Katulampa water gate separated from flood prevention system: Minister

Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said Monday that Katulampa water gate in Bogor, West Java, was not part of the flood prevention system in Jakarta, easing public worry after the decade-old water gate was reportedly cracking after Saturday's flood.

"The Katulampa water gate was initially built to support the irrigation system in nearby areas," he said.

"We then installed a device to watch its water level to predict in rainy season when flood-prone areas such as Jakarta would be affected.

On Friday night the city administration warned residents located near rivers of the possibility of floods after water levels at the Katulampa water gate reached 250 centimeters earlier in the day.

As predicted, from early Saturday, water from the Ciliwung River began to inundate areas including Rawa Jati and Pengadegan in South Jakarta, and Kampung Melayu and Jati Pinggir in East Jakarta.

Shallow Quake Hits off Indonesia

Shallow Quake Hits off Indonesia

A moderate but shallow earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia on Thursday in the Molucca Sea, seismologists said, but there was no tsunami alert or immediate reports of damage.

The US Geological Survey said a 5.6-magnitude quake struck at 4:46 am (2046 GMT Tuesday), at a depth of eight kilometres (six miles) and was centred 144 kilometres southwest of Ternate, Moluccas. Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

Public order officers mistakenly net two construction workers

Two construction workers had been mistakenly arrested by public order officers during an
operation against three-in-one jockeys.

Nurjali, 32, and Marjuki, 32, were waiting for a bus to Bogor in front of a gas station near Jl. Pakubuwono, South Jakarta , on Tuesday when the officers caught them, their uncle Sugito said Wednesday.

The officers brought them along with other people netted during the raid to Bina Insan Bangun Daya 01 social institution in Kedoya, West Jakarta .

Sugito, who was in the institution to pick up his nephews, said that he was afraid that the incident would make them traumatic.

Public order officers are often criticized for mistakenly arresting innocent people in the street.

Casualties of Tanah Abang Collapsed Construction

Casualties of Tanah Abang Collapsed Construction

Ida, family member of some victims from the collapsed building under renovation at Tanah Abang, is sobbing histerically as she arrives at the location. Her father, husband, and younger sibling have fallen victims in the incident
A building under renovation at Tanah Abang shopping district, Central Jakarta collapsed, Wednesday. Casualty report is still haphazard, but according to a Regional Millitary Command officer present at the location, Tasirun, the authority is still trying to rescue three victims under the rubble, and one has just been rescued alive around 12.15.

At 12.15, Wednesday, Tasirun informed that nine victims have been evacuated, one of which has died. The other survivors are still unknown, but possibly they will be brought to Tarakan Hospital or Pelni Hospital. Some are in critical conditions.

The location of the collapse is usually for loading goods and is also a shortcut for pedestrians, so most of the victims were pedestrians.

"Most of the victims are pedestrians. The victims inside are probably the construction workers," said a fire-brigage member, Frans, who is on duty along with three fire-engines and five ambulances on the location.

According to the Red Cross they've only evacuated one victim. The crowd flocking the area hampers rescue and evacuation efforts, heavy machineries are available but having difficulties to access the spot. (ING/C17-09)

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Rp 16,68 Trillion Allocated for Road Repair in Indonesia

To antcipate the mass exodus season during Lebaran Day 2009, the government has road in northern coasts of Java repaired continously

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The government is preparing a budget amounting to Rp16.65 trillion for road and bridge repairs in 2010, down from the previous year’s allocation of Rp18.64 trillion, a deputy minister said. Deputy Minister for Public Works Hermanto Dardak said here on Tuesday that of the 2010 year allocation, Rp1.34 trillion would be used to finance repair of 1,477 km highways in northern coasts of Java.

"The highways in the coast of Java get the biggest allocation of the funds because they constitute the backbone of the nation’s transportation and economic distribution," Hermanto said. He said that the government would also allocate Rp373.26 billion for the repair of 1,186 km of Java’s central axis roads and Rp224.33 billion for the 1,132 km southern Java lanes.

In Sumatra, according to Hermanto, the allocation that would be provided for the 2,805 km eastern trans-Sumatra highways amounted to Rp848.79 billion, the 2,540 km central trans-Sumatra Rp543.06 billion and the Sumatran 2,493 km western lanes Rp418.68 billion. "We have set a target that in 2014 the whole trans-Sumatran highways would have a width of seven meters,," he said.

The road repair in Kalimantan in 2010 will included the 3,408 km southern highways with allocation of Rp996.89 billion, the 1,900 km central highways with Rp232.63 billion and the 1,557 km northern ones with a fund allocation of Rp192.66 billion. In Sulawesi, the allocation for the 2.099 km western highways is set at Rp943.98 billion, the 2,346 km central highways Rp 495.03 billion and the 2,054 km western roads amounted to Rp228.93 billion.

In Papua, the government will provide Rp980 billion for 2,060 km strategic roads and Rp460.21 billion for other 1,038 km other roads. Hermanto said that the government also targeted that in 2014 about 95 percent of national roads in the country would have been in good condition.

Transjakarta Busway Service Keeps Deteriorating

HINDRA

After six years of operations, the modern transportation mode of Transjakarta continues to deteriorate. The deterioration is apparent, among which from the increasing headway time (time between buses), the busway lane often violated by other vehicles, dirty shelters, and other infrastructure complaints.

The statement was made by Izzul Waro, researcher from the Transportation Study Institute, in a press conference, Jakarat, Thursday.

"In its sixth year a lot of (buses) are behind schedule. The problems are, among which, the congestion of passengers and the headway or time between buses which is stretching longer."

The poor Transjakarta service has diminished the people's anthusiasm to use this mode of mass transport. This, according to Izzul Waro, is proven from the fluctuations of the number of passengers in the last six months.

"From our empiric data, the passengers are also very resistant to the services of the Transjakarta public bus service."

In July 2009, the number of passengers reached 7,143 million, then in August and September it dropped to 6,474 million. Although the number raises in October and November.

Other problems dealing with the Transjakarta Busway are, among which, safety and security, dirty shelters, and the non-operational corridor 9 and 10 that have been prepared since two years ago.

"Since its launch, there have been five fire accidents on the busway, that means roughly one fire incident per year," Waro added.

The accident rate in the busway lane from time to time also increases. In 2007, there were 31 accidents, 66 in 2007, then quite a leap to 167 in 2008, and finally a big leap to 264 in 2009. (C14-09/C17-09)

PLN books profit in 2009

PLN books profit in 2009

State electricity company PT PLN booked Rp 6 trillion (US$ 638 million) in profit last year and gave Rp 3 trillion in dividends to the government, a minister said Tuesday.

State SOE Minister Mustafa Abubakar said PLN turned the Rp 13.9 trillion loss in 2008 into profit last year.

Mustafa, however, was reportedly not clear about how PLN became profitable.

Govt relaxes rules on micro credit

Govt relaxes rules on micro credit

The government has relaxed some rules on its micro credit support program (the KUR) including cutting lending rates and extending loan restructuring periods to support micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs).

This year government will provide a loan guarantee facility of Rp 2 trillion (US$218 million), to support up to Rp 20 trillion of KUR, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said Tuesday at the signing of an MoU with the banks.

The lending rate on micro credit (below Rp 5 million) was cut from 24 to 22 percent; that for retail credit (between Rp 5 and Rp 500 million) was cut from 16 to 14 percent.

Debtors holding working capital loans can now request a loan extension from three to six years; those with investment loans can now request extension from five to 10 years.

Debtors can now also borrow consumer loans. Credit referencing with the Bank Indonesia (BI)debtor information system (SID) no longer applies to micro credit loans.

“We can also raise credit ceilings for linkage (on-lending) institutions with loan recovery strategies to Rp 1 billion,” said Hatta.

This relaxation of the rules should help MSMEs, which contribute 55.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), he said.

Pasuruan flood victims cry for assistance

Image via Wikipedia

Pasuruan flood victims cry for assistance

Residents in five districts of Pasuruan regency, East Java, are in dire needs of logistic aid after a huge flood hit their areas on Saturday afternoon.

Tempointeraktif.com reported that residents were searching for clean water as wells in their houses were inundated by the flood.

“We also need blankets and food,” Hari Wibisono, one of the residents, said on Sunday.

The regency administration and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has set up three public kitchens to prepare food for the victims.

Three people were reportedly killed and another is still missing. Residents are working together to clean up their houses and many residents are staying in mosques and schools. Officials are repairing embankments to prevent further overflowing water. (ewd)

5.4-Magnitude quake jolts Gorontalo

Image via Wikipedia

5.4-Magnitude quake jolts Gorontalo

A 5.4-magnitude earthquake hit Gorontalo on Sunday afternoon. There were no immediate reports on casualties.

The Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology Agency (BMKG) reported the earthquake hit the province at 3:09 p.m.

The epicenter of the earthquake was located 70 kilometers southeast of Gorontalo at a depth of 135 kilometers below sea level, Antara state news agency reported. (ewd)

Heavy rainfall may delay flights in Makassar

Image via Wikipedia

Heavy rainfall may delay flights in Makassar

Heavy rainfall in Makassar, South Sulawesi, may force authorities at Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport to delay hundreds of flights over the coming weeks.

Kintoro, the airport general manager, said Sunday that authorities might delay flights for between one and two hours.

“We will adjust the flight schedules according to the weather,” Kintoro said as quoted by kompas.com.

He added that his office was coordinating with the Makassar branch of the Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology Agency (BMKG) about the changing weather patterns. (ewd)

Free healthcare available for non-Jakarta ID card holders

Free healthcare available for non-Jakarta ID card holders

Thousands of poor people who live in the capital city but do not hold Jakarta ID cards will be eligible for free healthcare under the government-sponsored community health insurance, or Jamkesmas.

Head of the city health agency Dien Emawati said Saturday the Jakarta governor and the health minister were discussing financial scheme of the free healthcare program for the unregistered residents.

“Hopefully the memorandum of understanding on the cooperation will be signed next month,” Dien told kompas.com.

Many poor people have been denied access to free healthcare as they do not hold Jakarta ID cards and are therefore exempted from the poor family health safety net scheme. The undocumented poor Jakarta residents mostly live in slump areas and river banks.

Dien said free healthcare for non-Jakarta ID card holders would be covered by the Jamkesmas funds that would be extended directly to 22 partner hospitals across the city.

Under the free healthcare scheme, the poor people are entitled to treatment in the third class ward in the partner hospitals.

Floods claim two lives in Pasuruan

Floods claim two lives in Pasuruan

At least two people were killed as floods hit the East Java town of Pasuruan on Saturday.

Local media reported the two people were swept away by the raging river that flows through Pandaan district, one of the three areas hit hardest by the disaster. The dead victims have remained unidentified as of Saturday evening.

Hours of heavy rainfall caused rivers that dissect the town to overflow and inundate housing complexes and rice fields.

The floods also left some parts of the major roads connecting the town and its neighbors chest-deep in water, paralyzing the traffic to and from Pasuruan.

Indonesians bank on Facebook

Indonesians bank on Facebook

A few months ago, thousands of Indonesians everyday joined several groups supporting two deputies of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), who were framed in a sinister plot.

As of Thursday evening, more than 1.4 million members had joined a Facebook group supporting Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah. This was well above the target of 1 million.

Another time, Facebookers were in hordes supporting Prita Mulyasari, a housewife who was taken to court by an international hospital for complaining about its poor medical service through email.

Not only expressing online support, the groups also donated to a mass coin collection to pay a fine imposed by the court on Prita.

More recently, there have been groups nominating former presidents Soeharto and Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid as heroes.

There are other groups on Facebook such as ones regarding Bank Century to culinary-based groups.
These examples are only a few causes launched by online societies, in this case Facebook, which has attracted many followers in Indonesia.

From Dec. 31, 2009, Indonesia was ranked as having the fourth most Facebook users worldwide.

It has 14.68 million users, according to Nick Burcher, who has published Facebook usage statistics on his blog www.nickburcher.com.

The US has the most users with 101.30 million, followed by the UK with 22.62 million and Turkey with 16.94 million. Trailing Indonesia was France with 14.29 million and Canada’s 14.22 million users.

Indonesia, however, ranked second for the highest 12-month growth at 1,536 percent, second to the Philippines at 2,046 percent. There are 8.38 million Filipinos with Facebook accounts.

A number of lawmakers who have Facebook accounts told The Jakarta Post they welcomed the phenomenon as positive for democracy in Indonesia.

Nasir Djamil of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) at the House of Representatives said it was great that Indonesia stood fourth in Facebook usage worldwide.

“This phenomenon creates a civil society, self-generating without being funded by the state,” he said.

“An online presence influences public policy. This is the real picture of a civil society.”

Nasir said such networks must maintain their solidity because members rarely meet.

Benny Kabur Harman of the Democratic Party said Facebook was a communication medium and tool for the public to express their opinion freely.

“[Facebook] is the people’s tool to control authorities,” he said.

“It is a modern democracy phenomenon from developed coun-tries that has recently entered
Indonesia.”

Ganjar Pranowo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said Facebook encouraged the public to be proactive.

“Those who understand [Facebook] can have virtual communication forums,” he said.

“However, many people forget that Facebook is a public forum. Many of them utter profanities [on Facebook].”

Ganjar said as most Indonesians loved social interaction, Facebook was a great virtual “gathering” opportunity.

Commentary: Book bans, lawsuits … and your freedom of speech is next

Commentary: Book bans, lawsuits … and your freedom of speech is next

The title of this article will undoubtedly sound alarming to many. What could go wrong? After all, isn’t this probably the only country in Southeast Asia that has a robust democracy with one of the freest presses in the world?

But in recent days, we have learned the hard way that even in a free society like ours, freedom of expression ought not to be taken for granted and that it should be earned and fought for, in the face of encroachment by those two Leviathans, the state and profit-seeking entities.

The hullabaloo over George Junus Aditjondro’s new book Membongkar Gurita Cikeas — Dibalik Skandal Bank Century (Unmasking the Cikeas Octopus – Behind the Bank Century Scandal) gives us a valuable lesson that when it comes to speaking truth to power, there will never be an easy path.

Some readers may be dissatisfied with George’s less-than-stellar presentation of the facts — his excessive use of secondary sources for instance — but that should not distract us from his primary objective of making government officials answerable to the people.

Only a little more than a decade ago we had a regime that wielded absolute power and that was by nature corrupt to the core, so it is better for us to always keep in mind Lord Acton’s famous truism that power tends to corrupt and that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

And before the current government gets more corrupt — remember the current government has more than four years to go — we need more publications that will expose the state’s ill intentions and machinations.

The government may have yet to slap a ban on George’s book, but we should not be convinced that freedom of speech is fully guaranteed already. In fact, we have every reason to believe the contrary.

After all, copies of George’s book have reportedly gone missing from bookstores in Jakarta.

In recent months, we have also learned that the ghost of our authoritarian past has crept back in.

On Dec. 23, the Attorney General’s Office carried on the tradition of the New Order regime of banning books for reasons customarily bandied around by the authoritarian regime — that the publication of such books will compromise the state ideology.

The only reason the AGO imposed a ban on John Roosa’s Pretext for Mass Murder: The September 30 Movement and Soeharto’s Coup d’Etat in Indonesia was that the book challenges the state-sponsored narrative by arguing that Soeharto cunningly used an insignificant power struggle within the military to justify a purge against the communists.

We can also safely assume that the reason behind another ban on Lekra Tak Membakar Buku: Suara Senyap Lembar Kebudayaan Harian Rakjat 1950–1965 (Lekra Never Burned Books: Muffled Voices from People’s Daily Cultural Supplement 1950–1965) was that this book cast a positive light on the leftist-leaning cultural organization Lekra, which was demonized by the New Order.

The other entity that we should be worried about for its tendency to thwart our freedom of expression is the business community which, following no logic but its own, has shown itself more than happy to dispense with freedom of speech.

The prosecution of Prita Mulyasari for criticizing a private business simply in her blog, no less, gives us a painful lesson that in an effort to protect the integrity of its brand, a business can go the extra mile to silence your voice.

But the most outrageous example of efforts to put a limit on our freedom of speech was the one recently launched by the coterie of gossip journalists — abetted by the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), a moribund organization left over from the Soeharto authoritarian regime — to criminalize model Luna Maya for her comment on Twitter likening entertainment journalists to prostitutes and saying that they should burn in hell.

The whole saga over Luna Maya smacks of a bitter twist of irony as a lawsuit aimed at punishing what could be seen as the celebrity’s right to free speech was launched by journalists, of all people.

But I suppose that the entertainment journalists don’t have the serious credentials necessary to become full members of the revered club of the press and remain content to be consigned to be the tit-bit spare parts of the tittle-tattle section of the television industry, which caters to our primeval instincts to gossip and spread lies and rumors. And this industry will do just about anything, such as bullying its sources, to protect their free access to every celebrity’s bedroom and kitchen table without any obstruction.

This club of journalists is not only unwilling to speak painful truths to the public about our society, but in fact is complicit in offering superficiality and simplistic reportage, problems that hinder the creation of a free and frank press, the fourth estate of a robust democracy.

The presence of the entertainment journalist is the consequence of the freedom of press that we have and it is indeed a bad consequence of it. But as Albert Camus said in his collection of essays,

Resistance, Rebellion and Death: A free press can of course be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom it will never be anything but bad.

1,000 people homeless on Solomons after tsunami

1,000 people homeless on Solomons after tsunami


Landslides and a tsunami destroyed the homes of about one-third of the population on one of the islands in the Solomons, but lives were likely spared as residents with memories of previous disasters fled quickly to higher ground, officials said.

From the air, extensive damage could be seen on a remote western island after a 7.2-magnitude temblor triggered the landslides in the Pacific Solomon Islands on Monday, said disaster management office director Loti Yates.

Officials said Tuesday that no injuries were reported some 30 hours after the biggest in a series of quakes churned a tsunami wave that was up to 10 feet (3 meters) high as it plowed into the coast.

However, more than 1,000 people have been affected after some 200 houses were destroyed on Rendova, an island some 190 miles (300 kilometers) from the capital Honiara. Only 3,600 people live on Rendova.

Photographs taken from police helicopters Tuesday showed debris lining the foreshore and damaged houses on the coasts of Rendova and Tetepare, as well as deep scars on hills and cliffs caused by landslides.

Yates said some 200 huseholds were taking shelter in emergency centers on Rendova.

Hillsides crashed down and the tsunami inundated homes Monday, but residents' memories of earlier disasters probably helped prevent any casualties, officials and residents said.

In April 2007, an 8.1 temblor unleashed a tsunami that killed ore than 50 people. A quake-churned tsunami that killed more than 200 on nearby Samoa and Tonga in September was another reminder, locals said.

"People are very sensitive, as a quake conjures up memories, and people immediately begin going to higher ground," police commissioner Peter Marshall told The Associated Press.

"The fact it was daylight, the isolated nature of the wave and that the landslides were in a relatively sparsely populated area" also helped, he said.

The largest quake - magnitude 7.2 - happened about 9:30 a.m. local time Monday and caused the tsunami to hit the coast a short time later.

Since then, at least a dozen other quakes greater than magnitude 5.0 have rocked the earthquake-prone region. The strongest, a magnitude 6.9 aftershock, hit the nation's western region again late Tuesday night and generated a tsunami about an inch high, but there were no immediate reports of fresh damage and no reports of injury.

In the provincial capital Gizo, dive shop owner Danny Kennedy said the general rule is that "if there's anything more than 20 seconds of shaking or any sea water recedes, head for the hills."

A police boat patrolled Tuesday to check the coastline, where many homes are at sea level, making them vulnerable to tsunamis, National Disaster Management Office spokesman Julian Makaa said. No casualties had been reported so far, he said.

One village, Retavo, home to about 20 people, was reportedly completely inundated by a wall of sea water up to 10 feet (3 meters) high, but Makaa said no deaths or injuries had been reported there.

Emergency food, water and tarpaulins were being shipped in.

Indonesian Passengers Charged with Aircraft Leasing Tax

Indonesian Passengers Charged with Aircraft Leasing Tax

The Department of Transportation has confirmed the issuing of a 20 percent aircraft leasing tax, starting January 1, 2010, which has caused an increase for the price of economy class plane tickets. The taxation is arranged in the Regulation of the Director General of Taxation No. PER-62/PJ/2009 regarding the Prevention of Misuse of Double Tax Avoidance Agreements.

Directorate General of Air Transport from the Department of Transportation will include this tax component in the revision of the Ministerial Decree (KM) No. 9/2002 regarding passenger fares scheduled for commercial air transport in the domestic economy class.

Director General of Air Transport, Herry Bakti S. Gumay, stated that he will invite the Indonesia National Air Carriers Association (Inaca) to determine how much that tax component would increase the operational cost of airlines.

"We will discuss with Inaca how much the increase will b e. From the result we can determine how much the tax component that should be put into the revision of KM No. 9. If it's significant then we will put it in," Herry stated, Tuesday.

Herry thinks that the 20 percent tax from the aircraft leasing tariff will automatically increase the operational cost of airlines.

5.5 Magnitude Tremor Jolts Jayapura

5.5 Magnitude Tremor Jolts Jayapura

An earthquake measured at 5.5 on the Richter scale struck at 1.24 degrees southern latitude and 139.44 degrees eastern longitude, with its epicenter 201 kilometers northwest of Jayapura, Papua province.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency on Sunday, the tremor which occurred at 9:13 p.m Eastern Indonesian standard time or WIT, struck at a depth of 90 kilometers and had no potential to trigger a tsunami.

The quake’s epicenter was located 373 kilometers southeast of Biak, Papua; 463 kilometers northeast of Timika, Papua; 498 kilometers northeast of Nabire, Papua; and 3,664 kilometers northeast of Jakarta.

Seventy Percent of Mangrove Forests Damaged

Seventy Percent of Mangrove Forests Damaged

PANGKAL PINANG-Around 70 percent of a total of 122,000 hectares of mangrove forests in Bangka Belitung (Babel) province were damaged by tin mining operations, a forest affairs official said. "The damage on the mangrove forests is among others caused by mining activities in the coastal regions," head of the Babel Forestry Agency Sukandar said here Sunday.

According to him, the mangrove forest destruction can kill rabs and shrimps. "Floods and abrasion could occur at any time due to damage to the mangrove forests, and the economy of the local fishermen will also be affected," he said.

The mangrove forest damage occurred in every district of the province that needs serious handling to restore and preserve the mangrove forests, he stated. "We’ve planted 2,000 mangrove seedlings to restore the damaged mangrove forests, as the realization of the 100 working-day program in the fore stry sector," he said, adding that his office will set up a team to minimize the mangrove forests damage caused by tin mining operations.