INFID, July 07, 2006
INFID's Short News Overview No. VII/13: June 30-July 7, 2006
Debt & Poverty
Indonesia MDG program not clear
Indonesia did not have a clear Millenium Development Goals (MDG) program, that’s
why government’s development program failed to solve the poverty problem, said UN
Ambassador for MDG in Asia-Pacific, Erna Witoelar.
She said several government programs were not focussed on locations that ought to
receive the main priority in the development.
“Poverty alleviation could be carried out by choosing prioritized locations within a period of
time,” she said after attending the Trade report ounce Human Terms Asia Pacific by
the UN Development Program (UNDP), in Jakarta, on July 5.
According to Erna, many countries were willing to help Indonesia in combating
poverty.
"They wanted to help. But what could they do if the action plan of the Indonesian
government is not clear," she said.
According to Erna, to eradicate poverty the Indonesian government must focus its
development program on several sectors and locations. She also said that poverty
alleviation could not be solely carried out by the government.
“Government needs the support from other parties.But these parties need a clear action plan
to optimize their roles,” she said.
In the meantime Trade Minister, Marie Elka Pangestu, who received the report from
UNDP, said the development in Indonesia was again focussed on agricultural sector
that absorbed 45 percent of the nation work force. The government believed that the
focus in the agricultural sector would improve the quality of human resources in great
number, she said. She also said this sector had potential to increase the the country
income.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands and UNDP will provide a US$ 8 million fund to Indonesia
for the MDG program in Papua.
The commitment was agreed in a co-operation note signed by the Dutch Ambassador
to Indonesia, Nikolaos Van Dam and the Head of UNDP Delegation in Indonesia, Bo
Asplund, and was witnessed by the Indonesian government delegation. The fund will
be used to improve the quality of the data and policy planning of the development
program, to improve the quality of the public service, to monitor and evaluate the
program, as well as the co-ordination of the support of the donor community in Papua
and West Irian Jaya, for five years.UNDP program in Papua also built churches and
schools to improve social empowerment and community education.
"It is very important to have development agents that come from their own area, so
that they can determine the their own development priority," explained Bo Asplund.
Related article:
UNDP plan 'still out of RI's reach': http://www.infid.be/undp_out_of_reach.htm.
Source: SP 05/07
Civilian Supremacy
Russia extends credit for arms
The Russian government has agreed to provide Indonesia a US$1 billion export credit
to procure several Sukhoi fighter jets, warships and other military equipment from the
country. A memorandum of understanding on the deal was signed in Jakarta on June
30. It follows an agreement in April 2003 to enhance technical military cooperation
between the two countries.
Under this latest deal, the export credit also will be used to buy spare parts from
Russia, for troop training programs and to develop Indonesia's defense industry. The
agreement is effective for five years.
"As a first step, we will buy six Sukhoi fighter jets for around US$300 million to meet
the needs of the Air Force," said the secretary-general of the Defense Ministry, Lt.
Gen. Syafrie Syamsudin.
He said the ministry hoped two of the Sukhoi jets would be delivered by mid-2007.
The Indonesian Military currently owns four Sukhoi jets. Syafrie said Indonesia also
planned to buy several Russian vessels for the Navy, including submarines.
According to the secretary-general, the government agreed to accept the export credit
because of the beneficial terms offered. "The interest rate is only for five years and
there is no insurance fee. The credit can save us up to 12.25 percent if compared to a
commercial credit."
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono plans to visit Russia to discuss defense
cooperation with his counterpart Vladimir Putin. Alexander V. Denisov, a senior
Russian defense official, said his office was preparing for the planned visit by
Yudhoyono. However, he could not specify a date.
Related articles:
Indonesia, Russia agree to boost military cooperation:
http://www.infid.be/military_indorussia.htm.
U.S. Senate lift curbs on arms sales to RI: http://www.infid.be/military_lift_curbs.htm.
TNI told end of U.S. bans no reason for complacency:
http://www.infid.be/military_no_reason.htm.
Legislators blame Juwono for slow TNI reform:
http://www.infid.be/military_legislators.htm.
Blogs level field for corporations and governments:
http://www.infid.be/juwono_blog.htm.
Source: JP 01/07
General News
Large weapons stash found in late general's home
The military police discovered 145 rifles, 42 pistols, 28,985 bullets, nine grenades and
28 pairs of binoculars at the home of the Army's deputy to the assistant in charge of
logistics, Brig. Gen. Koesmayadi, who died on June 25 of heart problems.
Army Chief of Staff Djoko Santoso announced on June 29 that the discovery was
made during the standard TNI procedure for the return of inventory from retiring and
deceased personnel. He called the storing of the weapons in the home "highly
irregular and beyond acceptable practice", but declined to speculate on why they
were in the home.
Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto said on June
30 military police were investigating the possible involvement of other Army officers in
the huge weapons cache found in the home of a deceased officer. Suyanto asked the
public to allow sufficient time for the investigation, because it was linked to other
cases. "I don't want to speculate about it by jumping to assumptions," he said.
But he also said it was impossible for Koesmayadi to have stored or intended to use
the weapons by himself. Investigators also would ascertain if the collection was made
recently or over several years.
Related articles:
The General’s Secret Weapons: http://www.infid.be/general_secret_weapons.htm.
More arms found in stash probe: http://www.infid.be/more_arms.htm.
Analysts doubt likelihood of objective probe into arms stash:
http://www.infid.be/arms_stash_probe.htm.
SBY encouraged to press on with probe into arms scandal:
http://www.infid.be/arms_scandal_sby.htm.
Source: JP 01/07
Anti-premanism movement founded
A movement has been founded to oppose premanism or gangterism and street
thuggery by radical political and religious groups. The Gerakan Anti Premanisme (Anti
Premanism Movement), was launched on July 3 at the Legal Aid association building
in Jakarta. The movement has been formed because, as the leaders of the movement
say, the government has failed in its duty to uphold the law and protect citizens from
radical groups.
One of the attendees at the event, Sinta Nuriyah Wahid, the wife of former president
Abdurrahman Wahid, and who is currently engaged in her own personal battle with
certain radical Islamic groups, said that the prevalance of street thuggery by
politicised groups threatened the integrity and unity of the nation. The government had
to act, she said.
“Dont let people think that the government has already dealt with the problem of premanism
because that will allow the problem to go on and on,” she said.
The host of the event, the Legal Aid Association (LBH)), through its spokesman Uli
Parulian Sihombing, said that in 2005 ten cases of premanism had been recorded by
the LBH involving attacks on religious minorities, chasings-out or evictions of people
or groups, and violence towards some social organisations.
“At the moment thuggery is rampant, of both religious and ethnic overtones. They act
violently towards other people in society. Premanism is a vertical conflict not a
horizontal one between people, rather it is part of the governments failure to uphold
the law,” he said.
He specifically named women, labour activists, religious minorities, certain individuals,
and marginalised groups as the main victims.
Related articles:
Group pledges to fight thuggery: http://www.infid.be/thuggery_pledge.htm.
Vigilantes' acts akin to hate crimes: Criminologist:
http://www.infid.be/vigilantes_act.htm.
Source: IM 04/07
House ends rift over sharia bylaws
The House of Representatives has agreed to resolve internal friction over controversial
sharia-inspired bylaws enacted by some regional administrations. House Speaker
Agung Laksono said lawmakers opposed to and those in support of the local
government regulations had met with him and agreed to stop questioning these
bylaws on gambling, prostitution and liquor.
A group of 156 legislators led by Constant Ponggawa had written to the House
leadership, asking the government to annul the sharia bylaws, while a rival group of
134 other legislators sent a letter to the House leadership to counter the first letter.
"The coordinators of the two groups attended a meeting (with me) and agreed to end
the friction," Agung said here on July 4. The sharia bylaws have sparked public
debate, with critics saying they were against the Constitution and the state
philosophy, which underlines pluralism.
Related articles:
Islamophobia: Who is to blame for bad image?: http://www.infid.be/islamophobia.htm.
Linking Terrorism and Sharia in Aceh: http://www.infid.be/aceh_sharia_terrorism.htm.
Source: JP 06/07
Indonesian government urged to implement nuclear programme
People's Representative Council (DPR) Speaker Agung Laksono called on the
government to promptly implement a nuclear technology programme in Indonesia.
"Nuclear energy is needed to augment the power plants we have now," he explained
at the DPR building on July 3. According to Laksono, the government plan to shift
from fuel oil-generated electricity to alternative sources must go ahead. "This would be
good. But it would be better if implementation of the programme was accelerated," he
said.
Laksono's comments came following a three-day visit to Russia last week. Laksono,
along with other faction leaders, visited Russia as part of a DPR delegation. According
to Laksono, Russia did not use fuel oil to generate its electricity. "Despite producing
9.2m barrels of oil per day, they use nuclear and geothermal power for their electricity
requirements," he explained.
Related article:
A Nuclear Future For An Earthquake Country?:
http://www.infid.be/nuclear_earthquake.htm.
Source: BM 04/07
Police, minister upset by illegal logging verdicts
Too many illegal logging suspects are being acquitted by the courts and others are
receiving light sentences, say National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and Forestry
Minister M.S. Kaban. Speaking after a meeting at Kaban's office on July 5, Sutanto
and Kaban said the judgments would undermine people's faith in the justice system.
The pair said they were especially concerned about the decision by courts in Papua
to acquit 18 people accused of illegal logging, including alleged financiers, during the
past year. Many other suspects had received lenient sentences from the courts, they
said.
He blamed judges for the verdicts but did not accuse them of taking bribes or
colluding with loggers because "we have no proof". Kaban said the ministry would set
up a special team in cooperation with the National Police and the Attorney General's
Office to monitor all illegal logging that went to court. The team would also issue legal
opinions on the cases, he added. The police and the ministry have launched a series
of raids on illegal logging operations this year. Hundreds of suspects, including illegal
logging financiers, have been arrested in Papua. Authorities are still hunting down 25
logging "bosses", according to the ministry.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said on July 4 a former
two-star Army general and two company directors had been arrested for alleged
involvement in illegal logging on Borneo island.
Much of the country's forested areas are also being lost to palm oil plantations, with
planted areas soaring from 120,000 hectares in 1968 to 5.5 million hectares in 2004.
The World Wide Fund for Nature warned earlier this year that bogus plantation
projects were often serving as fronts for logging ventures. After the forests of valuable
timber were cut down, the areas were left as wasteland, it said.
Related article:
National Police chief vows to crack down on illegal logging:
http://www.infid.be/illegal_police_vow.htm.
Source: JP 06/07
RI to spend Rp 51t (US$5.4 billion) on oil palm, rubber estates
The Indonesian government plans to spend about Rp 51 trillion (US$5.4 billion) over
the next five years to develop land for more oil palm, rubber and cocoa plantations to
spur economic growth and create jobs. About 75 percent of the money will be spent
on oil palms, Supra Tamtama, deputy director for estate crops in the Ministry of
Agriculture, said. Palm oil is used as a fuel additive and to make cosmetics, soaps
and detergents. Indonesia is the world'ssecond largest producer after Malaysia.
"This plan is to help develop our local industries, improve the condition of our people
and especially the farmers, and spur growth in our rural economy," Supra said at a
cocoa conference inJakarta."These are productive cash crops. There is also demand
for palm oil as a bio-fuel."
Rising incomes in India and China, the world's biggest buyers of palm oil, are lifting
demand for the world's most traded vegetable oil. It has gained 4.3 percent since the
year started to 1,476 ringgit ($400) a ton in Malaysia, the world's largestproducer of
the commodity.
The government plans to spend about Rp 7.4 trillion to keep 175,000 hectares of
rubber plantations, and Rp 5.47 trillion on200,000 hectares of cocoa plantations,
Supra said.
It will spend Rp 1.39 trillion to clear 50,000 hectares of land for cocoa cultivation, Rp
3.5 trillion to replant 125,000 hectares of land with cocoa trees, and Rp 595 billion to
rehabilitate 25,000 hectares of land by improving the soilcondition or removing
unproductive trees, he said.
Commercial plantations are a major cause of forest destruction in Indonesia. While
industrial timber and cash crop plantations have been promoted as a mechanism for
conserving natural forests, in practice, millions of hectares of native rainforest have
been cleared to make way for plantations. One of the main crops that natural forests
are cleared for is oil palm. Oil palm acreage in Indonesia has increased by nearly
120% in the past eight years. Oil palm plantations in Indonesia are destructive for a
number of reasons: (read more at:
http://www.eng.walhi.or.id/kampanye/hutan/konversi/plantation_info/).
Source: Bloomberg 30/06, Walhi website
No end to police corruption
Police chief General Sutanto says the long suffering victims of police dishonesty and
corruption will have to keep suffering so long as his men are underpaid.
“If salaries remain low then I think its really difficult for us to succeed in stopping violations
by policemen,” said General Sutanto at an event for the 60th anniversary of the
national police force.
Police corruption, he said, would decrease along with an increase in policemens living
standards, and he expressed hope that the planned hike in public service salaries in
2009, to 2 million rupiah ($210) per month, would help towards this end.
3Our men will get more than that. Hopefully the rise in salaries will raise their living
standards,” he said.
He also viewed as positive the coming payment of a 13th month bonus in July for
public servants, including police officers.
“It will help my men, their salary is really pretty low. It will help them pay school fees.”
Meanwhile ordinary citizens, most of whom do not make as much as the policemen
and who also have to pay school fees for their children, will have to keep topping up
the policemen pay cheque.
Related article:
Police mark modest anniversary: http://www.infid.be/police_anniversary.htm.
Source: IM 05/07
RI urged to end death penalty
A delegation of European Union ambassadors met with Vice President Jusuf Kalla in
Jakarta on July 4 to ask that Indonesia abolish the death penalty. The delegation said
capital punishment was a violation of the basic right to life, according to Justice and
Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin.
Hamid said the EU delegates expressed concerns over the death penalty and
requested the Indonesian government amend its laws to abolish capital punishment.
"Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the delegates we are not going to scrap the death
penalty because it is still needed, and that the number of executed prisoners since
1945 was small," Hamid said after the meeting.
Since Indonesia gained independence in 1945, authorities have executed 71 people
for criminal offenses. Hamid said that under the current laws, the death penalty was
only handed down for those convicted of drug trafficking, premeditated murder and
terrorism.
Related article:
Does the death penalty works?: http://www.infid.be/death_penalty.htm.
Source: JP 05/07
RI migrant workers remit $1.53 billion
With the country still struggling to strengthen its foreign exchange reserves to pay off
its massive dollar-denominated debt, remittances from Indonesians working overseas
are becoming increasingly important.
Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said on July 4 that between
January and May this year, the value of the remittances sent home by 258,000
Indonesians working abroad amounted to US$1.53 billion.
"The remittances are expected to double by the end of this year as the number of
workers abroad increases to between 500,000 and 600,000. The government is
currently accelerating the sending of workers overseas," he said.
However, he was unable to give a figure for the total value of last year's remittances.
Most unskilled and semiskilled Indonesians seek employment abroad in the Middle
East, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam as domestic
helpers, construction workers and plantation laborers.
Semiskilled and skilled workers are paid between $400 and $1,200 monthly, while
unskilled workers receive around $150 a month. Around 70 percent of the some two
million Indonesian migrant workers overseas are unskilled. It is hoped that the sending
of more skilled workers abroad will raise Indonesia's foreign exchange earnings from
the migrant-labor sector to around $10 billion annually in the near future from the
current $4 billion.
Nurses and seamen are the most sought-after Indonesian skilled workers overseas.
Source: JP 05/07
VP says Mideast tourism remarks misunderstood
Vice President Jusuf Kalla stated Friday that he did not support the use of women in
Middle Eastern tourism campaigns, saying his recent off-the-cuff remarks were not
meant to be taken seriously.
"My message at that time was that we should seek other alternatives to lure Middle
Eastern tourists to Bali, Yogyakarta and Sumatra by trying to change the image that
Puncak is always a destination for them," Kalla said of remarks Tuesday at a seminar
on tourism promotion to the Middle East.
"I never said that I support the use of women (to attract Arab tourists). I am just trying
to encourage the use of other ways of attracting tourists than what is practiced by
people in Puncak."
Puncak is a West Java mountain resort where some local women engage in
short-term relationships with foreigners, many of them businesspeople from the
Middle East, after taking informal religious vows. Kalla referred to Middle Eastern
visitors seeking janda -- the Indonesian term denoting either widows or divorcees -- in
Puncak.
Kalla's media and press advisor Muchlish Hasyim said the Vice President apologized
if his remarks were offensive to some people, but they were meant to show the reality
of the situation.
Related article:
VP moots using women in Arab tourism push:
http://www.infid.be/vp_arab_tourism.htm.
Source: JP 01/07
Aceh
Aceh governance law set for enactment
The House of Representatives is scheduled to endorse the long-awaited and
much-debated Aceh governance bill on July 11, with the main focus then on holding
the first direct gubernatorial election in the province. The chairman of the House's
special committee on the bill, Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, said in a discussion on June
30 that a team was honing the wording of the 261-article bill before it was brought to a
plenary session for endorsement.
Acehnese legislators and legislators who opposed the content of the original bill also
said they would endorse the rehashed version, which was completed last week four
months overdue.
Communications Minister Sofyan A. Djalil said the bill was not only a "golden gift" to
the Acehnese, but also marked the full realization of the August 2005 agreement
between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to build a lasting peace
and spur the post-tsunami rehabilitation program in the province.
Read more: http://www.infid.be/aceh_governance_law.htm.
Aceh-related article:
Ex-rebel killed, two wounded in fresh Aceh violence:
http://www.infid.be/aceh_fresh.htm.
Military Plays Down Deadly Aceh Shooting: http://www.infid.be/aceh_play_down.htm.
Home minister may escape House bribery summons:
http://www.infid.be/bribery_aceh_bill.htm.
Economic development key to sustaining peace in Aceh:
http://www.infid.be/aceh_economic_development.htm.
Source: JP 01/07
Abbreviations
AFP Agence France-Presse
AP Associated Press
BM BBC Monitoring
IM Indonesia Matters
JP The Jakarta Post
SP Suara Pembaruan
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