The Solidarity for Peace in Diversity (Solidaritas) on Thursday launched a website titled Nusantara Online, aimed at providing complete and constantly updated legal data on the country's pluralism, or lack of it.

Solidaritas' Yeni Rosa Damayanti said the website was set up in response to the perceived legal threats to Indonesia's pluralism.

"There is a perception that Indonesia does not adhere to the Pancasila and the Constitution as a legal basis anymore. (The website) is an effort to maintain pluralism," she told The Jakarta Post.

The website, available at www.nusantaraonline.org, offers visitors information on bylaws, government regulations, laws and covenants.

Clicking the "Bylaw" tab after choosing a region, such as Aceh, for instance, gives viewers a list of bylaws that are, or may in the future be, applied in the region.

Exploring further, the 2003 Aceh canon on adultery, for example, is displayed in a portable document format along with information on when the canon was issued and when it came into effect.

Visitors to the site can read about the prohibition of adultery, or acts deemed to lead to adultery, along with the penalties for violators, such as caning with a rattan whip, after downloading the document.

Many can benefit from Nusantara Online – not to be mistaken with gaming website www.nusantara-online.com – including activists, lecturers, journalists and even members of the parliament, Yeni said.

She said that activists in support of pluralism, often have trouble presenting evidence when facing legislators about legal products deemed as threats to the country's "unity in diversity".

National Awakening Party (PKB) politician Ali Maschan Musa, a member of Commission VII of the House of Representatives, affirmed that some House members were deprived of up-to-date knowledge of legal products.

"There are many kinds of legislators. Some of them do not pay attention to these issues, while others are more concerned about power and politics," Ali said.

He added that pluralism, which is related to country's ideology Pancasila was part of the nationalism issue. "The people in the government appear to have not been complying closely enough with Pancasila," Ali said. (JP/dis)

Indonesia to increase fuel, food subsidies

Jakarta Globe - February 27, 2010

Dion Bisara – The government plans to increase this year's subsidies for energy and other basic commodities in what some analysts see as a populist policy to help prop up its sagging popularity amid the split in the ruling coalition.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on Thursday that the government planned to spend an extra Rp 43.9 trillion ($4.7 billion) on subsidies this year. About 84 percent of that would be for gasoline and electricity, while the remainder would be earmarked for fertilizer and food commodities. The additional subsides will raise the total to Rp 201.8 trillion.

She said the government would submit the plan to the House of Representatives for approval on Monday as part of a proposed revision to the 2010 state budget. Some of the budget assumptions would also be revised, including a foreign exchange adjustment to Rp 9,500 per dollar from Rp 10,000; inflation to 5.7 percent, up from 5 percent; and oil prices at $77 per barrel, up from $65.

The plan comes as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been struggling with a political rift among parties in his Democrat- led coalition over the Bank Century rescue in 2008.

Analysts say he needs populist policies to win more public support as two of the top coalition members, the Golkar Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), have broken ranks and joined opposition parties in demanding Sri Mulyani and Vice President Boediono be held responsible for the bailout.

"Electricity or fuel-price adjustments are definitely off the table this year," said PT Bank Danamon economists Helmi Arman and Anton Gunawan in a report quoted by Bloomberg. "There's still a long road ahead until the Century problem is resolved," they said, adding that increased non-energy subsidies were a possible measure to shore up popular support.

Sri Mulyani said the government would increase subsidies for gasoline by Rp 20 trillion, electricity by 16.7 trillion, fertilizer Rp 4.4 trillion and food Rp 2.8 trillion.

If approved by the House, total subsidies for energy alone would swell to Rp 143.2 trillion, much higher than last year's Rp 99.9 trillion, and be the second-largest energy subsidy budget over the last 10 years after reaching Rp 223 trillion in 2008. The higher fertilizer and food subsidies this year would be the highest in the past decade.

The 2010 budget deficit, Sri Mulyani said, would expand to 2.1 percent of gross domestic product, from 1.6 percent previously. To help cover the extra spending, the government would take about

Rp 1.2 trillion in additional borrowing and use the Rp 38.3 trillion left over from the last budget. "It's simple," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa said. "We do not increase the electricity price and domestic fuel price. Meanwhile, the global oil price is increasing. Subsidies therefore have to be increased."

Arman said he thought every effort would be made to delay any upward fuel price adjustment because "doing otherwise would be deeply unpopular."

Gasoline price hikes in the past have caused political unrest and had been among the factors contributing to the downfall of former President Suharto in 1998.

Yudhoyono's approval rating fell to 70 percent last month from 85 percent when he won the election, according to a poll by the Jakarta-based Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), which questioned 2,900 respondents nationwide. The survey added that the Bank Century saga had driven the fall in the president's popularity.

Communism flourished because elite failed to defend the people

Kompas - February 27, 2010

Surabaya – During the colonial era communism flourished in Indonesia. One of the reasons was the behaviour of the native elite (elite bumiputra) who failed to defend the ordinary people. This however is unlikely to be repeated now.

This was the common thread coming out of the dissertation of a book titled "The Rise of Indonesian Communism" by Ruth T McVey in the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya on Thursday February 25. Attending as resource people were Cornell University emeritus Professor Benedict Anderson and the head of the Progressive Lecturers Union (SDP) Airlangga Pribadi.

The book was first published by Cornell University Press in 1965 under the same title and in Indonesian by the Bamboo Community in January 2010. The book was banned under the New Order regime of former President Suharto.

Airlangga said that Marxist ideology grew quickly in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial period. The fertile ground for these ideas was a society oppressed by a colonial government. Conversely the elite native class failed to defend the ordinary people and instead tended to collaborate with the colonial government.

"Communism also presented itself as a concept of a just king (ratu adil) but not in the personification of an individual, but as a system to be jointly struggled for," said Airlangga, who also teaches politics at the Airlangga University Faculty of Social and Political Science in Surabaya.

According to Benedict Anderson, it will be difficult for communism to experience this kind of growth now. On the one hand, the middle-class in Indonesia is weak and inactive as a consequence of the education system during the New Order era. The majority of the Indonesian middle-class tends to be exclusive and pragmatic. On the other hand, with China's transformation to capitalism and the collapse of the Soviet Union, there is no basis for communism anymore.

Nevertheless, a progressive movement is need if the Indonesian middle-class wishes there to be support for marginal sectors of society. (INA)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Indonesia's president moonlights as pop star

Associated Press - February 22, 2010

Kristen Gelineau, Jakarta – The words of the president of Indonesia boom through the room, and 24-year-old Desy grows quiet, listening to her leader's message: "Is there in your heart? Is there in your spirit? The affection that I wait for like dew in my heart?"

Desy, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, leans against the counter of this downtown music store and grins. This is her favorite of the nine ballads President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has penned for his latest album, released last month and entitled "Ku Yakin Sampai Di Sana," or "I Believe I'll Get There."

Though he's perhaps more readily associated with concerns over terrorism and corruption than love and longing, Yudhoyono's side career as a pop musician is not all that surprising in a place where the politician as performer is common. Case in point: at the height of Indonesia's bloody battle against East Timor's bid for independence in 1999, Indonesia's former military boss, Gen. Wiranto, took some time out to croon Morris Albert's hit "Feelings" at a gathering of military veterans.

Strange as it may sound to outsiders, song is a means of communicating with Indonesia's vast and fragmented population of 235 million. It is a way of connecting with the common people – a skill that has taken on great importance in a country that emerged from a dictatorship in 1998 and now allows the people to elect their leaders.

The president's songs, which cover everything from love and family to the environment and humanity, are all performed by popular local musicians. And the tune blasting through the music store – "Adakah," or "Is There?" – is sung by none other than Joy Tobing, the winner of the first season of Indonesian Idol.

Desy, the sales clerk, acknowledges it's a little weird. "But that's the way Yudhoyono gets people to listen to more of his words," she says. "As the president, maybe Yudhoyono likes for people to know more about himself."

This curious connection between politics and performance is actually a long-standing tradition in Indonesia, where the sultans of old displayed their power in lavish dance dramas, says Barbara Hatley, a professor of Indonesian language, literature and popular culture at the University of Tasmania in Australia.

Today, the country's leaders benefit from huge media exposure, she says, and their performance skills are very much on show – and in competition.

"It certainly has to do with democratization and the need to sort of sell your party and sell yourself," she says. "It seemed to be something that local leaders are really supposed to do. When you have a concert or event, they should be up there joining in."

And join in they do. During the 2004 presidential campaign, Yudhoyono faced off against his opponent, Wiranto... on the stage of Indonesian Idol. Yudhoyono – referred to by most Indonesians by his initials, "SBY" – sported a rockin' leather jacket, while Wiranto – who has released his own album of love ballads – made sure to reach into the audience and touch the hands of fans.

The reception for the president's albums has been mixed. He has a modest following; his first album, "Rinduku Padamu," or "My Longing for You," sold more than 45,000 copies, says Dharma Oratmangun, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Artists, Singers, Composers and Recording Businessmen.

But not everyone's buying. Rijalul Imam, who heads KAMMI, an Indonesian student action group, says he is frustrated that the president has time for songs when so many Indonesians are suffering.

There are more pressing matters he should be focusing on, Rijalul says – rampant poverty and government corruption, for starters. "I think most students are very critical," he says.

Oratmangun, who helped the president with his musical arrangements, says it's unfair to begrudge Yudhoyono a little fun.

"What's wrong with a president if his hobby is writing songs and poems?" he says. "Many world leaders have musical hobbies such as Bill Clinton with his saxophone, and other leaders who love the arts... their abilities are the gift of God."

Other Indonesians just find the whole endeavor silly, says Wimar Witoelar, a political analyst who served as spokesman to late President Abdurrahman Wahid. "Politically, I support SBY," he says. "But also I think it would be nice if he behaved in a way which has – let's say – more class."

Yet it's precisely his music that helps him transcend class lines and reach the average person in a country where status counts. Yudhoyono, a 60-year-old former army general, makes the point himself on the CD jacket, writing, "Through this work of art, I hope to communicate my inner feelings to a wider society."

His efforts to connect through music really began after he was elected in 2004. Staffers in the presidential palace would occasionally spot Yudhoyono – who played bass in his high school band – plucking away at his guitar, said Andi Mallarangeng, Yudhoyono's former spokesman and current minister for Youth and Sports. Eventually, Yudhoyono invited other palace staff to play with him. Mallarangeng was shocked by what he heard.

"He tried to compose a song – and it was GOOD!" he recalls with a chuckle. More songs followed and eventually the president's staffers suggested the leader release an album.

Back in the music store, 40-year-old Ade's eyes flick right past the shelf of Yudhoyono's album. Ade, who also goes by one name, smiles when told the latest song blasting over the speakers – about how even humble villagers can achieve success – was penned by the president.

So is he a fan? He tips his head back and laughs. "I like THIS," he says, holding out another CD. The face of pop star Rod Stewart stares back.

[Associated Press writers Irwan Firdaus and Niniek Karmini contributed to this report.]

Actions, demos, protests...

Squatters stand ground over land dispute

Jakarta Post - February 24, 2010

Makassar – Efforts to evict residents from a disputed 4,900- square-meter land parcel failed Tuesday after squatters, laying claim to the land, fought back against 470 police personnel.

The squatters, accompanied by lawyers from the Makassar Legal Aid Foundation and student groups, blocked off the road to the area and hurled Molotov cocktails, rocks and bamboo spears at the police.

In a move right out of the Keystone Kops manual, the police then fired teargas at the squatters, only to have the headwind blow it straight back at them.

In the ensuing panic, they decided to call it a day and dispersed. Ownership of the land was granted to Goman Wisan by the Supreme Court in 2006, but the squatters have refused to leave.

Protests over transformation of mangroves into embankment

Tempo Interactive - February 25, 2010

Christopel Paino, Gorontalo – After the hard work of preservation, a mangrove area of 20 hectares in Popayato, Pohuwato Regency, Gorontalo, will be transformed into an embankment.

Around a hundred local residents are protesting and have rejected its construction. "We are against transforming our mangrove area into an embankment," said Umar Pasandre, a Torisiaje Jaya village resident, on Thursday (25/2).

Umar and others have established a mangrove preservation working unit facilitated by the Advocacy Network of Natural Resources (Japesda) a few years ago.

"We even planted 3,000 mangrove seeds last month as part of rehabilitating the coastal area," added Husain Onte, another Torisiaje Laut village resident.

The residents, accompanied by Ibrahim Rahman, a facilitator from the Gorontalo Japesda, have reported this plan to the police.

"From information we have, the permit to transform the area has only been obtained from the village head. But we will investigate it first," said Ibrahim.

Pigs join protest against Bali environment talks

Jakarta Globe - February 24, 2010

Made Arya Kencana, Denpasar – Activists continued the recent trend of using animals as protesters when they rallied against UN environment meetings in Bali on Wednesday.

Members of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) and the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) brought two pigs in a rattan cage.

In a bit of street theater, they released the two pigs, caught them again and put them back in the cage. "The catch symbolizes that neoliberalism disguised as 'green economy' should be caged," said rally spokesman Wayan Gendo Suardana.

Gendo said the meetings organized by the UN Environment program would produce nothing more than talk, and would thus perpetuate what he called the environmental neo-liberalism of the Yudhoyono-Boediono administration.

Village heads threaten to boycott services over 'neglected' bill

Jakarta Post - February 23, 2010

Bagus Budi Tama Saragih, Jakarta – More than a 1,000 village heads and their subordinates staged a rally in front of the House of Representatives' building Monday demanding lawmakers immediately pass the village development bill into law. They said it was filed a decade ago.

Village public servants from the Indonesian Village Heads Asso- ciation, wearing civil servant uniforms, arrived using dozens of buses that parked on the side streets of Jl. Gatot Subroto, causing traffic jams.

Using a mini stage with a mini sound system, the village heads voiced their demands in turns.

"The government should listen to us as 78 percent of the country's population live in rural areas," Sudir Santoso, Parade Nusantara chairman, said.

"But state funds are centralized and rarely reach village levels. The current village budget is small and mostly absorbed for salaries and wages. How can we develop the local economy without sufficient funds?"

The village heads urged the House to deliberate the village development bill as it would be the legal platform of their demands.

A Parade Nusantara official, Agus Salim, said the bill consisted of three main points. "First, we want the government to allocate 10 percent of the state budget as a 'block grant' for villages," he said.

Home Ministry data reveals there are about 73,000 villages in the country. Assuming that the state budget reached Rp 1,000 trillion (US$108 billion), villages should receive Rp 100 trillion, or Rp 1.36 billion each on average, Agus said.

He explained that the block grant scheme was better than the Community Empowerment Fund (PNPM Mandiri). "The requirements to apply for PNPM Mandiri funds are not clear. As a result, most program funds were used for publication and TV advertisements," he said.

The second point, Agus added, was the bill also regulated 65 as the maximum age to be a village head. "Currently, it's 56 years old."

The last point, he went on, was that financing for village head elections must be fully covered by regional budgets. "Our current budget is low and not sufficient to hold quality village head elections," Agus said.

Sudir said village authorities would boycott all public services at village level if their demands were not implemented. "This nation will paralyze without us," he said.

Abdul Rozak, the head of Besito village, Gebog district, Kudus regency in Central Java, protested to the parliament for neglecting the bill for more than 10 years.

"It's ironic," he said. "The government took only one hour to disburse the Rp 6.76 trillion Bank Century bailout funds that pleased just a few."

Priyo Budi Santoso, House deputy speaker, promised to accommodate their needs. "I understand, there is no other choice but to pass the bill into law this year," he said.

Taxi drivers protest Gambir parking monopoly

Jakarta Post - February 22, 2010

Jakarta – Hundreds of taxi drivers staged a rally Sunday against the monopoly of parking lots and taxi ranks at Gambir train station, Central Jakarta.

They marched on several major streets near Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta. "We demand an explanation on the settlement of parking lots and taxi ranks at the station," Haryanto Tambunan, head of the Gambir Station Taxi Drivers Association, said.

Haryanto added that ever since contracts between several taxi companies and the station operator expired on Jan. 18, only two taxi companies could serve passengers at the station. "Even motorcycle taxis cannot operate there. This is a monopolistic practice."

Haryanto said he suspected the move to evict taxi companies at the station was not the station operator's policy, but the parking operator's.

Village leaders rally in Jakarta to demand rural rights

Antara News - February 22, 2010

Thousands of village heads flocked to the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Monday for a rally to demand a better deal for people from rural areas.

Grouped as the Nusantara Rural People's Association (Parade Nusantara), the village heads from across the country demanded that 10 percent of the State Budget (APBN) be allocated for rural people.

"Some 78 percent of the Indonesian people live in rural areas, and therefore it is only reasonable for us to demand that 10 percent of the APBN be allocated for rural areas," Parade Nusantara spokesman Sudin Santoso said in his oration.

The group also urged the House to pass a bill on rural development into law immediately. "The funds we demand are not for us as village heads but for rural development," Sudin said.

He added that the rural development funds were needed to provide the rural communities with job opportunities to improve the welfare of residents. "If job opportunities are available in rural areas, our children do not need to move to the cities and towns to find jobs," Sudin said.

Besides demanding 10 percent of the APBN for rural development, the Parade Nusantara also demanded that village heads' terms in office be extended from six years to eight or ten years.

The peaceful rally at the parliament building was expected to continue until late in the afternoon. "We will wait until our demands are met," said Jono, a village head from the Karanganyar region in Central Java.

The demonstrating village heads left their respective villages on Sunday and arrived in Jakarta on Monday morning to stage their protest rally.

Miftah, a village head from Tegal, Central Java, said he left Tegal on Sunday evening and arrived in Jakarta on Monday morning. "We left on Sunday evening and arrived here on Monday morning. After the rally this evening we will return to Tegal by night train," Miftah said.

Aceh

Aceh militants may be linked to GAM not JI, analyst claims

Jakarta Globe - February 26, 2010

Nurdin Hasan & Farouk Arnaz – Terrorism expert Sidney Jones said on Friday that four suspects arrested during recent police operations in the Jalin Jantho region of Aceh Besar may be linked to the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and not regional terror organization Jemaah Islamiyah.

"Even though two of the suspects arrested originally came from Pandeglang, there is still no strong evidence linking those arrested to JI," Jones told the Jakarta Globe, referring to the arrests on Monday of four men, two of whom were originally from Pandeglang, Banten. Two others were Acehnese residents.

She said JI had never had a base in Pandeglang, even though executed Bali bomber Imam Samudra originally came from the area.

At least 10 men have been arrested in the past week for conducting paramilitary training activities in the Jalin Jantho region. Police said they were on the lookout for dozens more men who are believed to be hiding in the forested regions of Aceh Besar.

Jones said the men were most likely part of a splinter group of GAM, which waged a three-decade-long guerrilla war for independence until a 2005 peace deal.

"It is too early for us to assume. We do not know what they want and what their aim is," Jones said, adding that both GAM and the JI had very different priorities and ideologies, with JI primarily focused on waging jihad on an international scale and GAM focused on nationalism.

She added that in 1998 representatives from GAM and Al Qaeda met and discussed the possibility of working together but found "no connection." "GAM would not really support the idea of waging an international jihad because it fears it might lose support from some countries," Jones said.

More than 100 officers from the police's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and the Aceh Police are continuing efforts to track down members of the armed group in Aceh Besar. Sources had earlier said those being hunted included an Afghan national, believed to be the instructor of the paramilitary training activities.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said that police had found indications that a foreigner was involved with the armed group but that no conclusions had been made about his nationality.

"We need to crosscheck with the embassy here whether or not documents we found at the site are valid or otherwise," Edward said, adding that the documents were issued by a Middle Eastern country. "We must investigate further whether or not this group is linked to JI."

Separately, Hendra Saputra, an official from the Aceh office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), quoted a village chief in Aceh Besar as saying that he had once met with six members of the armed group.

"Abdul [the village chief] told me that one of them spoke Bahasa Indonesia devoid of an Acehnese accent. One of them said that the enemy was not the Acehnese, but infidels," Hendra said.

He said that he did not believe that the armed group was linked to GAM. "Where is the benefit of recruiting people to join paramilitary activities when former GAM members have gained financial and political positions today? Of those [recently] arrested, not a single one is a former GAM member," Hendra said.

Al Chaidar, a terrorism analyst in North Aceh, told the Globe that he still believed the armed group was linked to JI and most likely to the Banten faction.

"I suspect that Marzuki, an Acehnese living in Saree [a village in Aceh Besar], is involved in the camp," he said, referring to an Indonesian who attended a mujahideen training camp on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in 1986.

"Following the recent arrests, I have been unable to contact Marzuki," Al Chaidar said. "I fully believe that this armed group is not linked to either GAM or a splinter group, if there are any."

In Bali, the National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi, said police were investigating whether the armed group had any links to known terror groups. "This is still an [ordinary] case of crime, and not terrorism as yet," Ito said, adding that he was convinced that the network of the late suspected terror mastermind Noordin M Top was still active. "They are always looking for locations to target that will have a strategic impact."

[Additional reporting by Dessy Sagita and Made Arya Kencana.]

50 'dangerous' terror suspects on run after Aceh raid

Melbourne Age - February 25, 2010

Tom Allard, Jakarta – Indonesian police have launched a manhunt for up to 50 members of a suspected terrorist group in Aceh amid reports that an Afghan national is among those who fled a raid on a training camp on Monday night.

Four people were detained in the raid, while a civilian was accidentally shot dead after more than 100 heavily armed police raided the group that, according to Indonesian police, "can really put our country in danger".

Among those detained were two militants from Banten, a province in Java and an area known for its pockets of radical Islamism.

A spokesman for Indonesia's national police, Inspector General Edward Aritonang, refused to confirm or deny whether the group was linked to Jemaah Islamiah, the group responsible for the first Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

"I won't name any name. But this group can really put our country in danger," Mr Aritonang said.

He refused to confirm or deny Indonesian media reports that an Afghan man had acted as an instructor at the camp and was being sought by police.

Among the materials found by police were videos and documents praising the Bali bombers, as well as knives, uniforms and other military paraphernalia. Any weapons seem to have been spirited away when most of those at the camp – which had been monitored since September – escaped into the surrounding jungle.

Security analyst Ken Conboy said the apparent emergence of a militant Islamist group on Aceh was troubling.

Aceh follows a purist brand of Islam – it has long been known as "Mecca's veranda" – but, during its long and ultimately successful struggle for autonomy, its fighters rebuffed overtures from militant Islamists.

"JI [Jemaah Islamiah] made almost zero inroads into Aceh. The Acehnese don't want anything to do with the Javanese," Mr Conboy said. "It's interesting that they have found some non-Acehnese playing in the forests there."

Meanwhile, a Saudi national went on trial in Jakarta yesterday for allegedly helping finance the suicide attacks on the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta last year.

Retired teacher al-Khelaiw Ali Abdullah denied any involvement in the plot. However, police alleged he funnelled 54 million rupiah ($A6450) to associates of the terrorist mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top.

It is alleged he met repeatedly with Saifuddin Jaelani, also known as Syaifuddin Zuhri, in the months leading up to the attacks that killed nine people, including three Australians and the two suicide bombers.

Aceh seen as a 'safe haven' for terror group Jemaah Islamiyah

Jakarta Globe - February 24, 2010

Heru Andriyanto & Nurdin Hasan – Aceh offers many advantages as a safe haven for Jemaah Islamiyah to regroup, experts and sources said on Wednesday, following the arrests of four suspected members of the shadowy terror group in the province.

"Aceh is the only province to apply Shariah law and has maritime access to Malaysia and Thailand," said Badrus Sholeh, a terrorism expert at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta. "It's no news that JI has cells in Aceh. The group has been there maybe since the mid-'90s."

Officials in Aceh, who spoke to the Jakarta Globe on condition of anonymity, said the militant group picked Aceh because intensive police operations to monitor the movements of terror suspects were being continuously conducted in regions like Poso, Central Sulawesi, and Kalimantan, as well as Jolo Island in the southern Philippines. This has forced the group to seek secluded locations where it could conduct paramilitary training exercises discreetly.

"It sure looked to us like that they wanted Aceh to become a base for their training," one source said. "Aceh could have been picked because of its historical background. Many believe that Islam was introduced into Southeast Asia via the province of Aceh. Maybe, they wanted to repeat history, in terms of reviving [fundamental aspects of] Islam in this region."

The source added that the group seemed to remain almost isolated and participants in the training were seldom seen mingling with locals.

"Acehnese are actually very tired of conflict and want to have nothing to do with armed groups or movements," the source said. "That armed group, by the way, had nothing to do with GAM [Free Aceh Movement]. There was nothing local about them. The practices they held and their movements and their beliefs... need to be studied further."

Aceh Police Chief Insp. Gen. Aditya Warman said on Wednesday that the armed group considered the rugged mountains and forested regions of Aceh Besar the ideal location to set up base and conduct paramilitary training.

"They were undisturbed there. They believed that if they conducted such exercises there, it would only be linked to local conditions," Aditya said, a day after he confirmed the arrests as well as an ongoing hunt for 50 other suspects in the mountainous region of Jalin Jantho.

"The [training] exercises... in the beginning shocked us. The number [of people] was huge. It is not that we neglected security. Aceh is safe now, and probably that is why they thought they could come in and do whatever they wanted to."

Police detected the paramilitary training last September but chose to secretly monitor the activities before finally moving in to make arrests in an operation involving more than 100 officers from the Aceh Police and the elite Mobile Brigade.

Badrus said the arrests offered proof that JI still existed and that the danger it posed remained as potent as it was before its charismatic leader, Noordin Mohamad Top, was killed by police late last year. "Noordin was in Indonesia for at least nine years, long enough to prepare his successors," Badrus said.

Another expert said JI's existence depended largely on the spirit of martyrdom shared among its members, rather than on one particular leader.

"For militant groups like JI, abandoning martyrdom or jihad is equal to apostasy, which is considered among the worst sins for Muslims," said Al Chaidir, a former member of Darul Islam, of which, according to him, JI was a splinter group.

"They will not give up fighting until their goal, namely establishing an Islamic nation or upholding Islamic law, is achieved," he told the Globe. "Therefore, the government must not give up measures to 'de-radicalize' such groups."

Instead of crippling JI, the death of Noordin was seen by his followers as a "noble example" of heroism that could potentially attract members, he said.

Badrus also said the developments in Aceh showed militants didn't limit their targets to Java.

"Sumatra is not just a place to regroup. We've noted that several groups, such as the so-called Palembang group, have planned attacks in Sumatra," he said. "Their targets are what they call the infidels and activities considered to be an affront to Islam."

West Papua

Papua problem can't be solved with dirty money

Kompas - February 27, 2010

Suwardiman – After nine years, support by various elements of society for special autonomy (otsus) is weakening. The problematic nature of the application of special autonomy is closely linked with the failure to implement Law Number 21/2001 on Special Autonomy for Papua along with mistrust between the central government and the Papuan people.

It is these two problems that are contributing to pessimism on the part of social groups about the future of special autonomy in Papua. The implementation of special autonomy is believed to have failed due to a number of factors. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) indicates that the human development index (HDI) in Papua has not improved significantly in the nine years since special autonomy was implemented.

Between 2005 and 2008, Papua ranked 33rd with the lowest HDI of all the provinces in Indonesia. Yet prior to the application of special autonomy, Papua's HDI was still higher than West Nusa Tenggara.

The other factor is the delays in establishing legal mechanisms such as provincial regional regulations (bylaws, perdasi) and special regional regulations (perdasus) as the basis for the implementation of the Papuan special autonomy law. In the first four years of special autonomy, only 12 perdasi were drafted. Between 2006 and 2009, 35 perdasi and 8 perdasus were produced, the majority of which were drafted in the year of the final term of the 2004-2009 Regional House of Representatives (DPRD).

The other legal mechanism mandated by the Papuan special autonomy law is a human rights court, a truth and reconciliation commission and customary law courts. To this day these institutions have yet to be realised.

As revealed by Democratic Alliance for Papua (ALDP) chairperson Latifah Anum Siregar, what should be fought for under special autonomy in Papua is primarily the issue of law enforcement and human rights. According to Siregar, during the 10 years of special autonomy, law enforcement and human rights have failed to flurish.

A similar point was raised by the rector of the Fajar Timur Higher Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Abepura, Neles Tebay. According to Tebay, the roots of the failure of special autonomy lie both with the central government as well as the Papuan people who have never formulated real targets on what is to be achieved in specific periods post the application of special autonomy. There has been no yard stick to make an evaluation resulting in different perceptions and in the end special autonomy has been undertaken without direction.

Otsus = money

Currently, there is a tendency for special autonomy to be identified as simply poring money into the region. Regardless of the fantastic amounts of special autonomy funds that have poured into Papua (in 2002-2010 it was at least 21.4 trillion rupiah), the welfare of the Papuan people has not really improved.

This is apparent, for example, from BPS data that shows a less than adequate decline in the poverty rate in Papua. Prior to the implementation of special autonomy, the number of people living in poverty throughout Papua stood at 970,900 people (BPS, 2000). Eight years later, the number of poor had only declined by 2.5 percent to 946,600 (BPS, 2008).

Moreover the unemployment rate has actually increased since special autonomy. The number of unemployed in 1999 stood at 63,465 people and increased by 15.6 percent to 73,380 eight years later.

It is this paradigm that defines "otsus = money" that appears to overlook other substantial aspects in the concept of special autonomy. The disbursement of large amounts of funds for example, is not accompanied with a clear legal basis. No longer are there clear rules on distribution mechanisms and accountability. As revealed by Siregar, this vagueness not infrequently becomes the source of friction between governors and regent. When a governor asks for accountability, regents or mayors refuse because they feel that there is no longer any relationship between superiors and subordinates.

Papuan Traditional Council (DAP) head Forkorus Yaboisembut rejected special autonomy from the very start. Yaboisembut believes that the law on Papuan special autonomy was a one-sided offer by the government and failed to answer the Papuan people's demands. Papuan Governor Barnabas Suebu however, in his written response to Kompas (6/8/2009), stated that Papuan special autonomy had not failed, but rather had not yet been consistent in its implementation. (Kompas Research & Development)

[Translated by James Balowski.]

Death of an Australian journalist in Papuan must be revisited

Australian Associated Press - February 26, 2010

Ilya Gridneff, Port Moresby – The suspicious death of an Australian journalist filming Papuan guerrillas fighting Indonesia's hardline military rule must be revisited with an investigation, friends and colleagues say.

The plea comes as Papuan leaders prepare to raise their plight with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who visits Papua New Guinea before heading to Australia next month.

PNG-born Mark Worth, 45, was found dead in a hotel room in Sentani, Papua province, on January 15, 2004. Pneumonia was reported as the cause of death.

Worth died two days after the ABC announced his documentary, Land of the Morning Star, would premier on Australian screens in February 2004.

He had worked closely with Papuan rebels for more than 15 years, making documentaries for SBS, ABC and the Nine Network and also producing radio and print stories.

Former Papuan politician Clemence Runawery told AAP questions remain unanswered about his friend's death and has likened it to the Balibo Five – the Australian journalists murdered in East Timor in 1975.

"I call on the Australian foreign minister, Steven Smith, to make it his business with his Indonesian counterpart to investigate the circumstances around Worth's death," he said.

"The Indonesians knew Worth was following us, they didn't like it. In fairness sake and for Indonesia's integrity, they should make this their business."

Award-winning SBS journalist Mark Davis, Worth's colleague and friend, found it "surprising there was no official interest in the death".

"The death certainly was suspicious," he said. "Worth rang me and said he had uncovered something huge, something I think more to do with West Papuan leaders than Indonesia."

But Davis added Worth was "not in a coherent state" and "not in great physical shape". His death was such a shock that friends and relatives did not pursue the circumstances, he said.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said Worth's family received the normal consular assistance. An investigation "would have been a matter for Indonesian authorities," she said.

Papua's independence struggle is Indonesia's biggest unresolved territorial dispute after East Timor having gained independence in 1999 and Aceh's conflict being resolved in 2005.

Papuan rights lawyer calls for peaceful dialogue with Jakarta

Radio New Zealand International - February 25, 2010

A prominent West Papuan human rights lawyer is using a speaking tour of Australia to promote the need for a peaceful solution to problems in Indonesia's troubled Papua region.

Yan Christian Warinussy, who is the winner of Canada's John Humphrey Freedom Award in 2005 for his promotion of human rights and democracy, says the rights situation in Papua has been left to deteriorate far too long.

The Manokwari-based lawyer says the Special Autonomy status granted to Papua by Indonesia in 2001 has proven a failure while the heavy militarisation of the region has worsened the security situation. Mr Warinussy says dialogue between Jakarta and Papuan representatives must take place.

"The human rights situation in West Papua is not good until now. The Special Autonomy, we cannot use that to solve the problem. We need to make peaceful dialogue between Indonesia and Papua – to think again, to plan again, to make sure."

Yudhoyono must woo 'Pacific for Papua's sake'

Jakarta Post - February 25, 2010

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should use his visit to Papua New Guinea next month to discuss ways to work with Pacific nations to solve the issue of Papuan separatism, say experts.

"Foreign countries scrutinize Indonesia over how it could solve the insurgency problem because they regard Papua as an international concern. The more we shut down, the more suspicious they are and it doesn't help in efforts to embrace Papua," said Adriana Elisabeth, a researcher from the Indonesian Institute for Sciences (LIPI).

She said Indonesia had to open up and cooperate with other countries to solve the Papuan issue because the nature of the problem partly arose from an international resolution. Then Western New Guinea became part of Indonesia based on the 1969 Act of Free Choice, which is not fully recognized by many Papuan people.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will visit Port Moresby from March 11-12 after visiting Australia from March 8-11.

LIPI has prepared a roadmap on how to solve the Papuan issue, including a plan to conduct an international conference, but it has not yet been implemented due to the government's resistance to internationalize the issue. The Foreign Ministry said that Papua was a domestic issue and should not see international interference.

A number of civil society groups in Papua New Guinea and other Pacific nations continue to support the Papuan independence movement because of common ethnic roots.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the President would seek to enhance cooperation with Pacific countries during his visit to Papua New Guinea and Australia, although stopped short of saying what areas could be enhanced.

"Jakarta would seek to project its policy on the Southwest Pacific during the visit. because it has strategic value (for Jakarta) regarding separatism," said Marty during a visit to The Jakarta Post last Friday.

Sociologist Tamrin Amal Tomagola said support for Papuan independence was still strong among Pacific Islands countries despite waning support elsewhere.

Choirul Anam, deputy executive director for Human Rights Working Group, said Jakarta had to strengthen its diplomacy over the Papua issue because its freedom movement gained wide international support as when Timor Leste sought independence.

Freeport bows to government pressure on land use

Jakarta Post - February 25, 2010

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – PT Freeport Indonesia has bowed to government pressure on alleged violation of regulations concerning operating in protected forests, saying the company would apply for the necessary permits to remain operating in existing mining areas.

"(We are) ready to engage in talks with the government on the possibility of applying for land use rights for several areas," the company said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The company, however, clarified that it is protected under law by special rights that allow it to operate in protected forests.

The subsidiary Freeport-Mc Moran Copper and Gold Inc. – the world's biggest gold producer, said that the company's contract of work (KK) with the government was older than the 1999 law on forestry, which forbade open-pit mining in protected forests.

Freeport Indonesia said the legal status of its operations in protected forests has been confirmed by a 2004 amendment to articles in the 1999 law. This says that provisions on the open- pit mining restrictions stipulated in the 1999 law are not retroactive, meaning they do not apply to contracts of works signed prior to the enactment of the law.

Previously, the Forestry Ministry sent a letter to the company demanding the company apply for a land use permit for several areas where its operations are located in protected forests.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said he had warned Freeport Indonesia on the matter and that he would issue another warning letter should the company fail to comply with the ministry's demand.

Speaking in a hearing session with lawmakers on Monday, Zulkifli urged law enforcers to act on violations committed by big mining corporations. He said there were 11 other mining companies, apart from Freeport Indonesia, that had violated these restrictions.

Zulkifli's demand to Freeport Indonesia received direct blessing from Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh. Tempo daily in its Wednesday publication quoted Darwin saying that the warning letter was appropriate.

Darwin said the gold and copper company should follow the regulations and comply with the ministry's demand. "It is better for Freeport to make the right move," he said.

Hundreds demonstrate in Jayapura, calling for Free Papua

Cenderawasih Pos - February 23, 2010

The demonstration which took place yesterday outside the Papua Legislative Assembly building consisted of several groups who had come from different parts of the city. They called on the Papuan people to struggle for the rights of the Papuan people which continue to be violated.

After initial attempts by the police, the demonstration was allowed to proceed. Demonstrators held aloft banners calling for the withdrawal of organic and non organic troops, for an end to the militarisation of Papua and demanded that the state accept responsibility for the many victims of rights in Papua.

They also handed out leaflets saying that the idea of Papua as a land of peace was an illusion. They opposed the creation of new Kodam – military commands and an end to extra-judicial killings.

The demonstrators then marched to Abepura. Police presence on the streets was high. Banners called for the immediate and unconditional release of all political detainees and convicted prisoners. There were also calls for the shooting dead of Opinus Tabuni (in August 2008) to be resolved.

[Abridged in translation by TAPOL.]

Freeport has yet to help Papua: DPD

Jakarta Post - February 24, 2010

Markus Makur, Timika – PT Freeport Indonesia has not helped develop human resources in Papua, particularly in the Amungme and Kamoro tribes, a member of the Regional Representatives' Council (DPD) says.

During a meeting at the Mimika regent's house, council member Mervin Sadipun Komber questioned if any members of the Amungme and Kamoro tribes, the traditional owners of the communal reserve land used for the company's mining activities, had earned doctoral or master's degrees. "If there were any, how many were there?" Mervin asked.

Freeport Indonesia (FI) had not helped develop human resources since it commenced operations in Papua, he said. No one from either the Amungme or Kamoro tribes held post graduate academic titles, Mervin said.

Komber, a representative from West Papua, said the meeting was part of a tour of Papua undertaken by nine of the council's members, aiming to accommodate aspirations from the provincial and Mimika regency administrations in three sectors – minerals and coal, infrastructure and electricity.

Council members questioned Freeport Indonesia's corporate social responsibility programs, especially in providing education to members of the Amungme and Kamoro communities.

The entourage arrived in Jayapura to meet Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu and visited border areas between (Indonesian) Papua and Papua New Guinea. The group also met the Jayapura mayor.

"Papua is deprived of infrastructure, especially road networks that are needed to open up isolated areas across the province.

"Today, we visited Mimika to take in the aspirations and current issues in Mimika, for example in community development, corporate social responsibility [CSR] programs, mining and the environment, human rights in Mimika and Papua, and whether FI has made people around the mining area prosperous," Bambang said.

Mimika Regent Klemen Tinal said developing Papua was as simple as ending isolation, especially in the central mountainous region and southern Papua.

To develop central Papua, Klemen said Mimika was a strategic regency, given that it could link the entire central mountainous region. However, so far Freeport had not contributed a cent to the development of Mimika, he said.

Royalties and taxes derived from the companies operations were regulated by law, but Mimika regency administration had never received direct assistance from it and its closure was not a problem for the administration, he said.

Issues related to Freeport's mining operations that needed immediate attention included the ecological and environmental damage it caused, as well as promised benefits from the mining that had not materialized in communities around mining concession areas, he said.

More plans for Papua march in Vanuatu despite police cancellation

Radio New Zealand International - February 22, 2010

The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association says it hope to re- organise a march in support of independence for the West Papuan people of Indonesia within the next two weeks.

The Association's planned West Papua march for today, Vanuatu's Lini Day public holiday, was cancelled last Thursday after the organisers failed to submit a march permit application to police in time. Under Vanuatu law, an application has to be approved four working days for a protest to take place.

The Association's Chairman, Alain Nafuki, says the march, which is to present a petition to Government urging more support for West Papuan self-determination, could be the biggest in Vanuatu's history.

"The government has diplomatic ties with the Indonesian government and they're maybe a little bit too reserved on that. But we, the people from the street, we are free to decide on what we want to deliberately say to the government about the situation in West Papua."

Human rights/law

UN to take close look at Indonesia's rights record

Jakarta Globe - February 28, 2010

Anita Rachman & Ismira Lutfia – Local and international rights advocates will detail the government's lack of progress in protecting human rights at the UN Human Rights Council's plenary meeting in Geneva next week.

Rafendi Djamin, the head of the Human Rights Working Group, told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday that his group, along with representatives from the Indonesian Legal Resource, were scheduled to present a report on March 8 on the progress made by Indonesia in implementing the human rights recommendations made by the Committee Against Torture and Manfred Nowak, the UN special rapporteur on torture.

The Committee Against Torture in 2008 issued a series of "principals, subjects, concerns and recommendations" to Indonesia on human rights abuse issues in the country. These issues included torture, the ill-treatment of and insufficient safeguards for suspects during police detention, corporal punishments applied by Aceh's Shariah police, violence against Ahmadiyah and other religious minorities, and the lack of effective investigation and prosecution procedures in the Attorney General's Office.

The committee asked Indonesia to respond by May 2009, a deadline the government failed to meet.

In November 2009, Felice D Gear, the UN rapporteur tasked to follow up the recommendations, sent a letter to Dian Triansyah Djani, the Indonesian permanent mission head in Geneva, asking about the status of the government's response to the matter.

Rafendi said the HRWG had asked the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Justice and Human Rights Ministry about any follow-up on the committee's recommendations, which focused on National Police internal regulations on human rights, prison improvement programs and the establishment of a national committee on the prevention of torture.

"HRWG regrets that the government has been uncooperative in responding and implementing the CAT follow-up mechanisms," Rafendi said.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah told the Globe on Sunday that the government had failed to meet the deadline to provide the information as requested by the committee.

"No, the report hasn't been finished, but that task also belongs to other departments, including the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights," he said. "The report is being prepared by the relevant departments," Teuku said.

He acknowledged the Foreign Affairs Ministry was responsible for coordinating and compiling the report, but said he was optimistic it would be ready for submission during the upcoming UN meeting in May.

"We still have three months, I think we can still make it," Teuku said. "The submission of a progress report is important for us to see the development of human rights issues in the country."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly said last Wednesday that while the United States wanted to increase counterterrorism and military cooperation with Indonesia, it had to be sure that the country was committed to ending human rights abuses.

Obama urged to examine Indonesia's rights record

Jakarta Globe - February 26, 2010

Nivell Rayda – Human Rights Watch on Friday called on US President Barack Obama to make human rights a key issue for discussion during his visit to Indonesia next month.

While Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said that strengthening bilateral economic ties would be the focus of the visit, the possibility of talks on other issues was still being discussed. Obama is scheduled to visit from March 20 to 22.

In a publicly released letter, Kenneth Roth, executive director of the New York-based HRW, urged the US president to question President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment toward human rights amid several setbacks in Indonesia related to freedom of expression and religion and the apparent impunity of several military officials implicated in alleged human rights violations.

"We ask that you do this by publicly calling for the Indonesian government to make critical human rights improvement and by implementing the Comprehensive Partnership," Roth wrote in the letter to Obama, which was also published on HRW's Web site on Friday.

"President Yudhoyono has indeed demonstrated a commitment to democratic principles, but he has failed to safeguard freedom of expression and religion in a number of significant ways, leaving the foundations of democracy in Indonesia dangerously weak."

HRW criticized several laws that allowed criminal charges for defamation and "inciting hatred," which the group said had been used to silence government critics and activists, particularly those who aired complaints and made allegations of misconduct against well-connected businessmen and public officials.

The group also questioned the government's commitment to freedom of religion because it continued to defend a 45-year-old law on blasphemy. The law, which is currently being reviewed by the Constitutional Court, paved the way for serious human rights abuses and intimidation toward minority religions such as the Ahmadiyah, the letter said.

Ahmadiyah, a minority Islamic sect, was banned by the government in 2008 and its followers have faced constant harassment and intimidation by hard-line Muslim groups. HRW said the law made authorities reluctant to protect religious minorities from attacks.

The group also criticized Aceh's Shariah Police for invading people's privacy and targeting women during roadblocks and raids to enforce the region's strict Muslim dress code.

The appointment of several retired and active military officers, alleged to have committed acts of serious crimes against humanity, to strategic government and military posts was also addressed in the letter.

Yudhoyono "has frequently declined to subject powerful public and private figures to the rule of law and to hold them accountable for serious abuses, undermining the reliability of the government's commitment for reform," Roth wrote.

He went on to accuse the president of failing to act on a recommendation last year from the House of Representatives to form a tribunal to investigate the disappearances of student activists during the downfall of former autocrat Suharto.

"President Yudhoyono, whose authorization is required for the court's creation, has yet to act on the recommendation," he wrote.

HRW wants Obama to press Jakarta over rights

Jakarta Post - February 27, 2010

Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on US President Barack Obama to press Indonesia over rights progress, military reform and religious freedom during his visit to Jakarta next month.

The New York-based rights watchdog sent an 11-page letter to President Obama on Thursday.

During his visit next month, Obama and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are slated to launch a comprehensive partnership covering a wide range of issues from education and climate change to military cooperation.

"We urge (Obama) to seize this opportunity to reaffirm that human rights and the rule of law are essential pillars of US engagement in Indonesia," says Kenneth Roth, HRW executive director said in a letter made public on the group's website.

"We ask that you do this by publicly calling for the Indonesian government to make critical human rights improvements and by implementing the Comprehensive Partnership in ways that will ensure that cooperation with the United States leads to improvements, rather than setbacks, in Indonesia's human rights record."

Although acknowledging improvements Indonesia has made in holding up rights values since the political reform in 1998, HRW says Jakarta has fallen behind international standards of freedom of expression, religious freedom and enforcing justice for victims of rights abuses. The letter mentioned a list of rights abuse cases across the archipelago, including treatment of religious minority group Ahmadiyah and political prisoners in Papua.

It also mentioned a list of army generals and high-ranking officials, including Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, Maj. Gen. Pramono Edi Wibowo and Col. Tri Hartomo, who retain senior positions in the Defense Ministry and the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) despite their tainted rights records.

Riefqi Muna, a defense researcher with Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said chances were high that the Obama administration might take a softer stance on calling Jakarta to hold up its rights commitment because of its own tainted image and to safeguard economic benefits amid the economic downturn.

"The US is involved in unpopular wars against terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which have claimed the lives of many civilians. The US cannot press on Indonesia to heed rights values when they have failed to do so," he said.

Washington waived arms embargo on Jakarta in 2005-2006, but it continues to ban Kopassus from receiving military training and financing from the US government. Kopassus is allegedly responsible for a number of atrocities in Papua, Aceh and Timor Leste as well as in Jakarta.

"Jakarta has to finish up its homework to bring rights perpetrators to court or our bilateral ties will continue to be jeopardized," said Rafendi Djamin, executive director of Jakarta-based Human Rights Working Group. "With the new partnership, neither the US nor Indonesia can afford to strain their ties over repeated calls for justice to be served."

Labour/migrant workers

Workers fear companies' collapse over excise tariff hikes

Jakarta Post - February 27, 2010

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang, East Java – Their salaries might be too small to suffice daily needs, but loyal cigarette workers are ready to extend a helping hand as their employers face bankruptcy.

Narti, 32, had, since the morning, gathered with small-scale cigarette company employees. They were ready to head to the local Customs and Excise Office to stage a rally, demanding that the ministry regulations on the increase of tobacco excise tariff be revoked.

"If the regulation was not revoked, the company would not be able to pay the tariff," said Narti, a mother of two children. "The company would become bankrupt and we might be laid off. We are here to help the company."

Narti's job is to hand-roll cigarettes, earning Rp 9,000-9,500 (US$1) for every 1,000 bars. With a worker producing an average of 2,500 bars per day, Narti pockets Rp 135,000 a week or Rp 540,000 a month. The sum is still far below the regulated minimum pay of Rp 954,500 in Malang.

If the regulation is to stand, the workers want compensation, demanding that the head of the Finance Ministry's Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF), Anggito Abimanyu, fulfill his promise to help issue a ministerial regulation that would protect small-scale cigarette companies from unfair competition with the large-scale ones.

"We have come to make him (Anggito) pay what he promised early December last year in Jakarta," rally coordinator Joko Susianto said at the Customs and Excise office in Malang.

He said the finance minister regulation No 181/2009 on the new tariff, which requires an increase by 62.5 percent in the 2010 excise for cigarette products, was siding only with the interest of the large-scale cigarette industry.

"It's a real burden for us. We are a small-scale business but are required to pay the same price for excise as large-scale companies."

Joko added even with the implementation of the 2008 regulation on the same issue, which was later enforced in February the following year, the number of small-scale cigarette companies in the region had since decreased by almost 42 percent from 367 to 154.

The number of workers, similarly, decreased by 34,000. Secretary of the Indonesian Cigarette Industry Forum (Formasi) Paulus Suhardjo said such negative impacts could be avoided if the government implemented fair principles in dealing with small-to- medium-scale industries and large-scale ones.

The regulation, Paulus said, was considered unfair because it required an excise increase by between 3.5 percent and 5 percent to large-scale cigarette industries but between 15 and 42 percent for the small-scale ones.

Despite their low wages, Narti and tens of thousands of workers remain concerned about the fate of their employers, and appear willing to fight for their rights.

Environment/natural disasters

Search for Bandung landslide victims ends despite dozens missing

Jakarta Globe - February 28, 2010

Putri Prameshwari & Antara – The search for victims of the landslide at the Dewata tea plantation near Bandung will be halted at noon today, even though a dozen people are still missing.

"The maximum time for our operation is seven days [since the disaster occurred]," a spokesman for the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), Gagah Prakoso, said on Sunday. The agency, he said, would now focus on providing assistance for landslide survivors.

Bandung district head Obar Subarna said the decision had been agreed to by the victims' families, as well as the Bandung Police and directors of the plantation company, PT Chakra. "We will hold a mass prayer on Monday for the victims," Obar said.

The landslide occurred on Tuesday morning, killing 33 people and leaving another 12 unaccounted for, said Ujwalprana Sigit, chief of the Bandung office of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). "We'll keep searching until noon on Monday," Sigit said.

The landslide destroyed 21 houses, a mosque, a sports hall, an auditorium and Chakra's office building. Financial losses from the disaster could reach Rp 5 billion ($535,000), according to data provided by an information center in Dewata.

Sigit said those displaced by the landslide would be relocated to the Kanaan tea plantation, also owned by Chakra, which is about 30 kilometers from the site of the landslide. "They will stay in houses belonging to the company until they get new homes," Sigit said.

He also promised continued assistance for the displaced from both the company and the BNPB. "Thankfully, donations are still flooding in," he said. "So we basically have what they need."

Bandung Police Chief Imran Yunus said two more earth-moving machines had arrived to assist in rescue and recovery efforts. "However, it's difficult to find more bodies because there's no accurate information on where to look," he said.

On Saturday, residents of three villages near the site of the landslide were evacuated after fissures were discovered in the ground at the Gunung Tilu nature reserve. Imran said the four large fissures, discovered by civilians in the hills around Gunung Tilu, had the potential to cause another landslide.

The evacuated villages were identified as Cimeri, Gunung Maut and Karang Tengah, all about 10 kilometers from the site of Tuesday's disaster.

Imran said experts had been called in and were examining the fissures to gauge their potential danger, but that in the meantime residents of the three villages would not be allowed to return to their homes.

All of the fissures were reportedly found on tea plantations belonging to Chakra. On Saturday afternoon, police put up a line around the area to keep people out.

Ministry seeks two year delay to implement environment law

Jakarta Post - February 27, 2010

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The ministry of energy and mineral resources has proposed that the government postpone the implementation of the 2009 law on environment for two year on fears it will severely hit oil and gas production.

"We have spoken with the coordinating minister for the economy to delay the law for at least two years, so that we can prepare our technology," Evita Herawati Legowo, the director general for oil and gas at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said in Jakarta late Thursday.

Evita said that the mining companies were now working to adjust mining systems to comply with the law, which could take some time.

"Several contractors would prefer to stop their activities rather than breaking the rules which could mean criminal punishments," she said, adding that oil production could drop significantly due to process changes.

Evita said the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh has sent a letter to the Coordinating Economic Minister to discuss the issue further. "The decline in oil production might influence state revenue. So, we have to do something," she said.

Darwin acknowledged that the new law on the environment would be a serious challenge to mining contractors. "The miners have to allocate additional budgets so that their mining systems protect the environment in the future," he said, adding that the government had to help the contractors, or oil production would drop.

Darwin insisted the government would fight it out to meet the oil production target by improving efficiency, for example, streamlining bureaucratic procedures to enable contractors to curb expenditure.

The new law requires business entities to secure environmental permits before beginning their operations. Permits can be issued by a minister, governor or regent, depending on the area of operation. A failure to secure environmental permits would result in the termination of the business license.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has said that the implementation of the 2009 environmental law would risk reducing national oil production by up to 40 percent.

This year, the government is targeting to produce 965,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) as in the 2010 national budget. Last year Indonesia produced about 960,000 bopd.

Some observers have said that ambiguities in the environment law made it difficult for companies to fulfill environmental standards and guidelines set by the new legislation.

The ministry argued that state-owned oil and gas producer PT Pertamina and US based leading oil producer Chevron Pacific Indonesia (CPI) would be the two firms most effected by the new law.

Late Thursday Chevron general manager Bambang Pratesa confirmed the possibility that Chevron oil production could drop more 60 percent this year as the original company target for this year was to produce 400,000 bpd but instead a steep decline is now expected.

"The anticipated Chevron production will be fall to about 125,000 bpd, far down on our original target," Bambang told reporters. Oil and gas have traditionally contributed up to 30 percent of total state revenue.

Thousands of Bandung residents facing an uncertain future

Jakarta Globe - February 25, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran – Residents of the Dewata tea plantation in Tenjolaya village, Bandung, had just started the day on Tuesday when they heard an unusual noise.

Just a few moments later, they were shocked to discover that a large part of the 500-hectare plantation and factory had been covered with soil and debris, burying an employee housing complex, mosque, warehouse and sports fields.

"I was on the other side of the hill," Ahmad Sohidin, field manager of the Dewata tea plantation, told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday. "I saw people running out trying to escape, but it wasn't easy. Two of the employees who ran out onto the tennis courts were buried alive."

Ahmad said that on Monday morning, after heavy rain, he noticed water in a spring had turned brown – an sign that the soil could have loosened. "I checked other parts of the plantation, but I didn't find any other signs of a possible landslide," he said. At 8:20 a.m. on Tuesday, however, he realized he was wrong.

Out of the thousands of people living on the plantation, 43 were still missing, including 13 children, officials told the Globe on Wednesday. Sixteen had been found dead. An old man was crying on Wednesday as he walked away from the site. "He's just been told that his wife was found dead," a man walking behind him said. "I don't know his name, but we called the wife Mamiek."

People streaming in and out of the area bore different expressions – some children were waving happily at passing cars, while others looked worried and tired after walking for more than 15 kilometers. Others wandered aimlessly.

Soldiers, police officers and residents gathered at a mosque on the plantation, which has become an ad-hoc office to organize data on the victims. Inside, four dead bodies lay on the floor, covered with plastic sheets. An old lady sat silent near the bodies with a vacant look on her face.

The landslide is the first such disaster to strike the plantation, established by the Dutch in the 1920s. Some of the residents have been working there for more than 30 years.

"This is not our fault," said Rachmat Badruddin, president director of PT Cakra, which bought the plantation and factory in 1956 from a Dutch company. "We have been living here in harmony with nature. We don't destroy the forest at all. The 4,000 employees working for our five plantations are like a big family, and none of us think of destroying the environment. There's no employer and employee. We're all a family.

"I guess the landslide was caused by the torrential rain. It reached 1,000 millimeters this month," he said. "Normally, it is only 200 millimeters."

The Dewata plantation produces five tons of dry tea leaves per year from its two factories, 80 percent of which is exported to Europe, primarily to Britain.

Kawaludin, an expert from the mining division of the West Java government, explained that because the plantation's top soil was very rich, the trees find enough nutrients and do not need to root themselves deeper. They then have a weak hold on the land, which becomes vulnerable to sliding.

West Java Deputy Governor Dede Yusuf said that he planned to close the plantation as well as the housing complex, as the area has been declared dangerous.

Rachmat said that he hoped the government would reconsider. "This plantation has been operating for 55 years," he said. "We're not just interested in profits. We contribute to the government by employing 4,000 people and ensuring livelihoods for more than 10,000 people."

Timor Sea oil leak reached Indonesia

ABC News - February 24, 2010

David Weber – The oil leak from a wellhead platform in the Timor Sea late last year appears to have spread into Indonesian waters.

A test sample from the Montara well, owned by the Thailand-based company PTTEP Australasia, confirms that during the 10 weeks the crude oil flowed it did spread beyond Australian waters.

Indonesian villagers claimed last year that oil from the Montara wellhead was affecting their health and killing their fish. Australian authorities said it was unlikely that any oil had leaked into the economic zone.

But analysis by Leeder Consulting shows a sample collected off West Timor is similar to Montara crude. Western Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert says the results back up the villagers' claims.

"What it tells us is that it is much more likely that oil from the Montara well did impact on Indonesian fishing grounds, and has had an impact on Indonesian fishers' livelihoods," she said.

"The Government should have been taking this more seriously from the start and they need to now investigate this issue very thoroughly, and look at reparations to Indonesian fishers."

Senator Siewert says the samples were collected by Indonesian fishers and mailed to her by the West Timor Care Foundation.

"I then have sent them on to the inquiry for them to test," she said. "They've got back to us and said that two of the oil samples that we sent were in fact from the Montara well."

She says the Australian Government or its agencies should have collected water for testing. "We were calling on them to do so at the time because this issue, we thought, was very serious," Senator Siewert said.

"But I'm unaware of whether the Government has taken and tested samples from around that location. They did some testing of other samples closer to the well, which a lot of people have been very critical about because there wasn't a systematic approach. They were opportunistic. There wasn't a proper plan for that sampling."

Senator Siewert says the Montara Commission of Inquiry should look into the impact of the spill on Indonesian communities, and if the terms of reference do not allow it, the Australian Government should consider paying compensation.

"This is now a number of months down the track," she said. "You're talking about people who have very small incomes and they rely on these fish as part of their daily existence. They would have been suffering the impacts at the time and still suffering those impacts, so the Government needs to deal with this in a speedy manner."

Government told to get tough on 11 mining firms

Jakarta Post - February 24, 2010

Adianto P. Simamora – Legislators have urged the government to take action against 11 mining companies that have been operating in areas of protected forest without permits.

They are among the 13 firms allowed by the government to resume activities in protected areas as stipulated in a 2004 presidential decree issued by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The decree conflicts with the 1999 Forestry Law banning mining activities in protected forests. The Forestry Ministry last year issued another decree requiring the 13 firms to secure government permits to operate in forested areas.

Legislator Erik Satrya Wardhana said the government should no longer be tight-lipped on the lack of willingness from the mining companies to apply for permits.

"It is extremely ironic. After five years of special treatment, most of these 13 companies have not yet filed any proposals for the permits. They don't respect our government," he said in a meeting with Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan on Monday.

Data from Zulkifli's office shows that PT Aneka Tambang Southeast Sulawesi, which operates over 14,570 hectares, and Indominco Manditi East Kutai in East Kalimantan with 25,121 hectares, were the only companies that had secured permits.

The mines that have not yet applied for permits include Freeport Indonesia in Mimika, Papua, Freeport Indonesia in Puncak Jayawijaya, Papua, Karimun Granit in Riau, INCO in Sulawesi, Natarang Mining in Lampung, Nusa Halmahera Mineral in North Maluku, Pelsart Tambang Kencana in South Kalimantan, Interex Sacra Raya in East and South Kalimantan, Weda Bay Nickel in North Maluku, Gag Nikel in Sorong, Papua, and Sorikmas Mining in North Sumatra.

"Two of the companies that have not yet submitted permit proposals [operate in] over 200,000 hectares of forest, why does the government remain silent?" Erik said.

Legislator Marcus Nari said the government should take firm action to avoid massive forest degradation in the country. "I can't even imagine the damage [that would be suffered by the] forest if no action is taken by the government," he said.

Minister Zulkifli said the office had sent a letter to Freeport asking the company to propose permits to use the forest in 2009.

He said that since no permits had been secured by the mining companies, his office could not take action. He did, however, acknowledge that "all mining companies operating without licenses are illegal".

The Indonesian Mining Association earlier called on the government to revise the 2004 Presidential Decree to increase the number of companies allowed to operate in protected areas.

More than 60 still missing after landslide

Agence France Presse - February 24, 2010

The death toll has risen to seven and more than 60 people are still missing after a landslide struck a remote part of West Java's Bandung district on Tuesday.

"We've pulled out seven bodies from the landslide. We believe 64 are still trapped," said West Java police spokesman Dade Ahmad, updating the overnight toll. "The landslide is very deep. At this point, the chance of pulling out victims alive is slim," Ahmad said.

About 500 rescuers, including officers from the Brimob special police force, are searching for victims buried on the tea plantation near Ciwidey village, about 35 kilometres (22 miles) southwest of Bandung city.

"We have six sniffer dogs on site and rescuers are digging manually using hoes and light cutting equipment to reach victims," Ahmad added.

"We are still trying to bring in the heavy earth-moving equipment. It's difficult to get to the area, which is on a steep slope," he said.

Vice President Boediono and several ministers are expected to visit the disaster area Wednesday, Ahmad said.

Agriculture & food security

Rice is not irreplaceable, activists say

Jakarta Post - February 27, 2010

Jakarta – The government should be aware that there is more than just one source of carbohydrate in the diet of Indonesians, activists said Wednesday.

Tini Sastra from NGO Solidaritas Perempuan (Women's Solidarity) said the government and the media had been focusing on rice as Indonesians' staple food for too long, despite the fact there are some people in regions that consume other sources of carbohydrate, such as corn and cassava.

"There is a tendency to portray food such as cassava and sago as food for the poor and malnourished, while people in certain regions actually eat these foods and are in fact healthy," she said.

She added that Soeharto's New Order regime had shaped the image of rice as a food for the priyayi or upper class, especially by giving rice subsidies to civil servants across the country, regardless of whether their staple food was rice.

Tini said that there had been a massive effort to enforce rice farming in various areas in Indonesia in the New Order era, as part of the "green revolution" – an agriculture method featuring the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers to boost crop yield.

The prioritizing of rice over other carbohydrate sources is still prevalent now, despite talks of food diversification, she said. The government would rather import rice than utilize available alternative crops, Tini added.

Last year, the government signed an extension of an MoU on rice imports from Vietnam despite forecasts of a rice surplus and a record national rice surplus in 2008 of 2.34 million tons.

Mustafa Abubakar, the then head of state-owned logistics company Bulog, said the MoU's extension served as a preventive measure.

In the same year, he said, Bulog distributed rice for the poor to 42 percent or 7.5 million of the 18.5 million poor people in Indonesia.

Tini cited 2008 data from the Central Statistics Agency, which showed that the country produced 32 million tons of rice, 19 million tons of corn and 13 million tons of cassava that year.

"This shows there are still many people who consume other types of food apart from rice," she said. However, rice still triumphs with 60 percent of the population favoring it, Tini added.

Nutrition expert Soekirman said there was only minor disparity between rice and other staple food in terms of nutritional benefits, and hardly any between rice and corn.

"Rice and corn contain protein while other carbohydrate sources, such as sago, cassava and sweet potatoes, don't. But they are roughly equal as sources of energy and calories," he said.

Soekirman added that the ideal diet should include variety by diversifying staple food. "It's good if people eat rice, cassava and other sources of carbohydrate alternatively," he said.

Bulog president director Sutarto Alimoeso said Bulog was open to the idea of staple foods other than rice being distributed across the country.

"Bulog acts based on orders, so if the government asks us to distribute rice for the poor, we distribute rice. If the government wishes to combine the food (with other staple foods), then we do so accordingly," Sutarto told The Jakarta Post via telephone.

He added that currently, Bulog distributes rice even to regions where it is not a staple food. (dis)

Bank Century inquiry

SBY asked to clear legal hurdles: Aides

Jakarta Post - February 28, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Tension is building three days before the parliament's plenary session on the Bank Century bailout inquiry, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's aides busy over the long weekend telling the public there was no ulterior motive to the bailout decision.

Yudhoyono's special adviser for legal affairs, Denny Indrayana, said Saturday that certain coalition parties had asked the President to help them clear legal hurdles in return for their loyalty.

"The parties proposed to change their stance on the Century case if the President 'helped' drop legal cases against figures from the parties," he told The Jakarta Post.

Denny refused to disclose the parties or the legal cases. Yudhoyono, he said, would never entertain such negotiations.

"It has been his principle that legal matters are not negotiable and that he should not intervene. The President did not even step in when a very close relative faced charges," Denny said, referring to Yudhoyono's in-law, Aulia Pohan.

Aulia, a former Bank Indonesia deputy governor, is serving a four-and-a-half year prison sentence for a 2003 graft case.

Of the six parties in the government coalition, only the Golkar Party and the Prosperous and Justice Party (PKS) are opposed to Yudhoyono's Democratic Party with respect to their conclusions on the bailout inquiry.

In their conclusion on the case, both Golkar and PKS insist that Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati's decision to issue the controversial bailout was wrong.

Golkar legislator Ade Komaruddin, who is also a member of the House inquiry committee, said Denny's statement was not Golkar's concern. "If his comments were directed at us, then I'd say it's not true," he told the Post. Ade said his party would not change its stance regarding the case.

Recently, Golkar politician and Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah was arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for his role in a graft case pertaining to the procurement of fire engines.

Last week, the chairman of inquiry committee, Idrus Marham, and legislator Setya Novanto, both from Golkar, were reported to the National Police on graft allegations pertaining to the transportation of 60,000 tons of rice in 2003.

Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie has also been under the spotlight after the Directorate General of Taxation reported that several companies in which the Bakrie Group has shares were being investigated over Rp 1.2 trillion in taxes.

PKS' Mukhammad Misbakhun, one of the sponsors of the bailout inquiry, is also accused of holding fictitious letters of credit from Bank Century. Presidential aide Andi Arief said owning the letter constituted a banking crime and that he would file a case with the police.

Misbakhun's counterpart Andi Rahmat denied the accusation, saying that the letter of credit belonging to one of Misbakhun's company was not fictitious but defaulted.

Apart from alleging Misbakhun's letter of credit, Andi and another presidential aide, Velix Wanggai, were busy last week approaching senior politicians in a bid, observers say, to counter similar moves by political opponents.

On Saturday, Andi and Velix briefly met with former People's Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

They have also met with noted Muslim cleric Ahmad Syafii Maarif and former House speaker Akbar Tandjung.

As probe nears end, lobbying is just beginning

Jakarta Globe - February 27, 2010

Febriamy Hutapea & Ulma Haryanto – While the odds so far seem to be stacked against the Democrats after most of the factions in the House of Representatives declared indications of corruption and irregularities in the government bailout of Bank Century, the game isn't over yet.

On Tuesday, the House is scheduled to begin a two-day marathon plenary session to discuss the recommendations of the special committee that dedicated more than two months to investigating the legality of the bailout process, with responses from each party due the following day.

Only three parties – the ruling Democratic Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – declared in their final conclusions on Tuesday that the Rp 6.7 trillion ($716 million) bailout was necessary, adopting the justification provided by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Vice President Boediono, who was central bank governor at the time of the 2008 bailout.

They have both argued that rescuing the failed lender during the height of the global financial crisis was needed to prevent it from posing a systemic threat to the entire banking sector.

The six other parties found the bailout illegal. Four of the parties – including the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which are both part of the ruling coalition – specifically named Boediono and Sri Mulyani as responsible for the bailout.

But the Democrats appear to be optimistic that things could still change over the next few days. "They [Boediono and Sri Mulyani] are policy makers, they are not wrong. I believe they will be safe," Democratic faction chairman Anas Urbaningrum said.

He declined to say how the party planned to influence other parties to get in line with its stance in securing the positions of Boediono and Mulyani, only saying no special lobbying had been prepared by Democrats.

Democrat lawmaker Benny Kabur Harman, who is a member of the House special committee, was similarly optimistic, saying that he believed some parties could still soften their views. "The viewpoint can be changed," he said.

The Democrats have some reason to be optimistic, according to analysts. "It will all depend on the days preceding March 2. There will be an intensification of lobbying at the highest levels, so we should expect some changes," political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi, from the Indonesia Survey Institute (LSI), said on Friday.

But Siti Zuhro, a political observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said the outcome of the lobbying would not be easy to predict.

"We can no longer separate the ruling coalition from the opposition. The opposition collided and the coalition [members] are opposing each other," she said. "And those in the coalition who are opposing [the Democrats] are louder than the others." Burhanuddin, however, said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had several options to "tame" Golkar and the PKS.

"He could approach PDI-P [the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle] and Gerindra [Great Indonesia Movement Party], or shuffle the cabinet, because he has nothing to lose right now." Even if the PKS and Golkar left the coalition, he said, Yudhoyono would only need Gerindra to achieve a majority.

PDI-P and Gerindra are both opposition parties but the Democratic camp has been seen approaching them over the past few weeks, as Golkar and PKS remained defiant over the bailout.

Gerindra chairman Prabowo Subianto has reportedly met with the president several times, with Gerindra secretary general Ahmad Muzani confirming at least one meeting.

Andi Arief, the president's special staff member for social affairs, has reportedly met House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung and lawmaker Puan Maharani, both from the PDI-P.

In their final stances on the bailout, the PDI-P remained consistent in stating that Boediono and Sri Mulyani were responsible for the "illegal bailout," but Gerindra softened its tone a bit by not identifying responsible officials by name, only mentioning institutions and positions.

"Gerindra has distanced itself from Golkar," Burhanuddin said. "I think the Bank Century case is being used by the party to benefit itself and Prabowo."

But he added that the Democrats would not write off Golkar just yet. "Golkar, which has a history of never taking a firm stand on anything, will have its political and business interests heavily impacted if it withdraws from the coalition," he said. "If the Democrats remove them from the coalition, they would panic."

The massive business empire of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie is seen as heavily reliant on government contracts and friendly financial regulators.

In the days following the release of the final conclusions, Bakrie seemed to be "qualifying" his party's stance. On Wednesday, he insisted that Golkar had never demanded Boediono's impeachment.

"At the time of the Century case, Boediono was Bank Indonesia governor, not vice president. So there's no impeachment there," he reportedly said.

And on Thursday night, at a party event in Pekanbaru, Riau, Bakrie insisted that Golkar would remain in the president's coalition.

"Both Golkar and the PKS are trying to backstab one another; they are probably making deals with the president," Burhanuddin said. "Neither one of them wants to be the only one being the opposition in the coalition."

'Untouchable' SBY holds fate of VP, FM in the balance

Jakarta Post - February 25, 2010

Jakarta – The findings made by a parliamentary inquiry into the Bank Century bailout may be scathing of the Vice President and the finance minister, but Wednesday was business as usual for the two.

Vice President Boediono visited survivors of a landslide in Tenjolaya village, Bandung regency, West Java, while Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati inaugurated the new head of the Fiscal Policy Office, Anggito Abimanyu, in Jakarta.

"Pak Boediono is working as usual all day (Wednesday), with no specific plan to discuss the inquiry committee's findings in the Century case," vice-presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat told The Jakarta Post.

On Tuesday, five of the nine parties on the House of Representatives' inquiry committee concluded the mechanism chosen by Mulyani to bail out Century in November 2008 had violated the law.

Six parties said the "special treatment" given to the ailing bank by Bank Indonesia under Boediono's governorship was an abuse of power. Boediono, however, viewed the findings as political in nature, "and not the truth", Yopie said.

Mulyani made a direct comment on the issue, saying the decision to salvage the bank had helped Indonesia stave off a deeper economic crisis.

"We on the (now-defunct) KSSK (Financial System Stability Committee) consider that I exercised my powers as cleanly as possible," she said. "I used all sources to keep our actions within the boundary of the law."

The two may face a sterner test next Tuesday when the House's 560 councilors vote on whether to endorse the unfavorable conclusions in a plenary meeting.

Gadjah Mada University political expert Ari Sujito said whatever the result of the vote, the House could only issue a set of recommendations and not actually force Boediono or Mulyani out of office. "Whether they step down depends solely on the President's stance," he said.

Constitutional law expert Refly Harun agreed that the final say would be with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "He could say his two most trusted aides must be named suspects before removing them," he added.

Refly said next week the House was likely to issue recommendations for law enforcement agencies to take over the case, investigate the findings by the House inquiry and prosecute alleged violators.

Administrative law expert Margareto Kamis pointed out even though the House's recommendations would be nonbinding, they would still carry legal consequences.

"Any form of refusal by the executive branch of the government to follow up on findings of wrongdoing uncovered by the legislative branch could be seen as a violation of the Constitution," he said.

He added the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was already looking into possible graft in the Century bailout, thus other legal violations, including at the decision-making level, would be handled by the Attorney General's Office and the police.

"Boediono can only be impeached if he's found guilty of an actual crime," Margareto said. "Impeachment is individual in nature, so it wouldn't touch Yudhoyono."

Taufik Kiemas tells different tale from wife on Century

Jakarta Post - February 25, 2010

Jakarta – While the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was pointing its finger at Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and at previous central bank governor Boediono in the Bank Century case, the party's chief patron Taufik Kiemas was telling a different tale.

Taufik, who was also the People's Consultative Assembly speaker, said Wednesday that he had suggested to the PDI-P not to mention any names deemed responsible in the case.

"The House [of Representatives'] inquiry team [on Bank Century case] are not law enforcers. We should consider people innocent until legal processes find them guilty," he said. But his suggestion was ignored by the party and apparently by his wife.

In its final conclusion, the PDI-P named lots of people – including Mulyani and incumbent Vice President Boediono – as being responsible for various stages of the story of the Century saga fromthe 2004 merger until the 2008 bailout.

PDI-P lawmaker Ganjar Pranowo, a member of the inquiry team, said the decision to mention names had been approved by party chairwoman and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, with the wife of Taufik telling her party to tell the tale their way.

However Taufik said his position was his personal opinion. When asked why he took a different stance from his party's position, he responded: "Am I not allowed to [have a contrasting opinion]?"

A PDI-P legislator said earlier that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party had offered three to five ministerial posts to the party in a bid to pull the PDI-P into a new position on the case.

When asked to confirm his views on these issues, Taufik replied, "I wish I could be a minister."

Taufik's appointment as the Assembly speaker had to be vetted by an internal party discussion before Megawati finally gave the nod for him to take up the post.

It was not the first time Taufik and Megawati have gone separate ways. When Yudhoyono was about to announce his Cabinet members, Taufik had said that PDI-P would be ready to join the government. However, Megawati did not make any move and the deadline passed.

Taufik's move to cuddle up to the Democratic Party seemed contrary to his past coldness to Yudhoyono during Megawati's administration.

In 2004, Taufik had said Yudhoyono, then coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, was "being childish" when he spoke in the media on his presidential ambitions without informing Megawati. Yudhoyono then defeated her in the presidential election later that year.

Taufik told the press that he and his deputy speakers would meet with Yudhoyono at the presidential palace on Thursday. "We want to discuss the [Assembly] procedures to enact the technical draft regulation on impeachment which will be tabled at the next plenary meeting on March 1," he said, adding that one chapter of the draft regulation detailed the procedures for the removal of an incumbent president and/or vice president.

"It is a coincidence that the [Assembly's] ad hoc committee is finishing [the draft technical regulation] faster than we first estimated," he replied, when asked why the Assembly was finishing the draft regulation at the same time that the inquiry team was making its final report on the Bank Century case.

KPK, police won't limit Century probe to 'two names'

Jakarta Globe - February 24, 2010

Nivell Rayda, Nurfika Osman & Heru Andriyanto – The Corruption Eradication Commission and the National Police said on Wednesday they would not limit their investigations of the PT Bank Century bailout to officials named by the House special committee investigating the controversial case.

On Tuesday night, four of the nine factions on the special committee named Vice President Boediono, who was central bank governor at the time of the 2008 decision to save the lender, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as being responsible for the "illegal" bailout.

The four to name the two officials were opposition parties the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura). Gokar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), both members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democrat-led ruling coalition, also named the pair.

"We will not narrow our [graft] investigation to target those two figures," Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy Haryono Umar said.

He said the KPK was investigating nine indications of corruption in the bailout, beginning with the formation of the failed bank to the alleged misappropriation of bailout funds.

"We have obtained information from the special committee. But first we will examine the committee's information and compare that with the results of our investigation," Haryono said.

He added that the KPK was coordinating its investigation with the Attorney General's Office as well as the National Police.

The three institutions have agreed that the KPK will investigate possible corruption by senior public officials, while the AGO will handle corruption involving low-ranking public officials and non-public officials. The National Police will investigate allegations of money laundering and related banking crimes.

National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi agreed the investigation would not be limited to Boediono and Sri Mulyani.

"The way we handle the Century bailout case is different from the House special committee," Ito said. "We have to uphold the presumption of innocence. Thus, we cannot arbitrarily arrest people; we have procedures. For now, we are not going to summon anyone. It would be unfair to punish innocent people. The House special committee can claim anything, but that is not the way we work in the National Police."

The AGO did not comment on the House committee's findings, saying it would wait until lawmakers made a final conclusion in a March 2 plenary session.

MPR to prepare impeachment regulations ahead of Century vote

Jakarta Globe - February 24, 2010

Febriamy Hutapea – The People's Consultative Assembly has scheduled a plenary session for Monday to endorse detailed impeachment procedures, just a day after some political parties named the officials they thought responsible for the controversial bailout of PT Bank Century.

Hajriyanto Thohari, a deputy chairman of the assembly, known as the MPR, said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would be briefed on the matter today.

The MPR's powers include endorsing the impeachment procedures issued by the Constitutional Court. It also holds the power to appoint a new president or vice president.

The Constitutional Court last month issued regulations regarding impeachment in anticipation of "rapid changes" as a result of the bailout probe.

If its plenary session proceeds, the MPR may endorse the basic regulations and ethical code, including the technical specifics, for impeachment.

The session would come just a day before the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the recommendations of the special committee that investigated the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout.

"This is an internal meeting of the MPR," Hajriyanto said. "We will not invite the president, but we will inform him of the agenda."

Hajriyanto stressed that Monday's plenary meeting was only to set out the MPR's internal regulations, not to actually attempt to impeach the president or vice president.

Vice President Boediono, who at the time of the bailout was central bank governor and sanctioned the decision, seems most likely to be in the firing line. Four parties named him as responsible for what they called an "illegal" bailout. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati was also blamed.

Under the Constitutional Court's regulations, at least two-thirds of a House plenary session must vote in favor of proceeding with impeachment should the president or vice president be found guilty of violating the constitution by the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court would then have to approve the request before it was forwarded to the MPR, where a two-thirds majority would be needed to support the motion.

Based on the final stances of each faction of the special committee on Tuesday night, the six parties that alleged irregularities had occurred in the bailout decision, including corruption and banking crimes, have a total of 338 lawmakers in the House, which accounts for just over 60 percent of the seats.

Parties stick it to Boediono, Mulyani

Jakarta Post - February 24, 2010

Hans David Tampobolon, Jakarta – Two ruling coalition parties have demanded that Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati face due legal process for the policy to bail out Bank Century.

This was despite last-ditch efforts to change the course of the parliamentary inquiry into the bailout.

In its final report, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) accused Boediono and Mulyani of wrongdoing.

"As such, we demand they face due legal process by the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] and other law enforcement agencies," PDI-P spokesman Maruarar Sirait said at a meeting of the House of Representatives' inquiry committee into the bailout.

However, the demand is far from a done deal, as the findings of the inquiry committee must be presented for approval at a plenary session of the House on March 2. In previous cases, similar inquiries have floundered at this stage.

The PDI-P also threw some of the blame on Bank Indonesia deputy governors at the time, Miranda Goeltom, Aulia Pohan and Anwar Nasution, as well as former central bank governor Burhanuddin Abdullah.

Maruarar said these three had proved to be reckless and had carried out numerous violations in monitoring the bank, which had to be bailed out at a cost of Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).

The bailout was authorized in November 2008 by Mulyani and Boediono, the BI governor at the time.

The two have repeatedly stressed their decision was the right one, given that in the midst of the global economic crisis, Century's potential collapse posed a systemic threat to the country's banking sector.

During the course of the parliamentary inquiry into the bailout, the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – both in the coalition led by Yudhoyono's Democratic Party – have emerged as the most outspoken critics of the government policy behind the bailout, also calling for Mulyani and Boediono to be held accountable.

The PDI-P and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), meanwhile, have piled on the pressure from outside the coalition.

In recent days, high-level officials from the coalition parties have spoken about intensified political lobbying by the Democratic Party in the run-up to the House committee announcing its findings on the bailout.

In its conclusion, the Democratic Party on Tuesday defended a policy used to salvage Bank Century, saying the bailout was extended in accordance with the law.

Investigations into the fund disbursements had not found any evidence that the party or campaign team of President Yudhoyono had benefited from the bailout, Democratic Party spokesman Achsanul Qosasi said Tuesday.

"The facts show that after the bailout, the crisis did not continue and Indonesia managed to emerge from the crisis," Achsanul told a meeting of the House of Representatives inquiry committee for the Century bailout.

The party, however, said the management of the bank and Bank Indonesia leaders were to blame for a flawed acquisition and the merger of Bank Pikko, Bank Danpac and Bank CIC into Bank Century in 2001.

"The policy that allowed the merger and acquisition to take place violated the BI regulation at that time," he said.

The party recommended legal action against the management of Bank Century, now Bank Mutiara, for breaching of the banking law.

Bank Century bailout rift spells woe for ruling coalition

Jakarta Globe - February 24, 2010

Febriamy Hutapea & Markus Junianto Sihaloho – With two factions from the ruling coalition officially naming Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as responsible for the "illegal" bailout of Bank Century at the conclusion of the House of Representatives special committee investigation, political analysts predicted an even bumpier road ahead for the president's Democrats.

In reporting their final stances, the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) named the two as among those responsible, as had been expected.

Among the six parties in the ruling coalition, Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which have been aggressive throughout the probe, also named the pair. Golkar identified the two only by their initials.

The Democratic Party, along with three other coalition members – the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) – did not name any officials responsible for the bailout. The PPP only named institutions.

The opposition Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) did not identify officials by name but mentioned institutions and positions. Seven of the parties, however, said that there were indications of corruption and illegalities in the bailout.

Saldi Isra, a state administrative expert from Andalas University in Padang, said the committee had no choice but to name those responsible for the bailout. Otherwise, "it means that they are trying to hide the facts," he said.

The decision, however, meant more challenges ahead for the increasingly uncertain Democrat-led ruling coalition, according to analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi, of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), who said the conclusions opened the way for the impeachment of the vice president.

If the committee's recommendations are approved by the House's plenary on March 2, he said, then some lawmakers could ask for the "right of opinion expression" to impeach Boediono.

"So it now depends on the Democrats and their coalition. If they're solid enough, the impeachment [issue] could be tackled in the plenary session," he said. "If it fails, then Boediono's impeachment is near and it could be a new 'wild card'?" against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The four parties that did not name names have a combined 260 seats in the House, or less than half of the total 560 lawmakers who will vote next week.

Another possible scenario is the complete breakdown of the coalition. Burhanuddin said political attacks between Democrats and the rest of the coalition, particularly PKS and Golkar, would become more intense in the coming days.

In response, the Democrats could break their coalition with Golkar and PKS, and begin to approach PDI-P and Gerindra to replace them. "Or the Democrats could approach one of them and dump the other, like approach Golkar and dump PKS," he said.

However, Cecep Effendi, a political observer from the Indonesian Institute, said that although the recommendations by coalition members differed from those of the Democrats, it did not automatically mean a coalition rift.

"As long as coalition parties do not suggest summoning Yudhoyono, it means that they still solidly support Yudhoyono," he said.

Ruling coalition crumbling under shadow of Century

Jakarta Globe - February 22, 2010

Markus Junianto Sihaloho – If there is one clear outcome of the two-month-old probe into the government's bailout of PT Bank Century so far, it is that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party-led coalition is in tatters.

With only two of the six parties in the coalition calling the bailout legal, Democrats are said to be engaged in intense political lobbying, particularly toward opposition parties like the Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle (PDI-P) and the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra), ahead of the March 2 House of Representatives plenary session that will consider a final report on the government bailout.

Democratic officials have called on Yudhoyono to shake up the cabinet, getting rid of ministers from coalition parties who are not toeing the party line, including Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – the two coalition parties most vocal about irregularities and illegalities in the bailout.

Internal rifts within the PKS have reportedly worsened during the course of House investigations into the bailout, with circulating rumors suggesting that lawmaker Fachri Hamzah had recently met with State Secretary Sudi Silalahi over the matter. Fachri is said to have allegedly been trying to get Yudhoyono to replace Communication and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring, the former head of the PKS.

Tifatul recently lambasted members of his party on the committee, saying they should keep their personal opinions to themselves. He was responding to statements by PKS lawmaker Andi Rahmat and party secretary general Anis Matta, who both said that indications of crimes had been found during the bailout probe.

When asked to comment on Sunday about the alleged meeting, Fachri denied that such a meeting between himself and Sudi had taken place, saying the "rumor" had been intentionally spread by the government itself to intimidate him and create internal friction within his party.

"They just want to intimidate me, so I am not too hard in the Century investigation," said Fachri, who is also a member of the House special committee. "I am not afraid because I am right. They are just panicking."

PKS secretary general Anis Matta said he had addressed the issue with Fachri himself.

"It is not true if people say we are in deep friction," he said. Talk about the supposed meeting "is being intentionally conducted by certain groups to divide our concentration toward the Bank Century case," Anis said.

He added that the PKS was communicating "quite well" with Yudhoyono. "So we are still in the coalition. Any talk of a cabinet reshuffle [resulting from the PKS's attitude toward the bailout] is just [the Democrats'] personal sentiment toward us, it does not represent Pak SBY," he said, referring to the president by his initials.

A lawmaker from the Democratic Party, Ruhut Sitompul, said his party had never exerted political pressures by lobbying for a reshuffle. On the contrary, he said, it is the Democrats who are under threat from other parties, particularly members of the coalition such as the PKS and Golkar.

"They [PKS and Golkar] should become members of the opposition rather than members of our coalition," Ruhut said. "Life is about choosing. Like black and white, just choose one."

He said Golkar and the PKS had threatened to quit the coalition if Yudhoyono fired ministers from their parties.

Senior Golkar Party official Priyo Budi Santoso has been quoted as saying that the party would withdraw from the governing coalition if Golkar ministers, such as Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono, Minister of Industry MS Hidayat and Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fadel Muhammad, were removed from the cabinet.

Graft & corruption

Judicial reform task force takes aim at graft in court

Jakarta Globe - February 26, 2010

Nivell Rayda – A task force assigned to crack down on corrupt middlemen in the Indonesia's legal system vowed this week to conduct more surprise inspections and take legal action against rogue officials.

The presidentially appointed Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force outlined eight strategies to combat so-called case brokering on Thursday.

Mas Achmad Santosa, a member of the task force, said the group would increase its monitoring of the country's law enforcement agencies, courts and high-profile cases for indications of bribes and graft.

"A system needs to be put in place where the public is able to monitor the progress of a case in court, for instance, and all law enforcers must be held accountable for measures and actions taken in the case," Santosa said.

"We have the Judicial Commission, the Prosecution Commission and the National Police Commission but all are toothless because they don't have the necessary legal basis," he said.

Santosa added that the task force hoped to give more power to existing independent state agencies designed to counterbalance law enforcement agencies. The independent agencies "should be allowed to sanction rogue law enforcers and conduct their own investigations instead of making recommendations that only end up in trash can."

The Judicial Commission receives an average of 200 public complaints annually, including allegations of judges manipulating their decisions or acting unprofessionally. The commission only has the power to recommend that the Supreme Court, which oversees the court system, form an ethics committee to sanction the offending judges.

The Supreme Court has only handled 11 such cases so far and only two judges have been sanctioned since the Judicial Commission was established in 2004.

Santosa said the task force was closely watching high-profile cases and conducting frequent surprise inspections to ensure that reforms to combat agents of the so-called judicial mafia would stick.

"Our aim is to conduct 'shock therapy' sessions on law enforcers so that they have the desire to change their corrupt system," he said.

In January, the task force conducted a surprise inspection at the Pondok Bambu Women's Penitentiary in East Jakarta, revealing that particular high-profile inmates had been receiving special facilities and privileges, including air-conditioners, wall-to- wall carpeting and flat-screen televisions.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, which oversees the country's penal system, demoted six prison officials, including the chief of the Pondok Bambu penitentiary.

Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said the inspection failed to generate significant reforms within the ministry.

"Sure, the special privileges were eliminated, but for how long?" Emerson told the Jakarta Globe.

"Reforms will not be effective unless sanctions are also imposed on high-ranking officials that allow the practices to occur. The officials should not only receive administrative sanctions but also criminal prosecution. Then the 'shock therapy' would work and deter other officials from doing the same thing."

Teten Masduki, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia, criticized a task-force plan that would allow law enforcement agencies to conduct their own reforms against case brokering.

"Law enforcers have been talking about reforming themselves for more than 10 years and yet case brokering occurs time and time again," he said. "It's about commitment. They can formulate the best system in the world, but if the system is run by corrupt people then the reforms can easily be hijacked or undermined by officials benefiting from case brokering."

Teten added that the task force should establish key performance indicators to measure the success of its efforts.

Santosa said getting law enforcement agencies to implement their own reforms was a necessary step to engender a sense of ownership in the improvements among the agencies. "Who better to identify the problems within law enforcement agencies than the law enforcers themselves?" he said.

"We are optimistic that the law enforcers are committed to bettering themselves, but we will closely monitor their progress and conduct quarterly evaluations to measure their success."

Poverty & unemployment

New social plan welcomed, but doubts remain

Jakarta Post - February 22, 2010

Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – The government's plan to design a new social service system for the most vulnerable groups in society has been welcomed by both activists and observers. Nevertheless, they say questions the government need to address still remain.

Ade Irawan from Indonesia Corruption Watch's (ICW) public monitoring division said the government's intention was better than ever, but still too little, too late, while University of Indonesia public policy observer Andrinof Chaniago said the government had to set serious targets for the new system.

In the Cabinet meeting last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono to set up a team responsible for designing the new system in the next three months.

The President said the system would address social issues faced by the most vulnerable groups in society: abandoned elderly people, disabled people, children with legal or drugs problems and those living on the streets, the poorest of the poor and people suffering from serious diseases such as thalassemia.

"Existing programs for the poor, such as Jamkesmas [health insurance scheme for the poor] and School Operational Aids haven't specifically addressed the needs of these people," Ade told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview on Friday.

"These groups are the most vulnerable and yet they have the least access to these programs. They're mostly very poorly informed due to their lack of knowledge and they often have administrative problems when trying to access the programs," he added.

Ade said a permanent system to address the issue was necessary, but emphasized that the government needed to involve NGOs in planning the new system.

"The government needs to talk to us so it can understand the root causes of the problems," he said. Andrinof said the government should set both qualitative and quantitative targets for the planned system, and set out a detailed plan to measure the success of the system once it is implemented.

He added that the government had to change its mindset to empower those who could still develop. "The government has to build the potential of these people and set up programs that can help them develop. This way they will able to become productive members of society," he said.

Andrinof added that those who could no longer be productive, such as the elderly, should be taken care of by the government.

Wardah Hafidz from the Urban Poor Consortium, however, expressed skepticism of the government's plan, saying it was redundant, citing dozens of existing programs aimed at the poor that were poorly implemented.

"Why can't the government work more effectively and efficiently? Why can't it just deploy people already tasked with the [existing] programs instead of setting up a new team and swelling its ranks?" she said.

"There are many departments running these programs, but they're badly coordinated. This is what needs to be changed. The government needs to integrate its various programs and coordinate with the people in charge," she added.

War on terror

Noordin group planned biggest attacks since 9/11: Prosecution

Jakarta Globe - February 23, 2010

Heru Andriyanto – The militant group led by the late Noordin M Top had allegedly sought funding from Saudi Arabia to launch the biggest attacks after those on US cities on Sept. 11, 2001, according to the prosecution document against a suspect in the Jakarta hotel bombings, which was read on Tuesday at South Jakarta District Court.

Muhammad Jibriel, who is standing trial for his role in the July 17, 2009, bombings at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels, had sent an email to his brother who studied in Saudi Arabia telling him that he would depart to the country to seek funding for "amali", the Arabic term used by extremist groups for "attack" or "action".

"It is for amali, the biggest after WTC," the indictment quoted Jibriel as telling his younger brother in the email. The indictment didn't further detail the content of the email, which allegedly referred to the attacks on the twin World Trade Center (WTC) buildings in New York.

"I cannot say if the WTC stands for the World Trade Center in New York, we just put the plain content of the email on our indictment," said prosecutor Totok Bambang when contacted by the Jakarta Globe. "But of course we will ask the defendant what he meant by "biggest after WTC" in future hearings."

In the opening trial, Jibriel, 25, was accused of hiding information about the bombing plot targeting the hotels and of document forgery.

"When traveling to Mecca, apart from performing the ritual pilgrimage of Umroh, the defendant also sought funding for amali," the indictment stated.

Dozens of supporters filled the court and shouted "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great!") many times. The defendant's father, Abu Jibriel, also came to the court to lend support.

Islam/religion

Indonesia to review 45 year old Blasphemy Law

Radio Australia - February 25, 2010

Indonesia is reviewing its 1965 Blasphemy Law, a law brought in by then-President Sukarno, who, activists say, used the law to repress minority religions.

Under the criminal code, leaders and followers of religions, or cults, suspected of heresy can be charged and face a maximum penalty of five years jail. A judicial review was prompted by concerns raised by human rights organisations that the hundreds of people estimated to have been jailed under the law were simply exercising their right to freedom of religion.

Presenter: Bo Hill

Speakers: Dr Amidhan Sheberah, Chairman Indonesian Ulema Council; Professor Abdurrahman Mas'ud, Chair of research division Indonesia's Ministry of Religious Affairs; Tobias Basuki, Director of Research and Studies Institut Leimena Jakarta

Hill: It's nearly half a century old... created by President Sukarno, and implemented by Suharto – reflecting a fledging independent nation who's constitution was based on nationalism and Islam. Indonesia's Blasphemy Law makes it illegal for anyone to express hatred or contempt for religion... and Dr Amidhan Sheberah from the Indonesian Ulema Council, says it still works because it maintains law and order.

Amidhan: If there's not the law to protect the blasphemy of others, I think there will be chaos in the society.

Hill: But now the 1965 Blasphemy Law is under review – with Jakarta's Constitutional Court given until the middle of this year to decide whether the law should be changed. And the lines have clearly been drawn, says Abdurrahman Mas'ud, from the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Mas'ud: Now it's a kind of struggle actually between protection of religion and freedom of religion.

Hill: The chief of Indonesia's Commission on Human Rights, Ifdhal Kasim, told the review this week the 45 year old law clashes with Indonesia's amended Constitution. He says the new system is more advanced in its protection of human rights. Dr Amidhan from the Indonesian Ulema Council, says the Blasphemy Law already provides enough protection in its own way.

Amidhan: I don't think the state discriminates the other religion because the law protect all religions – big or small religion, majority or minority, there is no discrimination in the law.

Hill: But opponents are troubled. Tobias Basuki, a non-Muslim, has spoken out publicly against the law.

Basuki: I believe this is more about freedom of conscience and freedom of rights because basically a persons conscience cannot be dictated on what they want to believe and what they feel they believe in. And that's what is often being prosecuted. Basically any activity that deviates from the teaching of the main majority religion is prosecutable under the law.

Hill: Dr Amidhan from the Indonesian Ulema Council says that's just the point, which is why in 2005 Lia Eden was found guilty of blasphemy.

Amidhan: LIke Lia Eden – she says has received revelation from Gabriel, the angel. This I think is blasphemy. This is a deviaiton from the main teaching of religion.

Hill: During last years' presidential elections, Dr Amidhan and several other Islamic leaders warned MPs and voters not to bring religion into politics. Professor Abdurrahman Mas'ud, from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, says so far the government is heeding that advice.

Mas'ud: There's two sides arguing right now, and the government is trying to be mediator.

Hill: He says, however, the government plans to draft a bill over the next four years to enshrine in the constitution both freedom of religion and protection of religion. And, says Professor Mas'ud, he hopes that will provide a solution for the "contested conversation."

Court refuses blasphemy law petition from Muslim schools, leaders

Jakarta Globe - February 23, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran – Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD on Tuesday refused to accept a petition against annulling a blasphemy law because the petition's organizers – several Islamic boarding schools and a forum of Muslim leaders from Madura – had not followed proper procedures.

"They arrived as a delegation," Mahfud said. "I received them and spoke with them. However, such aspirations must be conveyed during court proceedings, inside a courtroom, and not directly to a judge," he said.

The 1965 Law on the Prevention of Blasphemy and Abuse of Religion is currently the subject of a judicial review after it was challenged by the late President Abdurrahman Wahid last year on the grounds it was being misused to intimidate minority religions.

Mahfud told representatives of the schools and the Muslim leaders that their aspirations must be conveyed via organizations legally involved in the review.

"Please hand over your thoughts and aspirations to organizations involved in the case. If you are in favor of the law, hand it over to the government or official groups that are in favor of the law," Mahfud said.

He also said the court would never invite expert witnesses to give testimony in regard to the review.

"We do not invite. It is requested by applicants and we oblige. If expert witnesses from Mecca are presented, we will accept them. Even if expert witnesses from hell are presented, we cannot refuse," he said.

The review applicants have requested that the court hear testimony from W Cole Durham Jr, a human rights and religious freedom advocate from Brigham Young University in the United States, Mahfud said.

He said the petition organizers had argued the law should not be annulled because matters of religious blasphemy would fail to be legally regulated.

"The public would then resort to using their own version of the law [street justice], which would be chaotic. Actually, this opinion has been presented in previous hearings," Mahfud said.

The judicial review was filed by several people and organizations, including Wahid.

According to Choirul Anam, a lawyer representing the applicants, the law is unconstitutional because it only recognizes six religions: Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

The law bans people from publicly espousing other religious views or following non-mainstream interpretations of one of the state- sanctioned religions, he said.

The Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace recently expressed concern over the use of the law to justify violent acts against minority groups that interpret religious tenets differently, such as the Ahmadiyya Muslim minority sect.

Mahfud said the petition organizers had also asked him to hold a theological meeting to discuss the law.

"We are not theologians. The conclusions taken in court are about law and will be based on legal conclusions, not theological ones," he said. "We hold on to the truth, based on the law."

MUI says airport body scanners would violate human rights

Jakarta Globe - February 23, 2010

The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) had rejected a plan to use full body scanners in Indonesian airports, claiming it would be a violation of Sharia law and human rights.

"Don't use it in Indonesia. We are not a paranoid or frightened country, What we are afraid of is the scanner violating human rights and being used as a toy to abuse women," Amidhan, the council's chairman, told detik.com.

The council agreed with Pope Benedict's objections to full body scanners. "It violates human rights. If only the bones are visible then it's all right but if it's the body then it could become a toy," Amidhan said.

The MUI said that there would be one exception, however. "It could only be used in emergency situations regarding national security and women should scan women and men scan men," he said.

Amidhan said that he believed Indonesia was not in an emergency situation at the moment and airport security staff could still make use of other tools. "As long as other equipment is available, it's not an emergency," he said.

The government planned to use ProVision scanner made in USA. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said the scanner would not show individual's "sensitive parts."

At present, ProVision scanners are on trial in Canadian and French airports, while in Indonesia, the device would be used for passengers heading to the United States.

Students' intolerance 'a concern'

Jakarta Post - February 23, 2010

Sri Wahyuni, Yogyakarta – A majority of Muslim students in state-run senior high schools in Yogyakarta province have medium to high levels of religious tolerance according to a survey.

The survey was released Monday by the Institute for Islamic and Social Studies (LKiS) Foundation.

Presenting results of the survey in Yogyakarta on Monday, the foundation's director, Farid Wajidi, said 40.53 percent of respondents showed low levels of tolerance, 35.13 percent showed medium levels of tolerance and the last 24.34 showed high levels of tolerance.

"We held the survey mostly out of concern regarding the decrease in nationalism and morals among young people as shown by the emergence of exclusive groups within the school milieu," said Farid, who is also one of the survey's three researchers.

The survey, he added, was also held in response to previous researches conducted by other institutions, including Ciciek Farkha, who found a "strengthening religious primordial phenomenon" among state-run high schools in seven provinces including Yogyakarta.

The survey was conducted in October and November 2009 with respondents comprising of 760 Muslim students from 20 state-run senior high schools across the province's one municipality and four regencies.

The survey was conducted through written questionnaires on the respondents' views, attitudes and behaviours regarding greetings to people of other faiths, celebrating religious events, seeking medical treatment at hospitals affiliated with other religions and the consideration in choosing friends and electing leaders of school organizations.

Hairus Salim, another member of the researcher team, said there were actually over 100 questions answered by the respondents. However, only seven of them were considered to be directly related to tolerance.

Regarding the question on greeting people of other religions celebrating religious celebrations, 16.32 percent of respondents said they "always" expressed the greetings, 42.24 percent said they "sometimes" did so and the rest 41.18 percent said they "never" did so.

For the question on whether the respondents used religion when considering picking a friend, 91.71 percent said "no", 7.24 percent said "yes" and the other 1.05 percent did not answer.

For the question on whether the respondents have close friends of different religions, 81.32 percent said "yes", 18.03 percent said "no" and the last 0.66 percent did not answer.

Regarding the question on whether they use religion as a consideration in electing leaders of a school organization, 59.61 percent of the respondents said "never", 23.42 percent said "sometimes" and 15.39 percent said "always".

Hairus, however, said the fact that 40.53 percent of respondents had shown a low level of tolerance was a concern, especially as Yogyakarta has long been known as a city of tolerance and multiculturalism.

Apart from that, he added, this particular age group was also considered the future leaders of Indonesia.

"No matter how small the percentage, the fact that there have been views and attitudes showing religious intolerance among students of state-run high schools, which are supposed to be neutral spaces, should be a concern to all of us," he said.

Ex-Guerilla to head Jakarta Mujahedeen

Jakarta Globe - February 22, 2010

Farouk Arnaz – In an atmosphere of fiery rhetoric, the son-in- law of Solo-born Abdullah Achmad Sungkar, who helped create regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, has been elected to lead the Greater Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Mujahedeen Council.

Syawal Yasin, who in 1986 was one of the first Indonesians sent to a mujahedeen training camp on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, said on Saturday that he was ready to lead the hard-line organization, also known as the MMI.

"God willing, I am ready to accept this position. I will sacrifice my life to uphold the name of Islam," Syawal said during his inauguration at a meeting of the group at the Bekasi Sports Hall.

The father of 13 added that he hoped his experiences in Afghanistan, where he stayed for more than 10 years, would prove useful in leading the MMI in Jakarta.

The controversial MMI was founded and once led by extremist preacher Abu Bakar Bashir, once dubbed the spiritual leader of JI, who was convicted in 2005 of conspiracy over the 2002 Bali bombings. Sentenced to 2-1/2 years in prison, the charges against him were dropped in 2006.

A long-time ally of Abdullah, Bashir left the MMI in 2008 expressing dissatisfaction with fellow members. The election of Syawal is seen by observers as a way for the MMI to assert its continued relevance.

Abu Jibriel, MMI deputy chairman, on Saturday called on followers gathered at the hall to continue pushing for Islamic law.

"It is our obligation to implement Shariah law based on the Koran and what the Prophet Muhammad said, including waging a holy war against Islam's enemies," Abu Jibriel said, adding that Shariah law outweighed obligations to the state.

"Only Shariah law matters. We must work toward its implementation, even if it means sacrificing ourselves," Abu Jibriel said, to cries of "Allahu akbar!" ("God is great!") from the 700 MMI followers in attendance.

Abu Jibriel is the father of Muhammad Jibriel Abdul Rahman, a suspect currently being detained over the July 17 hotel bombings in Jakarta.

Noor Huda Ismail, a security analyst and terrorism expert, said Syawal's elevation was a "show of force" on the part of Abu Jibrel and his younger brother, Irfan S Awwas, another senior member of the MMI.

"Both want to show Bashir that even without him, the MMI can still exist and thrive," he said. "They are able to lobby an ex-fighter from Afghanistan. Don't forget that Syawal is the son-in-law of Abdullah Sungkar."

Bashir founded the MMI in 2000 but left to found Anshorut Tauhid in September 2008, an organization he claims is based on "true" Islamic teachings. At the time, he was quoted as saying that the MMI was no longer in line with Islamic teachings.

Abdullah and Bashir founded JI on Jan. 1, 1993, in Malaysia after having fled Indonesia to escape prosecution under the Suharto regime. They both had links to the Darul Islam, a radical group that clashed with the central government in the 1950s.

JI's goal was to create a Islamic caliphate covering Indonesia, Malaysia, the southern Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and southern Thailand.

Elections/political parties

Lapindo sends proxy to gain political control over Sidoarjo

Tempo Interactive - February 26, 2010

Eko Widianto, Jakarta – Mining company under the politically- connected Bakrie Brothers group, Lapindo Brantas, sent on Thursday (25/2) another proxy to run for the seat of Sidoarjo Regent, to lead the region partly hit by the mud flood disaster caused by Lapindo operation.

Vice President Relation Yuniwati Teriyana declared her candidacy in a ceremony attended by residents, senior members of the community, and clerics, vowing the same promise to settle the compensation dispute between locals and the mining company, promoted by the first candidate from the company.

Bambang Prasetyo Widodo, Operation Manager of Lapindo Brantas has preceeded his superior when he registered his candidacy to the regional branch office of Golkar Party three weeks earlier.

Despite her connection with the mud flood, representatives of victims of the man-made disaster were on hand. A spokesman for the victims Koes Sulassono demanded the regent candidate's attention on the conditions of the victims and frequently late installments of compensation.

The mud flood have swarmed, as of late 2009, about 10 square kilometers of land in Porong Subdistrict since the mud erupted from a gas drilling well in May 2006. More than 12,000 houses, dozens of factories and public facilities, and thousands of hectares of agriculture properties buried in the mud.

Lapindo denied responsibility for the losses, claiming the disaster as a natural one instead of man-made and forcing the government to agree with the argument.

During the first term of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration, the government chose to accommodate the company and even spare a strategic cabinet seat for Aburizal Bakrie, a key figure in Bakrie & Brothers Group.

But in the second term of Yudhoyono's presidency, as Aburizal started to reveal more ambition in the political field which resulted in tension between the two figures, analyst predicted that Yudhoyono's camp is prepared to counter Aburizal's side with the mud.

Democrats to firm up Indonesia's ruling coalition

Jakarta Globe - February 25, 2010

Febriamy Hutapea – Claiming that it is not about to allow stinging recommendations to break the ruling coalition apart, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party vowed on Wednesday that it would fight to solidify the coalition of parties it led, and win the argument over the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout of Bank Century.

"We would prefer to maintain the coalition... unless of course they insist on getting out," Democrat faction chairman Anas Urbaningrum said a day after the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), two of the six parties in the coalition, pinpointed Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as the ones who should bear the burden for the rescue of the failed lender.

"The Democrats believe that the ties that bind the coalition were formed over a similar vision, based on which the presidential and vice-presidential candidates during the [2009] elections were chosen. This coalition can be managed."

Anas said the Democrats had to intensify communications with the other coalition parties to mend their differences. "Meetings with coalition parties should be continued, and the more, the better. One should be scheduled to make up for the recent meeting canceled at Cikeas," Anas said, referring to the meeting called off on Monday night in which coalition leaders were to meet with Yudhoyono at his private residence in Cikeas, Bogor.

Anas said the meeting was aborted because not all leaders had confirmed their attendance. Several of them claimed the meeting was an invitation from Yudhoyono himself, but the Democrats have denied this. Anas said differences were acceptable in politics, but a number of factions had gone overboard.

Golkar and the PKS have been aggressive throughout the House of Representatives' inquiry, particularly in targeting Boediono and Sri Mulyani to take the fall. Several Democratic leaders have warned the two parties that taking sides with the opposition meant they no longer considered them part of the coalition.

Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, whose rocky relations with Sri Mulyani over a tax dispute involving Bakrie companies are no secret, insisted that Golkar had never demanded Boediono's impeachment.

"At the time of the Century case, Boediono was Bank Indonesia governor, not vice president. So there's no impeachment there," Aburizal was quoted by kompas.com as saying on the sidelines of a breakfast meeting with ambassadors at the Four Seasons Hotel.

He said that because Boediono was vice president he could no longer be processed "through the regular legal corridors" and that this case should be brought before the Constitutional Court.

Legislation & parliament

Top judge blasts Indonesia's 'vanity laws'

Jakarta Globe - February 23, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran – The Constitutional Court chief suggested on Tuesday that vanity was the driving force behind many of the laws produced by ministers, and that this was the reason for the often confusing and overlapping regulations in the country.

"Laws that overlap, I believe, are caused by ministers who are just vain," Mahfud MD said. "They think that just because they are ministers, they have to produce new laws, and if a law exists, it needs to be changed. They are issuing laws to show everybody they are ministers."

He added that the problem was causing a major headache for the House of Representatives. "A huge pile of bills are just lying around at the House waiting to be deliberated... with no clear urgency," Mahfud said.

According to Constitutional Court records, there have been 296 judicial review requests for 108 separate laws as of the end of last year, with the Elections Law topping the list for the most review requests. Of the reviews requested, 58 have been approved by the court, Mahfud said.

Several existing and proposed pieces of legislation have caused controversy recently, including a regulation on wiretapping and another on online content, which would give the government the authority to order Internet service providers to block sites it felt displayed material prohibited by law. Also causing controversy is a marriage bill, which calls for jail time and fines for couples who do not register their marriages.

"It is, however, much more vain when... [ministers] begin to draft bills that contradict not only existing regulations but also the Constitution," Mahfud said.

His statements come after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned ministers to exercise caution when discussing potentially controversial legislation, following heavy criticism in the media of a number of different government initiatives in recent weeks.

"They only think about completing the deliberations and issuing laws on time," Mahfud said. "A main reason why the Constitutional Court annuls laws is because these laws are produced not from need but from political deals."

He said he was speaking from experience as a former head of legislation at the House, where he saw how ministers would try to issue regulations without receiving permission from the House.

Political compromises aside, Mahfud said the House was unable to seriously examine the contents of most bills, and this sometimes led to articles contradicting each other within the same piece of legislation.

When asked to comment on the often sharp criticism of the government in the media, Mahfud said the media was absolutely within its rights.

"The legislature, the judiciary and the executive body are all sick," he said. "Civil society and the media are correct and in the right. During the era of [former President] Suharto, matters were strictly regulated and reflected his authoritarian rule. This should not happen again. If I'm wrong, you should attack [me]."

Arif Wibowo, a member of the House Legislation Council from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said some of what Mahfud said was true.

"House deliberations [of bills] are too short since time slots are limited," Arif said. "There should be clear criteria on the urgency of a bill and its deliberation."

Press freedom & censorship

Tifatul to ease back from pushing through Web bill

Jakarta Post - February 25, 2010

Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring said Wednesday he would press ahead with a planned bill to monitor Internet content, despite claims it would violate freedom of expression.

The minister, however, said he would only resume the public deliberation of the bill once the protests surrounding it had subsided.

"This draft regulation has apparently jangled some nerves in the public," Tifatul told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission I on defense, foreign affairs and communications.

"I've thus decided to implement a cool-down period while we analyze all the suggestions from the public."

He did not say how long the Communications and Information Technology Ministry would draw out that period. "Once everything has calmed down, we'll meet again with the House (to discuss the draft regulation)," he added.

The minister did not rule out the possibility of scrapping the entire draft should it breach existing laws, but told legislators he had found no indications yet to that effect.

Tifatul said the bill had been in the works since 2006, three years before he became minister. "That very same draft was around for a while, but the outcry is very recent," he said.

The draft was initiated after a group of people expressed concern about the "negative aspects" of the Internet, Tifatul pointed out.

They sought to "protect the public from dangerous materials" posted on the Internet, including pornography, gambling, and content of a racist, violent or slanderous nature, the minister said. "The people want the Internet to be safe for users of all ages and background," he said.

Legislator Roy Suryo Notodiprodjo, from the Democratic Party, said he welcomed Tifatul's plan to suspend pushing the draft for the time being.

"I agree we need to regulate Internet content, but not such that the state is granted the power to impinge on freedom of speech," he told The Jakarta Post.

Critics say that if the regulation is enacted, it would pose a serious threat to freedom of expression at a time when the Internet has become a key source of information and a rallying point for massive social campaigns.

Internet users have posted their objections to the bill on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They say there are many other ways to curb the negative impacts of the Internet besides what they deem "censorship" in the form of the ministry's draft.

On Monday, Tifatul became embroiled in a heated debate over contentious issues in the bill with his followers on Twitter.

Margiyono, from the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), urged the government to help set up a multi-stakeholder commission – along the lines of the Indonesia Broadcasting Commission (KPI) for TV and radio – to monitor Internet content.

Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at a Cabinet meeting that none of his ministers could draft regulations without first consulting him, singling out the multimedia content bill proposed by Tifatul.

IT & the Internet

Indonesia rounds up students in Internet cafes

Agence France Presse - February 22, 2010

Jakarta – Indonesian police raided Internet cafes on Monday and rounded up dozens of students who were skipping school to play computer games or chat with their friends online.

The raids in the town of Bandung, West Java, came in response to complaints from parents and teachers about children missing classes to spend time on the Internet, an official said.

"We raided 23 Internet cafes and rounded up 89 students. Many were in their school uniforms," Bandung city official Suparno told AFP. "They should be in school during school hours but instead they were playing computer games, chatting online and checking their Facebook profiles."

The students, aged mostly in their early teens, were given a warning and sent back to school, he added. "The students were shocked to see us. Some pleaded with us to let them go and promised never to play truant again," Mr Suparno said.

Internet cafes offer a low-cost connection to the web for ordinary Indonesians who cannot afford their own computers. Despite low wages and poor Internet infrastructure, Indonesians are among the world's most dedicated users of social networking sites like Facebook.

Jakarta/urban life

Expect years of gridlock: Boediono

Jakarta Globe - February 22, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran – Even as he formally opened a new section of Jakarta's Outer Ring Road on Monday, Vice President Boediono warned that a solution to the city's perpetual gridlock was way off in the future.

"We can see day to day that the city's transportation problems are a spectacle for all of us. It hampers our work and mobility and it is a high-cost problem," Boediono said at the Kayu Besar toll exit as he launched the 9.7-kilometer Kebon Jeruk-Penjaringan toll road.

The Rp 1.7 trillion ($180 million) road was one of six infrastructure projects costing a total of Rp 2.3 trillion inaugurated on Monday. The others are an overpass at Cengkareng, the Cut Meutia overpass in Bekasi, Cibodas bridge in Tangerang, the Karawang ring road in West Java and a 1.35-km bridge in Jambi.

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said that together they should help ease traffic in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi and Karawang. He singled out the Kebon Jeruk-Penjaringan toll road for its potential to smooth traffic for commuters, and said another highway being built from Kebon Jeruk to Ulujami would also help. "The purpose of the projects is economic growth and people's welfare," he said.

Boediono was realistic about what can really be done, saying the new road might save time and fuel for some but would not solve Jakarta's epic traffic jams. He said the government must increase the capacity of public transportation and take other steps.

"Mass rapid transport has been planned, as well as the revitalization of the railroads," he said. "Busway problems also need to be solved." Even that might not be enough, he warned. "We need to manage the rise in the use of privately owned cars given our capacity to increase the highways. We should not stop working on urban transportation."

Echoing concerns of environmentalists and urban planners who have long criticized Jakarta's lack of planning, Boediono said neighborhoods had to be harmonized with transport needs. Chaotic public and private transportation, Boediono said, harms the environment and people's health. "This is very costly," he said.

Boediono said the new highway and other efforts to connect parts of the region were also aimed at the eventual goal of an integrated "national logistics system" consisting of "land, water and air transportation, including information technology and communication." To reach that goal, Boediono called for the development of "soft" infrastructure, such as better regulation and more transparent information flows, to complement "hard" projects like roads and bridges.

Deputy Public Works Minister Hermanto Dardak said the ministry had ambitious plans for 504 kilometers of new roads in Greater Jakarta by the end of 2012. He said 200 km of the total were now around 80 percent complete.

"The main priorities are projects connecting Jakarta's most strategic locations, such as Soekarno-Hatta Airport and Tanjung Priok Port," Hermanto said. (Additional reporting by Irvan Tisnabudi)

Indonesia mulls new capital as Jakarta sinks

Agence France Press - February 23, 2010

Glenda Kwek, Jakarta – It has been the economic heartbeat of the world's fourth most populous country for almost 500 years, but Jakarta's days as Indonesia's capital could be numbered.

Choked with traffic and garbage, the city on the northwest Java coast has been pushed to breaking point as its population surges above 12 million and its foundations sink under the weight of rampant development.

Floods displace thousands of people and cause millions of dollars of damage every year, and are predicted to get worse with rising sea levels, unchecked logging in catchment areas and the blocking of canals with rubbish.

A World Bank study has found that by 2025 the sea could be lapping at the gates of the presidential palace in the centre of the the former spice capital, known until 1942 as Batavia.

This could explain why President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently revived a radical plan to shift the capital to a new location.

"Going forward, the idea of moving the centre of the administration must again be considered and developed, considering Jakarta has become exceedingly crowded," Yudhoyono told reporters in December.

Similar proposals go back to previous presidents Sukarno and Suharto, who decades ago foresaw the eventual breakdown of Jakarta.

"It can be done – what you need is strong political commitment. Malaysia moved to Putrajaya because of the strength of Mahathir Mohamad," urban studies expert Deden Rukmana said, referring to Malaysia's ex-prime minister.

"If we have a good plan... we can build a city from scratch, like Brasilia in Brazil."

Malaysia in 1999 began gradually shifting its administrative bodies to Putrajaya, 25 kilometres (15 miles) south of Kuala Lumpur, to reduce congestion and overcrowding in the capital.

No one knows exactly how much the move cost in total, but more than 5.8 billion dollars was reportedly funded by taxpayers.

Urban planners said the price tag on a new capital would be huge for Indonesia, but the cost of doing nothing would be higher.

"Jakarta's problems can't be solved without expensive solutions," Rukmana said. "When the 2007 floods hit, you could see how much of an impact the city had on Indonesia. For days, Jakarta was dead and Indonesia's economy was crippled," Rukmana said. But where would Indonesia build its new capital?

Jakarta is on Java, the most populous of Indonesia's 17,000 islands and home to its largest ethnic group, the Javanese, who are unlikely to relinquish their grip on the centre of national power.

Military strongman Suharto favoured Jonggol, 50 kilometres east of Jakarta, but the idea was scrapped when he resigned in 1998.

Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, proposed Palangkaraya, central Kalimantan, in what would have been a bold shift away from the Javanese powerbase.

"It's a good suggestion... If we just moved to Jonggol we'd still be in metro Jakarta and the current problems would continue," Rukmana said.

Despite the president's fears for the viability of Jakarta, the city's much-maligned administration is pressing ahead with a 20- year development plan. It sees a future where the population is limited to 10 million, green spaces blossom and carbon emissions are slashed by 30 percent.

But given the city's history of corruption and mismanagement, few planning experts are holding their breath in anticipation of Governor Fauzi Bowo's vision becoming a reality any time soon.

The launch of the 2030 plan hardly filled anyone with confidence – the designs for the revamped city omitted a long-discussed urban railway, which had to be hastily added in after the error was pointed out.

"The first draft didn't even include the new train system everyone knows is being planned," architect Macro Kusumawijaya said. "It's always a utopian dream to start a new city. But if they can't get Jakarta to work now, I'm doubtful they can make a new city work."

Another plan to set aside 13 percent of the city's land for sorely needed parks has also come to nothing. Environmentalists estimate green spaces account for only seven percent of the city, two percent of which are cemeteries.

Economy & investment

New law may mean 40% fall in oil and gas production

Jakarta Post - February 25, 2010

Nani Afrida, Jakarta – The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry fears implementation of a new environmental law may lead to problems that could seriously hit production and investment in oil and gas.

Evita Legowo, director general for oil and gas at the ministry of mines and energy, told reporters on Wednesday that the worst case scenario on the implementation of the new environmental law could result in as much as a 40 percent decrease in national oil production.

"The Environmental Law will threaten national oil production and it could drop by (up to) 40 percent from our target," Evita said.

This year, the government is targeting to produce 965,000 barrels oil per day (bopd) as laid down in the 2010 national budget. Last year Indonesia produced about 960,000 bopd, so the government is hoping for a modest increase.

Oil and gas have historically been the backbone of the Indonesian economy, contributing up to 30 percent of total state revenue. Oil and gas contributed as much as Rp 182.63 trillion in revenue derived from the energy and mining sectors in 2009.

There are several provisions in the law that could directly affect the level of production and investment in the oil and gas industry, Evita said, the most important being the increased complexities because of the involvement of regional governments in the issuing of permits.

Evita argued that such provisions would require central and regional governments to make use of similar definitions on various terms and provisions pertinent to oil and gas production, particularly those that concerned the environment.

The environment law passed by the House of Representatives last year, requires business entities to secure environmental permits prior to launching their operations. These permits are issued by a minister, governor or regent, depending on the area of operation. A failure to secure the required environmental permits would result in the termination of the business license for a given concession or working area.

Previously the State-Owned Enterprises Deputy Minister for Mining and Telecommunication, Sahala Lumbangaol, said that the development of at least 16 oil and gas development areas by Pertamina had been delayed due to the failure to obtain the required environmental permits.

Evita also raised the definition of the concept of clean energy referred to in so many provisions in the law. "One of articles mentions about cleanness, the problem being that oil production industries may result in some dirty or polluting consequences," she said.

Ambiguities in the environment law, she said, made it difficult for companies to fulfill environmental standards and guidelines set by the new legislation.

"Those regulations have to be fulfilled by all oil and gas production sharing contract holders (KKKS) by April. I would have to express my apologies if oil production targets might then not be achieved," Evita said. She continued that state oil and gas producer PT Pertamina and PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia would be the two companies most effected by the new Environmental Law.

The probable negative impact of the law on the industry was confirmed by Bagus Sudaryanto, operations director of PT Pertamina EP, saying complications created by the law could lead to the company failing to reach its production target of 128,000 bpod. "We are still calculating a more precise estimate of the (possible) decline in production," Bagus said.

Indonesia eyes limits on rights issues for foreigners

Reuters - February 22, 2010

Jakarta – A proposal by Indonesia to limit foreign investors' participation in certain share issues could scare off overseas investment, some analysts and fund managers said.

Hatta Rajasa, co-ordinating economic minister, on Friday told reporters that the government is discussing with Bapepam, the capital markets regulator, whether to allow foreign investors to participate in rights issues by companies which have already reached their foreign ownership limits.

Rajasa said in cases where foreigners already owned the maximum 49 percent of a listed Indonesian firm, that company may be prevented from selling shares in a rights issue to foreigners to avoid exceeding the limit.

The rule applies to sectors where foreign ownership is restricted. The list is currently being amended and under discussion by various ministries.

One analyst who declined to be quoted by name said Rajasa's comments may be aimed at closing a loophole in existing rules. "People can get around the limits by listing the company and using rights issues. So this could clarify the issue and close the loophole," the analyst said.

In cases where a company was unable to raise the funds from local investors, it might be allowed to sell the rights to foreigners but only on condition that the foreign ownership was restored to 49 percent within two years, Rajasa said.

"We haven't decided yet, only some ideas, and we still have to discuss it with Bapepam," he added.

The comments by Rajasa, regarded as one of the more protectionist members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet, could potentially dampen investor sentiment, some analysts and investors said.

Investor James Bryson of fund management firm HB Capital said that given the lack of detail in Rajasa's comments, it was difficult to predict which sectors or companies might be affected, "but wherever it is, it is not good news."

"Those wanting to raise money via minorities taking up their rights, might well find that the rights issues would not achieve their aim, if otherwise-willing foreign minorities weren't allowed to do so."

Indonesian stocks surged nearly 90 percent last year in a rally fuelled by optimism over strong economic growth and political stability.

[Reporting by Sonya Angraini and Sara Webb; Editing by Tomasz Janowski.]

Analysis & opinion

Poverty, the root cause

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 27, 2010

The report about Bahtiar Angkotasan, 47, who tied up his mentally disabled daughter in bed at their home in Bekasi, West Java, before he left for work every day, is yet another of the tragedies that affect so many of our children.

"I was forced to do it; it was the only way I could make sure she wouldn't go missing while I was away," Bahtiar, a father of two, said in a recent TV interview when asked why he tied up his 5- year-old daughter Gia Wahyuningsih.

Bahtiar, who divorced his wife three years ago, said he had no money to send his daughter to a mental hospital.

Gia is not the only one suffering. Media reports from a few weeks ago told of parents who locked up their infants without adequate food at their home for a week, and about a pregnant mother who offered to sell her unborn child because she could not afford to keep it.

Unfortunately, we may still see many similar tragedies in the future as poverty remains a serious problem that affects millions of Indonesians. We believe the reports about the misfortune of these children that have made it into the media are just the tip of the iceberg.

We welcome the statement by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Feb. 17 that the government would tailor social services for the country's most vulnerable groups of people. But what else is being offered?

Currently we have programs in place like the Raskin (subsidized rice for the poor) and Jamkesmas (health insurance for the poor). The question is why have such programs not reached all poor people – those like Bahtiar – who work odd jobs such as scavenging or busking on buses to earn a living?

We hope the government offers truly feasible programs that will address the shortage of similar programs in the past. We may need to learn from the failures of such services that have often missed their target, as many of the needy people have been unable to access such services.

We have also learned from the past that many poor people in urban areas have no access to such social services because they have no ID cards to show, as required by operators of such programs.

However, we must not ignore the strength of charity groups that have proven their effectiveness in collecting funds and channeling them to the most vulnerable people in this country. What we need is more credible and trustworthy charitable organizations to collect and channel donations to the right people.

Apart from tailoring such services, the government also needs to pass a regulation to guarantee that only credible and accountable charitable organizations work in the field. Granting tax holidays for individual or organizational donors is no less important than fostering the philanthropic spirit in society.

In short, we cannot just blame poor people, like Bahtiar, for not being able to fulfill the basic needs of their children due to extreme poverty. There are many resources available that can be used to end this shameful situation. Apart from expecting action from the government, the nation also needs trustworthy and skilled citizens to knock at the hearts of wealthy Indonesians in search of a helping hand for those in need.

Mud-slinging matches

Jakarta Post Editorial - February 22, 2010

The wealth of public officials is in the spotlight. Recently it was the former director general of taxation who is now chairman of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), Hadi Poernomo.

According to a government assessment in 2008, most of Hadi's fortune (Rp 26.58 billion) came from donations, Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) reported last week.

This is a shocking revelation because unless we have a bunch of extremely generous donors among us, even a top civil servant cannot accumulate such huge wealth.

Credit is due to the anti-graft agency since the revelation is in line with the government's agenda to curb corruption.

The fight against graft suffered aa relapse late last year when the National Police and Attorney General's Office (AGO) were found to have colluded to undermine the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). These authorities are two of the most important law enforcing bodies in Indonesia.

Where else can we place our hopes when these judicial institutions have apparently drifted so far from their missions, as businessman Anggodo Widjojo demonstrated with his telephone conversations that were broadcast live on television?

The spotlight on Hadi is a twist in irony, since the BPK is one of the agencies assisting the House inquiry committee to find irregularities behind the controversial Rp 6.76 trillion Bank Century bailout.

The 2-month inquiry, broadcast live on national television, was initially expected to target Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Vice President Boediono, the two top officials responsible for the bailout decision, when the latter was the governor of Bank Indonesia.

Hadi was one of the director generals removed by Sri Mulyani under her 2006 reform program. This is a classic case where the "pot is calling the kettle black".

Hadi is the latest person under the spotlight, on the sidelines of the inquiry. Earlier, legislators from two of the most vocal parties in the bailout were charged with corruption.

Emir Moies of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) was reported to have made several suspicious transactions with Bank Century. While admitting that he had made several transactions with the bank, Emir insisted that none were illegal.

Inquiry chairman Idrus Marham of the Golkar Party was also reported to the National Police by the Association of Village Unit Cooperatives (Inkud) for suspected graft in the procurement of transportation for 60,000 tons of rice from the customs office in 2003.

Mud-slinging between opposing political groups continues with demands to question House's Golkar Party chairman Setya Novanto who is reportedly responsible for the procurement.

Following Soeharto's fall in 1998, new laws were issued obliging public officials to declare their wealth.

However, four presidents after Soeharto, it seems easy for public officials to get around these laws with impunity. The arrogance of power that was nurtured under Soeharto seems to be too strong to overcome. Following closely is the preservation (if not escalation) of corruption.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who just entered his second term in office, has his hands full in working to make his battle cry from his election campaign into a reality. But Yudhoyono needs to be more resolute to curb this social ill. Otherwise, he will not live up to his words.