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Indonesia News Digest 8 – Febuary 23-29, 2008
Jakarta Post - February 29, 2008
Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – In response to massive water
theft in the city, water operator PT Thames Pam Jaya (TPJ) says
it will lower service targets for the next five years.
External relations and communications director Rhamses
Simanjuntak said the firm proposed the lower targets in a
feasibility study submitted to the city's water company, PT PAM
Jaya.
The feasibility study was part of the process of modifying the
company's water concession contract with the administration this
year. Rhamses said the targets the company agreed to with PAM
Jaya in 1997 were no longer achievable given existing conditions
in the city.
"We have to set realistic targets that we think we can achieve in
the coming years. The government set high targets for us in the
past due for political reasons, but we need to match the targets
with conditions now," he told The Jakarta Post during a visit to
the Post's office on Thursday.
He said the original contract was signed before the financial
crisis hit the country. After the crisis, the targets became
unrealistic due to the stagnant development of new constructions
such as offices and hotels, costing the company potential
customers. Talks to review the water contract will take place
until the end of this year.
The Soeharto government awarded the capital's water concession to
two water operators, TPJ and PT Pam Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja), in
1997. TPJ operates in the eastern part of the city while Palyja
runs service in the western area of the city.
The contract, which binds the administration and the operators
until 2022, includes performance targets the two operators must
achieve every five years, including production volumes, water
consumption, non-revenue water (water lost due to illegal
consumption and connections), pipe pressures and service coverage
ratio.
The contract, Rhamses said, states that TPJ must reach 41 percent
of non-revenue water and a 74 percent service coverage ratio as
of last year. However, the company has only achieved 53 percent
of non-revenue water and 66 percent service coverage ratio.
TPJ president director Syahril Japarin said water theft was one
of the main reasons for the company's water losses. Last year,
the company recorded 1,156 illegal connections and 5,397
incidents of illegal consumption that wasted more than 2.5
million cubic meters of tap water.
Syahril said the company had taken a number of steps to stop
illegal connections and consumption in the city, from reporting
the perpetrators to the police to developing new technologies to
prevent water theft and leakages in its network. The most
difficult thing is, he said, there are too many perpetrators,
from companies to individual consumers.
"We are now trying to cooperate with local leaders to improve
residents' awareness that it is not OK to steal tap water," he
said.
He said the company had also developed a district meter area
(DMA) strategy that would isolate the metering of water
distribution in an area, to make it easier to monitor leakage.
The company has operated 130 DMA installations that cover 34
percent of its service area since 2003.
Jakarta Post - February 27, 2008
Abdul Khalik, Sirikin, Serawak, Malaysia – While it is illegal
to cross the West Kalimantan-Serawak border without permits, a
flourishing international trade has been benefiting citizens on
both sides of the border for years.
Beginning early in the morning, motorcycles, vans, buses and
trucks pass back and forth along the road from Jagoi Babang in
Indonesia to Malaysia carrying goods ranging from vegetables and
sugar to LPG (liquefied petroleum gas).
A Javanese vegetable trader told The Jakarta Post it was easy to
cross the border here, some 400 kilometers northwest of
Pontianak, and sell goods in the Malaysian town of Sirikin.
"We just deliver the merchandise, and Malaysian traders from
Kuching will be very happy to buy our goods in Sirikin. There is
no problem for us to cross the border, as we do it every day,"
said Suryanto, who has been living in the area for years.
An officer at the local police office said the illegal trade was
necessary for area residents. He said a bus carrying passengers
from nearby towns such as Bengkayang or Singkawang to the border
would carry much cheaper sugar from Malaysia when it returned.
"The sugar is illegal but it helps people because it is cheaper
and available. If we depended on sugar deliveries from Pontianak
or other places in Indonesia, it wouldn't be enough, and... we
couldn't afford it," the officer, who asked for anonymity, told
the Post.
He said, however, that money extortion from police, military
officers and thugs along the way cut the traders' profits
considerably. "I feel pity for traders because they work hard but
someone else takes advantage. It also applies to other goods from
Malaysia as officials know they are illegal," the officer said.
Deden Putra, who used to buy LPG from Sirikin and sell it in
Indonesia, wished the government would legalize cross-border
trade activities to create certainty for traders and stop
officials and thugs from extorting them. "If the government can't
provide us with basic goods, we need it to allow us to fulfill
our needs ourselves," he said.
It is no secret that most people living along the border areas
depend on illegal LPG supplies from Malaysia, as the Indonesian
government has been unable to meet the demand, he said. Both
sides benefited, he added, saying Malaysians preferred the
quality of Indonesian fruits and vegetables.
An observation on the Sirikin market showed that as the trucks
carrying Indonesian produce arrived, scores of Malaysian buyers
stood ready to purchase them. Dedan said if regulated properly
the cross-border economic activities could be very beneficial to
local people, and would spur economic development in the areas.
"What we need is certainty and facilitation. The economic
opportunity is wide open, as Malaysians will buy every product we
offer," he said.
Demos, actions, protests...
Aceh
West Papua
Military ties
Human rights/law
Environment/natural disasters
Health & education
Islam/religion
Elections/political parties
Armed forces/defense
Economy & investment
Opinion & analysis
News & issues
Thames sets sights lower for Jakarta water service
Illegal trade thrives at border areas in West Kalimantan
'Food resilience council lacks coordination'
Jakarta Post - February 26, 2008
Jakarta – The Food Resilience Council, working directly under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono since late 2006, has come under fire for handling recent food shortages ineffectively.
Indonesian Farming Council head Ferry J. Julianto demanded the government revamp the council immediately to prevent further mismanagement of the nation's agricultural planning and implementation.
Speaking at a seminar on the food resilience program in Jakarta on Monday, Ferry said the umbrella organization had stumbled because it lacked a game plan for coordinating the policies of the government bodies involved.
Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri established the council in 2001 as a platform for formulating, implementing and evaluating food stock policy.
President Yudhoyono formalized the council's function in 2006 through a presidential regulation under which the president sits as council head and is assisted by 18 ministers. The council also has more than 200 representatives across the country.
Ferry pointed to a lack of teamwork. "It seems these ministries have their own agendas and work alone without coordinating with one other," Ferry said. "The government should restructure the council and set up a clear coordination scheme."
Fachri Andi Laluasa, a Golkar lawmaker with the House of Representative's Commission IV on food production, concurred, saying said the council was no more than a showcase body, producing few results.
"The coordination among the ministries is weak, causing the implementation of recommended plans to not work as expected," he said during the seminar.
According to Ferry, the failure of the council to properly implement planning had caused food stock shortages that triggered unrest in many areas across Indonesia in the past couple of years.
"Rice production has been decreasing by 1.2 million tons since last year and we have had to import up to 60 percent of the soybeans we consume," Ferry said.
He said the government's policy of importing staple foods had caused farmers to suffer, as they could not compete with lower- priced imports. "Local farmers have stopped planting soybeans because they are afraid of the competition and that the government will not protect them," Ferry said.
Agricultural Minister Anton Apriyantono defended the government's importation of staple foods, which he said did not necessarily indicate a food crisis. "We've imported staple foods like rice, maize, soybeans, meat and sugar to secure our stocks, not because we lack those foods," he told the seminar.
He said the objective was to see the country's food deficits remain low in comparison with other developing countries, citing data from the Food and Agricultural Organization. (dia)
| Demos, actions, protests... |
Jakarta Post - February 29, 2008
Suherdjoko, Jepara – Up to 3,000 villagers staged a rally in Jepara, Central Java, Thursday to oppose the planned construction of a nuclear power plant on the regency's Mount Moria.
The protesters, mostly residents of Balong village in the Kembang subdistrict, as well as students and activists, carried protest posters and banners.
They converged at a building in the middle of a sugar cane plantation which served as the National Atomic Energy Agency's Ujung Lemah Abang Nuclear Power Station Safety and Research observation facility.
They stopped at the building entrance and addressed the crowd on the risks associated with nuclear power and later worked together to form the foundation of a concrete wall.
"This is our fourth protest since last year," rally coordinator Firdaus Rahmadi told The Jakarta Post at the site on Thursday. "We only sealed the building symbolically in the three earlier demonstrations, but now we are really sealing it with a concrete wall."
He said despite the protests, the government had not been decisive on the construction of the power station, which he said it had planned since the 1980s.
"The presence of the office, built in 1995, indicates that the government will resume with its plan," Firdaus said. "We have decided to oppose it due to the risks it would pose to our lives. We also demand the central government to revoke the law pertaining to nuclear energy enacted in 1997," he said.
The idea on the nuclear power plant came from former vice President B.J. Habibie when he was minister for research and technology in the 1990s and it won support from former president Soeharto.
The plan was closely linked with the construction of the large Kedung Ombo dam, but the project was stopped after it met with strong opposition both at home and overseas. Bricklayers and residents worked hard to erect the wall which measured around eight meters in length. Trucks carrying sand, bricks, cement and water were going back and forth at the site, right in front of security guards.
Mufid Busyairi, a legislator of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and member of the agriculture and forestry affairs commission at the House of Representatives, was picked to lay the wall's corner stone, which was followed-up by Balong village officials and residents. "I purposely came here to observe the public's aspirations firsthand," Mufid said.
A number of House members have reportedly decided to oppose the planned nuclear power station.
Those who come from the Jepara electoral district have long-since opposed it. "But the House is split over the plan," Mufid said.
Balong village chief Suwanto was compelled to engage in the brick-laying activity because residents urged all village officials to take part.
"I'm in the middle. I can only follow the wishes of the people," Suwanto said. "But on the other hand I also wish they could comply with the existing law. I'm grateful they have never resorted to anarchy during the series of protests so far," he said.
A philosophy student at the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Darul Hasyimfath, said he was surprised to see House members at the protest in favor with the people.
"Don't be a hero in this issue," he said, "Even we students, who had earlier informed people of the hazards of nuclear energy, feel that we haven't done anything special. The local residents are actually the champions. They fight for the cause. The House members are just politicians. Now they may likely say they oppose the program, but they will be in favor later when the political course shifts," Darul said.
Tempo Interactive - February 28, 2008
Sofian, Jakarta – Activist from the group Falun Gong will hold a protest action in front of the Chinese Embassy the Mega Kuningan area of South Jakarta today, Thursday February 28. The action, which is planned to start at 10am, will be calling for an end to the torture and mass murder of those practicing Falun Gong in China.
Aside from Falun Gong, at 9am another demonstration will be held by representatives of the Bakauheni Traditional Society Deliberation Institute (LMMA) from South Lampung regency. They will be organising a demonstration at the State Palace on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara, which will be continued at the House of Representatives (DPR) on Jl. Jenderal Gatot Subroto.
At 12noon the Social Movement to Safeguard the People's Money (GEMPUR) will also be holding a demonstration in front of the DPR building demanding that the house launch an interpellation motion over the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support corruption scandal.
Finally, between 4-5pm, the Solidarity Network for the Families of Victims of Human Rights Violations (JSKKPH) will demonstrate in front of the State Palace with the aim of calling on the government to fully resolve cases of human rights violations.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Temp Interactive - February 27, 2008
Reza M., Jakarta – The Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Center (TMC) is warning road users of the possibility of traffic jams as a result of protest actions that will colour Jakarta on Wednesday February 27. According to the TMC there will be no less than 13 demonstrations today, with the first starting at 9.30am.
The Hotel Indonesia roundabout in Central Jakarta, which is often used as a staging point for rallies, will be one of the targets. Starting at 11am, around 100 people from the People's Movement for a New Indonesia (GRUIB) will be demanding that the government bring down the price of basic commodities (sembako). After giving speeches, the protesters will head off for the Horse Statue at the intersection of Jl. Thamrin and Medan Merdeka.
Those passing by the House of Representatives Building in Senayan, Central Jakarta between 10am and 1pm are being asked top prepare for traffic jams because of a protest by the Kolaka Youth and Student Action Committee (KAMPK) and around 200 people from the Social Movement to Safeguard the People's Money (GEMPUR).
On Jl. Thamrin in at 10am, the Poor Peoples Alliance (ARM) will be holding a protest action in front of the Japanese Embassy. They will be demanding that the Japanese government reassess assistance to Indonesia.
Bilangan Jatibaru in Central Jakarta will be enlivened by a convoy of Metro Mini busses. Around 100 public transport employees plying the S76 route between Kampung Rambutan and Blok M and the S610 route between Blok M and Pondok Labu will hold a protest at the Jakarta regional Transport and Communications office at 10am.
Still in Central Jakarta, a demonstration will take place in front of the Salemba National University. Protesters from the Legal Aid Institute for Health (LBH Kesehatan) and the Fraternity of Victims of the Healthcare System (PKSK) will be calling on the Cipto Mangukusumo Hospital stop creating difficulties for poor patients.
From 9.30am onwards, the CSW intersection in South Jakarta will also be a potential traffic congestion spot. Around 100 students from the Bima Jakarta Student Union (KMBJ) will be giving speeches in front of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) after which they will then move off to demonstrate the National Education Department on Jl. Sudirman and at the offices of the United Development Party's central leadership board.
A second wave of protesters will arrive at the AGO at 12.30pm. This time they will be from the Try the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support Corrupters Peoples Movement (GRAK-BLBI).
Jl. Jatinegara in East Jakarta will also not escape protests. Teaching staff from the Indonesian Assistant Teachers Communication Forum (FKGBI) will be demonstrating at the Jakarta provincial education office at 1pm.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - February 26, 2008
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – University students in Medan on Monday rallied at the North Sumatra legislative council to protest against frequent blackouts in the province. The blackouts occur three times every day, each one lasting for up to four hours.
The students, representing the Alliance of Students Concerned over Electricity, said the blackouts had severely affected their studies. Protest coordinator Atlan Paruzi Nasution said many students scored badly in their tests because they were unable to study during the blackouts.
"We cannot study due to the power failures. This is unacceptable because education is a basic need," Paruzi told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the rally.
Paruzi said interrupted study was not the only repercussion of the blackouts. He cited damages to electrical devices and losses incurred by businesses, as further reasons propelling students to take action.
At the demonstration, students urged the legislature immediately to summon officials from state power firm PLN over the blackouts.
After meeting with the students, councilor Burhanuddin Rajagukguk said the central government was responsible because it had not taken sufficient action in addressing the crisis.
Burhanuddin said North Sumatra contained an abundance of potential energy sources yet to be exploited.
"North Sumatra has lots of energy sources which the central government has not exploited thus far. If they were managed well, the power crisis might have long since been resolved."
He cited the Sarulla geothermal site as one of the energy sources of potential worth.
He said the legislature had issued a recommendation for overcoming the chronic power crisis in the province to the central government and PLN.
"One of the proposals urged the central government, by way of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry and the National Development Planning Board, to appoint a company to construct the Asahan III hydro-electricity plant," said Burhanuddin.
The proposal for the plant, which has the potential to generate 174 megawatts of power, has been pending for a long time.
North Sumatra PLN general manager Albert Pangaribuan said the company was unable to prevent the blackouts due to insufficient power supply.
He said the current total power capacity in the northern Sumatra region was 1,130 MW, while peak demand in the region reached 1,190 MW.
Detik.com - February 26, 2008
Arfi Bambani Amri, Jakarta – Two protest actions will be taking place in Jakarta today. The first protest will be at the Supreme Court building on Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara in Central Jakarta and the second at the Attorney General's Office on Jl. Sisingamangaraja in South Jakarta.
According to information from the Metro Jaya regional police Traffic Management Centre (TMC) for Tuesday February 26, the United Makassar Bugis Forum (FBMB) and the Jakarta Volunteers (RAJA) led by M. Nasrun M. will be holding a demonstration at the Supreme Court at 10am. Two hundred people will be demanding that the Supreme Court immediately withdraw a decision related to the recent election of regional heads in South Sulawesi.
The demonstration at the AGO is being organised by the Try the Corrupters Peoples Movement (GRAK) under the leadership of Anis Fauzan. The action, which will take place at 12noon, will be joined by some 200 people who will be demanding a full investigation into the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support Scheme corruption case. (aba/mar)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| Aceh |
Tempo Interactive - February 26, 2008
Adi Warsidi, Banda Aceh – The GAM Party, one of the local political parties in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh, has officially changed its party name and symbol.
"They (the GAM Party) have changed their name and symbol and registered a certificate of the change with us," said the head of the regional office of the Department of Justice and Human Rights, Syamsul Bahri SH, when speaking with Tempo in Banda Aceh on Tuesday February 26.
According to Bahri, the certificate was submitted to the department's regional office yesterday, February 26. The name "GAM Party", which was previously not spelled out in full, has now been changed to the Autonomous Aceh Party (Partai Aceh Mandiri). The party's symbol, which was previously adorned with the crescent moon and star (the same as the Free Aceh Movement flag), has now been removed and replaced with the words GAM. The background is the same as before with red and black lines on the top and bottom.
Bahri said that the schedule for the first round of political party verifications will between February 28 and March 17. During this period, only three local parties will would undergo verification: the Aceh People's Party (PRA), the Darussalam Party and the Aceh Muslims Integrationist Party (PPMA).
The change by the GAM Party leadership represents a positive response on their part to two letters sent earlier by the Aceh regional office of the Department of Justice and Human Rights.
Aceh Transitional Committee spokesperson Ibrahim Syamsuddin, who is also a leading member of the GAM Party said that the change was made based on a number of considerations and for sake of ending the polemics about the party's name and symbol that have persisted up until now. "We're stepping back. We thought this move through carefully and maturely for the sake ensuring that there will be no more polemics," he said.
With relation to the verification, Syamsuddin said he is certain that the GAM Party will pass the local political verification process later. "So that the party can become a channel for the aspirations of the Acehnese people who love peace".
Notes:
A Detik.com article posted on the same day reported that the full name is Partai Gerakan Aceh Mandiri or Autonomous Aceh Movement Party, the abbreviation of which is the same as the original name, the GAM Party (Partai GAM).
[Translated by James Balowski.]
| West Papua |
Jakarta Post - February 25, 2008
Nethy Dharma Somba, Jayapura – Two senior campaigners of the Papua Free Movement (OPM) surrendered over the weekend with a statement praising the significant progress the province has achieved.
Franz Albert Joku and Nicholas Simion Messet handed over their surrender letter to Alwi Hamu, an official at the Vice President's office, in a thanks-giving gathering Saturday in Sentani, some 40 kilometers from Jayapura.
Franz was a moderator of OPM for the Asia-Pacific region and became a leading campaigner for Papua's independence for three decades while Nicholas has been living in Sweden for 38 years with a similar job for European countries.
During the gathering, Alwi called on thousands of Papuans living overseas to follow suit, and help develop Indonesia's resource- rich easternmost province.
Franz and Nicholas appreciated the gathering and vowed to take an active role in developing the province under the special autonomy.
They said they surrendered and came home because they had been fighting for the province. They were also surprised at the significant progress the province has achieved in their time spent in refuge overseas.
"We see many major changes, the people are no longer afraid of soldiers, or being imprisoned. Much has been achieved but much more needs to fought for, for a better future," Franz said.
Between 27,000 and 30,000 Papuans have been living in refugee camps in Papua New Guinea in efforts to make a safe, free, fair, prosperous and sovereign Papua, he said.
"One way to reach this goal is a secession from the Indonesian unitary state. This is the way our parents have chosen and was what we were fighting for," Franz said.
"But this goal has not been achieved and while we struggled, many advancements have been made in Papua, including political reforms and democracy," he said.
He said that independence was a goal, but one way to reach that goal was "to come back to make more progress in the future."
Asked on whether or not the two would be branded as traitors, Franz said they could not force their thoughts on other fighters.
"Independence is not the only way to reach the goal and all Papuans who are still living overseas should come back home to develop Papua and its people."
The two said they did not know what they wanted to do but were ready to help the government develop the province and to be mediators with those still living abroad.
Previously, many other OPM combatants have surrendered themselves on learning the secessionist movement was weakening, particularly after Indonesia began entering the reform era in 1998.
The movement won strong sympathy from Papuan people after former president Soeharto's authoritarian rule which launched a major military operation to crush it. Special autonomy was declared for the region by Jakarta in 2001 in a peaceful solution to prolonged conflicts, as was declared in Aceh.
| Military ties |
Agence France Presse - February 25, 2008
Jakarta – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Indonesia Monday to discuss potential sales of military aircraft and deeper military ties, despite wariness on the part of both US lawmakers and Jakarta.
Gates is expected to press for expanded exchanges and training to solidify military ties that were renewed in 2005 after a 13-year break prompted by Indonesia's bloody crackdown on pro- independence protesters in East Timor.
The Pentagon is also interested in selling Indonesia more F-16 fighter aircraft, C-130 transport planes and helicopters as well as spare parts for its existing US-made aircraft, US defence officials said.
Gates was scheduled to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defence Minister Juwono Sudarsono, and to speak to the Indonesian Council on World Affairs during the one-day visit.
Senior US defence officials cite Indonesia's strategic importance in Southeast Asia and its political weight as the world's most populous Muslim state as key reasons for seeking closer military relations.
But the officials said that despite full normalisation in 2005, military relations are still restrained by "a perceptual lag" in the US Congress and among Indonesians as well.
The perception in Congress of the Indonesian military "is largely, although not entirely, of the pre-reform Indonesian military. They don't really appreciate how much progress they've made," one official said.
Vetting of the human rights records of Indonesian military officers going to the United States for military training, as required under US law, has been one irritant, the official said.
US lawmakers, or their staff, "are always trying to put limits on the areas in which we can engage the Indonesians on," the official said.
US officials argue that the Indonesian military is undergoing major reforms, pulling back from involvement in politics and moving to a more transparent budget instead of relying on military enterprises as a source of off-line revenues.
The Indonesians, on the other hand, "are suspicious also that we're the old United States, ready to pull the plug on them," the official said. "The secretary is ideally situated in this trip to dispel the Indonesian perception gap, while pushing forward on the real engagement part," he said.
Reuters - February 25, 2008
Kristin Roberts, Jakarta – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates landed in Jakarta on Monday, aiming to strengthen military ties with a country the Pentagon sees as a regional leader and secular model for Muslim states.
Gates will meet with Indonesia's president and defence minister to assess their equipment and military training needs. They also will discuss, but not sign, a statement of principles on defence cooperation similar to agreements Indonesia has with China and Australia, said US officials travelling with Gates.
"Indonesia is a huge Islamic country, democratic, secular, and I think strengthening our relationship with Indonesia is very important, not just in a regional context but I think in terms of the role that Indonesia may be able to play more broadly," Gates said ahead of the visit.
Gates' focus on offering support for Indonesia's ongoing defence and national security reforms reflects the Pentagon's desire to broaden the relationship and move beyond Washington's prior focus on Indonesia as a potential terrorist flashpoint after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country. But it is considered by experts inside the Pentagon as strongly secular.
Still, Indonesia has struggled to combat Islamic militant groups, particularly Jemaah Islamiah, a regional militant network blamed for a series of bombings in Indonesia and linked to the 2002 Bali bombings.
Those attacks, coupled with the intense focus by Washington on counter-terrorism after Sept. 11, relegated Indonesia for years into the group of countries of concern among security experts.
US defence officials, however, now argue Indonesia must be viewed more broadly. "To see this as a single-issue relationship is to completely miss the point of Indonesia's place, not just in US relations but also in southeast Asia," said one US defence official with Gates.
They say Indonesian security has dealt effectively with its Islamic militant threat and that Indonesia, with proper US support, military training and equipment assistance, could serve as a "foundation" for southeast Asian security.
"The secretary has no difficulty seeing that Indonesia is not just the biggest southeast Asian country but it is the benchmark or foundation country for southeast Asian stability," another defence official said.
The threat from Islamic militants, however, remains real for Indonesia, according to security experts. US officials say they continue to see ties between Jemaah Islamiah and al Qaeda.
Gates said those contacts were there but that he had seen no evidence in recent months that Jemaah Islamiah had strengthened. "I don't have any sense from the last few weeks or months that there's been a significant increase in those contacts or a particular strengthening of the JI," he said.
| Human rights/law |
Kompas - February 28, 2008
A plenary session of the National Human Rights Commission, Komnas HAM held on 27 February decided to set up an ad hoc team to investigate the 1965-1966 case for judicial purposes (pro justicia), as well as an ad hoc team to investigate the mysterious killings. The teams will work for three months, which can be extended if necessary.
The 1965-66 team will be led by commission member Nurcholis while the mysterious killings [this presumably refers to the series of killings known as petrus, in 1983-1984] team will be headed by Yosep Adi Prassetyo. Deputy chair of Komnas HAM, Ridha Saleh said the teams will examine whether there are indications of gross human rights violations.
During the session which lasted for two days, Komnas HAM also decided to continue with its investigations into the Aceh Military Operations (DOM) case, and the Papua DOM case, as well as the case of 27 July 1996 [attack on the headquarters of the PDI], and will also to set up an ad hoc team about Tanjung Priok (1984).
These teams will work for two months in order to re-enforce investigations that have already been undertaken. Commissioner Ridha Saleh explained that these investigations would continue the investigations undertaken by the previous Komnas HAM (2002- 2007). At that time, these cases were regarded as a series of crimes perpetrated by Suharto.
The investigations will be taken forward by the 2007-2012 Commission on the basis of the mandate given to the previous commission and the results will be submitted to a plenary session of the present Komnas HAM.
Coordinator for the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Usman Hamid, welcomed the Commission's decision but said he hoped that Komnas HAM would not get bogged down in bureaucracy with regard to the Aceh and Papuan cases.
[Translated by TAPOL.]
Jakarta Post - February 29, 2008
Jakarta – A court on Thursday threw out a civil case filed against Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and awarded the son of former president Soeharto Rp 5 billion (US$549,000) in damages in a countersuit he filed for defamation.
"The South Jakarta District Court finds that the defendants have fulfilled all their financial obligations to the plaintiff (Bulog), thus all charges against them must be dropped," presiding judge Haswandi said in reading the decision.
Besides Tommy, the youngest son of the later Soeharto, the defendants included Ricardo Gelael and former Bulog chief Beddu Amang.
The court agreed with the defendants' argument that Bulog earned Rp 9.43 billion from the land exchange deal at the center of the case. According to an audit provided by Tommy's lawyers, Bulog spent Rp 65.08 billion in the land deal and ended up with Rp 74.51 billion.
"The defendant (Tommy) is a businessman with a domestic and international reputation and he should be given fair compensation for non-material damages done to his good name," Efran Basyuni, one of the judges, said.
Bulog initially sued Tommy, his company PT Goro Bhatara Sakti, Ricardo Gelael and Beddu Amang in August last year, accusing them of cheating the state agency out of more than Rp 244.2 billion. On Jan. 21, Tommy countersued, demanding Rp 10 trillion in material and non-material damages.
Bulog lawyer Asfifuddin questioned the court's decision. "How the judges ruled that the defendants paid Bulog is unclear to me. The judges never reviewed that evidence in court," he said. "When did they pay Bulog? How much did it get? Has it received the money yet?"
Asfifuddin said he would have to consult with his client before deciding on an appeal. "I personally think the compensation is a mistake, but Bulog will have to review the rest of the verdict before making the decision to appeal," he said.
PT Goro Bhatara Sakti, represented by Tommy as its chairman and Ricardo Gelael, exchanged land with Bulog, which was represented by its then chief Beddu Amang, on Aug. 11, 1995. Prosecutors claimed that Tommy and his colleagues intentionally sold or damaged the exchanged assets, causing massive losses to Bulog.
An amateur race car driver and flamboyant playboy, Tommy was freed from prison in October 2006 after serving only a third of the 15-year prison term handed to him in July 2002 for ordering the murder of a Supreme Court justice. (anw)
Jakarta Post - February 27, 2008
Jakarta – Victims of the Trisakti incident have demanded the reopening of rights abuse cases, citing the Constitutional Court's recent decision the House of Representatives did not have authority to decide whether a case had legal weight.
The Trisakti University Student Organization sent a letter Tuesday asking the House to move on with human rights trials.
"We want the House to revoke their statement that no extreme human rights abuses occurred and to advise the President to immediately form an ad hoc court to try these cases," organization president Ilham Dasari Putra told a press conference at Trisakti University in Jakarta.
Karseih, mother of Hendriawan Lesmana, one of the Trisakti students killed during the 1998 riots said, "I don't want anymore demonstrations or anymore riots".
"Let's resolve the Trisakti case, the Semanggi tragedy cases and the kidnappings now. Solve those first and don't create new ones," she said.
The Constitutional Court ruled last Friday only the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) were allowed to decide whether human rights violations occurred in the cases of Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi II.
"The ball is in the AGO's court now, so we want the President and the House to push them forward," said John Muhammad, an activist with the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), who assisted the victims to push for an investigation into the Trisakti tragedy.
After the unrest that led to the fall of Soeharto, the House created a special committee to investigate whether human rights abuses had occurred during the tragedies. In 2001, that committee concluded there was no clear evidence of human rights abuses that could warrant further legal processes.
But the cases have been an ongoing issue for the government because of opposing opinions between the AGO, Komnas HAM and the House on what legal steps should be taken.
"The decision by the Constitutional Court should serve as a momentum for our democratically elected government to enforce the people's mandate," John said. "Conduct the trials right away," he said.
On May 12, 1998, soldiers allegedly shot and killed four students at Trisakti University during a student protest to demand then- President Soeharto step down.
The victims were identified as Hendriawan Lesmana, an economics student; Hafidin Royan, a civil engineering student; Heri Hartanto, a mechanical engineering student; and Elang Mulya, an architecture student. In the riots that followed from May 13 to 15, at least 1,217 people were killed.
Activists also claimed that between 1997 and 1998 the government masterminded kidnappings of several Trisakti students and other pro-democracy activists.
On Nov. 13, that same year, 17 people were killed and 456 were injured at Semanggi junction, Central Jakarta. On Sept. 22, 1999, up to Sept. 24, nine people were killed at the same junction. The events were dubbed Semanggi Tragedy I and II. (anw)
Jakarta Post - February 27, 2008
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government has been accused of inconsistency in its promotion of public transparency in its administration.
While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared himself open to criticism, his ministers have attempted to close access to public information, a coalition of non-governmental organizations and press associations said here Tuesday.
It said the move by State Minister for Information and Communications Muhammad Nuh, State Minister for State Enterprises Sofjan Djalil and Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Matalatta threatened press freedom in the country.
This issue has also prolonged the deliberations of the public information bill at the House of Representatives, which began seven years ago, added the Coalition for Public Information Freedom.
Leo Batubara of the coalition said the three ministers had insisted on sanctions for data misuse and the exclusion of state enterprises from the draft law.
"The President expressed his commitment to transparency when he delivered his first state-of-the-nation speech, but his three ministers have been showing their conservatism by preserving secrecy," Leo told a news conference as a representative of the Press Council.
Another coalition member, Abdullah Alamudi, said the word "misuse" specified in Article 49 of the public information bill was open to interpretation and was prone to abuse by ruling authorities.
"The article could be used, for example, to send a journalist revealing a government graft case to jail for misusing information in his or her report. This could disgrace the good name of certain individuals," he said.
Abdullah, also from the Press Council, highlighted the need for access to information about state enterprises that had hitherto been closed to the public.
He expressed concern over reports saying the government provided insufficient information on the performance of state enterprises. Many state enterprises that had incurred losses were subsequently sold. Bejo Untung from the Science, Aesthetics and Technology Foundation said state enterprises used public funds, so they should make information easily accessible to the public.
Speaking at the same event, Agus Sunaryanto, from the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), said the exclusion of state enterprises from the public information bill would allow corruption to continue and thrive.
Based on the ICW's observations from 2004 to 2006, he said state enterprises saw a rising trend of graft cases with misappropriated funds allegedly hitting Rp 10.4 trillion (US$1.14 billion) during the period.
Agus acknowledged the need to conceal certain information about state enterprises, such as information related to intellectual property rights, commerce secrecy and business protection over unfair competition.
However, he emphasized the need for transparency on many issues, such as procurement of products and services, annual reports on companies' performances, allocations for investments and corporate actions.
The coalition said most legislators involved in the deliberations had supported its demands for the government to omit Article 49 that specified sanctions for journalists and the exclusion of state enterprises in the bill.
The House is expected to pass the public information bill in March.
| Environment/natural disasters |
Jakarta Post - February 27, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Human rights and anti-corruption activists lashed out at the House of Representatives on Tuesday for failing to make the government and Lapindo Brantas Inc. properly compensate victims of the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java. They accused the House of "quiet conspiracy to defend corporate (interests)" in dealing with the problem.
"The House should have pressured the government and Lapindo to handle the victims correctly in order not to create more victims on a large scale," said a joint statement from the activists grouped under the Young People's Solidarity for Lapindo Victims.
Lapindo, a mining company linked to the family of chief welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie, was widely blamed for the devastating mudflow.
Last Friday the House officially announced its special team would continue investigations into the mudflow, while a plan to question the government over the disaster remained a possibility. The announcement clarified confusion over a House plenary session decision on the disaster two days earlier.
Usman Hamid from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), part of the group, said the apparent decision to side with Lapindo showed the House was allowing "corporate crime" in Sidoarjo. He demanded the House review the decision.
"Lawmakers have no authority to determine whether the mudflow is natural or man-made. They need to focus on their principal main task of seeing that the government and Lapindo Brantas carry out their responsibility to handle the mudflow victims." Let scientists decide whether the mudflow was a natural or man-made phenomenon, he added.
Usman said, by declaring the devastating phenomenon a natural disaster, the House special team on the mudflow was shifting the economic losses to the state and public.
"The logic is simple – had there been no exploration activities in the area, there would be no mudflow. It's not acceptable to us to see the cost of the mudflow coming from the state budget."
The group also included activists from Nahdlatul Ulama based in Sidoarjo and Indonesia Corruption Watch, as well as others from Jakarta. The joint statement said the mudflow was caused by drilling activities of Lapindo.
"What's happening in Sidoarjo is a corporate crime and caused by Lapindo's negligent drilling operations," it said. "Thus, it does not make sense to declare it a natural disaster."
In a report presented at a House plenary meeting on February 20, the special team repeatedly cited information supporting the theory that the mudflow was an "uncontrollable natural disaster". It quoted the geologists as saying the mudflow was caused by an underground mud volcano that had nothing to do with human activities.
The activists said the mudflow, which began on May 29, 2006, had swamped over 600 hectares, a figure larger than the one appearing in a 2007 presidential decree on the boundaries of victims and affected areas.
"Since there is no certainty when the mudflow will stop, the government must revise the boundaries," Badrus Zaman, a member of Nahdlatul Ulama's teamwork in Sidoarjo, said at the press conference.
He said that as the mudflow produced about 150,000 cubic meters of mud per day, there would be more victims in the affected areas. "We want a new map without rigid boundaries around the affected areas. The government must compensate all victims uprooted by the disaster," Badrus added.
Jakarta Post - February 25, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Environmental activists insisted Saturday on rejecting a regulation imposing a new scheme of forest exploitation fees on non-forestry firms, despite the government's assurance it was meant to save forests.
They demanded the revocation of the regulation, saying it would only encourage more companies to exploit forests, thus further destroying them.
The activists accused the government of lying to the public when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban said Friday the regulation would apply only to the 13 mining companies already licensed to operate in protected forests.
"It is not true. In fact the regulation also sets fees for companies involved in oil and gas exploration and radio, television and telecommunications networks in protected and production forests," Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) director Siti Maiminah said.
For operating in protected forests, the regulation requires annual per-hectare payments of Rp 1.5 million, including for oil and gas exploration. In production forests the annual fee is Rp 1.2 million. According to a copy of the regulation made available to the press, for companies with open-pit mines in protected forest areas, a per-hectare fee of Rp 3 million applies.
"The regulation is legally flawed and must be withdrawn," Rino Subagyo, executive director of Indonesian Center for Environment Law (ICEL), told The Jakarta Post. "The regulation is an acknowledgement from the government that the 13 firms can operate open-pit mining in protected forests as long as they pay."
A key 1999 forestry law prohibits open-pit mining in protected forests because of the massive environmental destruction such mining can bring about. However, under a 2004 in-lieu-of-law regulation issued by the government, 13 companies received the go-ahead for open-pit operations in protected forests.
When environmental activists challenged that regulation, the Constitutional Court ruled the 1999 forestry law remained applicable to mining firms that engage in feasibility studies and exploration. The result of the court's decision, according to Rino, is that "six out of the 13 firms are not allowed to operate open-pit mines in protected forests".
The Forestry Ministry has acknowledged having issued "principal permits" to three mining companies for open-pit mining activities in protected forests.
Greenomics Indonesia agreed that the new fee-scheme regulation should be revoked. Greenomics director Elfian Effendi said it would disrupt efforts to protect the country's dwindling forests and represented an error on the part of President Yudhoyono to bring non-forestry firms into the picture.
"Allowing open-pit mining in protected forests is the biggest blunder made by the Megawati Soekarnoputri government. And imposing nominal fees for forest use in protected lands is President Yudhoyono's biggest mistake."
Elfian said the regulation would also hurt economic development in 25 regencies with protected forest areas, threatening the well-being of the seven million people there. He said he was shocked to hear the government had not conducted thorough research before setting the exploitation fees, which are considered too low.
The Forestry Ministry admitted the fee scheme was arrived at on the basis of a computer simulation.
"It shows the government had no forest management plan," said Elfian. "This is (a matter of) compromising fees between the government and businesses."
He calculated the state would bring in only around Rp 2.78 trillion per year from open-pit mining on the basis of the new fee scheme, far less than the estimated cost to the state – as much as Rp 70 trillion per year – resulting from the ecological destruction.
Jakarta Post - February 23, 2008
Jakarta – The House of Representatives officially announced Friday its special team would continue investigations into the mudflow disaster in Sidoarjo, East Java, while a move to question the government over the disaster remained a possibility. The announcement officially clarified confusion over a House plenary session decision on the disaster.
House Speaker Agung Laksono, all faction heads and the House's special mudflow team held a consultation meeting to arrive at a unified response to Tuesday's plenary session. Agung said the plenary session had reached two decisions.
"First, the plenary session agreed to extend the special team's working period. Second, the option the question the government is still alive and 'on call', following the implementation of the presidential regulation on the mudflow disaster," he said.
On Tuesday, lawmakers criticized a report from the special team, saying it sided with PT Lapindo Brantas, the mining company allegedly responsible for the disaster that has uprooted thousands people from their home.
Many lawmakers understood a decision was reached to summon state officials over the Sidoarjo mudflow. As the House revised the decision, the call to question the government officially, or interpellation, lost momentum among some lawmakers.
Priyo Budi Santoso, a deputy to the House special mudflow team from Golkar Party, tried to explain what Agung meant by "interpellation is on call".
"We will see to what extent the government and Lapindo are committed to Presidential Regulation No. 14/2007 about the handling of the mudflow disaster," he said. "If we think they are not serious enough, we will go with the interpellation."
The House did not mention a deadline for the government and Lapindo to implement the regulation.
Agung said calls to question the government were arising from individual lawmakers. "It has yet to be the House's interpellation," he said.
The special team's report was widely criticized for seemingly classifying the mudflow as a natural disaster, with no connection to Lapindo's mining activities. However, team member Tjahjo Kumolo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the House had not come to any conclusions on the cause of the disaster.
"That is not the House's authority," he said, adding the special team could use the extension of its mandate to monitor Lapindo's commitment to paying the remaining 80 percent of the Rp 3.2 trillion (US$348 million) in compensation for mudflow victims.
Earlier in the day, Lapindo vice president Yuniwati Teryana said the company had paid 20 percent of compensation to about 11,000 landowners in Sidoarjo. She said some victims had yet to receive compensation because they were having trouble verifying their land ownership.
Yuniwati said Lapindo would begin paying the remaining 80 percent of the compensation in May 2008. "We will pay in three phases," she said, adding the company would need one year to complete the payments.
Mudjib Imron, the Regional Representative Council's special team leader for the mudflow disaster, said the government has failed to make a serious effort to help the victims. "The government did not stipulate sanctions for Lapindo if the company violated its responsibilities," he said. (alf)
Jakarta Post - February 23, 2008
Dessy Nurhayati and Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono defended Friday a new regulation to impose fees on non-forestry firms to rehabilitate the country's deteriorating forests.
The regulation would raise extra money to finance reforestation programs, he said. "The aim is good, to save our forests," the President told reporters after a limited Cabinet meeting at the Forestry Ministry.
In attendance were Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Minister for Economics Boediono, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.
Yudhoyono said many people, however, misread the regulation and accused the government of renting out the protected forests to investors. "The idea is not a forest-renting business. This is not to rent protected forests to mining companies," he said.
The President said the forest use fees of between Rp 1.2 million and Rp 3 million per hectare per year, as set in the regulation, could still be debated.
Environmental groups have said the fees were too low compared to potential environmental losses from open-pit mining activities. Greenomics Indonesia has proposed the government raise the fees to US$16,000 per hectare per year.
Senior forestry official Yetti Rusli said the fee had been determined without prior research, by a team comprising inter- governmental officials. "The decision (on fees) was made merely from computer simulations," she said.
Yetti said the team had calculated the projected production cost and revenues of non-forestry companies, including mining ones, when running businesses in forests. "Therefore the fee could be changed depending on domestic and global economic conditions," she said.
Yetti said her office could not set higher fees for forest use as it would affect the country's investment climate.
Minister Kaban insisted the government would not award new licenses for open-pit mining companies to operate in protected forests. "The forest use fee is only for companies failing to provide lands as compensation for the forest areas they use for their business," he said.
Data from the ministry shows there are currently 334 non-forestry businesses operating in the country's 293,556 hectares of forests. The ministry is now examining 586 business proposals for licenses.
In 2004, the government agreed to allow 13 firms to run an open- pit mining business in protected forests, mostly in the eastern part of the country. However, none of the 13 companies have started operations.
Indonesia contains the world's third-largest forest areas after Brazil and Congo, with 120 million hectares.
President Yudhoyono said the country had 66 million hectares of production forests and 33 million hectares of protected forests. The remaining 20 million hectares are conservation forests, he said.
He said the government would work to improve community-based forests to help raise the welfare of local people. "We are now developing community-based forests in North Sumatra, Yogyakarta, West Nusa Tenggara and Southeast Sulawesi," he said.
| Health & education |
Jakarta Post - February 27, 2008
Irawaty Wardany, Denpasar, Bali – Despite the progress in economic development in Indonesia, sanitation has remained a major challenge facing the country, a World Bank executive says.
Almud Weitz, regional team leader of the Water and Sanitation Program for East Asia and the Pacific, told a media workshop here Monday the problem lay with the absence of investment in the sanitation sector.
Indonesia has the lowest percentage of urban sewage treatment among neighbors the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia. The survey found only 2 percent of urban sewage in Indonesia was treated. "The three other countries have invested much in sanitation. They have been really into it," Weitz said.
She added that around 60 percent or about 80 million people in Indonesian had no access to sanitation, inflicting US$6.3 billion in economic losses annually on the country.
Failure to act immediately would only cause the next generation to bear the consequences, she said. "Bad sanitation leads to waterborne diseases such as diarrhea that claims over 100,000 lives of children every year," she said.
Head of the subdivision for drainage and garbage at the National Development Planning Agency Oswar Mungkasa acknowledged Indonesia had not yet developed a sound sanitation system.
"Statistically 68 percent of Indonesian people have access to sanitation systems, but it does not meet the standard of proper sanitation," he said. He said 70 percent of wells in Jakarta were polluted by E. coli bacteria as many septic tanks were located too close to wells.
Oswar said the government was not the only one responsible for the sanitation problem. "People need to take responsibility. How you can possibly expect the government to provide sanitation to all Indonesians?"
He said the government was only responsible for providing access to public sanitation facilities such as public toilets and sewage treatment systems. Low public awareness of sanitation is one of the problems, with people in many places still defecating in rivers, the main source of water for their daily needs.
"They brush teeth, wash and bathe in the same river where they defecate. They do not realize (they're attempting to live a) healthy lifestyle in an unhealthy environment," Oswar said.
Director of environmental health at the Health Ministry Wan Alkadri said the ministry was organizing a community empowerment program called Community-Led Total Sanitation that had been used since 2005 in six provinces: South Sumatra, East Java, West Java, West Nusa Tenggara, West Kalimantan and Jambi.
"The program is quite successful in changing people's habits. There are 160 villages in those provinces (where people) no longer defecate (in unsuitable places)," he said.
Jakarta Post - February 23, 2008
Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court has come under fire for a ruling that, critics say, encourages the government not to raise the education budget to levels mandated by the Constitution.
The decision was handed down Wednesday during the final court session reviewing the 2003 law on the national education system.
The court's ruling obliges the government to include teachers' salaries in the education budget, when they were previously included in the state budget for civil servants' wages.
The education budget amounts to Rp 48 trillion (approximately US$5.26 billion) in 2008, or 11.2 percent of the total state budget.
A coalition of education watchdogs slammed the ruling, saying it went against the Constitution's requirement that 20 percent of the state budget be allocated to education. It said the verdict would allow the government to use up most or all of the education budget to pay teacher salaries.
"There will be no money left for repairing school buildings, for the nine-year compulsory education program and for school operational funds (BOS)," said Ade Irawan of Indonesia Corruption Watch. "All costs will be put on the students' shoulders. We're entering a very costly education era."
Ade said the salaries of the country's 2.7 million teachers could reach up to Rp 55.6 trillion per year. The amount wasn't including allowances and salaries for other education workers, such as lecturers, principals and counselors, he said.
"We urge the government not to obey the verdict because it runs substantially counter to the Constitution," said Emerson Yuntho, also of the ICW. The coalition said it would immediately challenge the verdict, which was final and binding according to the 2003 law on the Constitutional Court.
The plaintiffs had told the court the 2003 law on national education contravened the Constitution because it excluded the salaries of education workers from the education budget. They said the law meant increases in the education budget did not improve educator's pay.
This argument was refuted by the secretary general of the Teacher's Union in the Jakarta suburb of Tangerang, Agus Supriyadi, who joined the coalition.
"This verdict will not help increase teachers' salaries. It will instead create a conflict between teachers and students because they will now have to fight each other for bigger portions of the education budget. "It is then a death for teachers," he said.
The "death", Ade said, meant the government was reluctant to increase the education budget to comply with the constitutional mandate.
"This year the government promised the House of Representatives to allocate 16 percent of the state budget for education in order to gradually reach the 20 percent mandated by the Constitution. But in fact, it only set aside 11.2 percent of the state budget," he said.
Last year the court ruled the government was in breach of the Constitution for not allocating enough of the state budget to education. The court said the Wednesday verdict would help the government comply with the constitutional mandate.
But the coalition's Febri Diansyah said the ruling was a "constitutional tactic" to allow the government to comply with the Constitution without having to increase the education budget.
| Islam/religion |
Jakarta Post - February 29, 2008
Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – The government came again under attack Thursday after refusing to scrap sharia-based ordinances, which Islamic scholars said worked against freedom of religion.
Several regional administrations have made conduct prohibited under Islamic law a crime. In the West Sumatra city of Solok and the capital Padang, as well as Banten province, women are obliged to wear headscarves in public regardless of their religion.
And local administrations in Padang, West Sumatra, in Indramayu, West Java, and in Maros, South Sulawesi, have made Koran literacy among all school children a requirement, regardless of religion.
"If an ordinance refers to a certain practice in a religion, such as detailing the way people should pray and the way a women should dress, it has violated freedom of religion," Masdar told The Jakarta Post after addressing a discussion on religious freedom.
He said the government should scrap such sharia ordinances, arguing religious belief was a private matter from which "the state must stay away". "It is not the task of the state to govern the private domain of its people," he said.
Earlier this month, Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto shrugged off demands the government revoke or review sharia-based bylaws, saying they were aimed at protecting people's lives. He said the regulations should not be seen as exclusive for Muslims because they were aimed at promoting general public order.
"Actually, the issue is not about the importance of reviewing the ordinances, but it is more about how to give a better understanding to people, so they will have similar perceptions of these ordinances, which were imposed to protect their own lives," the minister said.
Former Muhammadiyah chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif said although the local administrations were authorized to draft their own bylaws, the state should intervene if the enacted ordinances contravened the Constitution.
"The 1945 Constitution upholds freedom of religion," Syafii said. "The government should take actions against any ordinances which oblige people to behave within certain religious teachings."
Lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, a member of the Presidential Advisory Board, said during the forum the state should take action against humans rights violations.
"The freedom of religion is an issue of human rights enforcement," he said. "We have to unite, advocate the promotion of human rights and push the government to tackle the whole problem hampering the enforcement of religious freedom," he told the discussion.
Associated Press - February 23, 2008
Surabaya – Muslims protested in two Indonesian cities Saturday over drawings in Denmark portraying the Prophet Muhammad, with some calling for the artist to be put to death.
"Enough is enough. They have to stop insulting Islam," said Muhammad Djabir, one of about 1,000 protesters in the mostly Muslim country's second-largest city, Surabaya. Others in the crowd outside the Danish consulate shouted "Death sentence for the cartoonist!"
The drawing, reprinted in 17 Danish newspapers earlier this month, shows the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban and was one of 12 drawings that sparked protests in Muslim countries when they were first published in 2006, including Indonesia.
The newspapers said they were reprinting it in support of free speech after three men were arrested in an alleged plot to kill the cartoonist.
Protesters also gathered in Medan, Indonesia's third largest city. "There is a big agenda among enemies of Islam to discredit the faith and we cannot just keep quiet," said protester Zainuddin, who goes by a single name.
The republication of the drawing has prompted protests in several Muslim countries.
Indonesia is home to 190 million Muslims, more than any other country. Most practice a tolerant brand of Islam, though in recent years a long-existing radical fringe has grown louder.
| Elections/political parties |
Detik.com - February 28, 2008
Nurul Hidayati, Jakarta – The Department of Justice and Human Rights has announced that 47 political parties have successfully completed their documentation and will undergo verification to be registered as legal entities. Not recorded among these are two that that have taken up the banner of the New Order regime and former President Suharto.
One of the parties that failed to be included in the 47 was the New Order Party (POB). Prior to the period for the submission of party documentation specified by the Department of Justice, the party was included among 115 political parties that had registered themselves with the department. It appears however that since then the party has failed to build itself sufficiently in order to be able to furnish the required documentation.
The party's name is clearly unique and rather "audacious", bearing in mind that some sections of the public still hold a negative view of things that smack of Suharto's New Order.
Why then did the party fail to fulfill the requirements? Unfortunately, when the party's hotline was contacted there was no information worthy of reporting. The hotline was answered by a housekeeper who knew nothing at all about the New Order Party.
The other party that failed to submit the required documentation was the Light of Suharto Functional Party (PKPS). In the same vein as the New Order Party, its choice of name is also quite shocking.
According to the Department of Justice and Human Rights website, two cell phone numbers are recorded as the party's hotline. One of the numbers that was rung by Detik.com on Thursday February 28 reached a mailbox. The other number meanwhile was answered by a man name Mada. "Yes this was their contact number before, but not anymore. Because I'm no longer in the party, [I] resigned", said Mada when rung at 8am in the morning.
Mada already knew that the party he once supported had failed to complete the requirements to take part in the 2009 elections. It did not however know about recent development within the party.
For the moment it seems, both parties are destined to become just a memory, since it is certain that neither will be able to participate in the elections. But who knows, perhaps in the next elections, when the moment is right, they will resurface and reawaken the golden memories of Suharto and the New Order regime. (nrl/umi)
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - February 29, 2008
Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The government has begun screening documents of 47 new political parties hoping to contest next year's general elections.
The 47 parties were selected from 112 political groups registered with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry to take part in the 2009 national polls.
"Our team will need 60 days to verify all documents before awarding legal entity status to the legitimate parties (for the elections)," Syamsuddin Manan Sinaga, the ministry's director general for legal administration said in Jakarta on Thursday.
He said no more time would be given for parties to submit documents for verification because the ministry closed the registration process late Wednesday.
Among the new parties being verified are the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) led by Gen. (ret) Wiranto, who lost the 2004 presidential election, and the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), chaired by Meutia Hatta, the current state minister for women's empowerment. The National Democratic Party, led by former administrative reform minister Ryas Rasyid, and the Labor Party, led by Muchtar Pakpahan, were also included in this list.
The verification process audited whether the new parties had met requirements stipulated in a 2007 law on political parties for contesting the polls.
The law, effective last December, requires new parties to have at least 50 members with chapters in at least 60 percent of the country's 33 provinces, and branches in 50 percent of the more than 500 regencies. Political parties must also allocate at least 30 percent of their executive seats to women.
"We will check the validity of data with relevant local administrations," said Syamsudin.
He said the approved parties would undergo further verification checks by the General Elections Commission, scheduled in April. "If they pass these verifications, the new parties will join a further 50 parties that secured legal entity status for the upcoming elections in 2004," he said.
In 2003, the justice ministry verified 50 political parties. However, only 24 of them participated in the 2004 legislative elections. "All political parties already granted legal entity status remain eligible for the elections next year," he said.
Detik.com - February 28, 2008
Nograhany Widhi K, Jakarta – Political parties appealing to young people, which have been proliferating of late, arrived at the Department of Justice and Human Rights on the last day of registration to be verified as political entities. These parties are seeking to appeal to young people, the teenage social set and former activists who are still idealistic.
One of the most prominent of these is a party led by Sys NS, an icon of the teenager social set in the 1980s. He believes that his party, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia Party or NKRI Party(1), will be able to pass the verification process.
This party is clearly targeting young people can be seen by the party's consumes, such as colourful orange F1 pit-stop team clothing, and the party's slogan "The Youngster Party".
"Hopefully young people and women can go on to lead this nation", said Sys, who was accompanied by 20 or so of his young subordinates when they went to the Department of Justice and Human Rights on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in the Kuningan area of Jakarta on Wednesday February 27.
Different again is the National Unity Party (PPN), which is led by prominent 1998 student activist Pius Lustrilanang. Lustrilanang, who was abducted by the Tim Mawar (Rose Team) during a student protest in 1998, said that his party would become a vehicle for 1998 exponent students. "This is an alternative party. The party could provide space for young people and activists. It is also to provide a place for them (1998 activists)", said Lustrilanang.
There's even a party whose slogan resembles the music group Slank. While Slank has the slogan "peace", this party is called "PIS" – an abbreviation of "Partai Indonesia Sejahtera" or the Indonesian Prosperity Party. "PIS man! PIS man! PIS man!", shout the party's supporters while making the two figured sign of peace. Budiyanto Darmastono chairs the party.
Nor are prominent Pemuda Pancasila (2) figures being left behind. Pemuda Pancasila chairperson Yapto Soelistio Soerjosoemarno has taken up with the Patriot Party. Also found in the party leadership are Marini Burhan, Soerjosoemarno's sister and the former wife of violinist Idris Sardi, and actor Camelia Malik.
As well as actors, artist such as Eros Djarot leads the Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK). The final political party to register clearly using a young sounding name is the Youth Banyan Tree Party (PBM).
Will these youth orientated political parties be able to pass the verification process at the Department of Justice and Human Rights, then the General Elections Commission, and finally be able to participate in the 2009 elections? Let's wait and see. (nwk/bal )
Notes:
1. NKRI - Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia. A term which is often used in the context of nationalism and the desire to maintain the integrity of the Indonesian nation.
2. Pemuda Pancasila (Pancasila Youth) was formed by the army in October 1959 by the then military commander General A.H. Nasution, ostensibly to uphold the state ideology of Pancasila, but under former president Suharto the organisation became an association of notorious thugs and petty criminals who carried out dirty work on behalf of the regime.
[Translated by James Balowski.]
Jakarta Post - February 26, 2008
Jakarta – Distribution of left-over votes, parliamentary and electoral thresholds and vote casting methods were among the issues argued by House of Representatives lawmakers and government officials debating the election bill Monday.
But despite the amount of time the bill has been under dispute, lawmakers said they were optimistic it would be passed Tuesday.
The National Awakening Party (PKB) was the first to propose the collection of residual votes at the provincial level, before counting seats won. The scheme is likely to benefit PKB which has strongholds in Java.
The party's idea has been backed by the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Democratic Pioneer Star (BPD) faction and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) faction.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party, the Democratic Party and the Star Reform Party (PBR) have each proposed to distribute remaining votes in each electoral district.
The House also debated the percentage of a parliamentary threshold. Lawmakers had agreed next year's election would adopt a parliamentary threshold but, until Monday night, they were still in dispute between 1.5 percent (of total House seats), 2 percent or 3 percent for the threshold.
The four biggest factions at the House – Golkar, PDI-P, PKS and PKB – said 3 percent of House seats should be adopted as the parliamentary threshold. Ganjar Pranowo of PDI-P said 3 percent had been proposed to ensure a more serious attitude toward forming political parties.
Other middle to low factions proposed to adopt between a 1.5 percent to 2 percent parliamentary threshold. "We need (a lower threshold) to guarantee the representation off all the nation's elements," said Lena Maryana Mukti of PPP.
The electoral threshold was also discussed Monday. The current law applies an electoral threshold system, which bars parties that won less than 3 percent of the House seats in the 2004 elections from contesting the 2009 polls, unless they establish new parties.
Small factions including BPD, PDS and the Reform Star Party (PBR) said the House should drop the electoral threshold for the 2009 election. Other parties said the electoral threshold should remain active for the 2009 election, but the 2014 election should adopt a new parliamentary threshold.
But PDI-P's Ganjar said, "We will agree to scrap electoral thresholds, but the remaining votes have to be collected at the provincial level".
The effort to accommodate their parties' interests can be seen from the way factions proposed the method to cast ballots.
Golkar, PKS and PDS said votes should be cast by marking ballot papers, while PPP and PAN opted to keep the traditional way of punching ballot papers.
Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, head of the House's special committee deliberating the election bill, confirmed the House would still pass the bill Tuesday. "If the dispute can not be solved through lobbying, we will try to accommodate the two alternatives that will make it easier to vote," he said. (alf)
Jakarta Post - February 23, 2008
Jakarta – The House of Representatives has agreed to adopt a parliamentary threshold system for political parties to obtain seats in the legislature following the 2009 elections.
However, lawmakers are still debating the percentage of the threshold for parties to be eligible to have representatives at the House.
"We are still discussing the percentage of the threshold, but right now it looks like it will be either 1.5 percent or 2 percent (of the House seats) for the 2009 elections," said legislator Andi Yuliani Paris with the House special committee deliberating the draft election law.
Under the current election law, a party that wins even one seat at the House is allowed to have a representative at the House, but it must merge with a major party or other small parties to establish a legislative faction.
The current law also applies an electoral threshold system, barring parties that won less than 3 percent of House seats in the 2004 elections from contesting the 2009 polls, unless they establish a new party.
For the 2014 general elections, Andi said the House would adopt a parliamentary threshold system. "The House has agreed to make 2 percent of House seats the parliamentary threshold for the 2014 elections," she said.
This system could have an impact on the total number of seats in the House, as some seats might be lost when parties fail to reach the threshold. "We are still discussing what to do with the remaining seats," said Andi.
She said the House could simply annul those seats or distribute them to other parties that met the threshold. "If we decide to distribute the remaining seats, we need to figure out how to do that," she said.
Andi said the House special committee was also discussing other electoral issues including the number of seats to be contested in each electoral area.
The committee said the new legislation would make it tougher for violators of election regulations. Ignatius Mulyono of the committee said the new election law would allow police or prosecutors to summon lawmakers accused of election crimes without presidential permission.
"Law enforcers will not need the president's consent to question lawmakers committing election-related crimes," he said.
Currently, state officials including lawmakers cannot be summoned for criminal questioning without presidential approval. The bill also requires law enforcers to resolve all election-related criminal complaints five days before the General Elections Commission releases poll results.
The House committee is also divided over the issue of legislative candidates who have been implicated in criminal acts.
"The Golkar Party wants the new legislation to stipulate that candidates must not be criminal suspects only when running for legislative seats. But the nine other factions in the House demand that candidates must never have been charged or jailed for crimes," said Andi.
Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, head of the special committee, said the team has finished deliberating 95 percent of the election bill. "All the factions are still lobbying each other over several issues and the House leaders will have a final lobbying with the government on Sunday night," he said.
The House is scheduled to pass the bill into law during a plenary session next Tuesday. (alf)
Jakarta Post - February 23, 2008
Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – One of the pioneer organizations of the United Development Party (PPP) has thrown its weight behind the incumbent president and vice president to run in the 2009 presidential election.
Chairman of the Indonesian Muslims Brotherhood (Parmusi) Bachtiar Chamsyah said here Friday the group would support President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla on the basis of their success in handling the country's problems.
"Terrorism, corruption and other big problems have been handled strictly. That's why we should allow them to continue their leadership for the next term, so they can really settle the problems," Bachtiar, who is also the social services minister, said at the opening of Parmusi's national congress. He said it would be impossible to completely settle the country's mounting problems in only five years.
In response, Yudhoyono told the congress participants not to be premature in making their choices for the upcoming election.
"There's no need to be in a hurry, just follow the political process," he said. "I would rather focus on dealing with this country's problems than campaigning for the next election."
Parmusi was initially established as the Indonesian Muslims Party in 1968. Three years later, the Soeharto-led New Order regime merged the party with the largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian Tarbiyah (Education) Union and the Islamic United Party to form the (PPP).
In the late 1990s, Parmusi declared itself a non-political Muslim organization. In the 2004 elections, Parmusi allowed its members to vote for any political parties besides the PPP. They were also allowed to vote for any presidential candidates other than Hamzah Haz, who was supported by the PPP. Some Parmusi members have since joined different political parties, with the majority still supporting the PPP.
Attending the event were PPP chairman Suryadharma Ali, Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Maftuh Basyuni, Minister for Administrative Reforms Taufik Effendy, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie and Communication and Information Minister Muhammad Nuh. Constitutional Court president Jimly Asshiddiqie, deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly AM Fatwa and deputy chairman of the Regional Representative Council Irman Gusman were also present.
| Armed forces/defense |
Foreign Policy in Focus - February 27, 2008
Frida Berrigan – Jakarta wants weapons. Lots of them. Right after Valentine's Day, Indonesian Air Force officials met with their US counterparts to discuss "bilateral defense cooperation." On their wish list were Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighters and C-130 Hercules tactical transport planes. There will be more defense talks in April between the two countries as they step up military cooperation.
The United States and Indonesia "normalized" military relations in 2005, ending a 10-year period during which Jakarta was essentially barred from receiving most forms of US weapons sales and military aid and training because of its military's human rights abuses and corruption.
Jakarta is happy to be back in Washington's good graces. US Defense Secretary dropped by for a visit on Monday, February 25th and praised Indonesia as a "huge Islamic country, democratic, secular," before continuing to say: "I think strengthening our relationship with Indonesia is very important, not just in a regional context, but I think in terms of the role that Indonesia may be able to play more broadly."
But its military is carefully courting other weapons suppliers so it is not again dependent on a single source.
Looking to Moscow
When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Jakarta in September 2007, weapons were at the top of the agenda. Moscow extended $1 billion in loans for weapons and in December, Indonesia picked up medium and short-range missiles, aerial bombs, and other systems.
In 2003, Indonesia bought Russian fighter planes and other hardware as part of a $192 million package of weapons, and Moscow let their new friend pay most of its tab with palm oil. Jakarta's military is now hoping for more – including 20 fighter planes, six submarines, air defense systems, helicopters, boats, and other systems that could add up to about $3 billion.
Washington is watching this new friendship with a wary eye. Throughout the Cold War, the United States counted on Indonesia as a staunch anti-communist and friend. General Suharto ruled the archipelago with an iron fist and an avaricious eye for more than 30 years.
Jakarta's rearmament push comes as Indonesia wrestles with Suharto's bloody legacy following his death in January at the age of 86. The former leader was given the burial of a statesman, and his legacy was burnished to a high gloss.
"Though there may be some controversy over his legacy," eulogized US Ambassador Cameron Hume, "President Suharto was a historic figure who left a lasting impression on Indonesia and the region of Southeast Asia."
The "controversy" includes Transparency International's 2004 assertion that Suharto was the "world's greatest kleptocrat ever" with a fortune of $35 billion or more stolen from the Indonesian people. Other controversial issues include mass killings. His extermination of between 400,000 and one million suspected communists as he moved to seize power in 1965 and 1966 stands out in its brutality. There was also the 1975 invasion of East Timor, the Santa Cruz Massacre in 1991, and much more. Suharto was labeled "one of the worst mass murderers of the 20th century," by the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network.
Throughout the Suharto regime and since, Jakarta enjoyed the full support of the United States. Most of Indonesia's weapons came from the United States, their officers graduated from US academies, and the two militaries conducted joint exercises. Jakarta was almost completely dependent on Washington for its military strength. Additionally, Jakarta's generals developed a strong preference for US weapons.
Thus, the congressionally mandated checks on weapons sales and military aid effectively hamstrung the Indonesian military and sent it a strong message that it must reform. But pressure from military officials from both countries and the political exigencies of the war on terrorism successfully weakened and eventually undermined Washington's willingness to use its influence to demand that the Indonesian military respect human rights and eliminate corruption.
Strengthened ties
Normalization of military ties between the United States and Indonesia in late 2005 was accompanied by State Department assurances that "the United States remains committed to pressing for accountability for past human rights abuses and US assistance will continue to be guided by Indonesia's progress on democratic reform and accountability."
The guides seem to have lost their map. This year, over the objections of the State Department, Congress withheld $2.7 million – a fraction of US foreign military financing – until the State Department could demonstrate that Indonesia was taking steps to hold members of the military accountable for human rights violations and implement "reforms to increase the transparency and accountability of their operations and financial management."
John M. Miller, national coordinator of ETAN, reacted to this attempt to influence Jakarta by saying "withholding this small portion of military aid is an inadequate stick, but it serves to keep up appearances. The Indonesian government looks like it is trying, but the Indonesian military correctly interprets it as a token gesture. The military gets what it wants without concretely change how they do business or losing its impunity."
Meanwhile, Washington nearly tripled Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Indonesia. In 2006, FMF totaled $990,000 but jumped to $6.5 million in 2007. The request for 2008 is $15.7 million. ETAN reacted in a statement at the time: "we see no dramatic change in the Indonesian military's conduct over the past year to warrant such a generous increase."
But this is just the beginning of what the United States is providing to Indonesia. Under a little noticed Pentagon program known as "train and equip authority" or "Section 1206," Washington gave another Indonesia another $18.4 million in 2006 to procure coastal radar stations, and improved air and sea surveillance capabilities. In 2007, "1206" funding totaled $28.7 million and was used to beef up radar and communications equipment for the Indonesian navy and coast guard. For 2008, details have not been released, but funding is expected to be comparable.
The Global Train and Equip program is designed to help armed forces address regional terrorism problems, while bypassing the normal State Department channels for aid. In 2006, the Pentagon doled out a total of $200 million to foreign militaries through this program. Now the Defense Department is seeking to increase "1206" authority to $750 million and make the program permanent.
Military aid is not the only thing pouring in. In 2005, the State Department authorized Jakarta for $51 million in licenses for weaponry, defense articles, and services. The next year, the State Department issued licenses for more than $100 million in military hardware including spare parts for fighters, cargo planes and helicopters, explosives and torpedo launchers were issued. Not all licenses are exercised, but the list gives a sense of Indonesia's voracious appetite for weapons.
Why so many weapons?
Washington hopes that by bulking up Indonesia's military capacities it can help the nation counter terrorism and emerge as a regional leader able to thwart North Korea's nuclear ambitions and deter China's aggressive military build-up. That's what Secretary Gates means when he talks about the "role that Indonesia may be able to play more broadly" and that's why Washington is so threatened by the way Russian President Putin has reached out to Jakarta.
So, Washington dangles F-16s to make its sweeping vision of Indonesia's strategic importance a reality. But, in the past, US-origin weapons, military know-how and aid, were not used to achieve lofty political aims. They were turned on Indonesian citizens active in the multiple movements for self-determination and autonomy in far-flung regions like Aceh, Papua, and Timor. They were used to put down political demonstrations and quell unrest after economic collapse destroyed the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands.
The checks on US military aid are gone, and now the floodgates have opened. Political and military officials need to watch what Jakarta does next very carefully. Human rights, broad political participation, secular democracy, and regional leadership do not spring fully formed from the belly of an F-16 or the barrel of a gun.
[FPIF columnist Frida Berrigan is a senior program associate at the Arms and Security Project of the New America Foundation.]
Jakarta Post - February 25, 2008
Timika, Papua – Army chief Lt. Gen. Agustadi Sasongko Purnomo says he would urge the government to upgrade its arsenal which has become outdated because of a limited defense budget.
Agustadi made the statement after inspecting Infantry Battalion 754 in Eme Neme Kangase in Timika last Friday.
Most guns, rifles and armored vehicles used by the Army battalions, including those along national borders shared with Papua New Guinea, he said, should have been scrapped and could only be used "to scare our enemies."
"Mimika is home to mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia, one of several things which must be protected from security disturbances," Agustadi said. "Soldiers should not disturb locals or get involved in conflicts with police," he said.
Agustadi also asked provincial military leaders to help reinforce military discipline and build a good public image. "Soldiers must not get drunk, have self-control and most importantly local military should maintain its neutrality."
| Economy & investment |
Jakarta Post - February 29, 2008
Ika Krismantari, Jakarta – New investment in the mining sector is likely to grow at a slow pace this year as investors wait for the enactment of a new mining bill being deliberated at the House of Representatives.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's director general of coal, mineral and geothermal Simon Sembiring said on Thursday investment was estimated to grow by 2.5 percent this year, to US$1.38 billion from $1.35 billion.
Investments expected for this year included a project by mining firm PT Dairy Prima Mineral and Herald Resources of Australia, which would cost a total of $180 million, he said.
The project has been stalled for some time because of permit problems. The ministry has refused to allow the company to operate in a protected forest area where its mining concession is located.
With the recent issue of a new governmental regulation on forest use, however, Dairy would have a chance to realize its investment, Simon said. The new regulation allows mining firms to operate in protected forest areas in exchange for financial compensation for future forest rehabilitation. Compensation costs are calculated at Rp 3 million (some $331) per hectare per year.
Simon said Dairy's project was slated to start this year. He said in general most mining companies remained hesitant about starting new operations in Indonesia because of several legal hurdles in the new mining bill.
He said the hurdles included potential legal uncertainty for mining firms in the future.
"That is why we hope to be able to enact the new law before the House recess session in April," Simon said. "That will be our priority for this year."
The new law was expected to lure more investment into the mining sector but stumbling blocks in the deliberation of the bill included a so-called transition period. Mining companies with government contracts will have a wait period before they can comply their operations with the planned new permit system under the new law.
The government and lawmakers are at odds over the length of the transition period. Lawmakers want companies to immediately comply with the new law within certain period of time. The government, however, said companies with already-secured permits should not have to comply with the new law until their permit expires.
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is rich with various mining resources including gold, copper, tin, coal, bauxite and nickel.
Jakarta Post - February 27, 2008
Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – The state of land transportation is not only poor but seems to be getting worse, a seminar revealed, citing a global survey that put Indonesia's ranking in a worse position this year than last year.
Bambang Susantono, deputy to the coordinating minister for the economy for infrastructure and regional development, said Tuesday that Indonesia was ranked 91 among 131 countries surveyed by the World Economic Forum in the transportation infrastructure area. Indonesia was 89th last year.
Bambang said the infrastructure sector was eroding the country's economic competitiveness. "From the aspect of competitiveness itself Indonesia ranks 54th out of 131 countries."
Bambang said problems often occurred such as bottleneck and delays in logistics deliveries along Java's northern coastal highway. "Such conditions create logistical obstacles which are hampering the country's economic growth and diminishing our competitiveness index even further," he told the seminar on Indonesia's state of transportation.
Therefore, Bambang said, the government planned to speed up road infrastructure projects to help solve bottleneck problems in the country's main trading lanes by increasing the infrastructure budget.
"To help solve the problem, we will first focus on creating better access in certain areas which support the economy, like the eastern parts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java's northern coastal highways," he said.
Also, the government will focus on improvements in industrial areas, such as in Cikarang, West Java, and Jababeka, as well as the construction of toll roads from Cibitung to Tanjung Priok ports. To do that, the government has increased budget allocations for infrastructure projects in the past several years, Bambang added.
In 2005, the government allocated Rp 20.9 trillion for infrastructure, of which Rp 8.9 trillion was set aside for transportation. This year, the infrastructure budget allocation has reached Rp 61.9 trillion with Rp 33.8 trillion for transportation.
However the budget for roads management this year is only Rp 18.41 trillion, according to director general for highways at the Public Works Ministry, A. Hermanto Dardak. Only 45 percent of the budget is to be used for road expansion.
The remaining 55 percent, equal to Rp 10.19 trillion, will be used for the preservation of 33.78 kilometers of roads and 27,456 meters of bridges, as well as the improvement of road structures.
The road expansion projects will consist of the construction of 1,800 kilometers of bridges and roads. The increase in budget is simply not enough," Bambang said. "In addition, the budget increase should be balanced by other efforts, like transportation regulations, improving the quality of human resources and the involvement of the private sector."
Jakarta Post - February 26, 2008
Debnath Guharoy, Consultant – The runaway development of shopping malls in Jakarta is living proof of reckless greed, a monumental disaster in the offing. It is a good example of how poor information, bad planning and a lack of common sense is already hurting, and will continue to hurt, investors and workers alike.
As always, it is the people at large who will eventually pay the price for the folly of a few.
Anybody who has wandered into one of the shiny new malls in Jakarta will have been surprised by the eerie quiet at midday.
Where is the midday crowd, you wonder? How do the owners pay the staff for waiting patiently for that elusive customer? How will these shiny new shops get returns on their investments? How will the banks recover their loans?
Of all Jakartans 14 years of age and older, 43 percent have been to a shopping mall in the last month. Thirty-four percent have actually spent some money at the mall.
These numbers reflect the collective weight of Jakarta's affluent, its middle class and some of the less privileged. Significantly big, both in terms of footfall and spending. But there is a limit to how many malls they can visit or how much money they can spend.
Not surprisingly, there is no dramatic surge in mall visitation in recent years, with inflationary pressures and rising prices keeping many in the middle class at home. The kind of surge in mall development that Jakarta is going to witness in the next 24 months will overwhelm many, but will "underwhelm" the shopper.
Fourteen new malls, with an estimated floor space of some 600,000 square meters, are mushrooming right now. For whom? Like most of Indonesia's top 20 cities, the middle class in Jakarta isn't really growing and any assumptions of expansion based on population growth are simplistic and inaccurate. The reality is quite the contrary, in fact.
Developers, bankers and builders are putting up shopping malls as if the country is in the middle of an economic boom. "Build and they will come." That mantra may work in Dubai, an oasis among the rather bland cities in its neighborhood.
But it cannot work here. It is unlikely that Jakarta is going to become a shopper's paradise for the region, in competition with Singapore, anytime soon. Depending on Jakartans to fill the empty spaces or aiming to attract shoppers from the other cities of Indonesia is wishful thinking.
These conclusions are based on Roy Morgan Single Source, the country's largest syndicated survey with over 27,000 Indonesian respondents annually, projected to reflect almost 90 percent of the population over the age of 14. That is a universe of 140 million people. The results are updated every 90 days but the opinions expressed here are my own.
The prognosis isn't difficult to construct. The developers are going to be hit hard. Distress sales will bring down revenues from existing malls. Banks who have financed some of these mammoth new projects will find themselves unwilling owners of real estate.
As always, they will aim to recover those losses from their other customers, big and small. Big retailers and franchise-owners will see smaller returns from each outlet they currently own and feel pressured to open in the new malls to protect their overall market share.
Small retailers hoping to win from their mere presence in a glitzy new mall will suffer from sparse traffic. Many of the new retail jobs created will wither away in time, creating anguish among families. The shopping mall "pie" simply isn't growing and slicing the same one up in even smaller pieces is going to leave a lot of red on the balance sheet. It won't be ketchup.
Why does this kind of self-inflicted malaise occur in Indonesia? Whether it is developers, retailers or bankers, there is an amazing lack of maturity among decision-makers.
While some industries have their own associations, very few of them are effective. This appears to be true of industries across the spectrum. The utter lack of appropriate data, the misplaced over-confidence and the scant regard for basic marketing discipline are the primary culprits.
There is no advantage in jumping off a cliff ill-equipped, either individually or one after the other.
If industry association meetings are forums to protect vested interests and spread disinformation to confuse the competition instead of being the industry platform to collate and share hard data, experiences and concerns, the immaturity of individuals at the helm will inflict pain not only upon themselves but also upon their associates and society at large. Without intellectual maturity, without commercial discipline, every type of business is vulnerable – not just the retail sector. If an essential resource for a successful business is reliable information, not misinformation or disinformation, what does your association offer? Then ask yourself what you have done for it lately.
[The writer can be contacted at debnath.guharoy@roymorgan.com.]
Jakarta Post - February 26, 2008
Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – The banking sector needs to boost its lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to the sector's proven resilience and huge contribution to employment and the economy, a seminar determined Monday.
Ali Masykur Musa, lawmaker from House of Representatives Commission XI overseeing financial affairs, said that while the loans were on the rise, banks were still not meeting their potential when it came to extending loans to SMEs.
"So far, the SMEs only take about 40 percent of the annual lending provided by banks, while the other 60 percent goes to large companies," he said. "That's not good enough considering the role the SMEs play in the economy."
According to the cooperatives and SMEs ministry, SMEs made up 90 percent of the country's 48.9 million business enterprises in 2006. They employed 96 percent of approximately 88 million workers that year.
"While other businesses are still struggling to get their feet back on the ground around 10 years after the (economic) crisis, the SMEs sector remains resilient and has been showing good performance in supporting the economy," Ali said.
Andang Setyobudi, head of research and development at Bank Indonesia's credit and SMEs directorate, said a fully empowered SMEs sector was the answer to Indonesia's wide income disparity.
"Funding accessibility for the SMEs must be increased. Not only from banks, but also from non-bank institutions, such as cooperatives, pawnshops and venture capital."
Andang said the central bank predicted bank loans to SMEs this year would increase by up to 20 percent from last year, on the back of a government program which provides funds to guarantee bank loans to SMEs.
The absence of collateral is among the key reasons behind banks' reluctance to provide loans to SMEs.
The government program, which was launched last November, involves six banks: Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), Bank Bukopin and Bank Syariah Mega.
Budi Gunadi Sadikin, director of micro and retail banking at Bank Mandiri, told the seminar the bank expected a 20 percent increase in SME credits this year. In 2007, the bank disbursed Rp 15.7 billion for SMEs, up from Rp 9.25 billion in 2006.
| Opinion & analysis |
Jakarta Post Editorial - February 29, 2008
The government is risking piling big mistakes on top of huge errors, all at the expense of the basic foundation of the economy, by stubbornly refusing to bring domestic fuel prices closer to international market levels.
Maintaining current fuel prices far below their economic costs will only prompt more export smuggling and misuse by industrial users. Capping fuel prices, which are already less than 50 percent of international levels, would, at best, create artificial stability but mostly to the benefit of middle and upper-middle income groups, who account for less than 20 percent of the population.
Worse still for the future of the economy, the current policy is discouraging energy efficiency, conservation and diversification, which are vital for our economic competitiveness.
Experience has taught us that capping prices through subsidies will address only the symptoms of inflation, not the root cause. Government-mandated price curbs have always been a failure, because both producers and consumers get the wrong price signals. Consequently the forces of supply and demand do not work normally.
We find it impossible to understand why the government and the House of Representatives, in facing a persistent wave of steep fuel price hikes, are only tinkering with revenue and expenditure estimates, not taking the bull by the horns. Resolving the problem of increasingly costlier fuels without any reference to market prices is not a solution at all.
It does not make any economic sense to allow fuel subsidies to take up to one-fifth of total state revenues this year while the bulk of the subvention has been enjoyed by the middle and upper- middle classes, who can afford gasoline at international market prices.
Continuing the wasteful spending on fuel subsidies not only is a gross misallocation of scarce resources, but is also a future tax and burden on the economy.
We fully agree with economist M. Chatib Basri's recent observation that the steady increase in fuel imports should be blamed partly on the export smuggling of subsidized fuels. Even the supervisory agency for the distribution of subsidized fuels has acknowledged an increasing volume of subsidized fuels, notably regular gasoline, automotive diesel oil and kerosene, has been misused either for export smuggling or for sale to industrial users.
Nor does it make any political sense for the government to allocate more than Rp 150 trillion (US$16 billion) for fuel subsidies but not even half of that amount for education and health services.
If the government does not raise fuel prices or does nothing to slash fuel subsidies, the current budget will contribute almost nothing to pump priming, as it was originally intended, because fuel and food subsidies and interest payments on government debts alone would take up almost 45 percent of total state revenue.
If President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono thinks it makes political sense to maintain fuel subsidies, in view of the 2009 presidential election, he must remember that Megawati Soekarnoputri, when she was the incumbent, lost the 2004 presidential election even though she did not raise fuel prices.
Floating gasoline prices on international market (Mid Oil Platts Singapore) quotations, as Megawati did in 2002, is theoretically the most economically, technically and politically feasible alternative. Such a policy would reduce fuel subsidies only gradually, protecting the economy from shocking inflationary pressure and sparing the government political bickering with the House every time international prices fluctuated wildly.
It would be a technical matter as to how such a fuel price flotation should be implemented to prevent inflationary pressure shock. After all, we have been on that road before. Most importantly is a national political consensus for such a bold move.
But whatever fuel reform policy the government and the House finally agree on, it will not be credible and effective unless it brings domestic prices closer to international ones.
Inevitably, any fuel price increase will increase inflationary pressure, but prices will eventually achieve their market equilibrium as the forces of supply and demand get the right price signals.
Jakarta Post - February 27, 2008
Usman Hamid and Eko Waluyo, Jakarta/Sydney – The recent visit of Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda to Australia on February 7 aimed to re-enforce the framework for security cooperation between Australia and Indonesia, known as the Lombok Treaty. A draft of this agreement was signed on Nov. 13, 2006, in Mataram by both governments, and the parliaments of both countries have approved the treaty.
The Lombok Treaty covers several areas. There are some major concerns in human rights circles over various parts of the agreement.
Article 2, item 2, which refers to "non-interference in the internal affairs of one another" is broad enough for each party to translate it as they wish. Yet it is important that human rights and democracy are not regarded as internal affairs. Human rights and democracy are global issues, relevant to the entire international community. It is the obligation of each nation, particularly those who are members of the UN, to uphold and spread the values of human rights and democracy.
The label of "separatists" has been used by Indonesian authorities to persecute people who criticize the government's human rights abuses. There remains a very real concern that the Indonesian government is still persecuting people in West Papua for being "separatists".
The article was included in the agreement in the hope of avoiding a repeat of the tensions which occurred in Timor Leste, where the Howard government sent troops after post-referendum violence.
This was regarded as a betrayal of Australian promises of support for Indonesian sovereignty in the then-Indonesian province. Could this happen again over West Papua? What about political refugees seeking asylum in Australia from various provinces? The article is meant to allay Indonesian fears.
In the first section of Article 3, the Lombok Treaty deals with "the long term mutual benefit of the closest professional cooperation between... Defense Forces".
To improve the Indonesian Military's (TNI) professionalism, the Australian government should not only focus on joint military exercises (which have been criticized by several Australian and Indonesian human rights groups) but rather on improving the TNI's management of the defense budget.
During his speech on February 7, Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith mentioned the possibility of renewing the MOU on counter-terrorism cooperation, which has helped to eliminate terrorist organizations in Indonesia.
However, counter-terrorism exercises between Indonesia's controversial special forces, Kopasus, and Australia's Special Air Service Regiment, could cause problems for Kevin Rudd's new government, given the role of Kopasus in conflict areas such as Papua.
The Intelligence Cooperation section of Article 3 needs to be clarified. Indonesian authorities often use the intelligence agency to monitor the activities of human rights and democracy activists.
Under Article 3's section on the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction comments need to be made concerning item 17, which encourages "strengthening bilateral nuclear cooperation for peaceful purposes". The Indonesian government has been struggling to find some solution to its energy crisis. Nuclear energy is seen as one of solutions. But many parties in Indonesia refuse the nuclear alternative for several reasons, including the country's geographic position and widespread corruption.
Meanwhile, the section on Emergency Cooperation under Article 3, should not only deal with natural disasters but also times of political and social conflict. It is critically important that the government, as well as international and non-governmental humanitarian agencies all have free access to conflict areas where there is a community need for humanitarian aid.
Human trafficking is also a serious area in which the Indonesian government faces considerable challenges. Cooperation on this issue is critically important to both countries as trafficking can create security threats beyond the boundaries of any nation.
There is a need to set up an independent body with members from the government, parliament, and civil society from both countries to monitor the implementation of this agreement according to the values of transparency and with respect for human rights and democracy. Let us not repeat the dishonesty and debacle that occurred between these two neighbors over East Timor.
[Usman Hamid is executive director of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). Eko Waluyo is the Coordinator of Indonesian Solidarity, Sydney.]
Jakarta Post Editorial - February 26, 2008
Even with so many laws and regulations already enacted to enforce the sustainable management of our forest resources, illegal logging has remained common throughout the country. So, we can only imagine what will happen with the broad license for the plundering of our protected forests as provided by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono through Government Regulation No. 2/2008.
Yet, both the President and Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban last week stubbornly defended the regulation as an additional measure to protect forests, and blamed environmentalists and analysts for misreading the regulation.
We cannot help but wonder how the government could have issued such a bad regulation that virtually allows companies to exploit protected forests as long as they are willing to pay annual rental fees ranging from Rp 1.2 million (US$125) to Rp 3 million per hectare.
Is the government so strapped for additional revenue that it is willing to trample upon the principle of sustainable forest management?
The presidential decree does take into account a previous regulation issued by then president Megawati Soekarnoputri in 2004 (Government Regulation No. 41/2004) that allowed 13 mining companies to conduct mining operations in designated protected forests under certain conditions.
However, this newest regulation was not issued specifically to collect additional levies (rents) from the 13 mining companies, as the government claims. Nor does the regulation specifically name the 13 mining firms as the targets of the rental fees.
Yet potentially more devastating to our forests is that Government Regulation No. 2/2008 further broadens the categories of business operations that can encroach on protected forests, to include the building of electricity transmission and distribution networks and turnpikes.
We find it difficult to understand why Forestry Minister Kaban defended Yudhoyono's decree merely as a follow-up to the 2004 regulation.
Megawati issued Government Regulation No. 41/2004 to implement Law No. 19/2004, which was enacted to resolve once and for all the imbroglio surrounding 150 mining concessions that were awarded in protected forests before Law No. 41/1999 was enacted. This 1999 forestry law banned open-pit mining in protected forests.
However, the law could not be enforced retroactively on the 150 mining concessions that were awarded before 1999, otherwise the government would have been plunged into messy international litigation that could have cost tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money.
The House of Representatives and the government eventually worked out a political consensus in 2004 (Law No. 19/2004) that allowed open-pit mining operations in protected forests only for several of the 150 mining concessions.
The 13 mining firms were selected by a joint government-House team under stringent criteria: the amount of investment already made, the commercial volume of mineral deposits already found and the potential benefits of their operations to the national economy.
Environmental NGOs asked for a judicial review of Law No. 19/2004 but the Constitutional Court upheld the law in July 2005, ruling the 1999 law on forestry could not be applied retroactively to mining concessions awarded before 1999.
Law No. 19/2004 seemed at the time the best compromise between the objectives of protecting our forests and of maintaining legal certainty for investors in the mining sector.
Regulation No. 2/2008 would not have caused such a controversy had it specifically been designed to collect additional fees from the 13 mining companies operating in protected forests. Judging from the arguments both Yudhoyono and Kaban have used to defend the regulation, the 13 mining concessions might have been the primary target of the regulation, but the final decree the President signed on February 4 was not specifically designed for the 13 mining firms.
We find it difficult to understand how Forestry Minister Kaban could have drafted such a controversial regulation and why President Yudhoyono would have signed such a poorly written decree without ordering a comprehensive regulatory-impact analysis.
It is not environmentalists or the general public who have misunderstood the regulation, as Yudhoyono alleged last Friday. Rather, it is the President, who hurriedly signed a poorly drafted regulation. The only thing to do now is annul Regulation No. 2/2008.
Wisconsin State Journal - February 23, 2008
Diane Farsetta – In May 1998, when General Suharto was forced to step down as president of Indonesia, the members of the Madison chapter of the East Timor Action Network (ETAN) decided to have a little fun.
To mark the end of Suharto's 32-year-long dictatorship and the rise of the vibrant Indonesian "reformasi " movement, made up of student, labor and human rights activists, we created a giant farewell card.
We brought it to the Dane County Farmer's Market and the WORT block party, educating people about the situation in Indonesia and then-Indonesian-occupied East Timor, and inviting them to add their own message to Suharto. A fellow ETAN member, John Roosa – now a history professor and the author of a book chronicling the massacres that accompanied Suharto's rise to power – wrote my favorite comment. The gist of it was: "Suharto, you've worked long and hard to repress your country's people and steal your country's wealth. Take a nice, long vacation. And then get ready to defend yourself in court."
Unfortunately, Suharto died on Jan. 27, without facing a single trial. There has been no justice for the 500,000 to 1 million Indonesians killed in the aftermath of Suharto's 1965 seizure of power, including intellectuals and leftists targeted with the help of US intelligence agencies.
There has been no justice for the 100,000 to 200,000 East Timorese killed during Indonesia's illegal, quarter-century-long occupation. There has been no justice for the 100,000 people in West Papua, or the tens of thousands in Aceh and elsewhere across the archipelago. There has been no justice for Suharto's stealing an estimated $15 billion to 35 billion from Indonesia's coffers to enrich his family and friends.
The US State Department professes to care about world public opinion – especially in counties like Indonesia, which houses the world's largest Muslim population.
But the statement released by US Ambassador Cameron Hume following Suharto's death poured bitter salt in the wounds of millions. The statement trumpeted Suharto's role in what it called "remarkable economic and social development." The only indication of the trail of blood and tears left by Suharto was a brief aside that "there may be some controversy over his legacy."
As one Clinton administration official told the New York Times back in 1995, Suharto is "our kind of guy. "
The need for justice doesn't only rest with Indonesia. United States complicity in many of Suharto's crimes, the growing US support today for the Indonesian military – many of whose leaders are Suharto proteges, and the universal obligation to ensure that war crimes and crimes against humanity do not go unpunished make the need for justice a US issue, too.
The United States should own up to its past and live up to its commitments under international law.
As the country that green-lighted Indonesia's invasion of East Timor, the United States must support an international tribunal on serious crimes committed throughout the occupation, from 1975 to 1999. The United States must also end all military assistance to Indonesia, until the Indonesian forces are under civilian control and observe human rights standards.
If we were to send a card today, it might read "Farewell impunity." It's long past time.
[Farsetta is coordinator of the Madison-Ainaro (East Timor) Sister-City Alliance and a member of ETAN/Madison (www.aideasttimor.org) since 1996.]