the last three years of the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the upholding of human rights has been limited to building a good image. This can be seen from the administration's concentration on issues to maintain its power.

This was the assessment given by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on Monday with regard to the upholding of human rights during the Yudhoyono administration.

"Thus in order to build an image, action has only been taken on issues that appeal to the public at large and are politically safe. Justice for the people meanwhile, particularly the victims, has been given little attention", said Taufik Basari from YLBHI.

Basari went on to say that such steps to accentuate this image could be clearly seen on August 23, 2007, several days after five-year-old Raisya Ali was abducted, when President Yudhoyono appealed to the person or persons holding him to return the child his parents.

"The president's statement in the Raisya Ali case was indeed important. But however, for example, why haven't similar outspoken statements been made in other cases, such as the abduction of activists in 1997-1998, the Lapindo mud outpour in Porong, Sidoarjo, or the shooting of local people by the TNI [Indonesian military] in Alas Tlogo, Pasuruan, East Java?", asked Basari.

Haris Azhar from Kontras related how many of the decisions made by the Yudhoyono administration have even hindered the upholding of human rights. This can be see for example when the Constitutional Court declared that the Corruption Court was in conflict with the 1945 Constitution.

Azhar went on to say that the government has tried to cover up its poor human rights record by building a good image in the international community, by among other things, becoming a member of the United National Human Rights Commission, inviting the UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Hina Jilani to Indonesia and ratifying international human rights conventions. (NWO/MAM/A20)

[Abridged translation by James Balowski. The second section of the article covered an appeal by the National Mandate Party for the Yudhoyono administration not to forget its election promises to the people.]

Solving Munir case a measure of candidates commitment to reform

Kompas - October 17, 2007

Jakarta – There is a strong possibly that a commitment to solve the murder of human rights activist Munir will be sought from political parties or presidential and vice presidential candidates who will participate in the 2009 general elections. This is because their stand on the case will be one measure of the credibility of the respective candidates or parties, particularly in the area of human rights.

"We will seek a commitment to solve the Munir murder case from those who come forward in the 2009 general elections. We will take note, evaluate and socialise their responses to the case", said Choirul Anam, the legal adviser to Munir's family, when contacted by Kompas in Jakarta on Tuesday October 16.

According to Anam, the offer is being made because uncovering the murder that took place on September 7, 2004 could become an important part of measuring the commitment of election participants in the process of democratic reform.

Anam went on to say that the offer will also be made because there is a strong possibility that this case will not be fully solved in the lead up to the elections. This is because it is most likely that the court hearing of former Garuda Indonesia Airlines Executive Director Indra Setiawan, which is currently taking place at the Central Jakarta District Court, will end late this year or in early 2008. Whereas it is certain that Setiawan is not the principle perpetrator in the murder so in order to uncover the case there is a possibility that police will have to find other suspects.

Critical attitude

Separately, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid said that a number of social organisations will be campaigning more intensively on Munir's murder, so it is hoped that more members of the public will take a critical attitude towards candidates in the elections that may try to politicise the case.

This politicisation, among other things, may be done by making high-sounding promises to solve the Munir murder or other cases of human rights violations. Whereas at the same time – according to Hamid – there are a number of parties who are suspected of being involved in the murder who will use the elections to wash their hand of the affair or seek protection.

"We must anticipate politicisation which has a negative impact on the Munir murder case during the general elections. Because it is very likely that this politicisation will occur, because in order to attract the public's support, a number of parties will use issues that are attractive such as the Munir case. The case is also exists within a larger political matrix", said Hamid. (NWO)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

UN rights rapporteur visit welcomed

Jakarta Post - October 16, 2007

Jakarta – The scheduled visit of the United Nations special rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak, will give Indonesia an opportunity to show the world its progress in human rights reforms despite serious obstacles, a rights activist said. Nowak is scheduled to visit Indonesia from Nov. 10 to 25.

"Today's outcome shows a considerable improvement to human rights since the New Order era. Several positive steps have been made to strengthen the legal and institutional framework involved... but most have yet to be fully implemented," Poengky Indarti from Imparsial human rights watchdog said.

She cited constitutional amendments to ensure the reinforcement of human rights values, the approval of a human rights law, the establishment of human rights tribunals – whether permanent, as in the Abepura case, or ad-hoc, as in the East Timor and Tanjung Priok cases – and the establishment of a national commission for women.

Poengky pointed out that the Indonesian government had ratified some UN covenants, like the convention against torture and the convention on civil political rights, but currently one of the biggest obstacles was the poor implementation of these conventions and laws.

Labour issues

Employers seek low minimum wage increase

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2007

Fadli, Batam – Riau Islands businesspeople have proposed setting the 2008 monthly minimum wage for Batam city below the average inflation rate.

Businesspeople from the Riau Islands chapter of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) have proposed a 1.5 percent minimum for next year.

Worker unions are seeking a minimum wage that covers the basic living costs. Batam city's monthly minimum wage is currently set at Rp 860,000 (US$95.50).

"We don't want to discuss further (whether) the amount exceeds the inflation rate (or not)," the Riau Islands Apindo chairman, Abidin, told The Jakarta Post.

"A considerable annual pay increase would not benefit businesspeople. We hope the government will review the annual pay increase," said Abidin, who is also Batam city's Apindo chairman.

A joint discussion between the administration, businesspeople and employees was to determine the minimum wage for Batam City by October, but the parties had not considered pay increment issues to be proposed to the mayor.

Businesspeople in Batam believe the pay rise scheme over the past several years has not benefited them.

In 2005, the minimum wage was set at Rp 635,000. It increased by 25 percent to Rp 815,000 in 2006, and rose to Rp 860,000 this year. "We find it hard to predict operational costs and the criterion for pay increases," Abidin said.

Apindo has urged the government to include inflation in determining the City Minimum Wage scheme so businesspeople could estimate their operational costs for next year.

Meanwhile, workers have demanded next year's minimum wage cover the basic living cost for Batam city, which is around Rp 1,200,000 per month.

Head of the Riau Islands chapter of the All-Indonesian Trade Unions (SPSI), Edwin Haryono, said workers in Batam had yet to enjoy salaries that covered their monthly living expenses.

"Workers are still moonlighting to cover monthly living expenses. If next year's minimum wage scheme does not match living costs, we will fight for our rights," Edwin said.

Batam Manpower Office head Pirma Marpaung said his office could not yet predict the pay increase amount because discussions were still underway.

"Furthermore, the government is just a mediator. If discussions become deadlocked at the municipal level, it is the prerogative of the governor to determine the wage scheme in each city or regency," Pirma said. Rallies staged by disgruntled workers over the City Minimum Wage scheme are a common occurrence in Batam.

Laborers prevented from taking holiday

Jakarta Post - October 16, 2007

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Dozens of child laborers in North Sumatra have been prevented from returning home for the Idul Fitri holiday, a local child welfare NGO has reported. The children work on Jermal, off-shore fishing platforms for local fishermen and companies.

"It really disturbed us. It is simply too much. The children have been treated as slaves with no right to celebrate Idul Fitri in the warm familiarity of their own homes and with their own families," Center for Child Protection and Study director Ahmad Sofian said recently.

Sofian and several other members of the center recently visited 16 off-shore fishing platforms at different locations in North Sumatra, including in Beting Bawal, Sialang Buah, Cermin and Kuala Tanjung.

"We wanted to present the platform workers, who had to stay on the platforms, with packages of Idul Fitri gifts. Little did we know that we would encounter several child laborers, who were forbidden from leaving the platforms by their adult foremen," he said.

The platforms are usually built of wood, 15 to 25 kilometers out to sea. They have an average area of 800 square meters, a third of which is set aside for worker housing. The workers lower huge nets below the platforms to catch fish.

During the two-day visit, the activists discovered that of the 83 workers on the platforms, 16 were children.

"The foremen prohibited all of them, including the child laborers, from leaving the platforms during the Idul Fitri holiday. The foremen said they were needed to guard the platforms," he said.

He said the local administration needed to improve its control and supervision of labor practices on the fishing platforms.

While the activists handed over 70 Idul Fitri packages to the workers, not all of those on the platforms were pleased to see them.

"At one platform, a foremen refused to let us enter. He also rejected the packages. Consequently, that platforms's six workers didn't get Idul Fitri gifts," activist Lasto said.

Each package contained a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, rice, sugar, milk, canned sardines and cooking oil.

Environment/natural disasters

Converting arid land into flourishing ecosystem

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Hyginus Hardoyo, Wonogiri – Amid reports of the environmentally costly exploitation of forest resources across the country, good news comes from a handful of villages in Java.

Farmers in Wonogiri and Sukoharjo in Central Java, as well as Gunungkidul in Yogyakarta, have managed to convert arid and seemingly barren land into a flourishing ecosystem.

Thousands of trees – mostly teak and mahogany – are thriving among the limestone cliffs and shallow caves of these hilly areas. The big trees are shoehorned in among rocks. "Each tree's root system is wound through the cracks in the cliff," said Siman, the manager of one of the five community organizations that manages forest resources in the three regencies.

If the ill effects of deforestation are caused by greed and bad agricultural practices, reforestation is carried out with an understanding of the importance of environmental conservation.

Farmers are aware that strategic tree planting can cause rainfall to collect in dry areas, forming springs.

"From 1975-2000 we had to travel one-and-a-half kilometers away from the villages to collect water for our daily needs. But this is no longer the case. There are many springs now that provide us with more than enough water," Siman said, adding that water from the springs is now distributed to 130 households through a modest pipeline network.

The interesting thing is that the community-based forests are mostly managed independently, without any financial assistance from other parties or institutions.

"Local administration officials only became aware of the successful reforestation efforts in their areas after people from both here and abroad came to the villages seeking advice on reforesting arid land," said Gladi Haryanto of the Indonesian Eco-labeling Institute (LEI), one of the non-governmental organizations that are guiding local farmers through the reforestation process.

"The local administrations are now helping farmers by connecting remote villages to the road network and allowing them to use state buildings such as village halls and village head offices as venues for seminars, workshops and other gatherings," Haryanto said. The officials are also assisting visitors by taking them to see the reforested land and the springs.

Many of the farmers are taking courses to improve their knowledge of reforestation systems. Some, with the assistance of the LEI, have attended meetings and workshops in other cities.

The community-based forest management model was adopted in Gunungkidul and Wonogiri in the 1950s, with the intention of improving the living standards of farmers.

Based on an agricultural census in 2003, at least 3.43 million families throughout Indonesia have been involved in the development of community-based forests.

Forestry Ministry data for 2005 showed the total area of community-based forests was about 1.5 million hectares, consisting of projects that were developed independently by farmers and those that had received government funding.

The management of the community-based forests in Wonogiri, Sukoharjo and Gunungkidul is supervised by the LEI, Haryanto said, adding that farmers had developed an intercropping technique, where food crops like corn and cassava were planted among hardwood trees.

The farmers do not think it necessary to plant seedlings at precise intervals because their main aim is to plant as many trees as possible. They have just one rule: Anyone who fells a tree must plant 10 seedlings. The problem is there is not enough space left. "Only the strongest seedlings survive," Siman said. One consequence of this overcrowding is that the quality of the timber tends to be poor: the logs are not straight and have many branches and knots.

Another problem is that the farmers view the trees as their "savings", cutting them down when they need cash in a hurry, such as when their children's school fees are due.

The farmers, as custodians of the forest, have been in a weak bargaining position when dealing with timber companies, said Taryanto Wijaya of Persepsi, another NGO that is advising the farmers. "That's why they get such low prices for the timber," he said.

Amid the advantages and shortcomings of the forestry projects, a discourse on the management of sustainable community-based forests has started to take place. The farmers need a kind of model as well. When one person stands out as having successfully managed forested land other people will voluntarily follow him by planting trees and tending them properly, Haryanto said.

Forest preservers demand rewards from years of toil

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Hyginus Hardoyo – Farmers who are actively involved in the sustainable development of community-based forests in Wonogiri, Central Java, say they are not reaping the rewards of their hard work and dedication.

"We used to experience water shortages every dry season. But now things are much better due to the formation of new springs that are constantly replenished by natural rainfall," Mulyono, the chairman of one of the three community-based forest units in Wonogiri, Central Java, said.

"We've been able to convert barren, infertile and rocky land into green areas," he added.

Mulyono's community-based forest unit in Sumberejo, Batuwarno, Wonogiri, is one of five that have been certified by the Indonesian Eco-labeling Institute (LEI). Due to the abundant supply of water from the new springs, Mulyono said, the water demands of all the subdistricts in the area was being met.

The odd thing is, he said, the water was also commercially utilized by a state-owned water company to supply a nearby hospital and the firm's customers.

Mulyono is of the opinion that such treatment is unfair. Siman, the chairman of another community-based forest unit in Selopuro, Batuwarno, Wonogiri, is also unhappy about the arrangement. "We are the ones who have done all the hard work but others don't think there is anything wrong with benefiting the most from the arrangement without compensating us," Siman said. "We've re- greened our barren land by ourselves – without any assistance from anybody or any institution – but we haven't been paid for our efforts," he said. "We still need money to feed our families. We also demand justice," Mulyono said.

Such demands seem reasonable at a time when global efforts to stem climate change could soon include paying countries in the tropical belt to not cut down their rainforests, beginning with a World Bank pilot project. The World Bank is, for example, planning to start a US$250 million investment fund to reward countries such as Indonesia, Brazil and Congo for "avoided deforestation".

Aside from the absence of environmental compensation from the water springs, the farmers participating in the community-based forest units have not got fair prices from the sale of their logs either.

The farmers' timber is viewed as the same as that harvested from other forests managed by state-owned forestry company Perhutani, which is in charge of managing teak forests on Java island.

"There is a missing link here. The market is waiting for certified products, but businesspeople are not so enthusiastic about investing there at a time when farmers have got nothing from their hard work in managing their forested land," said Taryono Wijaya of non-governmental organization Persepsi.

"Something must be done, such as through the establishment of a wood workshop," Taryono said, referring to the workshop established by the LEI in Selopuro with the aim of training locals to make high quality wooden articles.

Indonesia 'should stop deforestation' before seeking funds

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2007

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Environmental campaigners have praised the government's anti-deforestation scheme, which aims to lure international funding by protecting forests and helping reduce carbon emissions.

However, they called on the government to take firm steps to stop deforestation before bringing the concept to the negotiation table at the climate change summit in Bali.

"It is okay to ask for financial bonuses for protecting forests, but it will be hard for Indonesia to propose such a concept while deforestation continues," Greenpeace campaigner Hapsoro told The Jakarta Post.

"The government must first impose a moratorium on deforestation to reassure the international community about its commitment to protecting forests," he said.

The coordinator of climate change affairs at Indonesia's branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Ari Muhammad, said the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries (REDD) initiative would be more effective for Indonesia than the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in securing international funding from the forestry sector.

"We support the REDD concept as it will be more feasible for Indonesia than the CDM," he told the Post.

However, Sofyan Warsito, an environmental economist from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, expressed concern that the REDD concept would not work due to the fact the government legally provides licenses to clear forests in many areas of the country.

"I would prefer the implementation of sustainable forest management to protect our forests rather than REDD as the latter would ban people from cutting down trees in the forest," he told the Post.

"Sustainable forest management would still allow people to cut down trees in forests if they were replanted," he said.

Indonesia will host the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change conference (UNFCCC) in Bali from Dec. 3 to 14, during which the REDD concept is likely to be proposed.

Under the concept, Indonesia and other nations with tropical forests would cease exploiting forest resources. They would also pledge to rehabilitate damaged forests. In return, wealthy nations would provide funding to compensate them for their efforts.

As of September, Indonesia had already won support from Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Peru in regards to the plan. These countries are home to a large number of the world's remaining tropical rain forests.

The Kyoto Protocol recognizes only forestation and reforestation as being part of the forestry sector's CDM, which requires governments to supply data regarding their forest conversion efforts during the last 50 years.

The protocol defines forestation as the conversion to forest of land that has not been forested for a period of at least 50 years. Reforestation is defined as the conversion of land to forest after December 1989.

Ari said the government needed to track the roots of deforestation in the country. "The government must also formulate ways to calculate carbon reductions resulting from the prevention of deforestation," he said.

It is estimated that a hectare of natural forest can store between 300 and 400 tons of carbon dioxide, while a hectare of rubber plantation has the capacity to retain about 75 tons of CO2.

Forests have long been a primary source of income for many people in the country. Indonesia has 120 million hectares of forest, of which only 64 percent remains intact.

The government has pointed to rampant illegal logging as being the major cause of deforestation in the country. Between 1985 and 1997, the deforestation rate was 1.8 million hectares per year.

The rate rose to 2.8 million hectares per year until 2000, and between 2000 to 2006 the rate fell to 1.08 million hectares per year. Emissions caused by changes in forest and land use represent about one-fifth of the world's total emissions.

Fund illegal logging fight, government told

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2007

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Instead of begging rich countries for forestry projects, the government should instead increase the Indonesian Military (TNI) and National Police budgets to stop rampant illegal logging.

Gandjar Pranowo, a member of the forestry and agriculture commission at the House of Representatives, and Elfian Effendi, executive director of Greenomics Indonesia, spoke to The Jakarta Post separately Thursday about illegal logging.

They said the government investigation into illegal logging in timber estates – allegedly involving pulp and paper mills – was carried out to cover up even worse illegal logging activities in conservation forests and national parks, particularly in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"I agree with the idea of raising the TNI and police budgets to prevent any involvement in illegal logging practices in protected forests and national parks," Gandjar said.

He said the financial losses from illegal logging amounted to some US$400 billion annually; a figure ample enough to increase both the defense and security sector budgets.

The government has raised the 2008 defense budget to Rp 40 trillion from Rp 32 trillion this fiscal year, but the figure is still far below the minimum budget of Rp 100 trillion.

The budget deficit has been worsened by the government take-over of all military business to develop the TNI into a more professional force, as mandated by the Law on Military.

Gandjar slammed both the government and the House for the lack of political innovation and breakthroughs to provide sufficient funding for the military and police force.

Elfian said with its vast conservation forests, Indonesia had become an environmental donor in neutralizing the large amount of carbon dioxide produced by industrialized countries, particularly by the US and China.

"Indonesia, with a total of some 110 million hectares of forest area, including 26.5 million hectares of protected forests and national parks, donates $530 billion annually to absorb carbon dioxide, which has been blamed for global warming and climate change," he said.

However, he said despite Indonesia's strong bargaining power, the government was in a difficult position since illegal logging had made areas of the country prone to ecological disasters such as landslides, floods and forest fires.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Chalid, executive director of the Indonesian Environmental Forum, said the government should introduce a regulation in lieu of a law to halt illegal logging and prove to the world Indonesia was serious about preventing global warming.

"This is more concrete and realistic for Indonesia than hosting the global environmental summit in Bali in December, which many doubt will be able to provide concrete solutions to the issue," he said.

Chalid said Indonesia's top priority should not be supporting the carbon trade or the reduced carbon from environmental deterioration and degradation (REDD) program at the Bali summit. He said saving people by preventing ecological disasters and forest fires was far more important than carbon trading.

Gender issues

Women caught in cycle of injustice

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Nurrohman, Bandung – In their daily lives women are still often marginalized, cornered and treated as creatures who are worth less than men. This treatment originates not only from the values preserved in the established culture but also from the law and religious interpretations.

While culture is a human construct, some people still see it as a given unchangeable reality. For decades, even after Indonesia won its independence, women were often perceived, in Javanese tradition, as kanca wingking swarga nunut neraka katut, (Javanese proverb – companion behind, following the husband to heaven or dragged by the husband to hell).

Ironically, many Muslims, including scholars, often use the Koran to justify their treatment of women. When this treatment comes from tradition or religious interpretation, and is then strengthened by biased laws, women then become the victim of triple oppression: tradition, religion and law. Oppression then becomes institutionalized and structured.

Faqihudin Abdul Kodir, in his book Hadits and Gender Justice: Understanding the Prophet Traditions, strives to rectify misunderstandings surrounding the Prophet's actions and behavior. Since hadiths (written traditions of the Prophet Muhammad) are deemed by Muslims a secondary source of Islamic teaching after the Koran, Muslims acknowledge the pivotal role of the hadiths in explaining the meaning of Koran.

Unfortunately, although codified more then one century after the death of the Prophet, many Muslims, including Islamic jurists, follow the hadiths without critical assessment. They use hadiths without examining the text or pondering the social context of when they were released.

Many hadiths have weaknesses in their text, and many hadiths cannot be understood properly if merely read from the text without considering the social context.

In his book, Abdul Kodir conveyed some examples of hadiths often used by conservative Muslims to ban women's involvement in public or political affairs; hadiths used to prohibit woman from leadership roles; and hadiths that produce unbalanced marriages between men and women.

In describing the crucial political role of woman, Abdul Kodir presents a dramatic moment after the treaty of al-Hudaibiyah agreed to by the Prophet. Most of his companions emotionally regarded the treaty as a humiliation for Muslims. Consequently, many of them either refused to accept it or did not support the decision made by the Prophet. Despite their refusal, the Prophet went ahead with it.

The treaty required that the Prophet Muhammad should not be named as the Messenger of Allah. Further, the content of the treaty was felt to be very detrimental to Muslims, because Muslims were forced to return to Medina and not allowed to set foot in Mecca under any circumstance, even for the purpose of the pilgrimage. In return a ceasefire was announced.

In response to this treaty, Umar (ra) personally approached the Prophet and asked: "You are a prophet aren't you?" "Yes," the Prophet replied. "Aren't we on the right path, and they are the misled ones?" "Yes." "Then why do we have to accept being humiliated by this treaty?" The Prophet said, "I am the Messenger of Allah, I will never disobey what Allah has ordered me to do, and I am convinced that Allah will help me."

Another interesting, but also controversial, issue among Muslims today is polygamy. Abdul Kodir points out how with little or no regard to the historical context, men declare that they will wed multiple wives because they are following the precedent of the Prophet and thus acting virtuously.

"Conversely though, they do not follow the many other practices of the Prophet which ensured that women were treated with justice and love. For example, the Prophet's additional wives were women who are poor, old, and ignored by society. In this, we know that the Prophet was marrying these women to protect them, and not for satisfying the desire for creating a harem," the scholar wrote.

Learning from Abdul Kodir, we need to shift Muslims' paradigm in reading the texts from textual normative-deductive into contextual historic-inductive by using the guidance of the principles of Islamic teachings in upholding justice and equality among humankind.

Since the gender inequality often seen in society consists of ideological and institutional malaise, efforts to reconstruct society should be done through these two factors. Religion has a huge influence in Muslim-dominated Indonesia, therefore reforming the way of Muslims in understanding religious messages is important as a step toward reform.

[The writer is a lecturer at Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University in Bandung.]

Gay community wants fair media coverage

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2007

Anton Muhajir, Contributor, Kuta – Yustine (not her real name) says she feels more comfortable in the glittering Seminyak area near Kuta in Bali than in her hometown in Java.

A member of Bali's gay and transvestite community, she has been working as a singer and hairstylist on the island for the past two years.

"I came from Banyuwangi, East Java, a place where I could not live in a peaceful way," she said at a recent group discussion on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community here in Seminyak.

At home, her family and friends refused to accept that she was a transvestite, regarding her as a "mistake" and the "loser" of the family.

"People have the perception that we are criminals, sinners that should be dumped somewhere in garbage bins," Yustine said.

The LGBT community says it has faced biased and negative media coverage over the years.

Danny Yatim, media advisor to the Indonesian HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project (IHPCP) told participants that he agreed that the media played a major role in shaping people's perceptions of the community.

"The majority of mainstream media in Indonesia and in the world has so far built a perception that the world is divided into two sides – male and female only," Danny said.

The media, he added, created stereotypes for each gender, portraying male as only masculine and women as only feminine.

"This stereotyping emerges almost everywhere in both print and electronic media. To give an example, I saw an ad for a famous instant noodle brand in which the mother cooks the noodles, while the father and sons wait to taste the meal," Danny said.

Such domestic stereotyping of women and men has been shaped by society, "but the media has widely legitimized this communal effort," Danny said.

He said there were a number of negative perceptions associated with the LGBT community.

"The gay community has always been associated with pedophiles, homosexual persons who always prey on (young) sex targets. They are often regarded as weird and comical (people who) deserve to be laughed at," said Danny, who is a psychologist and university lecturer.

Danny said that the community also suffered from various types of social and professional discrimination. "Such discrimination occurs in real life, media, films, and so on," he added.

Didik Yudianto, director of Gaya Dewata Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides advocacy and support to the gay community in Bali, shared this opinion.

"We are still not accepted within traditional, religious and moral concepts. The media has taken a great part in shaping these values," said Didik, a veterinarian. "The media is more focused on the negative activities of members of our community. News coverage centers on drugs, sex and crime," Didik said.

He added that many people in the community were working hard as lecturers, volunteers, experts, artists, doctors and many other professions and that they were excelling in their fields. "It is very sad to hear the harsh words some people use when referring to us," Didik said.

A journalist who took part in the discussion said that it was difficult to get proper information because many of the community members were too shy or too reluctant to open up. "We have been trying to write balanced and fair coverage. But, many times they do not want to speak up," she said.

Danny said it was true that many people in the gay community did not have the courage or support required to reveal their sexual identities. "The term 'out of the closet' is still rare in Indonesia because of our cultural and moral values," Danny said.

People in the West have begun to accept that the gay community is part of a dynamic society, he said. "It really requires a lot of understanding, compassion and non-judgmental behavior in order to accept this community into our multi-cultural society," Danny said.

Government told to get tough on domestic violence

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2007

Jakarta – The number of reported domestic violence cases in Indonesia shows no signs of decreasing, despite the implementation of the 2004 Law on the Elimination of Domestic Violence, rights activists said recently.

Research conducted by Unicef and The Body Shop International revealed 16,721 cases of domestic violence, some 82 percent of all violence cases reported in Indonesia in 2005.

The Communications and Information Ministry recently reported that the number increased to 22,000 cases, from mid 2006 to mid 2007.

The Women's Legal Aid Foundation (LBH APIK) said that victims experienced physical, psychological or sexual abuse, or a combination of the three.

The increase may have been caused by more occurrences of violence, or a greater awareness of rights among women.

"The number of physical and non-physical abuse cases has continued to increase. It's as if the government is allowing this to happen," external relations director of Imparsial Human Rights Monitor, Poengky Indarti, said.

Poengky is not alone in questioning the government's seriousness in dealing with the issue.

Taufik Basari, head of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute said, "With the implementation of the domestic violence law, we should have seen a decrease in the number occurrences." "But this has not happened. We need to reevaluate, to figure out what is at the core of the problem."

The law stipulates that the government must ensure the prevention and elimination of all forms of domestic violence as well as the protection of victims.

Taufik said the government has recently made efforts to deal with violence in the home but these efforts have not fully served their purpose.

"The police have established special units to deal with domestic violence at some police stations. They are led by professionals who know what they are doing," he said.

Women experiencing abuse at home can go to the nearest police provincial headquarters or regional police precincts for counseling, and to report their cases. The counseling facilities have been made available with assistance from non-governmental organizations.

Taufik added that the government needed to complement the law – which provides severe punishments for people found guilty of domestic violence – by building community awareness and informing the public of complaint procedures.

"The law alone is never enough. Most domestic violence cases take place in low income, poorly educated families," he said.

The government should encourage the community to empower themselves by establishing an independent prevention network, he said.

Poverty & development

Poor people yet to feel effect of global campaign

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2007

Jakarta – On a bridge in Karet, Central Jakarta, a middle-aged man sat eating a cracker. He looked tired and drawn, but before long stood up again and continued searching for sellable items of trash.

"The cracker was all the food we had at home, so I thought I would have it for lunch," Mursali said. "It hasn't been too good today. I have barely managed to find anything worthwhile these past few days."

Mursali quit his job as a taxi driver almost a year ago and has been scavenging along the banks of city's rivers ever since.

Across the road sat Rumatin, a plump, tanned woman in her 40s. As she waited for her three children to finish asking passing motorists for money, she sipped cold tea from a plastic bag.

Rumatin said her children had made enough money to buy a bowl of chicken noodles for lunch earlier, for which they paid Rp 4,000 (approximately 50 US cents). "We could only afford one bowl of noodles, but that was enough for me and my children to share," she said.

Mursali and Rumatin are just two of many impoverished Jakartans who are supposed to benefit from events such as Wednesday's Stand Up and Speak Out campaign.

Around the world, millions of people took part in the UN- sponsored campaign, which was held to raise awareness about global poverty and the Millennium Goals, which Indonesia has ratified.

The goals, to be achieved by 2015, include halving the number of people suffering from poverty and hunger in the world, achieving universal primary education, eliminating gender disparities, reducing the child mortality rate by two-thirds, reducing the maternal mortality rate by three-quarters, halting and reversing the incidence of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases and halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water.

In Indonesia, campaigns were held in several big cities. In Jakarta, thousands of people gathered at well-known public places such as Ragunan Zoo, the National Monument (Monas), Ancol and Senayan City mall to voice their willingness to fight poverty. Some participants also made donations to charities around the city.

Ata, a visitor to Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta, was unimpressed when he saw event organizers collecting signatures and handing out t-shirts and plastic bracelets at the zoo.

"It's going to be hard to eradicate poverty. I know they mean well, but this just isn't the right place to have this kind of thing," he told The Jakarta Post.

He said visitors to the zoo were generally from low-income families and would not be able to help out the city's poor. He said the event's organizers should have spent their time and money developing assistance programs for the poor.

It has been estimated that approximately 37 million people still live below the poverty line in Indonesia.

Rumatin said her husband made between Rp 30,000 and Rp 40,000 per day as a scavenger, which was barely enough to feed their family of five. She said she was able to add Rp 30,000 per day to her husband's income with the help of her children.

Mursali said he also made around Rp 40,000 per day as a scavenger. He said he often had to skip lunch or dinner on slow days when his wife could not afford to cook. Sometimes they eat at small food stalls and pay the owner back when they can, he added.

Edi, 40, from Palembang, South Sumatra, works as a scavenger in Tanah Abang. The father of five makes on average between Rp 120,000 and Rp 240,000 per day.

He rents a small house in Ciputat, South Jakarta, and is able to provide rice and anchovies for his family three times a day. "My condition might be okay compared to other scavengers, but to be honest, this is not a good way to live," he said.

Edi had not heard about the anti-poverty campaign, but asked if there was anything he could do to get help. "I just want the government to treat us like human beings," he said.

Indonesia not on target for development goals

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2007

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Indonesia will struggle to provide adequate sanitation and clean water to 72.5 percent of its population by 2015 in accordance with its commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), experts said Friday.

Nugroho Tri Utomo from the National Development Planning Board said that although half the allocated timeframe to reach the MGDs by 2015 had passed, Indonesia's achievements in this area where not on target.

In 1990, only 45 percent of Indonesia's total population of 178 million had access to adequate sanitation facilities.

The latest survey into the country's social and economic conditions conducted by the Central Statistics Agency indicates that only 55 percent of the population currently has access to adequate sanitation facilities.

If Indonesia was on track to achieve its MGDs target, the figure would need to be considerably higher, Nugroho told The Jakarta Post.

"We are not yet on track to meet our basic sanitation target as part of our commitment to ensuring environmental sustainability under the MGDs," he said.

"The problem is that sanitation is not yet the government's top priority, despite the fact poor sanitation can lead to the decreasing quality of human resources," he said.

It is currently estimated that 50 out of every 1,000 children aged below five years in Indonesia die of diarrhea as a result of poor sanitation.

Poor sanitation has also hampered the improvement of Indonesia's Human Development Index (HDI). In 2006, Indonesia's index was 0.711, ranking the country in 108th position out of 177 countries surveyed.

Nugroho said that although regional autonomy resulted in the central government handing over the responsibility of improving sanitation to local administrations, local leaders felt funds and support were lacking.

"If more of the budget was spent on sanitation, there would be many benefits, such as a reduction in diseases, meaning the government would have less to spend on health," he said.

Nugroho said that for Indonesia to meet its MDGs target, the government would need to spend at least Rp 4.5 trillion (approximately US$495 million) per year on improving sanitation. Its current expenditure in this area is Rp 500 billion.

Water and sanitation specialist Sofyan Iskandar said assistance would be required from all stakeholders, including in the private and public sectors, in order to develop sanitation facilities.

He said that although many parties had contributed to the improvement of the country's sanitation facilities, not enough had been done.

"In building sanitation infrastructure, related stakeholders should consider the needs of local communities. They should... ensure the facilities are appropriate for each community," Sofyan said.

He said local communities should also be provided with relevant technical assistance after sanitation facilities were improved in their areas.

Record number of people attend anti-poverty Stand Up events

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2007

Adianto P. Simamora and Irawati Wardany, Jakarta – Local organizers said Wednesday's Stand Up and Speak Out events against global poverty drew a record number of people.

Speaking Thursday, they said 618,061 people took part in events at 78 locations in 23 provinces.

That is less than the one million people organizers had hoped would take part in Stand Up events in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but a large increase over the 50,000 people who took part in events in 2005.

United Nations Millennium Development Goals representatives for Asia and the Pacific, Erna Witoelar, hailed the results, saying it showed more Indonesians were aware of and concerned by poverty issues.

"The issue of poverty is no longer the concern of activists only. We hope people continue to remind the government to meet the MDGs target," she said.

At each event Wednesday, people stood up and pledged solidarity with the poorest people and demanded the government take immediate action to end poverty.

In West Nusa Tenggara, one of the country's poorest provinces, some 100,000 people attended the event. About 110,000 people, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, took part in an event at Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta, the country's largest recreational park.

People in nearly 90 countries stood up in public spaces, schools, places of work or worship and at sports and cultural events to voice frustration at the lack of real progress in rooting out global poverty.

Last year, 23.5 million people in more than 80 countries set a Guinness World Record for Stand Up events. Stand Up events are part of the UN's campaign to increase public awareness of global poverty and to pressure governments to meet the MDGs by 2015.

The development goals include halving the number of people suffering from extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, eliminating gender disparities, reducing the child mortality rate by two-thirds and the maternal mortality by three-fourths, halting and reversing the incidence HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases, and halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.

According to data from the Central Statistic Agency, in 2007 there were more than 37 million Indonesians living below the poverty line, or 16 percent of the country's population of 220 million.

Health & education

Teachers to strike over allowance

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2007

Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara – Around 5,000 schoolteachers threatened to strike unless their allowance is increased significantly.

"In a meeting the teachers agreed to hold a street rally Monday, October 22. A mass strike will follow the rally," chairman of the Kupang Teachers Forum, Dumuul Djami, said Thursday.

The strike was the teachers' response to a recent decision by Kupang's Legislative Council, he said.

The council decided to provide each teacher with an allowance of Rp 200,000 (US$21) a month. The council also said the allowance would only be provided to teachers at state-owned schools.

"The amount is much less than the amount proposed by the Kupang administration of Rp 350,000 a month. The allowance should be given to both teachers at state-owned and private schools," Djami said.

The decision shows the legislators' insensitivity toward teachers and their difficult lives, he said. "We have never been given allowances but we survive off our monthly salary from the government."

Government told to offer easy health access

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2007

Jakarta – Health experts are pressing the government to provide easier access to health services in order to meet the needs of the poor in Indonesia, as required by the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"The government should not only provide the public with easy access to health services in terms of distance, facilities and adequate free treatment for those who cannot afford it," Hasbullah Thabrany, head of the Association of South East Asian Public Health Education, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He added that the most crucial health problems included in the MDGs list were maternal and child mortality, with an emphasis on getting expectant mothers to get regular check ups.

"Most of the mothers do not get checked during their pregnancies because they don't have enough money, so they don't know if there's something wrong with the pregnancy," Hasbullah said.

Stand Up and Speak Out events to highlight the importance of the MDGs were held in 24 cities nationwide Wednesday.

Laura Guarenti from the World Health Organization said that much was still to be done to reach the MDG maternal health targets. "The problems usually occur during and after the delivery process, and 65 percent of the process still happens at home," she told the Post.

She added that besides maternal mortality, the death rate for newborns was also quite high. "Access to emergency services for pregnant women and the procurement of obstetrical equipment are things that should be taken to reduce the maternal and infant mortality," Laura said.

According to the United Nations Development Program, Indonesia's maternal mortality rate in 2004 was the highest among Southeast Asia countries, with 307 deaths per 100,000 live births.

The MDGs for the health sector include the reduction of child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Other goals are to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and to empower women, as well as ensuring environmental sustainability.

Azrul Azwar of the Medical School at the University of Indonesia said in order to reduce the number of malaria cases and communicable diseases, the government should focus on preventive action along with treatment.

"The most important thing is prevention, which can be done through strengthening the function of public health centers, or puskesmas, and holding training programs involving the public," he said.

Azrul added that instead of waiting for patients to come to them, health centers should also approach the public and hold effective campaigns on communicable and vector-carried diseases.

Hasbullah said such campaigns must be conducted in more colorful ways so that the message got across. In 2004, Indonesia had the highest rate of malaria in Asia, with 1.9 million people infected.

Land/rural issues

Kalla backs hybrid rice to increase food stock

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2007

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Trimurjo, Central Lampung – Vice President Jusuf Kalla says Indonesia must embrace hybrid rice to improve rice production and strengthen national food reserves.

"The government's decision to introduce hybrid rice varieties through the private sector hopes to improve the economic livelihood of farmers and the country's rice production so that Indonesia will no longer rely on imported rice to supply national food stocks," he said Wednesday in a dialogue with farmers.

Kalla was inaugurating a 30-hectare integrated hybrid rice research center belonging to PT Sumber Alam Sutra (SAS). The firm is one of 18 private companies developing Chinese-developed hybrid rice varieties in the country.

The Vice President said with shrinking farmland, Indonesia had to promote the use of hybrid rice, intensify farming technology and multiply harvests to allow the country to double rice production levels from 5 to 10 million tons a year within the next two years.

Kalla also defended rice imports, which he said ensured national stocks and stabilized the local market price of rice.

"We import some two million tons of rice annually from Vietnam and Thailand to cover the annual deficit because the domestic production of five million tons is not enough to meet national needs," he said.

Kalla added that stocks of rice, palm oil and sugar – the three basic commodities – were maintained to avoid political instability.

He said that while the seeds were being imported, the use of hybrid rice varieties stood to benefit farmers and the country by alleviating rice imports.

"It is better for us to import seeds than rice, to save our foreign exchange," he said, adding that Vietnam and Thailand export rice to Indonesia using seeds imported from China.

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono, accompanying Kalla at the dialogue, said that with the new rice program, Indonesia aimed to produce seven million tons of rice in 2009 and reach rice self- sufficiency by 2013.

"Under an MOU signed in 2005, China also agreed to transfer farming technology including the breeding of new hybrid varieties to eliminate Indonesia's dependence on seed imports," he said.

PT SAS has a partnership program with farmers using a soft-loan scheme from private and state banks.

PT SAS president director Babay Chalimi said Tuesday his company would provide seed, fertilizer and technical guidance and farmers would provide the land.

He said under the program farmers were entitled to eight tons of rice a hectare each harvest, while the remainder would be split evenly between the farmers and the company.

On Monday, farming NGO Biotani Indonesia Foundation urged the government to postpone the hybrid rice program, saying it would burden farmers. Biotani executive director Riza Tjahjadi warned Indonesia could experience a "suicide phenomenon" among farmers, as occurred in India, should the government go ahead with the plan.

India opened its seed sector to global agribusiness firms in 1998. As a result, traditional farm seeds were replaced with genetically engineered seeds requiring repurchase each growing season, which led to poverty and severe debt among farmers.

Government should rethink the use of hybrid rice

Jakarta Post - October 16, 2007

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government should stop a plan to introduce the wide use of a modified, high-tech rice hybrid as it will burden farmers, a farming NGO said Monday.

"The government should carry out research on the impacts of weather anomalies, which are more frequent due to climate change," executive director of Biotani Indonesia Foundation, Riza Tjahjadi told The Jakarta Post. "The government must also reveal results of the study to farmers."

Riza, a member of the International Planning Committee Right to Food Working Group, made the statement ahead of World Food Day which is to be celebrated Tuesday. More than 150 countries observe World Food Day, which falls every Oct. 16.

The Agriculture Ministry is set to push the use of hybrid rice in an effort to boost the country's yield production to meet the local demand for rice. According to the plan, more than 181,121 hectares of prime rice fields, mainly in East Java, will begin using the hybrid rice this year.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono marked the plan by planting the hybrid rice seed during a ceremony in Gorontalo earlier this year.

Agriculture Minister Anton Apriantono said Indonesia was expected to harvest 58.18 million tons of unhusked rice this year, or a 6.4 percent increase from the 54.66 million tons in 2006. The government has set a 61.09 million ton target for rice production in 2008.

Riza warned Indonesia could experience a suicide phenomenon among farmers, as occurred in India, should the government go ahead with the plan.

India opened its seed sector to global agribusiness firms in 1998. As a result, traditional farm seeds were replaced with genetically-engineered seeds requiring repurchase for each growing season, which lead to poverty and severe debt among farmers.

The independent Human Rights Law Network, which researched suicide among farmers, believes more than 10,000 farmers in the important farming states of Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh committed suicide over the last five years. Riza said most of the seeds were imported from China, India and the Philippines.

"Seeds from a hybrid rice harvest cannot be saved and planted in the following planting season, forcing farmers to buy new seeds the next season, and the season after that, and so on," he said.

He said a kilogram of hybrid seeds cost some Rp 50,000 (US$5.49) per kilogram, far higher than inbred varieties at Rp 7,000 per kg. "Hybrid rice is not suitable for our poor farmers. They are not ready for high-tech, hybrid rice," Riza said.

Elections/political parties

Six KPU members installed, one left out

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2007

Irawaty Wardany and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Jakarta/Malang – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono inaugurated six of seven new members of the General Election Commission (KPU) at the State Palace on Tuesday.

Attending the ceremony were Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Cabinet ministers and leaders of state institutions such as House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono.

"The President received seven names submitted by the House of Representatives but will inaugurate only six of them," Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto told reporters at a press conference before the ceremony.

The six are Abdul Hafiz Anshary, Sri Nuryanti, Endang Sulastri, I Gusti Putu Artha, Andi Nurpati and Abdul Aziz.

The seventh member, Syamsul Bahri, currently a suspect in a corruption case in Malang, East Java, has been told to settle "his personal problems first," said Mardiyanto.

The election of Samsul as a KPU member created a controversy because soon after the House voted for him, the Attorney General's Office announced that Samsul was a suspect in a corruption case involving the development of a sugar industrial area, in which Syamsul was head consultant.

Syamsul, a professor of agriculture at Brawijaya University, sent a letter to the President asking that his inauguration be postponed.

Mardiyanto said the President has ordered Attorney General Hendarman Supandji to speed up the investigation of Syamsul's case. Hendarman said the prosecutors had questioned Syamsul at 10 p.m. on Tuesday. "I hope the dossier will be complete today (Tuesday) so we can start the prosecution next week," he said.

Separately, deputy chairman of House Commission II overseeing home affairs, Idrus Marham, said that the House agreed with the president's decision to install only six KPU members.

"The (2007 General Elections) Law does not ban installing (only) six members of the KPU," he said as quoted by detik.com newsportal Tuesday. Besides, he added, considering the KPU's heavy work load, it needed new members as soon as possible.

Idrus further said that the commission has decided to discuss Syamsul's case after the House resumes on Nov. 5. "We will discuss it in the commission after recess, but we should clarify his legal status first," he said.

He added that the postponement of Samsul's inauguration did not mean that the commission would replace him with another candidate.

Meanwhile, legal consultancy chairman at the People's Service Institution of Bridge University, Adami Chazawi, said the case involving Samsul had been exaggerated and he had not yet been named a suspect.

"This is just an administrative error because Pak Samsul as the chairman of the consultancy of the project at that time did his job properly and we can prove that," he said.

Golkar in the gates but staying steady

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The Golkar Party's political engine is up an running on every level ahead of the 2009 elections, but the party seems determined to maintain political stability by refusing to announce its presidential candidates.

Golkar deputy chairman and House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono said at a press conference Monday the party's planned leadership meeting on November 22 to 24 would evaluate its performance in the past three years rather than nominating presidential candidates.

"Golkar's political machine is working to prepare the necessary hardware, particularly better political laws... to make it ready for the presidential elections," Agung said. "Compared to other parties, Golkar is the most prepared in terms of networking and human resources."

Agung said the meeting would evaluate Golkar's election-winning team by focusing on internal consolidation. "During the meeting, the team is expected to unveil the party's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats ahead of the legislative and presidential polls," he said.

"The central executive board will also listen to aspirations from regional party executives on how the legislative election should be anticipated and how the party should design its strategy to win the presidential election."

Agung said Golkar would not name its presidential candidates because it was politically tied up with its position as well as party chairman Jusuf Kalla – also the country's vice president.

"The meeting will set a new mechanism to net presidential candidates. And Golkar is expected to remain open for outside political figures to be nominated for the presidential race."

But he said the party had yet to decide on a possible coalition with other parties in the lead up to the elections.

Taufik Kiemas, chief patron of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said recently PDI-P had formed a so-called National League with Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) to win the presidential election.

PDI-P has nominated its chairwoman and Taufik's wife Megawati Soekarnoputri for the presidential race. Former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso has also announced his readiness to be nominated by political parties.

Priyo Budisantoso, chairman of the Golkar faction at the House, said Golkar was committed to building a better party system in the future by allowing parties to have business units to reduce financial dependency on the state.

"Golkar and other major parties are fighting to raise the electoral threshold to five percent from the current three percent and to impose a legislative threshold to build a strong legislature and government in the future," Priyo said.

"All the concepts around the political bills will be discussed (before being) disseminated to party functionaries at the subdistrict level."

But outspoken Golkar legislator Yuddy Chrisnandi said he and many other functionaries would propose the meeting focus on four main agendas including the evaluation of the party's performance in the past three years, Golkar's position in the government and listing candidates for the legislative and presidential elections.

"It is better for Golkar to name its presidential candidates now. Not only to prepare them but to let the public get to know them," he said. "The meeting should also decide whether or not a convention will be held to net Golkar's presidential candidates."

Yuddy said in addition to Kalla, Golkar had other potential presidential candidates including Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, former party chairman Akbar Tandjung and National Resilience Institute Governor Muladi.

Golkar told to beware of Democratic Party voters

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2007

Alfian, Jakarta – The Golkar Party could win the 2009 general elections but it needs to be on the alert for the possible loss of voters to the Democratic Party (PD), observers said Sunday.

Saiful Mujani, executive director of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), said that the PD has enjoyed a significant increase in popularity in the last three years.

"Golkar's voters have similar characteristics to those of the PD. It is possible that the PD could take some of Golkar's voters," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

"The PD's popularity does not depend on its own movement, but rather on the performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is the PD's chief patron and founder."

Saiful said although the PD would only make the top three in 2009, its votes would determine who actually won the 2009 poll. "The battle between Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to get the most votes will depend on the PD's votes," he said.

Saiful, however, said that Golkar was still more likely to win. "Since 2004, we have conducted more than 10 surveys on the popularity of the political parties and they showed that Golkar is more frequently ahead," he said.

Political observer Indria Samego from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) drew similar conclusions.

"Golkar has more experience and a stronger political machine," he told the Post on Sunday. "Golkar is the only party to have a structure which reaches even the villages."

Indria added that Golkar had good human resources at all levels of its structure. "A lot of Golkar members are elected as regional chief executives."

Speaking at a ceremony to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the party on Saturday, Golkar chairman Jusuf Kalla was confident that the party would win the 2009 poll.

"All of Golkar's elements demonstrate high solidity. Nobody expresses different principles and goals other than those of the party," he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Kalla, also the Vice President, held a teleconference with five Golkar provincial chapter chairmen. During his trip to Padang, West Sumatra over the weekend, Kalla said that Golkar planned to get 30 percent of the vote in 2009.

Saiful, however, said he doubted the party would succeed. "Golkar has not demonstrated a significant boost in its popularity," he said, adding that 25 percent of the vote would be a very good result for Golkar.

Saiful said Golkar could not rely on Kalla's performance to increase its popularity.

"Kalla's performance as Vice President will benefit the President and consequently the PD," he said. "Golkar should mobilize its strong members outside Java to increase positive sentiment toward Golkar."

Saiful said Kalla's recent whirlwind tour of nine provinces in Sulawesi and Sumatra was in aid of this.

"Golkar should also strengthen its voters in West Java province who are numerous but also more flexible and rational in picking a party," he said.

"West Java is a critical area. Whoever wins this province will highly determine the winner in national level. Both Golkar and PDI-P have to make an all-out effort in the province."

Sutiyoso approaches parties for presidency

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2007

Jakarta – Former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso said Sunday that he had approached several political parties in line with his plans to contest the 2009 presidential election.

The parties included the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB). "The reason is because these parties need to set up a coalition to enable them to run in the presidential election," Sutiyoso said at an Idul Fitri gathering at the residence of PAN chairman Soetrisno Bachir. "Big parties might nominate their own chairman to run for presidency."

Tempointeraktif newsportal reported that Sutiyoso said he had also made a series of visits during the Idul Fitri celebrations to seek support ahead of the election.

"I visited former presidents Soeharto, Megawati Soekarnoputri, BJ Habibie and Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid and president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," he said.

President told to install KPU members

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2007

Alfian and Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Although criticizing the selection process for the General Elections Commission (KPU), observers said Thursday the President should install the new members immediately.

"The new KPU members have a very limited time and a lot of work is awaiting them for the 2009 general election," said Jeirry Sumampow, national coordinator of the People's Voter Education Network.

Executive director of the Centre for Electoral Reform, Hadar N Gumay, said the government was already behind schedule in putting the new members in place.

"The KPU for the 2004 elections was established in 2001. This new KPU will only have one-and-a-half years to prepare for the 2009 elections," he said.

Both observers said internal consolidation should be the first order of business for the KPU. "They have to select a secretary- general and reformulate their internal structure to be simpler, as recommended by the legislature," said Jeirry.

KPU members are not only responsible for managing national elections, but also formulating regulations related to regional elections. "Even time for breathing will be a luxury for the KPU members," said Hadar.

The process of picking KPU members has been strongly criticized, particularly the selection of Syamsul Bahri, who has been named a suspect in a graft case.

Syamsul submitted a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week requesting clarification of his legal status and asking that his swearing-in as a KPU member be postponed, Home Minister Mardiyanto said.

"The President will take the matter seriously, communicating intensively on it with all parties concerned," the home minister said after a meeting with Yudhoyono, State Secretary Hatta Radjasa and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji.

"The government will do what is appropriate and needed, and does not intend to become involved in a blame game with any party. The President has asked the attorney general to expedite the legal process regarding him (Syamsul), and we will communicate with everyone necessary."

Mardiyanto however said no decision had been made concerning the swearing-in of the new KPU members.

Jeirry said the members should be installed immediately, regardless of the status of Syamsul. "I think Syamsul should be eliminated from the list and replaced by the eighth person on the list," he said.

The seven new members of the KPU was selected by members of the House of Representatives' Commission II overseeing home affairs. Syamsul ranked fifth among the 20 candidates. In eighth place was Saut Hamonangan Sirait, who received 21 votes from commission members.

Jeirry said replacing Syamsul with Saut was both legal and important for the KPU's credibility. He said Syamsul's presence on the KPU would just prove to be an added distraction and burden for the poll body. "The KPU would have to handle his legal case as well."

Hadar said dropping Syamsul would only create a new problem. "House members who supported Syamsul would bring up this issue. He personally could also bring a case over the decision and we would have an endless debate," he said.

Hadar said the President could just install six members of the KPU and postpone a decision on Syamsul until his legal status was clarified. While acknowledging that six members was not ideal, Hadar said this was the best option at the moment.

PDI-P centralized decision making hinders autonomy

Jakarta Post - October 19, 2007

Ary Hermawan, Denpasar – The decision of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to leave up to the national party leadership the nomination of a candidate for the 2008 gubernatorial election in Bali is detrimental to the autonomy of the party locally, a political analyst says.

"In the framework of regional autonomy, democracy means the establishment of a local government that is based on regional politics and supported by the people in the region, not a local government decided upon and selected by the party's elites at the national level," a political analyst from Udayana University, Dewa Gede Atmadja, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

PDI-P, which received more than 50 percent of the Bali vote in the 2004 general election, is considered the most effective political vehicle for the 2008 governor's race.

With 11 people – from within and outside the party – officially registered for the gubernatorial poll, competition for the PDI-P ticket is heating up.

However, at a meeting last month PDI-P Bali decided not to endorse any of the hopefuls. Instead, to avoid internal friction, they decided to leave the nomination to a mechanism to be designated by the party's national leadership and its chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Dewa said the decision indicated PDI-P was still plagued by internal division and that the move was necessary to avoid further weakening the party's political base in Bali. He said the move was aimed at preventing division. "I think they are doing it for efficiency's sake."

A number of governor hopefuls were said to have met with Megawati during her Idul Fitri vacation in Bali. Approval from Megawati is seen as the key to the PDI-P ticket and the holiday visits are interpreted by some as lobbying or perhaps even a gesture on the part of Megawati.

Mangku Pastika – an independent who is hoping to become the PDI-P candidate – is reported to have met with Megawati at a villa in Blahbatuh, Gianyar regency, on Monday. Some have speculated that the former Bali Police chief has won the backing of the former president of Indonesia.

Pastika admitted to having a breakfast meeting with Megawati but denied having discussed nomination of a candidate for the gubernatorial race. "No, we have not yet (discussed the issue)," he said.

Meanwhile, Megawati told PDI-P members in a speech that it would not be easy to obtain her support.

Wayan Sudirta, Nyoman Suwisma and I Wayan Wita – who are also seeking PDI-P backing but do not belong to the party – described the Blahbatuh encounter as "an ordinary non-political meeting" but also said that the PDI-P chairwoman should be careful in choosing a candidate because the party's reputation was at stake in the election.

"I believe that Megawati has her own standard for choosing a potential candidate," Wayan Sudirta told the Post.

He said the key issues for Balinese voters had not jelled and that it was difficult to get consistent survey results. However, he said that "if PDI-P picks the wrong candidate, it will face a defeat in the election".

A political analyst from Warmadewa University, Nyoman Wiratmadja, said that the Pastika-Megawati meeting might have no political significance, but that it would be only natural for other candidates to feel unsettled. "It's normal that people might wonder whether a routine meeting might be connected with an upcoming regional election. "One thing is for sure – Megawati has not issued a recommendation."

Referring to the intervention of the national party in local politics, Jakarta-based political analyst Adrinof Chaniago said that PDI-P was sitting on its own time bomb and had ignored the aspirations of the grassroots.

"It may result in open conflict in the future. It is also quite odd the local elites of PDI-P party – which is the strongest party in Bali – are not yet autonomous."

Kalla hits road, earns praise

Jakarta Post - October 16, 2007

Alfian, Jakarta – Vice President Jusuf Kalla is earning praise for a planned Idul Fitri tour of nine provinces, while observers wonder if the Golkar Party chairman is laying the groundwork for a run at the presidency in 2009.

Observers acknowledge it is impossible to know what Kalla is discussing during his high-profile meetings as he makes the rounds of the country. "For all we know he might just be conveying greetings from the President," political scholar Indra J. Piliang told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Political observer Muhammad Qodari said Kalla's visits would have a positive impact on Indonesian politics. "He has made an effort to cool down the political tension which increased during Ramadhan," Qodari told Detik.com online news agency.

On Monday, Kalla organized an open house for the public in his hometown of Makassar in South Sulawesi.

Many people in the province are proud of the sizable number of native sons and daughters, mainly businesspeople, who have succeeded on the national political stage.

Kalla's visit to nine provinces comes after he paid courtesy calls in Jakarta on former presidents and vice presidents over the first two days of Idul Fitri. It is still unclear, however, whether Kalla is acting in his capacity as Vice President or Golkar chairman.

Regarding the visits to former presidents Soeharto, B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri, Indra said they could be seen as smart and effective planning for the presidential election in 2009.

Given the Idul Fitri spirit of forgiving one another, "nobody can refuse visits at the moment", regardless of any suspicion of political interests, he said. "It is exactly the right time to build consolidation among elites for 2009," Indra said.

However, he said, "Polls show Kalla trailing far behind Yudhoyono if the election took place now, and I think Kalla is fully aware of this."

The latest poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute found Yudhoyono still far ahead of Kalla among potential voters. Of 1,300 respondents, 66 percent said they would vote for Yudhoyono, while only 15 percent said they would cast ballots for Kalla. Another 19 percent were undecided.

In contrast to Kalla's rounds, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spent the first day of Idul Fitri on Saturday meeting with regular citizens.

Indra said Kalla's visits had the potential to win him political support from a wide variety of groups.

"By visiting Megawati he could approach nationalist groups and by visiting Gus Dur he could reach Nahdliyin masses," Indra said, referring to members of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, which was previously led by Gus Dur.

On Tuesday, Kalla is scheduled to visit Central Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi and North Sulawesi provinces, followed by a visit to nearby Gorontalo on Wednesday before flying to Lampung. On Thursday, Kalla will head to South Sumatra and Bengkulu provinces, ending his trip on Friday in West Sumatra.

Indra said time would tell the effects of Kalla's efforts. "We do not now what will happen next."

Nevertheless, Indra does not believe the current actions of Kalla and others politicians will disturb government unity over the next two years.

He said the current situation was different from the last elections in 2004. "The competition was rather secret back then but now it is quite a fair play."

Government/civil service

SBY running out of time to improve

Jakarta Post - October 24, 2007

Jakarta – A political expert warned Tuesday that it might be too late for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to improve his performance in key sectors before the 2009 elections.

"The perfect period for Yudhoyono to improve conditions in this country was from January to December of this year, but so far nothing's fully working," Syamsuddin Haris from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences told The Jakarta Post.

He said that during Yudhoyono's first three years in office, the country had failed to properly manage the sectors with the most influence on people's lives.

"The macro economy, including inflation and currency rate, have seen improvement. Unfortunately, this is not reflected in the micro-economic system, with problems like poverty, lack of job creation and rising unemployment remaining," Syamsuddin told a discussion on the results of a survey evaluating Yudhoyono's performance.

"It will be harder for the government to improve things now, because focus will be difficult to achieve ahead of the 2009 election. Political maneuvering at this point will affect the entire government," he said.

The survey, conducted by Airlangga University in Surabaya, found that most people were not satisfied with the job done by Yudhoyono, despite perceived advances in the security, health services and education sectors.

Like previous surveys, the Airlangga poll indicated that, if the election were held this year, Yudhoyono and Megawati Soekarnoputri would be facing off again with no new faces on the horizon.

"If the final battle were between Yudhoyono and Megawati, that would only plunge the country into an alarming situation and highlight the failure of political parties to bring any improvement to the country," Syamsuddin said.

Although the elections are still two years away, politicians are already maneuvering for leverage in both the upcoming legislative and presidential races.

For example, the Golkar Party will hold a leadership meeting from Nov. 22 to 24 which will evaluate the party's ability to win the election and focus on internal consolidation in preparation for that campaign.

As well, the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) has announced that it has formed a coalition – the National League – comprising of Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) to win the 2009 presidential election.

Speaking at the discussion, Anas Urbaningrum of the Democratic Party said that even in the face of political maneuvers that might threaten the stability of the government, both Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla would continue working together until 2009.

Syamsuddin said it was unlikely that Yudhoyono and Kalla would become partners again in 2009 because Golkar – which the survey predicted would win the next general elections – would not let its chairman continue to be merely the number two person in the country.

"Besides, it would be more effective for Yudhoyono in running the government if he changed his partner, although that person would still probably come from Golkar."

Economists concerned over 'window dressing'

Tempo Interactive - October 23, 2007

Agus Supriyanto, Jakarta – The economists are concerned that the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla's government will conduct "window dressing" to enhance the economic report within the remaining two years of their administration.

An economist from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Sri Adiningsih, said the economic performance in three years of the Yudhoyono- Kalla administration is still far from expectations. "Even from their promises during the past campaign," she told Tempo, Sunday (21/10).

Politically, said Sri Adiningsih, window dressing may imply the government managed to reach its targets. This kind of thing, she said, is often carried out by a company's board of directors at the end of its work period so that the financial report appears good from the outside.

Sri Adiningsih cited the window dressing techniques include expanding the expenditure budget for social aid programs. By allocating Rp70 trillion for social aid, for example, the government can distribute Rp2 million per person per year and ask the receiver to achieving a certain economic activity.

"Those who receive the government's cash assistance and work an hour a week, according to statistics, can be considered as moving out of poverty. With Rp70 trillion, by statistics the government will elevate 35 million out of poverty. But that's only window dressing," said Sri Adiningsih. "The fact is they're still poor."

A member of the House's Finance and Banking Commission, Drajad H. Wibowo, also agreed with this. The former Institute for Development of Economics and Finance economist also stated he saw many methods can be used by the ruling regime to conduct window dressing.

He cited the method included the government's effort to have more social aid programs sourced from the State Budget, such as the Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) or providing credit without collateral.

Budget Committee Chairman, Emir Moeis viewed the government has forced itself to build a self-image by enhancing its performance. He also agreed that window dressing is really happening. "Just look at the allocated social expenditure of Rp67 trillion," he said.

Indonesian public fed up with Yudhoyono administration - Survey

Kompas - October 22, 2007

Sultani – The public's assessment of the performance of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration over the last year has shown progressive signs that they have had enough. The public is increasingly apathetic towards the measures being taken by government to improve the nation. Enthusiasm for the administration's performance has stagnated, neither improving or declining.

Entering into its 36th month or third year in office, in relative terms the administration has not issued any controversial policies. There have been no challenges against the government so that there have almost been no significant upheavals in society. The government has proceeded very carefully and there has been almost no real progressive breakthrough to improve the condition of the nation.

It is this style of leadership that has made the public reluctant to again give higher levels of trust to the administration. This reluctance is reflected in the publics oblique assessment of President Yudhoyono's style of leadership in resolving the nation's various problems.

This phenomena has been revealed in a number of Kompas surveys that specially focusing on the administration of President Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla over the last three years. The surveys – done periodically every three months – are conducted in order evaluate the government's performance in economics, politics, law enforcement and social welfare.

Rupiah unsteady

The economic issue that has stood out over the last three months still revolves around the problems of inflation and the rate of exchange of the rupiah, which of late has been unsteady. The public feels that inflation is linked with increases in the price of basic goods and commodities (sembako) during the fasting month and the Lebaran holidays.

Only 22.9 percent of respondents feel satisfied with government policies to maintain the stability of the price of goods and services. Meanwhile 76.2 percent of respondents are dissatisfied with the government's price stabilisation policies.

This figure is not very different from that that expressed by respondents in previous surveys conducted over a the last three to nine months. Over the three surveys that were organised, it revealed that only 20 percent of respondents are satisfied with the Yudhoyono administration's performance in controlling the price of goods and services. Whereas one year ago, as many as 30.7 percent of respondents still gave a positive response.

The other economic issue that is still susceptible to economic stability is the problem of the a rate of exchange of the rupiah against the US dollar. Since the economic crisis brought the country to its knees ten years ago, the exchange rate of the rupiah against the US dollar has continued to fluctuate. Yudhoyono's three predecessors also experienced similar problem in stabilizing the exchange rate.

Around 37 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the government's current performance in defending the exchange value of the rupiah while 53.9 percent are still dissatisfied. Respondent's level of satisfaction with the strength of the rupiah has stagnated over the last year.

In surveys conducted between three and nine months ago only around 30 percent of respondents were satisfied with the government's performance in strengthening the rupiah.

In general terms, the public's view of the government's performance in improving the national economy is still negative. Only around one out of three (33.6 percent) percent of respondents said they felt positively about the measures the government it taking in the economic filed. More than half (65.3 percent) said they were dissatisfied with the government's economic performance over the last three months.

This dissatisfaction was also recorded in previous surveys over the year. Apparently there has yet to be any significant government policies in the economic field that are able to generate a positive sentiment from the public.

Separatist movements

In the political field, the separatist movements that have sprung up again in recent times have experienced a decline. Legal action taken by the government against those involved in flag raising actions of the South Maluku Republic in Ambon in June were appreciated positively by the public.

Likewise also the accommodative position towards local parties that have been hot news in Aceh, which are seen as having been able to quash demands for independence from these areas. Around 40 percent of respondents commend the Yudhoyono government's efforts in overcoming the threat of national disintegration.

This is a significant improvement compared with three months ago when only 35.3 percent of respondents said they appreciated the governments ability to overcome the threat of national disintegration.

In terms of foreign relations, the Yudhoyono government has won a fair degree of public trust. The government's diplomatic moves in the context of resolving cases of violence that have befallen Indonesian citizens in Malaysia has been very sympathetically received by the public. This is revealed from the 44.5 percent of respondents who said they were satisfied with the government's diplomatic efforts. Although this is still less than half, it is a small increase in comparison with a similar evaluation three months ago, which had then plummeted to only 39 percent.

Eradication of corruption

The administration's legal record over the last three months however is not as bright as its achievements in the political field. The government's tardiness in following up on the findings of the World Bank and the United Nations on the issue of former President Suharto's wealth overseas is a sign of the government's lack of seriousness in dealing with those who commit corruption. President Yudhoyono's stand on the eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) appears to have only been aggressive in the early period of his administration. The majority of respondents have a cynical view of the government's performance in dealing with KKN. Only 30 percent of respondents still gave a positive response to the government's efforts to eradicate KKN.

In addition to this, public safely problems are still considered to be an important issue for the public. Although admittedly the number of terrorist incidents has been far less over the last few years, the government has still unable to ensure there are no threats against public safety.

The frequently at which child abduction cases have been taking place recently has resulted in the public's sense of safety being progressively undermined because of the threat of crime. Although 34.6 percent of respondents said they felt satisfied with the government's efforts to deal with crime, 45.4 percent still believe that the government has not been able to provide an optimal sense of safety to the public.

The various assessments by respondents in the survey this time round may be liked with the public's decline in trust with regard to President Yudhoyono's ability to lead the administration. Since becoming president three years ago, the public's trust of Yudhoyono has tended to decline in concert with the length of his administration. Moreover promises made during his presidential election campaign now appear to be just that, promises.

Two out of three respondents said that up until now the Yudhoyono administration has yet to turn promises to improve the economy, politics, justice and social welfare into a reality. The irony being that at a time when these promises are not being fulfilled there are a number of figures in the administration that have instead stated their ambition to nominate themselves as presidential candidates for the 2009 general elections. (Kompas Research and Development)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Yudhoyono given 'mediocre' grade by observer

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2007

Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's three years in office have yielded only mediocre results in the fields of the economy, public service and law enforcement, political experts say.

Boni Hargens of the University of Indonesia said Yudhoyono's only real success had been in maintaining stability.

"He has managed to maintain the country's stability by at least minimizing the effects of the separatist movements threatening Indonesia, although some of them are not resolved yet," he told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said the public had expected much more from Yudhoyono when he first took office three years ago.

"The biggest problem in Yudhoyono's presidency is the lack of focus and priority. The economic sector is a model example of the unclear manner in which he runs the country," Boni said.

According to Boni, the people's needs should be the basis of the country's economic blueprint, as demanded in the Constitution, yet Indonesia has adopted a market economy.

"The rescinding of the fuel subsidy is an example of why a people-based economy is only effective" on paper, he said.

A retired Army general, Yudhoyono won the 2004 presidential election to become the country's first directly elected head of state. Yudhoyono received 60.68 percent of the 153 million votes cast. His closest competitor, Megawati Soekarnoputri, got 39.38 percent.

Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences said there had been a decline in public services dealing with people's welfare during Yudhoyono's administration.

He said a rigid bureaucracy and expensive services, especially in the education and public health sectors, were a burden to the public. "Another factor that has left the country far behind is there are too many ministries, with some that do not function well," he said.

A legal expert from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Denny Indrayana, said that although law enforcement under Yudhoyono was better than in previous presidencies, there were still problems. He pointed out that no concrete action had been taken against former president Soeharto's family members and cronies accused of corruption.

"We cannot make Indonesia a corruption-free country unless we take strong and fast action on the report from the World Bank and the United Nations that lists Soeharto at the top of the most corrupt former leaders in the world, and on corruption cases in Indonesia's defense pillars," Denny told the Post.

A recent poll by the Indonesia Survey Institute found that if a presidential election was held this year, Yudhoyono would likely win reelection. The poll found Yudhoyono's closest competition was still Megawati.

"In the past three years he has managed to maintain his popularity," Boni said. "But if he's not able to improve his performance in the next two years, then I would drop his grade from a C to C minus, meaning that it would not be appropriate for him to be Indonesia's president again."

Jakarta/urban life

Let jobless newcomers in the city: Experts

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2007

Mustaqim Adamrah, Jakarta – Jakarta administration has been criticized for raids aimed at preventing arriving migrants trying their luck in the city.

University of Indonesia public policy analyst Andrinof Chaniago and sociologist Imam Prasodjo said Friday the city administration was violating human rights by conducting the crackdowns.

Each year unskilled migrants, usually arriving alone or accompanying returning relatives after the Idul Fitri break, are caught by the administration in a bid to "prevent them from burdening" the economic hub.

"Population raids obviously violate Indonesian human rights laws and the amended Constitution which guarantees all Indonesians the right to live and to work wherever they choose," Andrinof told The Jakarta Post. "Shamefully, the city administration defies the fact that it's breaching the law," he said.

Andrinof said the administration should let the labor market determine whether to deal with the migrants. "It is the labor market that determines whether unskilled migrants will be hired by businesses or not. Police are there if they commit crimes. The administration should leave these people alone," Andrinof said.

Both men said, based on their analyses, raids were a waste of city budget given that "the legitimacy and effectiveness of population raids is unmistakably questionable". "The policy to evict unemployed migrants is arrogant and lacks knowledge of how best to govern," Andrinof said.

They said the key to overcoming such issues is by taking the matter to a national level and by working hand-in-hand with the government and regional administrations from where the migrants come. "It's only natural for people to migrate when no work is available where they are," Imam said.

Andrinof said the government should "improve the economy in regions where the number of available jobs continually decreases and the average working age increases".

The administration is likely to start raids on Oct. 28. "We have yet to decide on (the date of) the population raids. Perhaps 15 days after Idul Fitri would be suitable," Governor Fauzi Bowo said.

According to the Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Agency the number of new migrants entering Jakarta was 180,356 in 2004, 180,767 in 2005 and 81,850 in 2006. According to the city's Social Welfare and Self-Development Agency, the number of people captured in population raids reached 14,191 in 2005, 17,027 in 2006 and 9,891 as of August this year.

The ballad of a scavenger from Indramayu

Kompas - October 19, 2007

... Congratulations to our leaders
the people's prosperity is ensured...

B. Josie Susilo Hardianto – While young people of his own age race by on motorbikes and others shout and yell from passing busses and open trucks, welcoming in the Idul Fitri holiday at the end of the fasting month, Aji (15) sits on his rubbish cart, staring at them with empty eyes.

As a way to relax, now and then he bangs an old plastic bottle on the walls of the cart that he normally uses to carry the things he finds from scavenging rubbish. "Don't know what to do, don't know what to do!", he cries banging the bottle.

That night, on the last day of the fasting month, he mumbles, "I'm not going back to my home village. I don't have the money to return home to Indramayu". After a whole day of effort, Aji together with Anto and Ichwan, his companions and fellow scavengers, were only able to make 10,000 rupiah. "Just for one meal that's not enough for three, let along money to go home", said Anto.

Longing for home

Eventually, along with other scavengers, they tried to win some sympathy from local people waiting on the side of the road. It isn't surprising that from dawn to dusk and all through the night of Idul Fitri, the various the elite areas of the city are crowded with scavenger's carts parked in rows along the length of the sidewalks.

They keep watch beside the rubbish cards hoping for some kindness from residents busy celebrating the Lebaran holidays. Children who they usually put to sleep in the rubbish cart, will sleep on the pavement tonight, lying on a piece of cardboard or straw mat covered with a thin piece of batik cloth, the sky overhead as their roof.

"There are people who will give away food or money", said Anto. It is this annual blessing that they are waiting for tonight, the only attraction available if they are not able to get enough to cover the cost of returning home.

But in their hearts, it will never truly replace the desire to return home. Anto recalls his younger brother who he left behind a year ago. He also remembers his father, a farm labourer.

And the darkness of the night, dimly lit by street lights, isn't able to cover his eyes shining with tears. He takes breath only to quickly let it out again. He tries hard not to let sadness overwhelm him.

When will he return home? His eyes cloud over, as if lost in though, as he watches a young person standing on a truck waiving Indonesia's red-and-white flag. "Who knows, Brother. I don't know when I'll be able to go home. I want to work first, because there's no work in the village. If there's no work, it means there's no money for food", said Anto who was only able to attend primary school up to fifth grade.

That night, he's hoping there may be a bit of luck, alms from residents who are enjoying the holiday. But aside from alms or people's generosity, who knows what else he and other scavengers can possibly hope for. What is clear though, is that on this Idul Fitri, the people working the streets in Jakarta are the window into the poverty that is not just the capital city, but the face of Indonesia.

Urbanisation

Every day, more and more new scavengers come to Jakarta from rural villages. Trying their luck in the same area, having to share the rubbish around, sometimes fighting over it. But the alternative of surviving in their home villages is something they must think twice, three time about.

Rice fields are progressively shrinking and income as a farm labourer is not enough, even just to eat every day. In the end, Jakarta, which from afar appears like a huge radiant light, become their goal.

In the city, Anto and his fellow scavengers who have come from all across Indonesia support themselves with garbage, trying to survive the crashing surf that is Jakarta, without having to sacrifice themselves until they too become refuse. For those that are able to survive, poverty does indeed press in on them from all sides, but it does not mislead them. "I still tried to fast", said Ichwan.

Government policy

In a press conference held to evaluate three years under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Executive Director of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), Saiful Mudjani said that over the last three years, the president's popularity has steadily declined, although compared with other leading figures, he is still surpasses his rivals.

One of the causes of the decline in his popularity is dissatisfaction over his administration's performance, which continues to deteriorate. Poverty, unemployment and the price of basic goods and commodities (sembako) are the basic economic problems that to this day, have still not been overcome.

On the other hand meanwhile, corruption continues and in the most recent cases has even involved law enforcement officials. According to a survey by LSI, it indicated that Yudhoyono is being abandoned by his voters, particularly among the middle- and lower-social groups, who up till now have yet to enjoy the benefits of development.

They are the group that find it difficult to get an education, healthcare services and access to the benefits of economic growth. Conversely, it is precisely they who have been most weighed down by government policies that fail to side with their interests, such as the conversion of kerosene to LPG for household cooking. How is it possible for these people to buy LPG in small qualities like retailed kerosene?

Although there is a policy of free education, books have never been provided free. Whereas not all parents have the money to buy them.

It is not surprising therefore that many young people such as Aji, Ichwan and Anto drop out of school and look for work in big cities like Jakarta, becoming scavengers who even during the Lebaran holidays are unable to return to their home villages.

All this is not just the responsibility of the country's leaders, but all citizens. Over the fasting period people compete to do good deeds and be pious, refraining from doing wrong and sinning. This would a good existence if it was so every single day, throughout the year.

Just suppose each day marked the end of the fasting month and each season was the fasting season... then the world might be a more beautiful place.

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Squatters celebrate Idul Fitri among demolished homes

Jakarta Post - October 18, 2007

Jakarta – While most Muslims celebrated Idul Fitri with their families, others in the city were not so lucky.

Siti Faridah, 37, a squatter who lives on vacant land next to the Jembatan Tiga turnpike in North Jakarta, observed the day alone where her family's small shanty used to stand.

Hundreds of shanties on the land were torn down last week by city officials as part of a plan to evict thousands of squatters from under the city's bridges.

Siti said she would remain living on the land until she received Rp 1 million (approximately US$110) in compensation, even though it meant she would not be able to celebrate Idul Fitri with her family.

"As soon as I receive the money, I will join my husband who has taken my daughter to my parents' home on Celagen Island in the Thousand Islands regency," she said.

She now lives among the debris of her home, with no household equipment except for a stove, a frying pan and a few plates. When night comes, she sleeps on a plaited mat on the ground. "Luckily some of the house was not demolished so I was able to make a roof with canvas," she said.

Rawi, 45, is also staying put under the Jembatan Tiga turnpike until she receives compensation. Unlike other years when she celebrated Idul Fitri by taking her three children to an amusement park or by eating ketupat (rice cooked in plaited coconut leaves), Rawi observed the day silently this year. "I didn't have money to celebrate Lebaran this year," she said.

She used to work as a street vendor, but since the eviction announcement in September she has remained in her shanty around the clock to ensure she does not miss the district survey, which determines who will receive compensation.

"Last year I still could afford to take the kids to Dunia Fantasi," she said, referring to one of the amusement parks at Ancol Dreamland in North Jakarta. "I used any material available to make our demolished home more inhabitable," she said.

What she calls her "home" looks more like a narrow, makeshift tent covered in dark canvas. The family's bedroom is a piece of thin mattress placed next to several boxes containing clothes and household equipment.

"I will take my kids away from here as soon as I get the money that has been promised to me," she said. "We went to Mega Mall (in North Jakarta) yesterday by minivan. The trip was just for fun and we didn't buy anything," said Rawi's daughter Febiola, 9, who was playing nearby.

She was chatting with her friends who shared similar stories of a quiet Idul Fitri.

"I didn't go anywhere during Lebaran. My family has no money," said Rani, 9, while holding her one-year-old sister. "Of course we hoped to go somewhere or to get new clothes to wear during Lebaran, but my parents couldn't afford it, and that's okay," she said.

Transport & communication

Indonesia crash report says pilot ignored warnings

Reuters - October 22, 2007

Adhityani Arga, Jakarta – The pilot of a Garuda Indonesia aircraft that crashed at Yogyakarta airport killing 21 people ignored 15 warnings as he descended too rapidly, a transport safety committee report said on Monday.

The Boeing 737, with 140 people on board, bounced and skidded off the runway before bursting into flames in a rice field in March. Both pilots survived the crash, which happened less than three months after an Adam Air aircraft disappeared with 102 passengers and crew on board.

The accidents prompted the European Union to ban all 51 Indonesian airlines, including Garuda, from its airspace on safety grounds, putting the Southeast Asian nation's air safety record under public scrutiny.

The committee's report said the aircraft "was flown at an excessive airspeed and steep flight path angle during the approach and landing, resulting in an unstabilized approach.

"The pilot in command did not follow company procedures that required him to fly a stabilized approach, and he did not abort the landing and go around when the approach was not stabilized."

The report said that the pilot's attention was "fixated" on landing the aircraft on the runway, and that "he either did not hear, or disregarded the GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System) alerts and warnings and calls from the co-pilot to go around."

Flaws in system

Despite the findings, the transport safety committee refused to attribute the crash to "human error" or "pilot error."

"By calling it so we will blur the attention to the need of improving the Indonesian aviation safety system," Tatang Kurniadi, head of National Transport Safety Committee, told a news conference. "The pilot is not 100 percent at fault, there were flaws in the system that has led to the accident as well."

The report also said rescue and firefighting at the Yogyakarta airport were unable to reach the accident site and lacked the necessary equipment. "The airport emergency plan and its implementation were less than effective," the report said.

Transport Minister Jusman Shafi'i Djamal said the findings of the report could not be used as a basis for a criminal investigation or evidence in court against anybody.

"Based on ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) regulations, the report cannot be used for liabilities so it cannot be used for a police investigation. The report only served the purpose of preventing of future incidents or accidents," Djamal told reporters.

Survivors of the crash have described how the aircraft approached the runway in Yogyakarta at a "crazy" speed.

Five Australians – two policemen, a diplomat, a journalist and an aid official – were among the casualties. They were part of a group that had been accompanying Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who was not on board the plane, on a visit to Indonesia.

Rapid growth in air travel in Indonesia, a country of more than 17,000 islands, has raised questions over whether safety has been compromised and whether the infrastructure and personnel can cope with the huge increase.

Dozens dead as ferry sinks off Sulawesi island

Jakarta Post - October 20, 2007

Hasrul, Kendari – The bodies of 27 people have been recovered after a ferry sank Thursday night off the coast of Baubau in Southeast Sulawesi carrying more than 100 passengers.

Authorities reported the Acita 03 capsized several kilometers from shore around 9 p.m., after dozens of passengers rushed to the roof to get a stronger signal for their cell phones.

The ferry was traveling from the Wakatobi islands in Southeast Sulawesi to Baubau. Most of the passengers were holidaymakers returning from their hometowns after celebrating the Idul Fitri holiday.

As the ship approached Baubau dozens of passengers rushed to the top of the ship to get a cell phone signal so they could call waiting family members.

"There were around 20 of them. They moved to the top because they wanted to get a better signal for their cell phones. They wanted to tell their waiting families they would arrive soon at Baubau," a survivor, Safruddin, said.

Safruddin is being treated at Baubau's hospital for injuries he suffered in the accident. Outside the hospital police officers attempted to calm desperate family members searching for loved ones.

In an alley near the hospital's morgue, Mahmud, 38, sat on the ground quietly crying. Inside the morgue were the bodies of his three children: Wa Eti, 8, Ade Anita, 4, and Dani, 2. His wife, Wa Ida, is still missing.

Mahmud, who works as a newspaper deliveryman in Kendari, and his family were returning from a five-day Idul Fitri holiday in his home village on Tomia island. "I never expected that God would summon them all," he said, tears running down his cheeks.

Police were questioning the ferry's captain, La Boti, Friday afternoon.

The 6-year-old wooden ferry was designed to carry no more than 60 people. Yet during its journey Thursday there were more than 100 people crowded into the vessel. "There were more than 100 passengers," the captain confirmed, without giving further details.

Authorities say they will continue their search Saturday for possible survivors of the accident, as well as for the bodies of victims.

"We will continue combing the offshore area around Baubau. Hopefully, we will find some survivors out there," head of the Kendari search and rescue team, Roky Ashikin, said.

Wakatobi Regent Hugua said the bodies of the victims would be buried in the Baubau public cemetery. "I have talked with Baubau Mayor Amirul Tamim and he agreed with the plan (to bury the victims in Baubau)," he said.

The Wakatobi administration said it would cover the hospital and burial expenses of the victims.

Economy & investment

Indonesia gets emergency free zones

Asia Time - October 24, 2007

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – After years of policy confusion and political gridlock, Indonesia's Parliament this month ratified a government plan to establish full free trade zones (FTZ) for areas of three islands located near Singapore. The move represents the latest bid by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's pro-business administration to attract more badly needed foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country.

His government fast-tracked the policy for the island of Batam, the country's main industrial center, and also parts of Bintan and Karimun, in response to growing regional competition, including from nearby Malaysia's ambitious Iskandar Development Region project, which envisions the establishment of a massive new regional manufacturing hub also aimed at forging linkages with Singapore.

So urgent were those competitive concerns that in June Yudhoyono's government issued a state emergency regulation to amend existing FTZ legislation. Indonesian law requires that any emergency law must be approved by the House of Representatives before it can take effect, while legislation enacted in 2000 stipulates that any area formally designated an FTZ must be backed by law.

Indonesia is ranked 15th, fourth among the five Southeast Asian countries included in the world's top 20 economies most attractive for FDI, according to the just-released World Investment Prospects Survey 2007-2009 FDI. The Investment Coordinating Board reported this month that FDI approvals were up almost threefold to US$33 billion between January and September compared to the same period last year, while actual FDI flows almost doubled to $8.54 billion from $4.29 billion.

Still, compared to its attractiveness with foreign investors before the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, FDI to Indonesia continues to trail several regional rivals – not to mention China and India. Despite a new investment law passed this year that promises equal treatment for foreign and local investors, investor concerns over Indonesia still center on rampant corruption, red tape, poor infrastructure, powerful labor unions, local-autonomy problems and judicial unpredictability.

The new status for the strategically-placed islands aims to counteract some of those poor perceptions. The designation means import taxes, customs and excise duties, value-added tax and luxury goods sales taxes will be completely abolished. The government also plans to establish 11 more special economic zones (SEZ) across the country, using Batam, Bintan and Karimun as prototypes.

Batam has enjoyed limited FTZ status since 1978, entailing investment incentives that included exemption from import duties and income and value-added taxes for all export-oriented industries. Since then the central government's investment in infrastructure in Batam has run over hundreds of millions of dollars, while the island has attracted over 600 foreign companies and billions of dollars worth of foreign investment, including $4.5 billion last year.

Singapore's entrepreneurs, starved of land at home, have in particular been attracted to Batam's unique hybrid free-trade environment and its cheap land and labor. Those advantages afforded Singaporean entrepreneurs one of the best manufacturing, industrial and logistical environments in the region from which to export products globally. Some 70% of the island's economic growth since the early 1980s has come from the export-oriented manufacturing sector.

In 2003, an additional 25 Singaporean companies set up factories on Batam, attracted by tariff advantages in the then upcoming Singapore-United States Free Trade Agreement. The bilateral pact allowed for certain goods, manufactured or assembled on Batam, to qualify as of Singaporean origin and hence enjoy the preferential benefits accorded to a Singapore product. Batam attracted $22.6 million in new investments that year, of which at least half was contributed by the Singaporean companies.

Political snags

However, by 2004 political opposition to Batam's special treatment had mounted with some Indonesian legislators claiming that formalizing FTZ status for the island would run contrary to the spirit of new local autonomy laws, which gave greater administrative powers to local governments.

Batam's investment incentives meant for export industries had been widely abused by local Indonesian companies with no products or services for export. Rampant under-invoicing, manipulation of import duty exemptions and tax breaks sparked resentment among domestic companies operating in areas without FTZ privileges.

President Megawati Sukarnoputri's administration, which held power from 2001 to 2004, promised business leaders in Singapore that Batam's crucial FTZ status would be formalized by April 2003, when Singapore was due to ink its bilateral free-trade pact with the US. Her government wanted official FTZ status to apply only to several separate enclaves or industrial zones that actually required import duty exemptions and tax breaks, to prevent the risk of smuggling into and out of the island.

Before the 2004 elections, which ushered in Yudhoyono, the House of Representatives unilaterally approved a bill that conferred FTZ status on the entire island of Batam. However, the legislation was never enacted as the country's constitution stipulates that both the government and the House must approve a law for it to come into force and the Megawati government rejected it.

Until now, Batam had no legal umbrella for investment activity. The new government had focused more on its own pet project of SEZs across the three islands and other areas, prioritizing local over foreign interests. Local media reports said in June Vice President Jusuf Kalla swung away from the 2004 stance of making the island only an enclave FTZ, and decided on full FTZ status for the entire island of Batam, against the wishes of a special government team dedicated to promoting SEZs.

Meanwhile, security concerns, labor disputes and until now delays in formalizing Batam's FTZ status have all conspired to erode the island's competitiveness. Although security concerns following a series of deadly terrorist attacks since 2002 have now largely abated, concerns about rising wages despite low productivity gains, have escalated not only in Batam but across the whole country.

According to Trade Minister Mari Pangestu, 26 companies shut down operations on the islands between 2004 and 2006, resulting in potential financial losses of $91.9 million and 23,140 lost jobs. Pangestu has been instrumental in pushing for a quick resolution to the prolonged uncertainties over the status of Batam.

More recently, however, Batam's prospects have brightened, particularly following last year's economic cooperation agreement with Singapore to help develop SEZs on the Riau Islands, a newly created province that includes the three islands. The local administration plans for Batam to act as a hub for mechanics, electronics, computing and shipbuilding industries; Bintan for textiles, footwear and tourism; Karimun for shipbuilding, metal, agribusiness and marine product industries.

Combined, the three islands exported goods worth a total of $4.24 billion during 2006, and during the first four months of this year exports soared to $2.19 billion from $1.86 billion in the same period the year before. The Batam Industrial Development Authority has also played a major role in the island's development.

Its pro-business chairman for several years, Ismeth Abdullah, is particularly upbeat about the three islands' economic future, predicting last week that the province would attract up to $15 billion in investment over the next five years, with Singaporean investors contributing some 60% of that total. Singapore, known for its high standards for trade practices, has established similar free trade zones with China and India and is expected to play a major role in key areas of the bilateral cooperation for the FTZs, including customs and excise, immigration, manpower and institutional development.

Labor issues are to be addressed by the establishment of local tripartite labor committees within each FTZ. Kalla has been quoted as saying he wants cooperation between the government, employers and workers at the local level so that problems can be contained and resolved locally before spreading and damaging the overall investment climate.

Since the cooperation agreement with Singapore was inked, deals worth $1.8 billion with 22 companies, including some from Singapore, have been secured in the three SEZS, which are expected to create 50,000 new jobs. Recent news reports indicate another eight Singaporean companies plan to invest a combined $613 million in the areas.

With general elections less than two years away, this should all be good news for Yudhoyono, whose administration is being judging domestically by its ability to spur economic growth and create jobs. Increasing pressure from nationalistic elements in Parliament is likely to test this political will to the full, including from Megawati's faction in Parliament, which opposed the House's decision to pass the latest amendment on FTZ status.

The still powerful party which will challenge Yudhoyono at the next polls has claimed the government had created an investment crisis itself by deliberately postponing the introduction of bills designating the three islands as FTZs and the party has already promised to challenge endorsement of the emergency law in the courts.

[Bill Guerin, a Jakarta correspondent for Asia Times Online since 2000, has been in Indonesia for more than 20 years, mostly in journalism and editorial positions.]

Government upbeat GDP growth will meet target

Jakrata Post - October 23, 2007

Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono said he expected the Indonesian economy to fare well amid a global slowdown, countering projections by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has revised 2008 growth projections – including Indonesia's – in a downward direction.

Boediono said the government would stick to its original growth targets of 6.3 percent and 6.8 percent for 2007 and 2008 respectively, on higher investment and exports. "I'm optimistic that the growth rates targeted in the state budget will be achieved," he said, responding to recent economic predictions by the IMF.

The IMF estimated that Indonesia's economic growth in 2008 was likely to reach only 6.1 percent due to a slowing global economy which would eventually affect exports and investment.

The IMF has revised its 2008 projection for global economic grown to 4.8 percent, down from 5.2 percent, amid a projected estimated decline in worldwide demand for goods.

It also projected that United States economic growth would slow from 2.1 percent in 2007 to 1.9 percent in 2008 and that the European Union would drop from 2.5 to 2.1 percent over the same period. The US and the EU represent two of the country's major export destinations.

Remaining upbeat on economic prospects, Boediono said that Indonesia would benefit from investment at rates higher than those projected by the IMF, due to an improving business and investment climate.

According to IMF projections, Indonesian investment in 2008 is to grow by 13.3 percent, higher than the 8.5 percent projected for 2007, while exports are to grow by 10 percent, higher than the 8.7 percent projected the year before.

Boediono may have solid reasoning: Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) statistics for the first nine months of 2007 show respective increases of 164 percent and 99.1 percent for realized foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic investment.

Investment accounts for around 20 percent of Indonesia's economy, while consumption and net export make up 65 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Indonesia's economy needs to grow by at least 6 percent to keep up with its regional peers and reduce poverty and unemployment rates.

With an annual growth rate of 6 percent the economy is estimated to be able to absorb around 2.4 million new workers, approximately the number who enter the job market every year.

Meanwhile, responding to concerns about soaring international oil prices, Boediono said they would not affect assumptions in the 2007 state budget. In the budget, the government assumes an oil price of US$60 per barrel, far lower than current prices which now hover at close to $90.

He said that only three months were left for this fiscal year, so the government's oil and gas revenue as well as fuel subsidies paid out would not be affected much.

"In the earlier months, average prices were quite low, so the price developments will not make much difference to the fiscal balance," Boediono said.

"The government is monitoring the price movements. If prices continue to rise over the long run, then they will then have an impact (on the national economy)."

No long-term economic gain seen from holiday

Jakarta Post - October 17, 2007

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Malls are bustling with shoppers, roads and popular resorts are jam-packed and many hotels are fully- booked.

The weeklong Idul Fitri holiday is spurring retail sales and economic activity in the tourist sector – all of which is positive for Indonesia's consumer-driven economy, but to what extent remains questionable.

The country's overall economy may only gain a "one-shot effect" from the rise in consumer spending, economists are saying. Countering this is the risk of rising inflation, as well as a possible slowdown in the activities of manufacturing and export- related businesses.

"Consumption is sure to increase during the holidays, tourism and transportation too, but just for the moment. Inflation will pick up as well on the higher demand, although perhaps milder in trend than in previous years," economist Faisal Basri from the University of Indonesia said.

"Overall, such a trend of a sudden rise in some sectors of the economy, followed by a quick falling back afterward and a slight downturn in production and distribution activities, will not translate well for the economy."

Faisal, who also heads the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's economic team, said all this showed a lack of understanding in how to better manage the country's economic potential and capacity during such holidays.

He also criticized the government's decision to extend the official holiday on short notice, disregarding the business community's common cycle and affecting their activities.

The government originally announced the Idul Fitri holiday would run from Oct. 12 to 17, before extending it to the 19th. Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadhan fasting month, fell on Oct. 13 and 14 this year.

"In other countries, holidays are scheduled at least a year – not a month – in advance so businesses can plan ahead for the long term. We have to realize that our industries are now part of the world's global production network, which requires timely delivery," Faisal said.

"Those who want to work should be allowed to work, with related public services such as customs and port services continuing to operate as normal."

Economist Aviliani of the Institute of Development and Finance said Idul Fitri and the upcoming Christmas and New Year's holidays would only create a "seasonal" benefit for the economy from a rise in consumer spending, with inflation likely to remain stable.

"The manufacturing and export sectors won't be much affected, as they have probably already increased their production to anticipate the holidays," she said.

Aviliani also warned that a rise in consumer spending while the public's purchasing power had not yet fully recovered could lead to "risky consumption trends", such as reckless debt and credit card usage, which could harm the economy in the future.

Bank lending expands on strong economy

Jakarta Post - October 16, 2007

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – The banking industry has rebounded from a disappointing 2006, with lending poised to register growth of more than 20 percent by the end of the year.

According to data from the central bank, bank lending as of the end of August had reached Rp 893.5 trillion (US$99 billion), up nearly 23 percent from the same period last year, as the economy continues to improve, slowly ironing out the recent problems of low demand and high borrowing costs.

More than half of total lending was disbursed as working capital loans, which grew by 23 percent year-on-year to Rp 461.7 trillion. Both investment and consumer loans showed solid growth as well, rising nearly 26 percent to Rp 174.4 trillion and more than 24 percent to Rp 257.4 trillion, respectively.

Most of the working capital and investment loans went to businesses in the manufacturing, trade and tourism industries, while consumers in the country took up more mortgages, car and motorcycle loans.

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) were a main lending market, with loans to the sector increasing by 20 percent to 461.7 trillion. Most of the lending in the sector was consumer loans to support businesses, but working capital loans for SMEs also rose to Rp 185.9 trillion.

Bank Indonesia is eying overall loan growth of 22 percent for this year, from 14 percent last year.

Although borrowing costs in the country are still high, the average base lending rates have declined to 13.4 percent from 14.9 percent in August last year, in line with Bank Indonesia having trimmed its key rate to 8.25 percent at present.

Indonesia's economy is also expected to grow higher by 6.4 percent in the third quarter from 6.3 percent the previous quarter on rising consumer spending and investment.

"Bank lendings should be able to continue growing as well until the end of the year on that development, and on the back of a likely 25 percent growth in loans to the SME sector," industry analyst Djoko Retnadi said.

"The public's purchasing power having recovered from the effects of previous fuel price hikes should also drive more mortgages and auto consumer loans."

Learning from the recent credit crunch in the US mortgage market, Djoko however warned local banks not to get carried away in a possible year-end credit boom and trip themselves up by lowering their risk management measures toward so-called sub- prime debtors.

Opinion & analysis

Economic prospects weaken

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 24, 2007

The latest analysis by the International Monetary Fund which portends a weakening global economy could adversely affect Indonesia's economic prospects, which have looked much rosier after a respectable growth of 6.1 percent in the first half.

Most analysts had earlier been buoyed by the more robust economic growth since the last quarter of 2006, expecting that the pace of economic expansion would accelerate next year on the back of an expansive state budget that has been designed for pump priming.

This certainly was very good news for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's government, which marked its third anniversary on Saturday, because in terms of economic achievement Yudhoyono has been criticized as a failed president who promised much but delivered little.

The IMF's projection last week, which foresees the world economy weakening from an estimated 5.2 percent growth this year to 4.8 percent next year, and a steady upward trend in international oil prices to more than US$85/barrel, spells big trouble for Indonesia's economic outlook.

If international oil prices remain over $80/barrel next year, Indonesia's economy will be in for severe turbulence because subsidies for domestic fuel prices have been estimated on average oil prices of $60. Fuel subsidies will have to be jacked up to keep the budget deficit from running out of control. This in turn may make investors jittery and rush to dump government bonds, triggering tremendous pressure on the rupiah.

The IMF lowered its growth projection for Indonesia to 6.1 percent next year, compared to the official target of 6.8 percent as stipulated in the 2008 state budget. As recently as last month, the Manila-based Asian Development Bank still forecast Indonesia's economy to expand by at least 6.4 percent next year.

The sub-prime mortgage (high-risk housing loans) crisis in the US in August seemed to have caused more damage to the world's economy than most analysts had earlier believed. The latest bout of spiraling rises in oil prices has further dampened the growth prospects of most developed economies.

Many analysts tend to play down the impact of the weakening US economy on East Asia, including Indonesia. They point out China remains the strongest driving force in the global economy, making the single largest contribution to global growth with its economy expanding by more than 11.50 percent this year and at least by 10 percent next year. Moreover, Indonesian economic dependence on the US market has declined as its exports to America now account for less than 12 percent of its total exports, while Indonesia's ties with China's economy have steadily expanded.

However, we should also remember that China's economy depends largely on the U.S for its exports. The blunt fact is much of the Asian intra-regional trade is in parts and components assembled into final goods in China and sold to the United States.

To cope with unfavorable external factors, we think there is no other alternative for the government but to fuel domestic demand by accelerating budget spending. So far, the government's actual disbursement of its investment budget has been very slow, hindered by bureaucratic inertia and indecisiveness on the part of project managers due to excessive fears of being investigated on corruption charges. In the first nine months of this year, only 40 percent of the budgeted investment had been realized.

The almost 50 percent increase in capital expenditures to Rp 101.5 trillion ($11 billion) next year will be meaningless if it is not fully spent.

Another delay in the implementation of public investment will be especially damaging because the bulk of the spending will go to basic infrastructure such as roads, seaports, airports, education and health services.

Indonesia's economic competitiveness has weakened due to inadequate infrastructure. Crumbling infrastructure due partly to an acute lack of maintenance after the 1997 economic crisis has been cited as one of the major barriers to new investment in the country.

As 2009 will be an election year, 2008 will be the last opportunity for President Yudhoyono to prove he is really capable of leading the country. The key indicator of such leadership is whether he can do away with his inherent weakness of being indecisive, diffident and unwilling to take action.

A critical situation requires bold measures and only a strong leader is able and has the courage to take bold action.

Plight of Javanese refugees from Aceh

Jakarta Post - October 22, 2007

George Junus Aditjondro, Yogyakarta – The Helsinki peace agreement made on Aug. 15, 2005, between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) left some "homework" for elected Aceh Governor Irwandy Yusuf and his North Sumatra counterpart Rudolf Pardede.

This homework involves the lot of thousands of Javanese transmigrants stranded in North Sumatra and Riau in the late 1990s and early 2000s after fleeing violent attacks by armed groups.

Unfortunately, Governor Pardede perhaps forgets his province harbors thousands of Javanese refugee families from Aceh living in very poor conditions.

Aceh Governor Irwandy, a former GAM leader, also may not realize the Javanese transmigrants were evicted by units of armed men, who they believed were GAM combatants. This is especially relevant now as Irwandy is focussing on rehabilitating thousands of indigenous Acehnese villages and inviting foreign investors to help reconstruct Aceh.

Irwandy presumably also doesn't realize under the Helsinki agreement, the Javanese transmigrants who fled Aceh fall into the category of "civilians who have suffered a demonstrable loss due to the conflict".

According to the Helsinki agreement, this means they are entitled to "an allocation of suitable farming land, employment or, in the case of incapacity to work, adequate social security from the authorities of Aceh". The phrase "from the authorities of Aceh" should be highlighted.

And how do these internally displaced persons live in North Sumatra, and what is in store for them in the future?

I recently visited a community of 72 families of Javanese refugees from Aceh who had settled in the Sibatuloting mountain range. They sought safety there coming from different parts of Aceh. Now only 10 of these families remain in the Jati Mulia hamlet of Bosar Nauli Village.

Why? Their entire hamlet was destroyed allegedly by bulldozers and excavators from pulp producer Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) in the neighboring district of Toba Samosir.

The incident occurred while 29 of the refugees and 24 other Bosar Nauli villagers, accused of being "forest plunderers" by local authorities, were imprisoned in Pematang Siantar, the district capital. Ironically, this was after they were officially settled in the village by the same authorities, who had gave them IDs and had collected land and property taxes from them for the past seven years.

But no local politicians complained against TPL's land acquisition, even though the residents were helpless Javanese transmigrants who had previously fled powerful and armed groups.

The Sibatuloting case is merely the tip of the iceberg. Nobody seems to care about the tens of thousands of Javanese transmigrants who were moved to Aceh by the national administration during the armed conflict between GAM and the Indonesian Military, and who, against their will, often became the "meat in the sandwich" between these two groups.

Neither the government agencies of North Sumatra or Aceh, or Jakarta for that matter, seem to care about these people, most of whom have not been able to return to their houses and farms in Aceh.

So, it is high time for Governor Irwandy to visit and discuss this matter with Governor Pardede. On a higher level, Irwandy must bring this case to the attention of the central government.

If the Indonesian government and former Aceh rebel group GAM are to honor the Helsinki agreement they need to enable the Javanese transmigrants to return to their former homes in Aceh.

Similarly, if the Finnish government wants to maintain its reputation as peace broker in armed conflicts worldwide it must talk to Indonesia and help these poor folks who were expelled to remote areas in North Sumatra to return to their sweet Aceh home.

[The writer, a guest lecturer at the Sanata Dharma University postgraduate program in Religious and Cultural Studies, is currently researching the political economy of post-Helsinki reconstruction in Aceh. He can be reached at: georgejunusaditjondro@gmail.com]

Unwelcoming Jakarta

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 20, 2007

The Idul Fitri party is over. People are now returning to Jakarta after spending time – and money – in their hometowns. Many of them, especially the poor, are tired and broke from long journeys. Yet they have returned to a city that is unwelcoming.

Some have found their houses have been robbed, opportunistic thieves breaking in and stealing anything they could find, including cars. Many slum residents have found their homes gone, often razed by fires that may or may not have been arson.

Hundreds of traders in Cikokol, Tangerang, came back from their Idul Fitri holidays to find their kiosks had been demolished for the construction of a modern market building.

We feel sympathy for all of these people. They left Jakarta for their hometowns to spend the holiday with family and friends. Many spent their entire savings for the opportunity to spend the holiday back home. And they returned to Jakarta to find this happiness gone.

We are sorry to learn the city administration is planning to conduct its annual, unpopular raids against these returning residents and newcomers, especially those without proper documentation.

Past experience shows the raids are not effective in discouraging people from coming to Jakarta. They only add to the burden of those poor people who are already broke after the holiday.

As long as unemployment in the regions remains high and the job opportunities limited, people will continue to come to Jakarta in search of a better life.

The decentralization of authority and resources from Jakarta to regions in 2001 has had some positive results. Economic activity in the regions is on the rise, and businesses are doing better.

The problem is that unemployment is so high these modest gains have not been enough to absorb all the people in the regions looking for work.

As a consequence, people continue to pour into Jakarta – and its surrounding towns – because of the many opportunities the city offers.

Raids targeting newcomers are not the solution. In fact, they are a violation of human rights, especially the right to earn a living. The victims of this inhumane policy are mostly those in the lower economic brackets who badly need jobs but are not equipped with the necessary documents.

Those of us with money will not be bothered by these raids. But we should still stand up and speak out against them and for the rights of the people targeted by them.

True, many of these returning people and newcomers become a burden to the city. But most are hard working and enterprising, willing to do the jobs that must of us refuse to handle.

They contribute to the city's increasing productivity and improved wealth, and they deserve better treatment.

That such population raids have been legalized by a bylaw is shameful. Such a bylaw has no place in a democratic country like Indonesia that claims to respect human rights. We need to contest this bylaw through the proper legal channels.

All of us need to be more sympathetic to these returning people and newcomers. They not only help increase the wealth of the city, but also distribute wealth from the city to the regions.

After all, mudik is an annual event involving millions of people. We need to think of ways to help these people in their travels, and most importantly to give them a proper welcome upon their return.

Muhammadiyah-NU rivalry

Jakarta Post Editorial - October 17, 2007

Being the religious holiday that it is, the extended Idul Fitri celebration has not left many people with a hangover. But still, we have a sour aftertaste from the open polemic that has developed between Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsuddin and Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni.

Their disagreement is over when exactly Idul Fitri, the holiday that follows the end of the Ramadhan fasting month, fell this year.

For the last two years, Muhammadiyah under Din's leadership has broken a long-held tradition of celebrating Idul Fitri on a date jointly decided by a state-sponsored council of representatives of all the country's major Islamic organizations.

Last week, Muhammadiyah marked Idul Fitri on Friday, a day earlier than the date decided on by the joint council.

Basyuni, who presided over the meeting of the joint council, went over Din's head and appealed to all Muslims, including followers of Muhammadiyah, telling them they should celebrate Idul Fitri on Saturday.

This left Indonesia's second largest Islamic organization in a predicament. Some supporters followed Din, but quite a large number heeded Basyuni. Some mosques that had traditionally been Muhammadiyah's domain, in particular the Al Azhar Grand Mosque in South Jakarta, shut their gates Friday to the disappointment of many people who had gone there for Idul Fitri prayers.

Din criticized the minister for causing confusion among his followers. He said the state should stay out of the business of fixing religious dates, a task he said was better left to Islamic organizations.

Idul Fitri in Indonesia has always been celebrated on different days, attesting to the plurality of Islam in the country. This year, an Islamic sect in South Sulawesi marked it on Thursday, and yet another in Jombang, East Java, held prayers on Sunday. Such is the diversity of Islam in the country.

For the government, it seemed particularly upsetting that Muhammadiyah, which in the past had been accommodating, broke ranks for the second year in a row. While Idul Fitri celebrations went peacefully this weekend, many Muslims were left perplexed that Muhammadiyah decided to go it alone for the second year running. They rightly ask, what went wrong these last two years?

A closer inspection tells us that this is a return of the old rivalry between Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, the largest and second largest Islamic organizations in the country.

Basyuni, as was his predecessor, is not seen as an honest broker when leading the joint council meetings; Muhammadiyah representatives feel all the decisions on religious dates have gone NU's way the past few years.

This is not all that surprising since for the last several years the ministry of religious affairs has been led by figures affiliated with the NU: Said Agil Husin Al Munawar under President Megawati Soekarnoputri from 2001-2004, and Basyuni under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono since 2004.

When Ramadhan begins and ends depends on the movement of the moon, and this is something that astronomers interpret and debate. Since this is not a fundamental issue, there is room for accommodation to reach consensus. This had been the case in the past, but apparently not anymore in recent years.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla was not wrong in saying that Muslim leaders should approach this issue like a trader: it's a give and take process; you win one day, you lose the next, but don't expect to win all the time lest you alienate the other side.

Accommodation is the key word. Idul Fitri is a celebration of one's victory not over others, but rather over one's own desire to give in to worldly temptations. Sadly, our religious leaders, both Muhammadiyah and NU, have failed to show the essence of the Idul Fitri spirit in recent years.

While Muslims should be free to decide when to celebrate Idul Fitri according to their own belief, it would still be nice if the two largest Muslim organizations in the country could come together each year and decide on one day. They have been accommodating in the past, surely they can be so again in the future.

There is no way of knowing where this old rivalry between NU and Muhammadiyah, which has been revived by this recent polemic, will lead us. From past experience, when the two largest Islamic organizations are fighting each other, the biggest losers are Muslims themselves. And since these groups represent the bulk of Muslims in Indonesia, the nation too will suffer heavily from the discord.

To both Din and Basyuni: patch up and make up.