Agnes Winarti, Jakarta – These days it is not uncommon to see loose social groups, often ethnically bassed, taking the law into their own hands in the concrete jungle of Jakarta.

They regard violence as a means to an end, while the police are slow to show their teeth in enforcing the law. Several street clashes have been reported this year.

In May, the Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) and the Association of Betawi Families fought over control of a parking area and illegal levies from street vendors in Kebayoran Lama market, South Jakarta. Two people died and one was severely injured.

A month before that, two Ambonese gangs, namely the Tito and Ongen groups, clashed over the right to collect a company's debts. The brawl, which took place at the company's office in Menteng, Central Jakarta, injured nine people.

Still in April, 43 members of the Betawi Communication Forum fought with an Ambonese ethnic group over a plot of land on Jl. Kapten Tendean in Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta, belonging to state oil company PT Pertamina. The police arrested 66 people involved in the brawl, which took the life of a Forkabi member.

In March, a police officer was one of dozens of casualties when the Islam Defenders Front with its allies the FBR, Indonesian Islamic Students, the Indonesian Patriot's National Movement, and Front Pembela Merah Putih attacked the leftist United National Liberation party in a rally in Jl. Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

The list continues over the years in Jakarta, not to mention in other parts of the country.

"It's not merely due to the society's lack of awareness and obedience to the law," a member of the National Police Commission, established in 2006 to improve the police institution's professionalism and transparency, Laode Husein, told The Jakarta Post recently.

"The police's lack of response to public reports, to some extent, also contributes to the ongoing occurrences of (people) taking the law into their own hands," said Husein, one of the seven members of the commission.

The police are still seen as being unable to detect the conflict potential in organizations based on ethnicity, or capable of handling the results.

Neta S. Pane from Indonesian Police Watch said: "The police don't have serious intentions about handling thuggery. The existence of corrupt officers backing up thugs to harvest profits is undeniable."

He also said that police raids aimed at thugs were only done sporadically and in reaction to public reports.Neta pointed out that thugs were usually only held for 48 hours at a police detention house, and then released due to "lack of evidence".

They then return to their usual haunts: bus terminals, markets and train stations. "Unless (they have) committed a crime, like robbery or murder, they are mostly free from any legal proceedings," Neta said. As a result, members of the public have started fighting back on their own. Reports of chicken thieves or pickpockets being beaten by residents before being handed over to the authorities are far from unusual in Jakarta.

However, Neta said that many high-ranking police officers had begun to show a genuine interest in changing their attitude toward serving the public, but that few lower-ranked officers felt the same way.

"The reforms of the police institution must not only be celebrated by the high-ranking officials but most importantly they must reach the lower-ranked officers, who serve the public directly," he said.

Neta also said that the National Police had improved the transparency of its recruitment process. "Since last year, a number of NGOs have been able to monitor the police recruitment physical and written tests."

Another breakthrough has been the Forum for the Partnership of Police and Community (FKPM) program, which aims at encouraging more active cooperation between residents and the police. Residents are expected to help police identify problems that have the potential to spark more serious public disturbances.

Unfortunately, the FKPM is yet to become an effective program because the success of this program depends on a good public perception of the police.

Most people are skeptical about the police, seeing them as arrogant, corrupt and unable to switch from a militaristic approach to a democratic one.

The prospect of the police being able to enforce the law with a democratic approach still remains as distant as ever. Until there's a positive public view of the police, those who prefer taking the law into their own hands will still be roaming every corner of our steel jungle.

A disastrous year for national transportation

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, Jakarta – The first day of 2007 was marked by a jetliner going missing, in what some later saw as a sign of things to come: It was the first in what was to be a long line of accidents.

The disappearance of the Boeing 737-400 aircraft operated by Adam Air tragically left 102 victims listed as "missing" for weeks, before the government confirmed that they had died after crashing into the Majene Sea off West Sulawesi.

Another deadly accident took place on March 7 when a Boeing 737-400 operated by flag carrier Garuda Indonesia failed to make a proper landing in Yogyakarta. The pilot ignored 15 alerts and the pleas of his co-pilot that he was coming in too fast.

On the ground, several survivors lamented that rescuers had difficulty reaching the victims during the emergency.

Both accidents made media headlines and caused an uproar abroad, especially in Australia, five of whose citizens were among the 21 killed in the Garuda crash.

All eyes turned to the Transportation Ministry. Many charged the ministry had been slow to enact crucial safety procedures.

In the midst of the controversy, then-transportation minister Hatta Radjasa was replaced by Jusman Syafii Djamal, former president director of the ailing state aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PT DI). Hatta, with the help of his party, moved up the political ladder to become State Secretary.

Under Jusman, the ministry has made several moves in an apparent effort to gain control over the situation. Over the years, air traffic in Indonesia has increased thanks to the liberalization of the air transportation sector. This has resulted in a burgeoning number of low-cost carriers.

The rise in competition has ultimately lowered safety standards, as airlines face pressure to cut operational costs to gain market share and eke out a profit. The transportation ministry at one point ordered all airlines not to use airplanes more than 20 years old so as to reduce risks.

Many observers, however, believe the problem is related to airplane maintenance, not age.

After hastily conducting a safety audit, the ministry announced on March 22 that not one of Indonesia's 54 registered airlines was fully compliant with safety regulations. Not even Garuda made it into the top safety category, falling instead into category II, signifying that it was partly compliant with standards.

Thirteen other passenger airlines were placed in category II and seven rated as category III, or non-compliant with safety regulations. Of the 34 commuter, charter and cargo airlines, 20 made it into category II while the rest fell into category III.

The rating announcement was greeted with an uproar from both the public and the airlines. Most of the airlines, however, took actions to improve safety. Some even hired foreign consultants.

These improvements were noted when the transportation ministry announced the results of its second audit on June 25. While only Garuda made it into category I, there were 19 passenger airlines in category II. One company, Jatayu, had its airline operator certificate revoked.

Among the commuter, cargo and charter airlines, 23 made it into category II, 11 were put in category III and three airlines had their certificates revoked.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also called for improvements, establishing an ad hoc team of experts in January called the National Team for the Evaluation of Transportation Safety and Security (EKKT). They were tasked with investigating high-profile transportation mishaps.

The team, led by former Air Force chief of staff Air Marshal (ret) Chappy Hakim, found that many safety procedures had been neglected.

Among other moves, EKKT recommended that the air transport industry and government put "the right people in the right place", renovate airports, enforce sanctions, and make the National Transport Safety Committee (KNKT) into a more independent body reporting directly to the President.

EKKT pointed out that other transportation industries were also neglecting safety. "There is no agreed-on perception of safety standards among users," EKKT spokesman Oetarjo Diran said.

Poor safety records came back to haunt the industry on July 6 when the European Union imposed a blanket ban on Indonesian airlines, prohibiting them from entering the airspace of the 27-country bloc. At the time, none of the airlines were serving European routes, although Garuda was planning to resume flights to Amsterdam.

The ban came as a nasty shock to the government, and a somewhat unusual one, since it prohibited not only passenger airlines but cargo, charter and commuter flights. The EU appeared to be seeking reassurance that there was no collusion between operators and regulators, especially in issuing airworthiness certificates.

Several carriers have allegedly been cutting corners on maintenance, for instance by patching worn airplane tires instead of replacing them and by using inferior spare parts.

Under the ban, European travel agents are issuing warnings about Indonesian flights. Several discussions in Brussels have failed to budge the EU from its position. There has been, however, no report of a significant drop in European travelers to Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia planned to impose a similar ban. However, Jakarta managed to persuade the country to send its auditors to directly check Indonesian airlines. Currently only Garuda flies to the kingdom.

The Saudi government finally relented on Aug. 2. That was an important decision for Garuda, which flies roughly half of Indonesia's 200,000 haj pilgrims there annually. The other half are carried by Saudi Arabian Airlines.

On Oct. 1, the transportation ministry announced three more airlines to have reached category I in addition to Garuda: Mandala Airlines and charter airlines Air Fast and Premier Airlines.

Another blow to the Indonesian air transport sector came late this year, when fire ravaged the domestic arrival terminal of the Polonia International Airport in Medan, North Sumatra on Dec. 1. It was the second fire there in two years.

Despite its international status, the airport lacked prevention and fire equipment which would have enabled the blaze to be detected and extinguished much earlier.

Indonesia's water-borne transportation sector has also been plagued by tragedies.

The Senopati Nusantara ferry sank on the Java sea near Jepara, Central Java on December 30, 2006. More than 300 passengers died. Less than two months later the Levina ferry caught fire near Jakarta's Tanjung Priok seaport. The Feb. 22 disaster also claimed more than 300 lives. The Levina's death toll rose three days later when the burned-out hulk sank suddenly, killing two TV cameramen and two investigators researching the blaze.

The Levina crew was found to have neglected safety procedures during the voyage. Defective lifeboats are believed to have added significantly to the fatalities.

The lack of order within the ferry business even spills over onto land. The Merak-Bakauheni ferry ports in Banten and Lampung sometimes experience chaotic traffic congestion, especially during bad weather when the waves are high and the vessels cannot dock properly.

Although the situation is not particularly dangerous, a lack of sufficient facilities has created a bottleneck of trucks and passengers on the road.

Due to the surge in travelers around Idul Fitri, no trucks carrying non-basic goods may use the ferries for inter-island transport then. Discipline is part of the problem. Many ferries do not depart on time and many trucks carry excessive loads.

The railway system operated by state-owned PT Kereta Api, which dates back to the Dutch colonial era, also suffered from numerous mishaps.

A Jan. 15 accident involving the Bengawan train on the Purwokerto-Banyumas border claimed five lives. Three people died on March 26 when the Mutiara Timur train hit a passing car in Margorejo, Surabaya.

Most of the country's rail disasters are collisions or derailments caused by employee negligence, aging railway lines and trains, and carelessness on the part of people crossing railway tracks.

Jusman has pledged to prioritize the safety and renovation of rail transport.

A new rail law opens the way for private companies to become train operators. It gives PT Kereta Api a grace period of two years to prepare itself for competition. However, some observers doubt investors will be interested.

In 2008, the Transportation Ministry needs to apply and enforce the recommendations of the ad-hoc transportation team in order to lower the number of accidents. Even if the number of carriers and passengers increases, it does not mean that accident rates should rise.

The public has to be reassured that flying with local carriers or using other forms of local transportation is safe. Accidents will happen, but they should not be caused by ignorance or indifference.

Aceh

Acehnese wait for full conflict resolution

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Banda Aceh – A new Aceh government has already been formed, security has improved and the Aceh Monitoring Mission which was tasked to watch over the implementation of the peace agreement has concluded its tasks. But human rights abuses have yet to be resolved and many former combatants are still without adequate skills to feed their families. Many political prisoners have yet to obtain amnesty from the government.

In last year's first direct local elections, former activists and also rebels were elected to ruling positions in the province, regency and municipal administrations.

Many here say they were just eager to vote for new people rather than those from the old political parties. Now some say they have yet to see their lives improve under the new leaders.

Muzakir, an informal leader of a fisherman community in Jangka Buya, GAM's former stronghold in Pidie, expressed happiness at today's peace. But he said locals were waiting for breakthroughs to free them from poverty and unemployment.

Authorities "have remained silent", he said, over the absence of a power supply and water purification facilities, as well as the damaged ponds and trawls.

The reintegration of former combatants and their families into society is a main lingering issue in the aftermath of the signing of the peace agreement in 2005. The Aceh Reintegration Agency (BRA), tasked to take care of former rebels, has acknowledged the complaints of many who have yet to receive the promised funds and land to allow them to resume their livelihoods.

Almost all former rebels have handed over weapons to security authorities, but so far only some 2,600 have received the promised sum of Rp 3 million per person and a plot of land.

A BRA official said the figure of people requesting funds was now way beyond the initial estimate of 3,000 former rebels. "They're saying now that the families who supported them in hiding should also receive funds," the official said.

The reintegration agency came under even more fire when it said it would distribute a part of the reintegration aid to the Indonesia Military-backed civilian militias in Central Aceh. This followed an earlier agreement that such civilians would also be entitled to aid as victims of the conflict who survived attacks from GAM.

A truth and reconciliation committee and an ad hoc court to try unresolved rights abuses during the almost three decades of bloodshed has yet to be set up. Conflict victims and their relatives have often rallied at the governor's office, demanding a fair trial of perpetrators of human rights abuses.

Critics have pointed out the lack of political commitment from the central and province administrations to implement the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding.

Asiah Uzia, coordinator of the NGO Kontras Aceh, has said it was urgent the President issue a regulation to enable the formation of the truth and reconciliation commission. Pessimism for the commission's establishment followed the annulment of the law on such commissions by the Constitutional Court.

Chief spokesman for the Aceh Transition Authority (KPA) Ibrahim KBS called on the central and province administrations to gradually implement the peace agreement to bring justice to the Acehnese, which he said would enable them live normal lives.

He said at least nine political prisoners in prisons across the country had yet to receive amnesty from the government.

Fajran Zain of the Aceh Institute warned the government of possible chaos if people did not see immediate efforts to create a clean administration. He said people sensed a lack of harmony between Governor Irwandi Yusuf and his deputy Muhammad Nazar, and also mounting friction among elites of the former GAM.

"Irwandi has not been recognized as a GAM leader while Nazar, a member of GAM's executive board, continues to consolidate his SIRA (a non-government organization), which is seen to be developing into a local party to strengthen his political bargaining," he said.

He added while many former combatants had been satisfied with their current role in the local government and development projects from the local administrations and BRA, others had been disappointed.

Fajran said many regional heads who ran as independent candidates in the 2006 local elections had been frustrated in their efforts to improve people's lives, citing strong resistance from the existing bureaucracy.

Indonesia marks three years after tsunami with prayers

Reuters - December 26, 2007

Calang – Hundreds of Indonesians prayed at mass graves in Aceh province on Wednesday to remember relatives who died in the Indian Ocean tsunami three years ago.

On December 26, 2004, giant waves triggered by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded pulverized villages along Indian Ocean shores, killing or leaving missing about 230,000 people.

Aceh, on the northwestern tip of Indonesia's Sumatra island, suffered the most, with about 170,000 dead or missing and billions of dollars in losses.

"We pray for the victims that God may accept their good deeds," said Kamal Usman, a survivor in Calang, an area in western Aceh where hundreds of officials and residents prayed at a ceremony to mark the anniversary.

Elsewhere in Indonesia, thousands of factory workers and villagers scrambled to higher ground as sirens blared in a drill to mark the third anniversary of the disaster.

In Ciwandan on the shore of northwestern Java, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono watched the drill to test a tsunami early warning system.

As part of the drill, authorities also tested the response of emergency relief teams to a mock chemical leak in a factory if an 8.5 magnitude quake were to hit the area.

"We hope through this exercise people begin to understand that they live in a tsunami-prone area and know what to do in case of an emergency," said Ami Pramitasari of the research and technology ministry, which led the drill.

Since the tsunami, Indian Ocean countries have installed expensive warning systems and staged periodic evacuation drills to prepare better for another such disaster. Indonesia, situated in a belt of intense seismic activity known as the "Pacific Ring of Fire," has installed sirens along the coast of quake-prone islands such as Sumatra and Java.

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of BRR, the agency charged with rebuilding the Indonesian regions hit by the tsunami, said the reconstruction pace was the fastest in the world.

"There are shortfalls which of course need to be addressed but BRR and all parties that are working in rehabilitating and reconstructing Aceh and Nias have shown significant achievements," he said in a statement.

Mangkusubroto said more than 100,000 homes had been rebuilt in Aceh and another 20,000 were due to be completed by June next year.

But Yulida, a survivor who lost two children, said she still had no home. "I hope that they can build a house for me as soon as possible," she told Reuters.

Many survivors are back on their feet again three years on. Salawati, 36, said a new home-run tuna business had made her life easier, although memories of the two daughters who died in the tsunami still haunted her. Before the monster wave destroyed her house she used to sell a local delicacy made from shredded dried tuna fish and coconut. She has revived the business and it is now flourishing.

"We started selling this shredded fish to our neighbors and to the parents in my son's school. They liked it and we started receiving orders from more and more customers," said Salawati.

The tsunami helped end three decades of fighting between the government and the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in which 15,000 people died. The two parties signed a peace agreement in 2005, eight months after the disaster.

(Reporting by Reuters Television in Calang, Dadang Tri in Ciwandan, Ahmad Pathoni and Adhityani Arga in Jakarta; editing by Sugita Katyal and Roger Crabb)

Aceh struggling to stand up again

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR), which was given the task of helping to rebuild communities in the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami of late 2004, is set to end its mission in April 2009.

However, several issues are far from being settled in the hardest-hit areas of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias in North Sumatra. Aceh is also going through a transition period after signing a deal in 2005 ending decades of war between the government and rebel forces. The following report, detailing the latest situation in Aceh, was written by The Jakarta Post's Ridwan Max Sijabat and Nani Afrida.

Smiles of hope for a better future shine on the faces of many Acehnese people these days. They no longer need to live in fear of assassination, abduction and intimidation, as both the old and the young did from the 1970s until just a few years ago.

The current upbeat atmosphere in the area is also a result of rebuilt roads, bridges and markets, which were damaged during decades of conflict and destroyed in a matter of minutes in late 2004 when an earthquake and subsequent tsunami claimed more than 210,000 lives.

However, the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency, entrusted with billions of dollars from the international community for the survivors of the natural disaster, continues to face daily criticism from locals.

The agency has been accused of being inefficient, insensitive and lacking transparency. Some even say the agency is corrupt.

Witnesses have said there are hundreds of empty houses in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar regency. Many home owners, predominately fishermen, say they will not stay in the new houses in Emperom and Lhok Nga because they are too far from the sea or because the houses were constructed with pest-ridden timber.

Several housing areas in Mamplam, Aceh Besar, have become overgrown with bushes, with goats and poultry being housed inside.

And despite the fact peace now prevails, many people in the area remain confused about what to do to survive. They say they are still waiting for the new, democratically elected provincial government to develop economic programs which will improve their lives.

Dozens of people who lost their parents or relatives during the years of conflict are also demanding homes and financial assistance from the BRR – which says it is only channeling funds to tsunami victims.

The conflict victims say the money they received from the Aceh Reintegration Agency – one of the bodies tasked with channeling funds to former rebels and their families – was not even enough to meet their daily needs.

Conflict victims who were not affected in the disaster say they feel hurt they were excluded from receiving assistance from the international community.

This stems from the fact the body tasked with taking care of the conflict victims is yet to be set up. The Memorandum of Understanding signed in Helsinki in 2005 instructed the Indonesian government to set up a truth and reconciliation committee and an ad hoc court to settle unresolved human rights abuses.

Victims have joined a series of rallies over the past few years to remind everyone of this unfinished work.

Politicians and activists have criticized both the BRR and the new provincial administration for the slow pace of conflict resolution and reconstruction work. They say both sides lack commitment and a basic vision to help the Acehnese people back on their feet.

Nasir Djamil, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) legislator from Sigli regency, said the rehabilitation and reconstruction work was ongoing but action was not being taken to prevent similar damage occurring in the future.

"All rehabilitated and reconstructed homes and infrastructure could be damaged if another tsunami hit the province because the reconstruction work has been carried out without any preliminary analysis and planning," Nasir told The Jakarta Post in Banda Aceh recently.

Nasir also said the BRR was guilty of politicking in its move to construct new offices for local police and military officers as well as new district attorney offices. He said each of these authorities had their own funds allocated for such purposes.

"Civil society has been left powerless in monitoring reconstruction work since influential figures from local NGOs, the press and universities in the province were recruited with high salaries to strengthen the agency," he said.

Fajran from the Aceh Institute questioned what he said was an apparent lack of foresight on the part of Governor Irwandi Yusuf, who was failing to overcome the main problem in Aceh today – unemployment among former rebels.

Like others, he questioned why aspects of the Helsinki agreement were being implemented so slowly.

And without a comprehensive program to reintegrate former rebels, Fajran said he was concerned about the fears lying behind people's smiles. "Aceh could turn chaotic, worse than in the past, unless conflict resolution is well managed," he said.

Human rights/law

Group demands public order bylaw annulled

Jakarta Post - December 29, 2007

Dozens of people from the Poor People's Alliance, comprising various large organizations and foundations, staged a rally Friday at the Home Affairs Ministry, demanding the annulment of the new public order bylaw.

They said the bylaw treated philanthropists as criminals and denied the needs of sex workers, street vendors and street and slum dwellers. The bylaw, among others, prohibits residents from giving alms to beggars.

"We demand the government review the bylaw before it is officially introduced on Feb. 13," Alliance chairman Rido Triawan said.

He said the Home Affairs Ministry had the authority to review and give recommendations on the bylaw prior to its implementation. "We will monitor the review and urge the government to annul the bylaw," he added.

Journalists faced greater dangers in 2007

Jakarta Post - December 29, 2007

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) says a rising tide of violence against members of the news media threatens the freedom of the press in Indonesia.

AJI chairman Heru Hendratmoko said Friday that there were 75 cases of harassment of journalists nationwide this year, up from 53 last year.

The cases mostly occurred in Jakarta, where there were 17. East Java had 14 incidents and West Java had 10. They included evictions, lawsuits and various threats. Physical attacks were the most frequent kind of incident. Police and government officers were mostly the ones committing the actions, the group said.

"We are concerned about the freedom of the press in this country when we see the increase in the number of cases involving violence. Such conditions are a criminal act against the press," Heru said.

"To some extent, we're glad that the public has become more aware of their right to information and that they have been highly critical when they find misleading news. But on the other side, overwhelming criticism by the government and the public have the potential to pose a threat to press freedom."

Heru cited the 2007 reports from the groups Freedom House and Reporters Sans Frontieres, saying even though Indonesia was considered to have a healthy democracy, the country had yet to achieve complete press freedom due to the many cases of violence against journalists.

Heru said reporters also faced harassment through the legal system. "The threats are no longer committed in the form of censorship or bans like during the New Order regime, but they emerge in criminal sentences on journalists. Such conditions may hinder journalists in carrying out their work appropriately."

AJI secretary-general Abdul Manan said that among the worst cases was a verdict finding that Time magazine had libeled former President Soeharto. The Supreme Court ordered the magazine to pay a fine of Rp 1 trillion (US$106.3 million).

Another major case involved the leak of Tempo magazine reporter Metta Dharmasaputra's telephone text messages in connection with a tax fraud case at an agriculture company, he said.

The group demanded that law enforcers investigate numerous cases of harassment and violence against press workers.

"On the other hand, journalists should also conduct their duties appropriately, including delivering accurate information, to minimize the risk of being sued by the public or the government," Abdul Manan said.

"Although there is still a possibility of being sued, at least they can defend themselves in court and get more of a chance to win," he said. "And if they are sued, they can use their right to answer and correct their mistakes."

Child abuse on the rise in Indonesia: Commission

Jakarta Post - December 29, 2007

Jakarta – The National Commission for Child Protection has predicted the number of cases of violence against children will increase next year in line with mounting socio-economic pressure aggravated by traditional misperceptions about child rearing.

"As long as parents are still coping with economic difficulties, children will become victims," deputy chairman of the commission, Muhammad Joni, told reporters while presenting a year-end evaluation report Friday.

He dismissed government claims that the economic situation had been improving and that people would enjoy greater prosperity next year.

The government estimates that gross domestic product (GDP) for 2008 will be up 6.8 percent, inflation will down 6 percent and unemployment rates will drop to 8 or 9 percent, all reflecting another step toward economic recovery.

"The government keeps telling us that things are better now and will be so next year as well. But just take a look at the people in your surroundings, are their lives really improving," he said.

During 2007, the commission received 1,520 complaints of physical, sexual and psychological abuse of children, up from 1,124 in 2006 and 736 in 2005.

Besides this increase, the commission cited another worrying trend. Whereas in 2005 most of the victims were abused by strangers, this year 60 percent of the reported cases involved people the children knew well, including parents, teachers and neighbors.

With child abuse on the rise, Joni urged the government to go beyond ceremonial awareness-raising campaigns and attempt to stop violence against children.

"The major concern about child abuse right now is the fact that parents release economic-related stress on their children," he said. "To stop violence against children means improving people's welfare."

Joni added that efforts, such as providing education and health assistance to children from low income families, could serve to protect children.

Addressing the same forum, head of the commission, Seto Mulyadi, said the government should replace jargon with an emphasis on educating parents on children's issues.

"Violence against children is also related to cultural misperceptions about raising children that are assimilated by parents from tradition," he said. "Parents tend to dictate their children's lives as if they were property. They neglect the fact that children are unique individuals."

He said unless the government intervened in the raising of children, the country could only expect to see a higher number of abuse cases in coming years.

Expressing similar concerns, secretary general of the commission, Arist Merdeka Sirait, said the government had yet to make a concerted effort to handle child abuse cases. He said the government apparently considered conviction of perpetrators a complete remedy to child abuse.

"There must be a thorough handling of child abuse problems. The government must build crisis centers to help abused children recover and enforce the 2002 Child Protection Law in trials of perpetrators." He said the 2002 law provided for longer sentences than the Criminal Code, although the Code was more often used by judges in trying abuse cases. (lln)

Human rights violations 'on rise' in city

Jakarta Post - December 28, 2007

Jakarta – Reports of human rights violations have doubled this year, with more than 20,000 people claiming to be victims, a legal aid foundation said Thursday.

The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) recorded 1,140 human rights violation cases with 20,837 people affected, while last year there were 1,123 cases with 10,015 victims. The city administration was most common alleged perpetrator, the institute reported.

The institute releases its human rights report at the end of each year. It's contents are based on complaints made to the institute over the course of the year.

The most prominent single case this year was the eviction of 5,935 squatters from a North Jakarta turnpike in August. Fire coming from the squatters' homes damaged part of the turnpike in August, prompting the city administration to evict them.

Institute director Asfinawati said the administration has also violated human rights in its evictions of street vendors, handling of traffic jams, land and housing disputes, and in the issuance of building permits.

Other major cases included 216 labor cases with 11,851 victims. LBH Jakarta recorded 95 cases where workers were sacked and 35 cases of workers being paid below the minimum wage. Jakarta's minimum wage in 2007 has hovered at Rp 900,560 (US$100) a month.

There were also 360 civil and political cases, 135 cases involving women and children, and 230 special cases such as insurance, land certificates and obligations.

The institute also criticized Bylaw No.8/2007 on public order, which served as the city administration's legal basis to evict squatters and street vendors. The same bylaw stipulates that no one may run a business or build homes on city-owned land.

"Prohibiting people from running businesses on city-owned land prevents them from earning money because they can't operate on pedestrian strips and city parks," she said.

Yoseph Adi Prasetyo, a commissioner of the National Commission of Human Rights Sub-Commission of Education and Public Information, warned that eviction problems could have a wider impact. "People will be homeless and unemployed," he said.

He added that the commission had received around 500 complaints from Jakarta residents in the past three months. They included cases of eviction and communal violence, particularly the vandalism of churches.

He did not elaborate on the number of church vandalism cases in the city, but quoting data from the Indonesian Conference of Bishops, he said that there were 180 cases throughout the country in the past three years. (ewd)

Women's rights recognized but not completely fulfilled

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

Novia D. Rulistia, Jakarta – Twenty-three years after Indonesia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the country is still moving slowly toward fully enforcing women's rights.

The quadrennial CEDAW committee session held from July to August this year in New York pointed said Indonesia had not applied all of the required conditions of CEDAW in its legal systems.

Indonesia ratified the convention through Law No.7/1984. This law recognizes the problem discrimination against women and provides the basis for realizing equality between women and men through ensuring women's equal access to and equal opportunities in political and public life, including the right to vote and to stand for election, as well as access to education, health and employment.

Comprising 17,508 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic state. With a population of more than 234 million people, of which more than 50 percent are woman, Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country.

This huge number of women in our population is not yet well represented in many key sectors of life in Indonesia.

Collective non-governmental organizations said during the CEDAW session there were at least three important issues related to gender discrimination at the root of almost every gender discrimination action: women's impoverishment, regional regulations, and the roles of women in politics.

Economic conditions, along with a lack of access to education, are the most prominent factors usually blamed for the high number of Indonesian women who end up working in the informal sector inside and outside of Indonesia.

With no formal legal protection, these women are vulnerable to abuse at home and abroad. Another matter the country faces daily is domestic violence against women.

In May this year, Tasbirah, 21, who had just given birth to her second child, experienced her husband's anger when she refused to have sex with him. Tasbirah, whose husband set her on fire, suffered severe burns, but insisted she could not stay in the hospital because she and her family could not afford the bill.

Shortly after the attack on Tasbirah made headlines, another similar case occurred. Ida Farida was slashed with a sharpened object by her husband. The incident culminated in a number of quarrels between the couple over the family's income. Her unemployed husband fled after he attacked his wife, who worked an unsalaried civil servant in Bogor, West Java.

According to data compiled by the Mitra Perempuan Women's Crisis Center, there were 248 cases of domestic violence that had not been resolved up to September 2007. In 2006, the center received 287 domestic violence reports, down from 395 reports in 2005.

"It proves that society is now more open to viewing the cases as crimes, which makes Law No.23/2004 on eradication of violence against women become more effective," the center's head, Rita Kalibonso said.

On one hand, the high number of cases shows that many women in Indonesia are still greatly influenced by the patriarchal culture. On the other hand, it shows people have a stronger public awareness around this issue.

The State Minister for Women's Empowerment, Meutia Hatta, said the high number of domestic violence case reported in the country showed most women were still far from empowerment, especially in the economic sector.

She said it was not only women who needed empowerment, but also men, as domestic violence involved the capability of handling household financial problems and other troubles together. Once a couple misses this approach, their relationship might stand at the brink of destruction.

Activist and legislator Nursyahbani Katjasungkana said the government had not done enough for the prevention of domestic violence or to provide services for violence victims, while economic hardship alone was just a trigger.

Another important issue in need of further attention is the involvement of women in legislation.

Since the Political Party Law that requires 30 percent of a political party's membership be filled by women was enacted in 2002, not all parties sitting at the House of Representatives have fulfilled the provision.

Of a total 550 House members during the 2004 to 2009 period, only 61 were women, or 9 percent. They were there to represent the more than 150 million women in Indonesia.

Experts said the parties supported the idea of women filling seats in the legislature, but there were no clear agendas from the parties to see the idea become reality. The subject of women is often intentionally omitted during discussions on democracy.

Although the demand for a 30 percent quota in parties has not been accomplished, there are already seven parties at the House comprising women as members.

The parties include Golkar, the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the People's Awakening Party (PKB), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Democratic Party (PD).

Several female legislators said despite there being women politicians in the House, they were not well placed as decision-makers and the majority of them have failed to facilitate the implementation of the convention.

The existence of women in politics is significant in order to generate more regulations to emphasize the rights of children and women.

Eva Kusuma Wandari from PDI-P said this condition could not be blamed on women only. She said their parties had not put gender equality on their agendas.

During the 62 years of Indonesia's journey of independence, the nation has seen only one woman lead the country, and Megawati Soekarnoputri has declared she will run again in the 2009 presidential election.

In the legal sector, the Constitutional Court rejected an appeal in October this year made by Muhammad Insa who wanted polygamy restrictions, stipulated in the 1974 Marriage Law, eased.

The law states a husband can marry another woman if the wife agrees and if his wife cannot have children or is unable to fulfill her "wifely duties".

Some still observe this as an unfair solution saying the law should have contained specific clauses about the responsibilities of men who abandon their wives and children, or who practice polygamy.

However, the authorities, at least, have tried to protect its citizens, especially married women, by rejecting a request to re-evaluate the law.

In 2007, all countries in the world held a Stand Up and Speak Out program that highlighted the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015. Three out of the eight goals are related to women, including gender equality, empowering women and maternal health.

The World Health Organization reported that Indonesia's maternal mortality was still high due to lack of access to emergency services and the provision of obstetrical equipment.

Amid the on-going disproportional treatment toward women, there is still time in 2007 for women to show their capabilities and to stand on their own feet and speak their mind.

Some 2,000 women from eight provinces, all female heads of households, gathered in Jakarta last October to attend the National Meeting of Female Heads of Households Empowerment (PEKKA).

The PEKKA program, organized by the National Commission on Violence Against Women, provides widows, divorcees, single mothers, and wives of missing or permanently ill husbands, material assistance. It teaches the steps required for women to be able to rely on themselves.

Some have succeeded to be businesswomen and today some even lead villages. The program's mission is to help women, who are out of sight and powerless against discrimination and violence. The program wants to help all Indonesian women better recognize and understand their rights.

It is estimated there are around six million female heads of households throughout the country. Women have proven they can become the backbones of their families. They can reach the top in fields of science and engineering, law and medicine.

Three Indonesian female scientists were awarded by UNESCO and cosmetics producer L'Oreal Indonesia for their separate research projects into the preservation and maintenance of marine species and bio-degradable plastics.

These women are Uun Yanuhar from Brawijaya University, Malang, East Java; Munti Yuhana from Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) in Bogor, West Java; and Wiratni from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Yogyakarta. They all said they hoped their projects would be able to contribute to people's livelihoods generally.

Indonesian feminist Valentina Sagala said, "Women have their rights, and Indonesia has recognized them. It's just that the country hasn't completely respected and fulfilled women's rights yet."

Environment/natural disasters

Evacuations continue in flooded Java

Jakarta Post - December 30, 2007

Slamet Susanto, Surakarta – Flooding caused by an overflowing Bengawan Solo River paralyzed business activity along the Central Java-East Java border Saturday, with transportation routes blocked and shops forced to close.

On Saturday morning, hundreds of trucks, buses and cars were trapped in a traffic jam that extended from Padangan district in Bojonegoro, East Java, to Cepu district in Central Java.

"I was trapped on Ronggolawe road in Cepu and finally made it out of the traffic jam after five hours," said truck driver Syafi'i, 45, who was delivering poultry vaccines from Jakarta to Surabaya.

Ketapang area in Cepu was inundated up to one meter deep, leading truck drivers to avoid the area. However, they could not use alternative routes along the northern and southern Java coasts since both were also flooded.

The Jakarta-Surabaya train route was also flooded along a six to eight kilometer stretch of railway.

Head of Cepu railway station, Ngadimin, said the route was moved to the south lanes, passing through Gundih, Solo and Madiun stations, up to Surabaya.

"Trains cannot pass through Cepu because the water has exceeded the maximum level of 14 centimeters," Ngadimin said.

Government officers, police and military troops continued to evacuate residents still struggling to stay in their homes, calling on them to leave for safer areas.

As of Saturday afternoon, water had began to recede in Kudus, Central Java, but evacuators anticipated another flood in the near future.

Data from the Wregu Wetan Kudus evacuation post showed the number of evacuees had reached 9,142 people, and was expected to rise because there were more victims not yet evacuated from several villages.

In Surakarta, Central Java, thousands of flood victims reportedly suffered from various illnesses, such as diarrhea and skin and respiratory diseases.

Surakarta's disaster management coordinating unit (Satkorlak) said it had found around 800 cases of acute respiratory tract infection, 542 cases of muscle disorder and some 400 cases of skin infection among 4,080 evacuees.

Some victims chose to stay at hotels throughout Surakarta. Most mid-range hotels with rates between Rp 100,000 (US$10.6) and Rp 250,000 were fully occupied.

Surakarta's Satkorlak reported the number of evacuees had reached 34,600 people.

Surakarta mayor Joko Widodo called on residents to leave areas around the Bengawan Solo dam to avoid the floods.

The city was reportedly still on alert status even though the water level at Demangan sluice gate had subsided from 6.5 to 4.8 meters, as the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency predicted rain would continue to pour until mid-January.

From Tirtomoyo district in Wonogiri regency, only seven of 16 people killed in three landslides had been found as of Saturday.

A Search and Rescue team had difficulty moving dead bodies buried by debris and huge stones, team member Basuki told The Jakarta Post.

In Tawangmangu, 30 victims were evacuated and five were still missing. Head of the Karanganyar disaster management unit Kristianto said the number of victims in Tawangmangu totaled 34, not 37 as previously reported.

In Sragen, it was estimated at least 19,000 people were at risk of losing their homes due to massive floods in 88 villages in 15 districts. In Sribit and Tenggak villages, the water's depth reached three meters, inundating houses and rice fields.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is on a three-day visit to areas around Surakarta and Pacitan, has not visited the disaster locations.

On Saturday the President inaugurated Rumah Pintar playground in Wonogiri and continued his trip to Pacitan to inaugurate a port. Yudhoyono is scheduled to hold a coordination meeting today with regents and mayors whose areas have been affected by the flooding.

[Blontank Poer and Suherdjoko also contributed to this article.]

Floods grow worse, search intensified

Jakarta Post - December 29, 2007

Slamet Susanto and Blontank Poer, Surakarta – Flooding in Surakarta in Central Java and its surrounding areas worsened due to heavy rain Friday as rescuers intensified efforts to search for people still believed to be buried by Wednesday's landslide in Tawangmangu in the adjacent city of Karanganyar.

As flooding continued to widen it submerged thousands of houses, raising the number of evacuees from about 26,000 in Surakarta alone to about 31,818 on Friday afternoon.

Thousands of people are living in makeshift tents and a number of public buildings, including Solo City Hall and Manahan Sports Stadium, mosques and other buildings unaffected by the flooding, which is up to three meters deep in some areas.

Purnomo Subagyo, a spokesman for the Solo city administration, said flooding had submerged six subdistricts in Jebres district, four subdistricts in Pasar Kliwon district and one subdistrict in Serengan district. "The flooding was caused by the overflowing of the huge Gajah Mungkur dam in Wonogiri," he said.

From the landslide location in Tawangmangu, Haru Pratama Kristianto, head of the Karanganyar natural disaster mitigation section reported Friday they had recovered 66 bodies from the thick mud, fewer than the 71 expected earlier.

On Thursday it was reported that as many as 88 people were believed to have been killed in landslides in seven districts in Karanganyar. The figure included 17 bodies recovered in the nearby city of Wonogiri.

Public Works Minister Joko Kirmanto told a press conference in Surakarta on Friday that in order to anticipate overflow from several rivers in Central and East Java, the government would build dozens of small-scale dams next year.

"The construction of the small-scale dams is expected to help reduce the rate of water flow along big rivers," Joko said. The dams, he said, would be built near small rivers heading into major waterways. "The master plan for the dam construction has already been prepared," the minister said.

He added that the construction of the project would start next year, although he would not say how much it would cost or when it would be completed. "This deals with a large amount of funds which cannot be set now and disbursed tomorrow," he said.

Two of the dams will be built near Pacitan and Ponorogo in East Java, said Ivan Nursyiwan, the director general of water resources.

From Cepu district in Blora regency, Central Java, it was reported that thousands of other people were also forced to evacuate due to the overflowing Bengawan Solo river, which had swamped their homes with up to two meters of water.

"This flooding is the biggest ever to hit the area since 1993. Our area floods every year, but now is really the biggest one so we are forced to flee," said Yugiono, 51, a resident of Balun hamlet in Cepu.

Budi Santoso, 29, another resident, said he was rushed to save his family has the waters rose. "The most important thing is to save ourselves first," he said.

[Suherdjoko contributed to this article from Cepu, Central Java.]

Second Lapindo mudflow lawsuit, brought by Walhi, fails in court

Jakarta Post - December 28, 2007

Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – A court here Thursday has rejected a lawsuit filed by a leading environmental group accusing Lapindo Brantas of causing the devastating mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java.

The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) had sued Lapindo Brantas over the mudflow, an accusation knocked down by the South Jakarta District Court and the second time the company has been accused of being behind the disaster.

Presiding judge Wahono said the court had decided to reject the lawsuit and obliged the plaintiff to pay fine of Rp 1,040,000 (US$110.6).

Based on testimonies from witnesses, the judges ruled that the mudflow was a purely natural phenomenon. They said the testimony from petroleum expert Rudi Rubiandini – also a former deputy of the Sidoarjo mudflow investigation team – lacked proof.

Walhi filed the lawsuit against 12 parties, including Lapindo Brantas, PT Energi Mega Persada, PT Medco Energi and also the central government and the East Java administration.

The judges said the government had completely lived up to its responsibility to handle the mudflow disaster by establishing the Sidoarjo Mudflow Management Agency through a presidential regulation.

This is the second victory in court for Lapindo after last month's Central Jakarta District Court ruling in favor of the company over a lawsuit filed by the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute. The court's judges said the defendant had paid enough compensation to victims and had not violated the law.

The plaintiff's lawyer Firman Wijaya was quoted by detik.com news portal as saying the court's rule was a sign of the "death of justice" for conservation.

Walhi chairman Chalid Muhammad told The Jakarta Post the environmental group would discuss the court's verdict with the mudflow victims before filing for a case review.

"As an environmental group, of course we will file a review. But we need to discuss it first with the victims since they are the ones who are suffering because of the disaster," Chalid said.

"We need to get their views whether they still believe that justice will side with them." "If they agree to file the review, we will go on. But if they disagree and are pessimistic about winning the case, we will conduct an evaluation before we move to the court."

Chalid said that even though the group had submitted supporting documents that supported the thesis that the mudflow was caused by drilling work carried out by Lapindo instead of a natural phenomenon, the judges did not consider them to be substantial proof.

"The judges also neglected the consequences of their rule. If they decided that the mudflow was a natural phenomenon, the government will have to pay for everything, while the company will pay nothing," he said.

Floods, landslides paralize Java

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Blontank Poer and Suherdjoko, Semarang – At least 71 people were killed in a landslide early Wednesday morning affecting seven districts in Karanganyar regency, Central Java, while floods inundated farms and rice fields as well as cutting off a number of transportation links.

Tawangmangu district had the largest number fatalities with 37 people dead, many of whom were attending a family gathering in Ledoksari village.

"There were more than 20 people meeting at Suhar's house after cleaning up debris from a smaller landslide occurring at 12:30 a.m.," Ledoksari villager Sumino told The Jakarta Post. "At about 3:30 a.m. a larger landslide swept into Suhar's house and buried the residents."

Still in Karanganyar regency, Jatiyoso district recorded 10 fatalities, followed by Jumapolo district with eight, Jenawi with six, Kerjo district with five, Matesih district with three and Ngargonyoso district with two.

Head of the Central Java National Unity and Community Protection Agency, Ristanto, said floods had occurred in Banyumas, Pekalongan, Tegal, Kudus, Pati, Grobogan, Semarang, Wonogiri, Sragen and Karanganyar regencies. Local authorities are still collecting data on the number of victims.

In Yogyakarta, dozens of houses and hundreds of farms were buried after landslides hit Sleman and Bantul regencies Wednesday morning. There were no casualties reported in the incident.

Floods and landslides also occurred in several regencies in East Java including Gresik, Sidoarjo, Jombang, Malang, Jember, Trenggalek, Madiun, Ponorogo and Pacitan. The disasters caused a number of casualties, harvest failure and cut off some transportation links.

In Malang, four residents of Hargosari Village in Lawu Mountain slope were buried in a landslide. Meanwhile, one sand miner was killed after being caught by flood waters in the Aran-aran River.

Landslides also closed the 56-kilometer main road connecting Malang and Kediri for three hours. Traffic resumed at 9:00 a.m. The flood also disrupted the Ngawi-Magetan railway line, delaying four trains.

A spokesman for state railway operator PT Kereta Api in Madiun, Eko Budiyanto, said the trains were the Gajayana, which serves the Malang-Jakarta route, the Berantas, which serves the Kediri-Jakarta line, the Mutiara Selatan, running Bandung-Surabaya and the Turangga, which serves the Bandung-Surabaya line.

In Pacitan regency, a landslide covered 20 meters of the main road that connects Pacitan and Ponorogo and cut off transportation access between the regencies. A tourist bus was reported to be stuck in the debris.

Floods and landslides also happened in Trenggalek and Jombang regencies and inundated hundreds of houses and rice fields. In Gresik, flood have inundated thousands of houses and public facilities such electricity and telephone networks and roads. Links between Ponorogo and Wonogiri are cut off.

In Surabaya, two fishermen are missing due to a three-meter high wave.

According to head of the maritime meteorology observation station at Surabaya's Tanjung Perak Seaport, Arif Triono, the extreme weather, with heavy rain and high waves, will continue until Dec. 30.

"The sea condition in East Java is similar to the condition last year that caused the Senopati Nusantara ship to sink. We have warned ships' captains and fishermen to be aware of the situation," he told the Post.

Several passenger ships have canceled departures and fishermen have stopped work because of the warning.

[Slamet Susanto, Wahyoe Boediwardhana and Indra Harsaputra contributed to the article from Yogyakarta, Malang and Surabaya.]

Scores dead or missing in Indonesia floods, landslides

Agence France Presse - December 26, 2007

Wawan Irawan, Tawangmangu – Floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains left close to 100 people dead or missing on the main Indonesian island of Java on Wednesday, officials said.

Landslides hit villages in densely populated Central Java's Karanganyar and Wonogiri districts early Wednesday after heavy downpours, with floods also swelling in several areas, leaving 42 dead and 42 missing, they said.

"The last report we received at 4:00 pm (0900 GMT) shows that 66 people in nine areas in Karanganyar district are dead or missing," the head of a local disaster management centre, Heru Aji Pratomo, told AFP.

He said that 36 bodies had been retrieved. Seven of the areas he referred to were hit by landslides and two others were inundated by floods, he added.

An official at the disaster management centre in Wonogiri district, to the south, Sri Mubadi, told AFP that six bodies had been recovered but 12 others remained missing there.

In Karanganyar, one family of four died after a landslide slammed into their home.

"The husband was actually evacuated and survived, but knowing that his wife and two children had died, he went into shock and made his condition worse. He later died," said Edi Susanto from Karanganyar's disaster management centre.

A truck carrying three men also careened into a river as it tried to avoid a landslide, which are not unusual across Indonesia in hilly and volcanic areas during the monsoon.

"We've just found the three dead bodies in the river," Susanto added. In Tawangmangu, the worst-hit area, hundreds of troops, police and residents combed through debris using their hands, shovels and wooden sticks to search for victims.

The disaster centre's Pratomo predicted that the recovery of bodies would take at least two or three days. "The conditions here are very bad and steep, so that we cannot use heavy machinery," Pratomo said.

TV footage showed flood evacuees clutching their belongings above their heads as they sloshed through muddy brown water reaching chest height.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono relayed his sympathies to the families of the deceased. "The president sends his deepest condolences and has ordered the home affairs minister to coordinate with local officials and monitor the emergency response," his spokesman, Andi Mallarangeng, told Metro TV.

Meanwhile in East Java, where heavy rains have also been falling, at least 10 people were killed when a bridge was swept away by swelling flood waters, Andi Hartoyo, chief of police at Madiun district, told ElShinta radio.

"Based on several witnesses, at least 10 people were swept away by strong currents as they were standing on the bridge when it collapsed," he said.

"Local officials have been working on collecting data about missing people. We cannot start the search (for bodies or survivors) as the current is very strong now," Hartoyo added.

The Sinar Harapan afternoon newspaper reported that a family of four had also died in a separate landslide in East Java's Ngawi district, citing a local policeman.

And on the tourist haven of Bali, two Indonesians were killed when a small landslide, also triggered by heavy rains, hit their house in a village in Gianyar district, local policeman Sumantre told AFP.

"The victims were asleep when a hill collapsed and engulfed their house," he said, adding that no-one else was missing.

Indonesia has been repeatedly afflicted by deadly floods and landslides in recent years, with activists warning that logging and a failure to reforest denuded land in the world's fourth most populous country are often to blame.

Poverty & development

Government criticized for implementing neoliberal policies

Jakarta Post - December 28, 2007

Alfian, Jakarta – The neoliberal economic policies embraced by the government have created severe structural poverty in the country, an economist said Thursday.

"Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration is obedient to neoliberal economic policies, or the Washington Consensus," economist Rizal Ramli said during a discussion. "Many of the administration's policies have increased poverty and unemployment," he said.

Rizal, former coordinating minister for the economy, said neoliberal influence on the government could be seen in policies that strongly support the interests of foreign capital owners.

"For example in the Oil and Gas Law, Indonesia is only allowed to use a maximum 25 percent of its total gas production," he said.

"That is illogical considering the fact Indonesia is the biggest gas producer in the world. Such a policy has caused energy scarcity in domestic industries. Two big fertilizer factories, ASEAN Aceh Fertilizer and Pupuk Iskandar Muda, have ceased operation due to limited gas supplies."

The Thursday discussion was held by the Indonesia Awake Committee, which Rizal chairs. Those in attendance included Regional Representatives Council (DPD) member Marwan Batubara, actress-turned-politician Rieke Diah Pitaloka from the National Awakening Party (PKB) and chairman of state oil and gas company Pertamina's labor union Abdullah Sodiq.

Abdullah also raised the issue of foreign power in Indonesia's economy. "More than 90 percent of our gas and oil is owned by foreigners," said Abdullah. "The larger portion of revenue from oil and gas is shared with foreign companies."

Abdullah added the current oil and gas trade system had created big losses for Indonesia. "The fertilizer companies in Aceh, for example, had to buy gas from foreign companies," he said. "Previously, all gas was collected and sold by Pertamina."

He also called for a revision of the Oil and Gas Law.

Meanwhile, Rizal said neoliberal ideology had caused trouble in some Latin American countries that adopted Washington economic policies for 30 years, from 1970 to 2000. "The result was they became poorer and gained more foreign debt," he said.

"However, in the last few years the Latin American people have elected leaders who refused to follow Washington's policies, such as Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales. Those leaders said advice from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank was a nightmare for Latin America people."

Ramli also highlighted the government's claim the poverty and unemployment rates had decreased, saying they were merely the result of some modified methodologies in defining poverty and unemployment rates.

"The fact is the number of poor and jobless people has increased, even though the budget to tackle poverty has increased almost three times in the last three years," he said. "Ironically, the poverty rate has increased. This shows poor budget management and an ineffective bureaucracy."

He predicted the poverty level would remain high in 2008 due to increasing food and energy prices. "Life in 2008 will be more difficult for 60 to 70 percent of Indonesians," Rizal said. "Only some 200,000 Indonesians investing in the financial sectors will be happy."

Unemployment still high despite good results

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Hendarsyah Tarmizi – This year's results indicate that the government has been able lay down more solid foundations on which the economy can grow further. But, for many people, this achievement will not be enough.

Some politicians and economic observers say that the government has failed to solve the growing unemployment and poverty problem.

Siswono Yudohasodo, the chairman of the Indonesian Farmers' Association (HKTI), for example, said the number of unemployed and poor people had not changed much since President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono and Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla took power four years ago.

Although the economy has improved during the last four years, the number of people living under the poverty line remains high at between 34 million and 50 million, said Siswono, the running mate of presidential candidate Amien Rais, who ran against the Susilo-Kalla ticket in the 2004 presidential election.

Siswono said that the number of openly unemployed also remained high at 10.6 million, or 9.8 percent of the total population as of June this year. This figure, according to Siswono, is relatively unchanged from 10.9 million, or 10.3 percent in 2005.

The government has, in fact, introduced a number of programs to cope with the unemployment and poverty problems. The last measure was issued in June as a part of an economic package to stimulate economic growth by such things as improving the investment climate, speeding up infrastructural development and strengthening small and medium enterprises.

With the economic packages, the government hopes that economic growth will reach 6.3 percent this year and 6.9 percent in 2008, and that the unemployment rate will be reduced to between 8 percent and 9 percent next year.

According to the government, the open unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent (10.5 million) in early 2007 from 10.44 percent (11.1 million) at the of 2006.

With the improvement in economic growth and the decline in the unemployment rate, the government is optimistic that the number of poor people will be reduced from 17.75 percent in 2006 to between 15 percent and 16.8 percent in 2008.

In order to achieve this target, the government also plans to divert up to Rp 30 trillion (about US$3.3 billion) in routine spending from the 2008 budget to capital expenditure.

This higher spending on infrastructure is expected to help create more jobs, which in turn will provide higher earnings for the poor.

Unfortunately, the much-waited economic packages could not be implemented due to the lack of technical guidance on how the government agencies involved should carry out the programs.

With the improvements in economic fundamentals, the government has laid important foundations for creating faster and more solid economic growth in the coming years.

However, to be able to do this, the government will need to place more focus on the implementation of its economic policy and remove the legal uncertainties in many economic fields.

It will not be easy, but if the government can do it, regaining the high economic growth rates with low inflation we enjoyed prior to the financial crisis in late 1997 will no longer be out of reach.

War on corruption

Students banned from graduation over anti-corruption rallies

Jakarta Post - December 31, 2007

Ruslan Sangadji, Palu – Three Tadulako University students in Palu, Central Sulawesi, have been banned from attending graduation day, allegedly because they took part in a series of rallies over a corruption case in which the rector was a suspect.

Muhammad Afandi, a socio-politics students, and Ruslan, who is studying law, were ordered to leave campus completely, while Muhammad Anwar, an agriculture student and former head of the university's executive student board, was barred only from the ceremony.

"I heard earlier that I would not be allowed to enter the graduation venue so that I decided not to show up," Anwar said on Sunday.

Afandi and Ruslan reported the case to the Central Sulawesi chapter of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) and the Palu Police.

Afandi said he believed that the ban was ordered by the university's rector, Sahabuddin Mustapa. "It was impossible for the committee from prevent us (from joining the ceremony) without an order from the rector," Afandi said.

Afandi further said that the ban was connected with the three students' active involvement in rallies against graft involving funds amounting to Rp 7.5 billion (US$833,300) for university autonomy preparation projects.

Sahabuddin was named a suspect but was later cleared by the Palu District Court.

Abi Kusno and Munawwarah, the parents of Afandi, expressed regret over the ban. "I'm very disappointed by the ban. We were humiliated because my son, who was already wearing graduation attire, was evicted from the auditorium. If the committee did not want to award him, why didn't they inform us?" Munawwarah said.

Sahabuddin confirmed Sunday that he had issued an official note to the committee not to allow the three students to take part in the graduation ceremony.

He said that the note was issued in response to the three's statement at a number of rallies that they would not take part in graduation day and did not want that their certificates to be signed by Sahabuddin as the rector.

"So I did not prevent them... I just met their demands. The three are still under guidance for their misbehavior," Sahabuddin said.

2007 a 'gloomy year' for corruption fight

Jakarta Post - December 29, 2007

Jakarta – Experts at the Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat) of Gadjah Mada University's Law Department concluded Friday in a year-end analysis that 2007 was the gloomiest year ever for corruption eradication, but that this might change in the following year.

Zainal Arifin Muchtar, the head of Pukat, said law enforcement was only able to bring small-scale corruption cases in the regions to justice, but was unable to catch the "big fish" in the central government.

"Most of the corruption cases were conventional mark-ups made by regional public officials, which shows we were only capable of touching the small actors," Zainal told a press conference held at Sultan Hotel in Central Jakarta.

He said 104 of 195 cases dealt with Rp 1 to 10 billion (US$106,394 to US$1.06 million) of government money, and were minor cases compared to what "organized corruption" had been reaping. "Our anticorruption efforts could only detect these small cases, leaving out the untouchables," he said.

Pukat analyzed data from major news sources like Kompas, Media Indonesia, Kedaulatan Rakyat, Tempo and detik.com between Jan. 1 and Dec. 20, 2007.

The analysis suggested the House of Representative's decision to appoint five "troubling" figures to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) indicated the House had very little commitment to fighting corruption.

Saldi Isra of Pukat said the success of corruption eradication was dependent on the President. He predicted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono might do something more serious in 2008.

"He might press the corruption button to improve his image for the coming election," said Saldi. "Then he wouldn't have to spend a lot of money on his campaigns. His achievements alone would gain him more trust from the people."

Saldi said he was unhappy with the President's "traditional way" of resolving three major corruption cases, in which the country's leader resorted to a non-legal approach and settled for simple agreements between the parties involved.

"These cases involved (former KPK chairman) Tafiequrrahman Ruki, (former State Secretary) Yusril Ihza Mahendra and the case between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency," he said.

Denny Indrayana of Pukat said the KPK showed a tendency to aim at "preventing corruption" instead of fulfilling its job of eradicating the problem.

"The head of the Commission implied several times the body was focusing more on preventing corruption. I think this was just their way of getting around their responsibilities," Denny said. (lva)

Government 'not serious' in graft fight

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Jakarta – Politicians, activists and experts have expressed doubt about the commitment shown by national leaders in combating corruption.

But some of them said addressing graft would require regime change within the executive branch of government while others held out hope that the legislative body and civil society could make a difference.

Senior economist Faisal Basri said corruption cases such as the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) scandal would not likely be the subject of thorough inquiries since "it is a matter of fact that the current regime is simply an extension of the New Order".

A clean slate was the only solution, he said, as "stakeholders" would do whatever was required to "secure their position and protect their interests".

"A completely new set of leaders with no connection whatsoever to past ruling elites" was required, in his opinion, to end the BLBI type of corrupt practices. "Just look at how the government has been a patron to problematic state-owned banks like Mandiri, BNI and BRI."

On the BLBI case, however, Reform Star Party (PBR) member of the House of Representatives Ade Daud Nasution said a recently proposed House interpellation measures would be worth the effort. It has been proposed that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono be questioned on the prolonged Rp 145 trillion (US$15.39 billion) scandal.

"Considering the scale of the BLBI scandal, this interpellation is a positive start, one which is expected to have a snowball effect."

Indonesian Youth Farmers chaiman Soepriyatno nevertheless remained skeptical. Pointing to unsatisfactory outcomes in recent forestry corruption cases, he said he didn't expect significant change because "everyone wants a piece of the cake" meaning only half-hearted efforts would be seen. "Just look at the illegal logging cases that have been tried this year alone... the alleged perpetrators in 17 of the 29 cases came out unscathed," he told the discussion, which was organized by the Association for Humanity and Justice (Humanika).

"We need (civil) society to consistently press the government to immediately investigate and settle corruption cases like BLBI, otherwise they will continue."

The BLBI scandal was just the tip of the iceberg, Deputy chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Bibit Rianto Samad said, with corruption having spread in most areas and "on so many levels... from the grassroots all the way up to the elites".

He said prevention was therefore required, in addition to investigation and prosecution measures. (amr)

Officials using 'backroom deals' to tackle corruption

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Indonesia seems to face an endless road corruption – an issue that remains at the center of public attention.

The cases emerging from state institutions and enterprises include a range of corruption allegations, including fund misappropriation to manipulation of procurement processes.

And some of the cases involve high profile names. A prime example is the two VLCC tankers and their sale – former minister of state enterprises Laksamana Sukardi is alleged to have been involved in inflicting around Rp 50 billion in losses of the state.

Another high profile case involves the misappropriation of Rp 100 billion at the central bank, which allegedly involved legislators and law enforcers. This case is currently being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

But these high profile graft cases are among 1,341 corruption cases, across the country, that are currently being tackled by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the KPK.

Some of these cases have been successfully won by prosecutors from both the AGO and the KPK. They also managed to retrieve some of the funds initially lost by the state to corruption.

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said this year the AGO had secured Rp 3,9 trillion of state losses and managed to return Rp 18 billion to the state treasury.

And the KPK, according to its report presented in a meeting with the House of Representatives' Law Commission, said it had secured around Rp 159 billion and had returned Rp 35.2 billion to state coffers.

Along with encouraging these massive efforts toward eradicating corruption, these successfully handled case function to shine the light of public outrage on the previously hidden dark corners of the abyss that is corruption in Indonesia.

Coordinator for the Judiciary Monitoring Commission of the Indonesian Corruption Watch, Adnan Topan Husodo, said efforts thus far had only truly frightened low scale perpetrators.

He said they had seen lesser effects on high scale thieves because these law enforcers did not dare to even try to challenge the court mafia.

"We will continuously suffer losses because of the rampant practice of corruption, until law enforcers decide to hammer into court Mafioso," he said recently. "Trillions of rupiah could be secured if these Mafioso are shaken up," he said.

Denny Indrayana, chairman of the Anti Corruption Studies Center of Gadjah Mada University, said other than the existence of the court mafia, there were two things that could be used to measure the extent of corruption in Indonesia; this year's decrease in Indonesia's corruption perception index and the increasing trend for officials to declare publicly that they had settled graft allegations amicably by using "backroom deals".

Despite the decrease in the country's corruption perception index, from 2.4 last year to 2.3 this year, Indonesia remains in the category of corrupt countries in the world, along with Russia and Togo.

"This shows us that nothing has changed in this country, it is still lawless," Chairman of Indonesia Transparency International, Todung Mulya Lubis, said has he commented on the results of the survey.

One sign of this continued "lawlessness" can be seen in the trend of addressing corrupt acts through convoluted backroom deals, rather that through a more transparent legal processes.

Denny said, "Every allegation must be proved through a legal process". "These compromises leave the people nothing but confusion as to the government's willingness to tackle corruption. We never know what has actually been discussed in those deals, but, one thing for sure, it tears people's feeling apart," he said.

Law expert from the University of Padjajaran, Bandung, Asep Iwan Iriawan, told The Jakarta Post recently these backroom deals see the nation's efforts to beat corruption become meaningless.

Asep said even during Soeharto's regime, high officials rarely made any allegations of corruption in front of the media.

He said high officials should become role models for their people, rather than "teaching" them how to compromise in the face of allegations.

Denny said there were at least three "backroom deals" reported by the media throughout the year and this would likely represent "an actual condition for a nation that has been eaten alive by corruption".

The cases include the dispute between then state minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra and KPK's chairman Taufiequrrahman Ruki over allegations of fund misappropriation in device procurement; the heated debate between president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Amien Rais over accusations the president had received foreign political aid; and the quarrel between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency over the Court's refusal to be audited by the Agency.

The first battle occurred because Yusril, who was the justice minister when the procurement took place, did not accept the allegations made by the KPK that there were corrupt motives behind the direct appointment for the finger prints identifier device in the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in 2004.

He insisted the procurement process was entirely in line with regulations. Yusril said the direct appointment of the project contractor was allowed under the law and it could not be considered a misappropriation or an indication of corruption.

In response to that, Ruki then said KPK investigators had collected enough preliminary evidence to declare misappropriation in the procurement process because the procurement committee had directly appointed a project contractor without first putting it to tender. He said there was even the possibility that Yusril would be summoned by KPK investigators as a witness in the case.

The heated dispute between these two high officials attracted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's attention. But, instead of initiating a legal process, SBY decided to handle the dispute with a backroom deal involving the two officials.

Another "deal" happened when the former chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, Amien Rais accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of receiving campaign funds from foreign sources. Amien said he had proof and was ready to verify his findings through a legal process.

SBY then responded, describing Amien's statement as "slanderous". He countered that his campaign team had received no donations from US sources. He then accused Amien of trying to stir up "a tempest in a tea cup".

However, they settled the problem in a 15-minute meeting held at the Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, before SBY's departure to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Emerson Yuntho of the Indonesian Corruption Watch said these backroom deals actually showed Yudhoyono's administration shared the same weakness as the previous presidential administrations.

"Yudhoyono's administration has failed to prove they are serious in tackling corruption," Emerson said. "If he were really that serious, he would order law enforcers to eradicate the court mafia and detain current officials seeing strong allegations of corruption."

He said the government should grant more access and give more political support to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officers so they would be able to complete the hard tasks ahead of them.

He said the lack of political support, leeway provided for lawbreakers, and the arrogance of those who have power and money, were becoming part of an everyday story in this country.

"A bitter reality indeed, even frustrating most of the time, but this is our country, so who else is going to reveal the corruption if not us?" he said.

Islam/religion

MUI in hot water over game centers

Jakarta Post - December 28, 2007

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The West Java chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has been criticized by several Muslim organizations for describing as halal two planned "royal" game centers in Bandung.

Representatives from the organizations criticized the MUI's stance on the matter at a meeting with Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Suparsono on Wednesday.

The two game centers, located in Matahari Banceuy and Kelenteng, are scheduled to be opened Thursday. However, the owners have been prevented from entering the centers by police officers.

Athian Ali, the chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Ummat Forum, said two former gambling bosses in Bandung were believed to have been behind plans to establish the game centers.

The "royal" game business itself consists of games with rewards, ranging from pencils to electronic products such as mobile phones, dispenser units, washing machines, television sets and refrigerators.

Many people consider the concept to be gambling, as customers are obliged to pay for the chance to try to win the goods.

"I know there are two former gambling bosses behind this business. I also believe the facilities will soon be altered to become gambling arenas," Athian said after Wednesday's meeting.

Syaiful Abdullah, the head of the Bandung chapter of the Islamic Defenders Front, shared Athian's sentiment, saying some players would win, but many more would lose. "Just go ahead and open the centers, but our forces will be ready to destroy anything related to gambling," Syaiful said.

Dedi Zein, a spokesman from the Association of Games Businessmen, said the MUI gave his association the blessing to open the centers in April. The halal ruling was signed by both the chairman of MUI's West Java chapter Hafidz Ustman and its halal team head, Salim Umar.

The businessmen have also secured licenses from the tourism service section at the Regional Tourism Office and from the Bandung Investment Office. Dedi said with these licenses, it was thought further permission from the police was not necessary.

"We held a police license in 2006, but it was later revoked so we filed a civil lawsuit with the State Management Court and won on Nov. 23, 2007. That is why we are confident we will be able to open the businesses by the end of this year," he said.

Dedi said an initial delay in opening the facilities had nothing to do with licensing. "It was more about our intention to maintain security in Bandung. We will tell people about how the games operate so it is clear this is not gambling," Dedi said.

Crowd burn home of 'heretic'

Jakarta Post - December 28, 2007

Crowds razed a house which functioned as an Islamic boarding school on Thursday, some 25 kilometers east of Malang in East Java.

A witness, Tawi, said residents of Jabung district were agitated by the activities of the owner, Miftahul Huda, who they suspected was propagating the "heretical" beliefs of his group Jamaah Safaatus Shalawat.

He cited an earlier consensus among district authorities that the activities should have stopped by Dec. 22. "But Huda ignored the consensus," Tawi said.

Syamsul Huda, the local leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organization, said locals were angered by the group's activities, which included praying without wudlu (ritual ablution) beforehand, a mandatory requirement in mainstream Islam.

The group also forbids customary prayer visits to graves, he said. The burning of Huda's house occurred during a meeting on the issue of the group involving local authorities, the regency branch of the Indonesian Ulema Council and representatives of the group itself.

Christmas celebrated peacefully across Indonesia

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

Jakarta – With several communities concerned about the potential for violence, police officers across the country patrolled churches on Christmas Day to ensure the safety of the congregations.

Deputy chairman of the country's largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama, Masdar Farid Mas'udi, wished Christians a merry Christmas through a written statement. "We hope that the birth of Jesus Christ can truly bring blessings to our Christian brothers and sisters in particular, and all believers in the world in general," Masdar said.

Meanwhile, Din Syamsuddin, chairman of another prominent Islamic group Muhammadiyah, said Muslims should show respect to followers of other religions who were celebrating their holidays. "Religion is a truth that its followers must believe in, but the difference between our faiths shall not prevent us from living side by side in peaceful harmony," said Din.

More than 2,500 Catholics, including Vatican Ambassador Leopoldo Giarellim, attended mass at Jakarta Cathedral on Tuesday morning. The cathedral's spokeswoman, Grace Tanus, said the church had teamed up with local police to ensure security so they would not have to worry about anything during the Christmas celebrations.

"Besides, Christmas brings a message of peace to all. We were reminded that peace, love, fraternity and solidarity are what Christmas is all about," Grace was quoted as saying by Antara newswire.

The Holy Mass in the country's largest church also conveyed messages of democracy, poverty eradication, as well as war on global warming.

Cardinal Julius Rijadi Darmaatmaja said in his sermon during the mass that democracy would fail if the gap between the rich and the poor became larger. He told the congregation to get involved in poverty eradication activities. "Christmas has to be a tool to bring prosperity to the poor people among us," he said.

Bishop Bratakartana, meanwhile, said Christians should be aware of the damage to the environment and do something to prevent further devastation of the earth.

In Bandung, some 100 interfaith figures from local Muslim, Protestant, Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist societies gathered at the city's cathedral and distributed white roses to the members of the congregation, in an attempt to promote peace and harmony among followers of different faiths, news portal detik.com reported.

The activity received a cordial welcome from Priest Leo Van Beurden, who said, "We are proud and touched by what you do; I hope God will cherish this country."

On Sulawesi Island, Christians in Makassar celebrated Christmas in a driving rainstorm. Besides attending masses at churches, they also held parties at their homes as a part of the celebration.

Makassar Police chief Sr. Comr. Genot Haryanto said security measures in South Sulawesi's capital were not as tight as in previous years, but the police remained on alert.

In the conflict area of Poso, Central Sulawesi, Christmas services ran smoothly with heavy security from fully armed police officers.

In Maluku's capital Ambon, Antara reported that dozens of Christians celebrated Christmas by setting off a large number of firecrackers across the town, despite appeals from local police chiefs and heads of churches not to set off fireworks during Christmas.

The Ambonese Christians also expressed their joy by riding around the town center in convoys, causing congestion along the main streets. (wda)

Ulema demands intervention in Ahmadiyah attack

Jakarta Post - December 24, 2007

Nana Rukmana, Majalengka – A leading ulema in West Java, where yet another attack on an Islamic sect took place Saturday, has demanded that Jakarta intervene in what he said was "unacceptable" violence.

Despite orders from Vice President Jusuf Kalla that police get tough on the perpetrators of an attack on the Ahmadiyah community last Tuesday in West Java, witnesses said some 50 masked figures destroyed mosques and the homes of its members in Majalengka regency here around midnight Saturday.

KH Maman Imanulhaq, the leader of the Al Mizan Islamic boarding school, said the central government must intervene to ensure that citizens are free to practice their faith as guaranteed in the Constitution.

"There can be no destroying or sealing (of places of worship)", said Maman, who often acts as mediator between Ahmadiyah and the public here.

Following last week's attack, involving hundreds of people, four of whom were injured, in Kuningan regency, the local government sealed the main mosque and two smaller prayer houses belonging to Ahmadiyah.

The attackers said they were members of the Muslim Components of Kuningan Regency (Kompak).

Similar attacks against Ahmadiyah have been reported in a number of provinces such as those which took place last year in Central and South Sulawesi and West Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara.

Witnesses said masked figures destroyed a mosque and a small prayer house belonging to the Ahmadiyah sect in Majalengka, just days after the Tuesday attack in nearby Kuningan regency. No casualties were reported.

Kalla had said that although the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) had ruled that Ahmadiyah was heretical, this did not justify violence against its followers.

Sect members say they are Muslim but are abhorred by mainstream Islam because its founder claimed to be the next prophet after Muhammad.

The last attack, in which the homes of six Ahmadiyah members were also vandalized, occurred in the Sadasari subdistrict in the Argapura district of Majalengka.

"They stoned the worship places and the homes," said Maman, also a leading figure in the provincial branch of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama.

He said the attack lasted for about 10 minutes, during which the perpetrators ransacked the prayer buildings.

Almost all the windows and doors of the prayer buildings were destroyed while the roof tiles and windows of the houses were shattered. On Sunday police were still guarding the location and all entry sites to the subdistrict.

Maman said the attack was probably related to last week's violence against Ahmadiyah. "It is unacceptable," he said.

Elections/political parties

Controversial court ruling protested

Jakarta Post - December 29, 2007

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Thousands of supporters of South Sulawesi's governor-elect have pledged to continue protesting the Supreme Court's decision of holding repeat elections in four regencies in the province.

The protesters staged a rally at the legislative council Thursday.

Some 500 civil servants from various state agencies also held a rally rejecting the court decision, which they deemed contradictory to existing law and regulations, as well as a hindrance to the democratization process in the province.

They viewed the repeat election as a waste of funds because it would use up to Rp 40 billion (approximately US$4.4 million) from the province budget.

"It would be worthwhile if the funds were used to subsidize education and health, or help the poor. It would be more beneficial than holding the repeat election, which is only in the interests of a group of people," said a civil servant at the gubernatorial office, Jufri Rahman.

The protesters urged the home minister to ignore the court ruling and swear in Syahrul Yasin Limpo and his running mate Agus Arifin Nu'mang as governor and vice governor for the 2008-2013 term, on Jan. 19, 2008.

As was widely reported in the local media, the Supreme Court approved on Dec. 19, 2007, a lawsuit filed by the defeated gubernatorial candidate pairAmin Syam and Mansyur Ramliwho demanded a repeat election in four regencies: Bone, Gowa, Bantaing and Tana Toraja.

In its verdict the Supreme Court believed a repeat election was in order due to the presence of 8,000 illegal votes, and called for new elections to be completed within three to six months.

The South Sulawesi chapter of the General Election Commission declared earlier the pair of Syahrul Yasin and Agus Arifin won the election. They garnered 1.43 million votes, or 39.52 percent of the total eligible voters, as compared to 1.40 million votes, or 38.76 percent, gained by their competitor.

Demonstrators said Thursday they would not stop their actions until the Supreme Court overturned its ruling or accepted the judicial review submitted by the South Sulawesi General Elections Commission.

The province legislature said it had accepted and would forward the outcome of the plenary session which approved Syahrul and Agus as governor and vice governor-elect, to the home minister to arrange the inauguration schedule.

A vice speaker in the legislature, Ashabul Kaffi, said the decision of handing over the election outcome to the minister was aimed at preventing prolonged confusion, because eventually those who suffered would be the people of South Sulawesi themselves.

"We must consider the people's benefit. We should end the polemics on the controversial Supreme Court decision, because if we let them continue, it will definitely bring loss to the people of South Sulawesi. That's why the legislative leaders' meeting had decided to submit the outcome from the election committee's plenary session to the minister," said Ashabul.

New Hindu party expects to run in 2009 elections

Jakarta Post - December 24, 2007

Jakarta – A newly-established political party based on the Hindu principle of good deeds expressed its optimism Saturday that it would run in the 2009 general elections.

"The Indonesian Dharma Awakening Party (PKDI) is an open party that strengthens the nationalistic, democratic, humanist and pluralistic attitudes based on principles of religion, morality and truth," party chairman Ngurah Arya said during a speech to launch the party.

"I am very optimistic our party will be fit to run in the 2009 general elections."

Ngurah said the party had already established chapters in 15 provinces and would create branches in those provinces. The 2002 law on political parties requires a new party to have chapters in at least half of Indonesia's 33 provinces, half of a province's regions, and a quarter of a region's districts.

"We already have enough women candidates to fulfill the minimum 30 percent quota for women as required by the revised law on political parties," Ngurah said. He said his party invited citizens from any ethnic group and religion to join.

The party launching was attended by religious figures of different religions. A Hindu priest led a prayer after a Muslim cleric and Catholic priest did the same.

Ngurah said the party's was established in response to the degradation of morality in government and political institutions.

"The reform movement seems unable to end the remaining bureaucracy," he said. "We need real action, not only discussions and theories, to change the nation's attitudes. We have to save (the people) from poverty, ignorance and disintegration."

Ngurah said the country needed leaders who would work honestly, persistently and ethically, and be willing to sacrifice their personal interests for the country's needs.

"We are different from any other party because we glorify the Lord and not the party's leaders. We also don't believe in money politics," he said.

The party set an agenda of four priorities, with reconciliation among different groups being at the top of the list, followed by reform. The other two priorities, he said, were to reconstruct the nation's morality and recover Indonesia's status as a religious nation. (rff)

Government/civil service

Government gets bad grades for 2007 performance

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Jakarta – Economists, legislators and students say the government's performance in bringing prosperity to Indonesians has been far from satisfactory.

Former coordinating minister for the economy Rizal Ramli said Wednesday that Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidency had failed to bring prosperity to the majority of the Indonesian people.

"Thus, Indonesia needs new leadership," Rizal said during a year-end reflection lecture held by the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI).

"I was very shocked to hear the President say that Indonesia was now on the right track. In fact, it is clear that poverty is still very acute, the Indonesian manufacturing sector is crumbling and the unemployment rate has not been significantly reduced," he said.

"The only economic sector that has been growing is the capital sector, such as the stock or short-time investment obligation markets. There are no more than 200,000 Indonesians working in this sector," Rizal said.

Rizal also said that there were only slight differences between today and the economic crisis era of 1997 and 1998.

"In 1997 and 1998, the economic damage was mostly suffered by large-scale capitalists or industrialists. Today, the big businessmen are not only having a comeback, most of these survivors have become more powerful. On the other hand, common people feel that it has become harder for them to fulfill their livelihoods these days.

"The main reason is the government has failed to stabilize the prices of the people's basic needs. This failure has come as a result of the current government's insistence on implementing a market economy mechanism in Indonesia. Within the market economy mechanism, all capitalists and industrialists will aim to maximize exports and cause massive shortages at home," he said.

Rizal cited kerosene and cooking oil as commodities that are becoming harder to find on the Indonesian domestic market due market mechanisms.

At the same event, legislator Ade Daud Nasution said that Yudhoyono's government had failed to meet its promises, particularly on eradicating corruption in Indonesia.

In its year end statement, which was launched at the event, the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front declared that four things needed to be done.

KAMMI said that Yudhoyono's administration must end its politics of camouflage that hides its flaws, and start making policies that aim to improve the people's prosperity.

They also said the year 2008 should be the moment the nation reiterates its sovereignty and independence by nationalizing the country's strategic assets, providing easy access to education, strengthening the small and medium economic sectors and limiting the scope of the country's economic liberalization.

The group's third point was that new progressive national leaders with youthful spirits who are in favor of national sovereignty and independence, and who posses the ability to manage the nation's potential must come to the fore.

Finally, KAMMI said, all elements of Indonesian society must maintain a critical stance toward the government's policies and performances that conflict with the people's interests. (uwi)

DPR, a house for political brokers

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The 1945 Constitution identifies the House of Representatives as a honorable state institution with legislative and budgetary rights as well as a control function. But, in reality, its performance is not as good and popular as its name.

The public has been disappointed by the House's poor performance this year, contributing to its already badly tarnished image.

The legislative body was meant to read 76 bill this year, but has only managed to approve 30, half of them laws on the establishment of new regencies and municipalities. The bills that were approved were not particularly urgent or essential to democratization or the reform movement.

While the establishment of new regions is necessary, it is not urgent as it is correlated with the political recruitment of regional heads through local elections and the disbursement of special and general funds under the Regional Autonomy Law.

The House seems to have no clear vision of how to prioritize the deliberation of bills that benefit a majority of the people and democracy.

The freedom of information, intelligence, and military tribunal bills have been stranded in the House for years, while no one knows when the long-awaited bills on health and the haj will be endorsed.

If the House is aware of the importance of the 2009 general elections, the need for a better party system and the repair of its image should push the deliberation of the political bills to the top of its to-do list.

So far, only the bill on political parties has been approved, while the fate of the bill on general elections remains unclear because of conflicting interests among House factions.

The deliberation of the bills on presidential elections and the composition of the People's Consultative Assembly, the House, the Regional Representatives Council, and the provincial and regency legislatures is scheduled to begin in January.

Ten factions themselves contributed to the slow deliberation of the bills and their contents, with legislators and minority factions reportedly selling their ideologies and fighting for their own interests and their parties.

Minority factions also had difficulties distributing their members to a simultaneous deliberation of five to seven bills and to attend commission hearings with the government.

The establishment of new regions has allegedly been used by legislators to make money, through being brokers in the process, and by certain parties to ensure their members are successful in the subsequent local elections.

Thus, of some 250 bills on the national legislation program for the 2004-2009 period, only 110 have been deliberated and 80 approved. It seems extremely unlikely that the House will reach its target in the next one and a half years.

Most legislators have made a least three overseas trips this year to make comparative studies of bill deliberations, but these trips usually turn out to be not much more than opportunities for sight-seeing.

In terms of budgetary rights, the House has been a rubber stamp for the government on all proposed state budgets. Its commissions have never exercised their rights to ensure the parliament's accountability in all sectors. The recent deliberation of the 2008 budget resulted in no significant changes and the House has set no priorities for what the government should provide over the next fiscal year.

Although the Constitution clearly states that 20 percent of the state budget must be set aside for the education sector, the House has done nothing to press the government to implement the ruling. Even the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, which has positioned itself as the opposition party, lacks the courage to declare the government guilty of violating the Constitution.

The House has never checked whether the state budget is being spent in accordance with its field allocation and has never followed up the Supreme Audit Agency's annual report on irregularities in all sectors.

The House has conflicting interests in handling national issues such as human rights, illegal logging and corruption. The reopening of the investigations into the 1998 and 1999 shootings at Trisakti University and the Semanggi Cloverleaf has drawn strong opposition from the ruling Golkar and Democratic parties.

The House's working committee have contributed nothing to eliminating illegal logging. The House has failed to press the government and judiciary to bring to justice all those who have stolen money from the country.

The recent recruitment of new members of the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Anticorruption Commission (KPK) has raised fresh fears that money politics will once again dominate the 2009 elections, while the KPK has little of the courage required to go after corruption cases that involve the House, political parties, or law enforcement officers.

The KPU has indicated it can not work independently and professionally following its recent failure to set the budge for the 2009 election or satisfactorily settle the dispute over the North Maluku gubernatorial election.

The House and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have both skipped all ethical and moral considerations in recruiting new KPU members. Neither has the political courage required to drop an elected member facing corruption charges.

Much like its predecessors, the current KPK leadership is unlikely to investigate corruption at the National Police, the Attorney General's Office or the courts, after the House elected Antasari Azhar, a controversial prosecutor will a dubious track record, the lead the commission.

Civil groups have expressed little hope that the KPK under Antasari's leadership will continue its investigation into allegations that Bank Indonesia paid House members Rp 31.5 billion (US$3.3 million) to pass banking laws it found favorable, particularly as the case involves high-profile public officials.

Similarly, a planned inquiry into irregularities surrounding the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support (BLBI) funds is unlike to result in a fair settlement of the Rp 150-trillion scandal as a large part of the money is believed to have ended up in the hands of certain political parties, and this is why the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and Golkar have been reluctant to support the proposed inquiry.

Non-governmental organizations have also said the inquiry was proposed by minority parties wanting to appeal to the "hearts" of the public ahead of the legislative election.

Indonesian Corruption Watch has said it is suspicious of the agenda of some parties in the recruitment of new KPU and KPK members.

And now, after successfully securing their own political agenda and a higher monthly take-home-pay of up to Rp 70 million, politicians at the legislative body are seeking better housing with hope they can occupy livable and luxurious apartments upon returning to parliament after the 2009 legislative election.

The House has allocated a huge budget to bulldoze the current official housing complex in Kalibata, South Jakarta, and develop a luxurious apartment block on the land.

But despite all these improvements to their lives in the last nine years, the House and its members have failed to make a significant contribution to the people and the nation.

Many elements in the community and a few legislators have called for reforms in the House's organization and the electoral system so as to elect qualified and dedicated legislators.

Among the key points discussed has been the appointment of the House's secretary general by the House itself, instead of the government as happens now. The secretary general is required to report to and be held accountable to the House.

The Secretariat General itself should recruit more expert staff and researchers, instead of structural staff, to help legislators in doing their daily tasks. The House should also phase out the hierarchy in its leadership so that it needs only a speaker for all legislators

The general election bill being deliberated by the House should mandate the establishment of smaller electoral districts and the use of an open proportional system to get legitimate and qualified legislators to sit in the House for the 2009-2014 period.

If the House has the political will required to set a 5-percent electoral threshold and a 10-percent parliamentary threshold, it will reduce the number of factions and will have a strong power base to ensure a system of checks and balances with the government.

Finally, the House will also avoid becoming a rubber stamp for the executive branch if the Regional Representatives Council is granted the legislative and budgetary rights to uphold a two-room system in the parliament.

Armed forces/defense

Air Force increases national weaponry capability target

Jakarta Post - December 31, 2007

Jakarta – The new Air Force chief Vice Marshal Subandrio revealed Saturday his short-term target of achieving a 60-percent weaponry capability, a slight increase from the current less-than 50 percent.

"Even with around 60 percent readiness, it is still hard for us to cover the whole country. But at least it is already sufficient to handle disaster-affected areas," Subandrio told reporters after a ceremony that marked the passage to him of the Air Force leadership command baton from predecessor Marshal Herman Prayitno here Saturday.

Currently, the Air Force has seven fighting squadrons: F-16s, F-5s, Hawk MK 53s, Hawk 100s, Hawk 200s, OV-10 Broncos and Sukhois. Only four of the 10 F-16 jet fighters, however, are presently flight-worthy. But as a result of the minimum capability target, the Air Force wants to see five or six more F-16's fit to fly in the future.

Subandrio said the Air Force was seeking to replace its OV-10 Broncos, most of them grounded following accidents this year. "We will replace the OV-10s with aircraft with a similar light attack function. We have made inquires with a number of countries, including Brazil and Korea."

He added he would continue with programs initiated by Prayitno for increasing the force's capabilities, including the purchase of an additional six Sukhoi jet fighters from Russia to add to the current four. "I previously served as his (Prayitno's) deputy. So I know all the programs well. I just need to see that plans are implemented as thoroughly as possible."

During Prayitno's term, the Air Force had plans to improve officer professionalism by focusing on education and training. The force also had plans to hold joint exercises with the Army and Navy in 2008 and increase its personnel to 35,000 from the current 30,000.

The ceremony was held at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta and presided over by outgoing Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto.

In his speech Suyanto praised Prayitno for good work during his two-year term as Air Force chief. "Marshal Herman Prayitno has done a good job... He took good care of the Air Force."

Suyanto asked for similar hard work from the new Air Force chief who he said would have to shoulder tough national defense duties in the future. As deputy, Subandrio will be assisted by Rear Marshal Gusti Made Oka.

Born in Bandung on March 22, 1953, Subandrio graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1975. The father of three started his career as a helicopter pilot for the Air Force's operational wing in Bogor, West Java. He later served as a Bell 204 Iroquois, Hughes-500 and Bell-47G Solloy flight instructor. He was appointed Commander of the Air Force's elite forces, Paskhas, in 2003 and appointed as Deputy Air Force chief September this year. (lln)

TNI has yet to completely meet its reform commitment

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The year 2007 ended with the appointment of Army chief of staff Gen. Djoko Santoso to head of the Indonesian Military (TNI), replacing the retiring Air Force Marshall Djoko Suyanto and initiating a reshuffle within the three military forces.

Santoso's appointment did not violate the mechanism stipulated in the 2004 law on the TNI, but it broke the tradition of rotating the TNI leadership among the three military forces – the Army, the Navy and the Air Force – that had been practiced since the presidency of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid. The law says only that the TNI leadership "could be" rotated among the three forces.

As the article does not stipulate a system of rotation, it therefore gives the President the opportunity to pick a TNI chief who would potentially be a political ally during the difficult times of his presidency.

This political consideration cannot be separated from the fact that the 2009 presidential election is approaching. The President has yet to officially announce his intentions, but many believe he will seek reelection.

The military's strong bargaining power in the country's political affairs has a strong correlation, some analysts say, with the fact it is the only institution in the country, aside from the Police, equipped with arms.

It is with this control of arms that on many occasions its personnel has abused its power for non-military purposes, including involvement in business.

The year 2007 witnessed the failure on the government's part to make a highly anticipated announcement on TNI businesses. The release of the presidential decree, which is expected to define, classify and uncover all TNI businesses, has passed the October 2005 deadline the government previously pledged.

The government then blundered in June when it announced that only six businesses, out of some 1,500 previously identified, met the criteria of TNI businesses. The announcement was controversial as its definition of a TNI business – which included only entities with assets over US$50,000 – fell far short of credible expectations.

Such a narrow definition would mean that military businesses with assets below $50,000, or military businesses that do not even require assets or capital, cannot be categorized as a TNI business.

Such a classification deviates from the initial idea of TNI reforms – that is, for it to focus on its role as the country's key defense element – because it covers only partial elements of TNI businesses.

Another fault of being one of only two institutions to controls arms in the country is the temptation for TNI soldiers to use weapons in settling disputes.

An obvious example is the May 30 shooting spree in Alas Tlogo village of East Java's Pasuruan regency, which left four villagers dead and eight wounded. The shooting occurred over a dispute between villagers and Navy officers involving a plot of land.

The case took a controversial turn when the 13 Navy officers implicated in the shooting incident were released by the Navy Military Police due to an expired detention period. Since then, there has been no information on the prosecution of involved parties, nor a clarification on the status of the disputed property.

The general public, moreover, has not been the only party to fall into dispute with TNI officers.

There were at least six occurrences of brawls between the TNI and Police officers in the year 2007, with the most recent at the Pemalang bus terminal in Central Java in October. No fatalities were reported, but one TNI officer was seriously wounded in the incident.

A month earlier, two officers were killed and five others injured in a series of brawls between the TNI and police in Ternate, North Maluku.

There has never been a clear explanation on the real causes of these incidents, with the National Police headquarters denying the brawls had any correlation with the Police's separation from the TNI in 2001. The Police instead ascribes the brawls to certain elements within the two forces that had been acting irresponsibly in the name of "esprit de corps".

One aspect that has drawn public concern is the rare prosecution of soldiers or officers implicated in corruption cases within the military institutions. The only ongoing prosecution of such a military-related graft case is the investigation into alleged corruption at the TNI's insurance company PT Asabri. This case, however, does not implicate any active military officers, only retired ones.

Another aspect the TNI has to consider is the implementation of its territorial command, which has left many Indonesians traumatized. The command system has caused serious problems, mainly in the realm of human rights, due partly to the military's repressive approach to any opposition against the ruling New Order government.

It is imperative the TNI redefine its territorial concept so to avoid the stigma of being the military arm of the ruling government and, most important of all, to be prepared to meet global security threats and challenges.

Economy & investment

Despite higher oil prices, economy makes soft landing

Jakarta Post - December 31, 2007

Jakarta – Despite the surge in oil prices and lower government spending, the Indonesian economy has managed to make a soft landing this year, with an improvement in most of the country's economic indicators.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said here Saturday that the economy in general had been encouraging throughout 2007, with most of the government's targets being met.

The minister said that the growth of the country's gross domestic product hit the government's annual target of 6.3 percent during the first nine months of this year and was unlikely to go down by the end of the year.

The country's inflation rate, she said, was expected to close the year at 6.4 percent, below the government's target of 6.5 percent. In 2006, the inflation rate was about 6.6 percent.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the inflation rate grew modestly to 5.3 percent during the January to November period, although the year-on-year rate was still higher at 6.71 percent.

The minister said that the central bank's benchmark rate had dropped to 8 percent, a little higher than the government's target of 7.5 percent, but significant enough to encourage more lending from the commercial banks.

Sri Mulyani said that with the better monetary situation, the average rate of the rupiah against the US dollar could be maintained at a realistic level of Rp 9,130, almost the same as the government's target of 9,125 per dollar.

Speaking during the ministry's year-end press conference, Sri Mulyani said that the country's economic growth was still driven mainly by private consumption, investment and exports.

The minister said that total exports were expected to reach US$112 billion by the year's end, an increase of about 10 percent from $101 billion in 2006. However, export growth is still lower than the government's target of 15 percent.

Meanwhile, the total of foreign and domestic investment this year is likely to exceed the government's expectation of Rp 109.7 trillion. "But the government needs to address some issues hampering the investment climate and to improve the competitiveness in exports," said Mulyani.

Speaking on the government's budget performance, the minister said that the budget deficit this year was estimated to be 1.2 percent of the country's GDP, lower than the earlier estimate of 1.5 percent. Sri Mulyani said that the budget deficit would be Rp 46.9 trillion (US$4.99 billion), lower than Rp 58.3 trillion estimated in the revised state budget.

In November, the Finance Ministry estimated that the budget shortfall would increase by about Rp 14 trillion to Rp 72.2 trillion due to the rise in the fuel subsidy and other related spending as a result of higher oil prices.

"However, the deficit will somehow be lower smaller than the estimate because the government's spending is below the target," she added. Lower spending may hamper Indonesia's economy, which needs infrastructure development to sustain the fastest growth rate since 1996.

The government plans to boost spending on public works by 41 percent next year to Rp 35.6 trillion ($3.8 billion), building and repairing roads on eight of the nation's biggest islands. (adt)

Economy doing well, ready to enter fast lane

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Hendarsyah Tarmizi, Jakarta – Despite much criticism over its inability to cope with growing unemployment and poverty, the government has in general managed to get the economic wheels back on the right track this year.

The government's success in achieving the economic targets set out in the 2007 budget can be seen from the improvements in most economic indicators.

Almost all economic indicators, such as inflation, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, the rupiah exchange rate, the central bank's benchmark rate, the balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves all closed the year encouragingly.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), GDP growth during the first nine months of this year hit the government's target of 6.3 percent, thanks to healthy growth in consumption spending, exports and investment.

As no major changes are expected in the rates of the three main economic drivers during the fourth quarter, GDP should comfortably surpass the government's growth target.

It is also important to note that GDP growth could be sustained at above the 5.48 percent recorded last year despite a slowdown in exports during 2007 thanks to a remarkable increase in actual investments from both domestic and foreign investors.

Indonesia's exports rose by 19.75 percent to US$100.7 billion in 2006, exceeding the US$100 billion mark for the first time in history amid the surge in commodities' prices, which contributed a larger slice of the total exports.

During the January-October period, total exports grew only 13.3 percent, below the government's target of 15 percent, to $93.26 billion from the same period last year, amid a decline in commodity prices.

However, with the expected higher growth in revenues from oil and gas exports during the fourth quarter as the result of a sharp increase in crude oil prices, the 15 percent target will be achieved.

Unlike exports, investment has shown a remarkable recovery since the beginning of the year as investors, who had delayed their investments the year before, have begun to realize their investment plans amid the strong signs of economic recovery.

According to the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), actual foreign direct investment (FDI) reached a total of US$10.2 billion as of mid-December, the highest since 2002.

The figure is about 70 percent higher than the US$5.97 billion recorded for the whole of 2006 amid an improving investment climate. About US$3.29 billion of FDI went into the transportation, communications, chemicals, storage and food processing industries.

Singapore was the biggest source of actual FDI at US$3.74 billion, followed by the United Kingdom on US$1.69 billion, South Korea on US$626.8 million, Japan on US$602.7 million and Taiwan on US$469.6 million.

Meanwhile, actual domestic investment reached Rp 34.14 trillion (US$3.6 billion) in the same period, exceeding the Rp 20.78 trillion for all of last year. Nearly half was poured into eight major projects in the paper and plastics industries.

The more stable monetary situation as the result of the easing of inflationary pressures, the cut in the central bank's benchmark rate and the more stable rupiah have all played an important role in the improvement of business confidence.

Inflation – one of the most important factors affecting the stability of the economy, grew modestly to 5.3 percent in January to November, although the year-on-year rate was still higher at 6.71 percent.

Inflation, which jumped to 17 percent in 2005 as the impact of the rise in fuel prices in October of that year, has dropped significantly during the last two years.

In 2006, the inflation rate was held at below 6.6 percent, and hopefully, it will close this year below the government's target of 6.5 percent.

Low inflation has given the central bank, Bank Indonesia, leeway to maintain the exchange rate of the rupiah against the US dollar at around the government's target of Rp 9,100, and to cut its key interest rate to 8 percent early this December from 9.5 percent in January. The government had hoped the central bank's key rate could be further lowered to 7.5 percent by the end of this year, but it is unlikely that Bank Indonesia will make another cut, given the higher inflation rate at the end of the year, when inflationary pressures are traditionally much stronger due the higher consumer spending over the year-end holiday.

The central bank's success in gradually cutting its benchmark rate to as low as 8 percent has allowed commercial lenders to also reduce their lending rates, which has in turn resulted in a significant increase in borrowing, an important factor contributing to the higher economic growth.

According to Bank Indonesia, the country's banks extended new loans totaling about Rp 183.9 trillion in the January to October period, an increase of 23 percent over the figures recorded in 2006. This lending growth is considerably higher than the 14 percent recorded the previous year.

The country's balance of payments also recorded a surplus of about US$1.1 billion during the third quarter, much higher than the US$0.4 billion booked in the same period last year.

In addition to the increase in the balance of payments surplus, the country's foreign exchange reserves also recorded positive growth, rising from US$50.9 billion at the end of June to US$52.9 billion at the end of September.

Given this figure, the forex reserves are enough to pay for imports and the government's foreign debt repayments for almost six months, much higher than the minimum standard of four months.

The central bank expects that with the increase in foreign direct investment, the surplus in the balance of payments will further swell to US$13.36 billion by the end of the year, exceeding the initial estimate of US$10.9 billion.

The stock market has also marked another boom year, with the Jakarta Composite Index rising by nearly 50 percent to close at 2,657.98 on Dec. 19, up from 1,805.52 at the start of the year, making it as the second-best performing market in Asia after China.

The rise in the benchmark price index is almost the same as the 55 percent recorded last year, which also made the Jakarta stock market among Asia's best performing stock exchanges.

The lower interest rates, more stable rupiah and rising global commodity prices have aroused interest from foreign companies in the Indonesian stock market, especially the resources-based companies, which have become the main drivers of the price-index surge.

If the improvements in the economic fundamentals are used as yardsticks for judging whether or not the government has successfully run the economy, there is no question that it deserves to get high marks for its achievement of getting the economy back on track again.

'Government focus wrong, not cutting poverty'

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Jakarta – A group of economists has criticized the government for failing to implement an effective and pro-poor economic policy despite improving the country's macro economic situation.

"The government, under the leadership of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla, has failed to fulfill its promises to revitalize the agriculture, aquaculture and forestry sectors, as well as small and medium enterprises," Hendri Saparini of the Indonesia Bangkit economic think tank told reporters Wednesday.

Although the country's economic fundamentals improved during 2007, the government failed to reduce the number of people living in poverty because the economic fields that can absorb a significant number of jobs such as agriculture and small and medium-scale enterprises were left unattended, she said.

The World Bank recently said the number of people living in poverty, that is, on less than US$2 a day, was about 105.3 million out of the country's total population of 236.4 million.

The group said that although the government had increased the budget to eradicate poverty during the year, poverty alleviation programs had not been much help in improving the welfare of the poor, because at the same time it also reduced the subsidies especially allocated to the poor, such as those on the sales of kerosene and fertilizers as well as for health and education.

"Poor people are suffering because of the cuts to subsidies. They're also suffering because of the rising prices of staple foodstuffs in 2007. They have to spend most of their earnings on food," said Hendri.

During 2007, the inflation rate of staple foodstuffs was checked at 8.57 percent, far higher than the average 5.43 percent recorded during the previous period.

The group said the government's failure to focus on the revitalization and development of agriculture left farmers unable to reap windfall profits from high prices of agricultural products.

Ichsanudin Noorsy, also of Indonesia Bangkit, said that the government should have focused on the development of SMEs, especially those involved in the agriculture, aquaculture and forestry sectors, because they absorb more than 50 percent of the workforce.

He added that the government should also concentrate on developing labor-intensive industries besides improving the country's investment climate.

The country's economic fundamentals have improved significantly during the past several months, with GDP growth reaching the government's target of 6.3 percent during the first nine months of this year.

Other macro economic indicators, such as inflation, exports, balance of payments and foreign exchange reserves, have also met the targets set out in the 2007 state budget.

Banking sector looks good, at the moment

Jakarta Post - December 27, 2007

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – All's well on the banking front this year, with lending back on track and registering ever stronger growth on the back of Indonesia's fast growing economy.

In short, 2007 has been a breeze for the banking sector after the bummer that was last year. The question now is whether the industry can maintain the momentum – and whether it's sustainable – given the challenges already lurking ahead.

As we know, next year comes at a time of high global oil prices, which could cause a storm of rising inflation and a possible slowdown in Indonesia's economy – spelling bad news again for the banking sector.

Next year will also see the central bank stepping up its efforts to consolidate the industry – after this year's first deadline for fulfilling minimum capital requirement rules, and submitting action plans for the "single presence policy" – all of which could also affect the banking sector's performance.

But before delving further into that, let's first look at how the industry has done so far – and whether it is indeed on a sound footing for moving ahead.

In terms of the industry's main gauge of lending, the country's banks by the end of October had lent out a total of Rp 183.9 trillion (US$20 billion) in new and extended loans, which translates into a 23 percent increase over last year to reach a total outstanding loans level of Rp 980 trillion.

This level of growth marks a significant rebound from last year's disappointing 14 percent. More than half of the loans were disbursed as working capital and investment loans – rather than consumer loans – which should create more productive business activities in the economy. The industry's level of non-performing loans (NPL), meanwhile, has also improved to 5 percent of total lending, from 8 percent last year.

A further look into the lending figures, however, reveals the industry's continuing problems with undisbursed loans, worth up to Rp 198.7 trillion, or a fifth of total agreed loans. The amount of undisbursed loans has also increased by 21 percent from last year, or nearly the same as the lending growth figure itself.

The more loan that are agreed upon helps polish up the industry's performance figures, but they're practically useless – to the industry and to the whole economy – if they remain merely commitments on paper. But the banks cannot be wholly blamed for this as the problem of undisbursed loans also involves the borrowers themselves being unable to put the funds to productive use.

Another long-standing issue in the banking sector is the tendency of the banks to still place a portion of their deposits in central bank bills, rather than disbursing them as loans. A total of Rp 351.5 trillion in depositor funds have been invested so far in Bank Indonesia (BI) Certificates, to gain at least some interest at a lower risk than disbursing them as loans. This is up 22 percent from last year – or again, nearly matching the lending growth figure.

The industry's total deposits grew by 15 percent to Rp 1,419.7 trillion, making the average loan-to-deposit (LDR) ratio of the country's banks only little changed from last year at 66 percent.

This shouldn't come as much of a surprise, with lending growth only managing to significantly surpass deposit growth, but still pretty much equaling the growth in undisbursed loans and investments in central bank bills – making the banking sector's overall performance not as shiny as it would first appear.

At this stage, a sort of a blame-game usually arises, with the banks saying they cannot extend more loans if demand from business and the real sector is not there. Business, meanwhile, complains about high lending rates, making them prefer to seek cheaper financing through the capital markets. The banks in turn point to the continuing high risk of lending to the real sector as the reason for high lending rates.

At present, average lending rates are somewhere between 14 and 15 percent, although the benchmark BI rate has consistently fallen back to 8 percent this December from 9.5 percent in January. The average deposit rate, meanwhile, is already down to 5 percent. The large margin between this and lending rates indicates inefficiencies in how Indonesia's banks do their business and make their profits.

Fortunately, the situation has improved somewhat this year, with this trend likely to continue next year as well, as banks become more willing to lend to the real sector.

The country's four top lenders, Bank Mandiri, Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) and Bank Central Asia (BCA), for example, have been touting their latest major loan agreements recently. These include loans for infrastructure projects, housing projects, small businesses, and the booming commodities sector.

This recent "credit boom" – although not that impressive if we dig beneath the surface – has been supported by the favorable economic conditions of late, which, however, leads us to another issue: whether the banks' loan books are themselves healthy?

In light of this, a well-known saying among bankers, which was brought up during an international bankers forum earlier this year in Jakarta, might come to mind.

The saying is to the effect that "It is in the good times that bad loans are made" – a fair reminder of how banks sometimes forget and lower their prudential guard to take advantage of an economic boom, and only later realize that it is too late when the bubble bursts.

This is not inconceivable if we remember that next year may likely throw up a number of challenges on the economic landscape. While today may be sunny, tomorrow may be raining

For example, rising inflation (as a result of rising oil prices) could lead to higher interest rates, causing potential defaults in the banking industry.

Regarding this, BI Deputy Governor Muliaman D. Hadad has asserted that lending growth in the industry must not be at the expense of prudential principles. Since last year, BI has relaxed several of its regulations to allow for greater credit growth, but has always kept a strict watch over the industry so that it does not succumb to excessive lending leading to bad loans. It, for one, does not want a repeat of the industry's experience during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

Kadin urges focus on labor-intensive industries

Jakarta Post - December 26, 2007

Jakarta – The government needs to place more focus on the development of labor-intensive manufacturing industries, and the agricultural and mining sectors in order to maintain sustainable growth and reduce the country's high unemployment, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry says.

Speaking at the chamber's year-end economic review last week, Kadin chairman Muhammad S. Hidayat said the development of the agricultural, manufacturing and mining sectors should serve as the backbone of the country's future growth given their greater impact on people's lives.

He said the government's current policy, which provided incentives only to certain business sectors, such as telecommunications, property and financial services, had contributed to slower growth in such sectors as manufacturing and agriculture.

"The government needs to focus on the development of agriculture and manufacturing to put them on a par with the growth in the non-trade sector, such as the telecommunications and property sectors," Hidayat said.

Over the past five years, he said, the growth structure of the country's economy indicated widening gaps between different sectors as the result of the differing treatment handed out by the government, the chamber said.

Citing data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the chamber said that growth in the trade sector, which included the mining, agricultural and manufacturing sectors, lagged far behind growth in the telecommunications, property and services sectors.

Although the plantation sector showed high growth of 8.9 percent during the first nine months of this year thanks to sharp increases in commodity prices overseas, other sub sectors of agriculture, such as aquaculture, cattle-raising and the forestry industry, had suffered lower growth. The mining industry had also shown low growth. "The numbers show that the government has been neglecting the trade sector," the Kadin report said.

In addition to the agricultural, manufacturing and mining sectors, the government also needed to pay more attention to the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The SMEs should be strengthened so that they can play important roles in supporting larger firms, either as suppliers or subcontractors.

Kadin said the revitalization of the trade sector should be made one of the government's priorities in its short-term economic development policy if it wanted to provide more jobs and reduce poverty.

He said that the government could no longer rely on foreign companies for job creation as many that were involved in labor-intensive industries had relocated their plants to other developing countries, such as Vietnam and China.

Kadin hailed the government's efforts to put the economy back on track this year, as indicated by the improvements in most economic indicators, such as GDP growth, inflation and the central bank's benchmark rate.

The chamber, however, said that growth had failed to provide jobs as expected because most of the drivers of economic growth came from sectors that were not labor intensive. (adt)

Opinion & analysis

Year of confidence building

Jakarta Post Editorial - December 31, 2007

As the curtains open on the new year we will note down 2007 as the year of a greatly bullish stock market with a rise of over 50 percent in the composite index, making it among the best performers in Asia. The economy was robust with an estimated growth of 6.3 percent, the highest over the past decade.

We take pride in our success in hosting the two-week United Nations conference on climate change in Bali early this month which was attended by around 10,000 delegates from about 190 countries.

But we will also remember 2007 for a string of airline accidents, earthquakes and avoidable environmental disasters such as devastating floods and landslides.

In fact we entered 2007 with the crashing into the sea off Sulawesi island of an Adam Air jetliner on Jan. 1, which killed 102 passengers, including three Americans.

Less than ten weeks later another Boeing 737-400 operated by national flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia, burst into flames upon landing in Yogyakarta killing 23, including five Australians. After several more aircraft accidents, but none causing casualties, in early July the European Union banned all Indonesian airplanes from its airspace, greatly concerned with what it deemed utterly unacceptable safety standards.

This year, like 2006, saw its share of natural disasters, beginning with devastating floods in early February that paralyzed almost 70 percent of Jakarta for three days, killed almost two dozen people and made nearly 350,000 homeless. Earlier in mid-January a deadly landslide killed more than 25 on Sangihe island, North Sulawesi. Then five days before the end of the year, major landslides and floods killed more than 85 people in Central Java.

We also had major earthquakes killing around 23 in West Sumatra and neighboring Bengkulu in mid-September.

On a positive note, though, there were no major forest fires during the last dry season. As regards security, we should be grateful that we didn't have major terrorist attacks.

Our democratic process went forward but with too many excesses and an unusually high learning cost, as immature members of parliament wasted time debating trivial matters of no direct benefit to the people. No wonder many reform measures badly needed to reinvigorate the economy and build stronger foundations for good governance are several years behind schedule.

We can't expect too much from the House of Representatives next year either, in the way of advancing the crucial legislative agenda, as many members will be preoccupied with the programs of their respective political parties as they gear up for the 2009 presidential and general elections. Many of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet members will be similarly preoccupied.

But in spite of this acute lack of statesmanship, we can't be too pessimistic as we enter 2008 because, as we noted at the outset, the robust growth this year gives us confidence in our ability to expand our economy despite unfavorable external factors – steep oil prices, weakening global economy, an international credit crunch.

Certainly we should not be complacent with the rosy macroeconomic indicators, because our poverty rate remains high at more than 35 million (16 percent of the population) and the number of people on the verge of absolute poverty is still more than 100 million.

Unemployment and underemployment also remain high as each percentage point of economic growth now generates fewer jobs in the formal sector than it did in the early 2000s. This is because the highest rate of growth took place in non-tradable sectors (services) and not in the real (manufacturing) sector that generates most jobs.

Amid uncertainty about the global economy and financial markets, the journey forward will be uphill. We should rely mostly on domestic consumption (private and public) as the main driver of economic growth. Consensus forecasts among analysts put our economic growth for next year at around at least 6.5 percent.

However, even if many Cabinet members would be preoccupied with the business of their respective political parties, Boediono's economic team can act as the automatic pilot of our economic management. That was what Boediono did during the 2004 general and presidential elections when he was the minister of finance.

We can rest assured that our economic management will remain prudent, protected from vested-interest politicians. Chief economics minister Boediono and Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, his core team, with the support of politically independent Bank Indonesia, can become the bedrock of our fiscal and monetary stability.

So let us welcome 2008 with a new sense of optimism.

Protection still elusive for our migrant workers

Jakarta Post - December 28, 2007

Sylvia Yazid, Melbourne – It has been more than three decades since the first wave of Indonesians left the country to work overseas. The labor migration system has grown to be far more complex than it was in 1970s.

The number of workers has increased, more stakeholders are involved, more countries have become the destination of these workers, more requirements have to be fulfilled, but sadly, various problems are still entailed.

The migration system is still suffering from bad and illegal practices and protection remains low. Problems occur at every stage of the migration process. In fact, the government, migrant labor advocates and scholars have acknowledged that 80 percent of the problems occur even before the migrant workers leave Indonesia.

If the placement of Indonesian workers overseas is seen as a piece of pie, one can say that many stakeholders have been enjoying the pieces. Some fortunate migrant workers have enjoyed a slice which takes the form of employment and considerable amount of salaries. They have also invited their families and the society in their hometown to enjoy the economic benefit. Some areas of origin for migrant workers have experienced significant economic growth, fueled by the increased spending powers of the returned migrant workers.

Another slice is taken by the government. Labor migration has become one of the solutions for reducing Indonesian unemployment rate. Virtually no one will argue that the remittances brought in by these migrant workers have become one of the main incomes for the country's economy.

A quite big slice has been shared among the business entities. Labor agencies, transport providers, training centers operators and even the middlemen.

The above are only some of the stakeholders inside the country. It has not included labor agencies, employers and governments of the destination countries. Furthermore, there are other slices and crumbs taken illegally by some "invincible" and "irresponsible" stakeholders.

There is a need for focusing more on the protection of migrant workers cake. A slice of the protection of migrant workers cake should be taken by the government by making and implementing policies which provides more protections on the migrant workers' rights. So far, the protection efforts are still patchy and uncoordinated.

Law No. 39/2004 on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas has been criticized by migrant labor advocates for its weakness in the protection clauses. Moreover, the government has limited sources to reach the origin areas of migrant workers and monitor the long and problematic process of migration.

Thus, sharing the slice with other stakeholders, like the civil society, should be one of the main considerations. There are migrant workers unions and migrant workers non-governmental organizations that are concerned about the issue and have been making efforts to improve the protection of migrant workers.

To a certain degree, NGOs have been acknowledged by some related ministries to be sources of inputs in making and implementing policies on labor migration.

One possible way of sharing the "protection of migrant workers" cake between the government and the civil society is by involving the civil society more in policy making and implementation.

NGOs, with their field experience in advocating migrant workers' cases, could provide valuable inputs for making policies which ensure more protections for migrant workers.

Moreover, in terms of policy implementation, NGOs might be able to reach the areas of origin and approach the migrant workers community. Problems faced by Indonesian domestic workers can be caused by a lack of information.

Some NGOs have started to conduct discussions, trainings and information sharing in some areas of origin. Activities like these, if conducted in a wider scope and more coordinated, most likely will help in improving the protection of migrant workers.

Monitoring for bad and illegal practices at each stage of labor migration process is another highly needed but badly implemented task. The government has limited resources in monitoring the whole process.

Some NGOs have conducted monitoring activities at some crucial points of labor migration process. If government and NGOs monitoring efforts can be combined or coordinated, it may turn into a more comprehensive monitoring mechanism

At the end of the day, role-sharing should be the main concern. If the placement of migrant workers pie is shared by many stakeholders, the same stakeholders should be willing to share the protection of migrant workers cake.

It might not be as tasty and requires more effort, but it will improve the condition of Indonesian labor migration and bring more benefit to those who actually deserve it.

On a small scale and for particular cases, cooperation between the government and NGOs does exist. The challenge is to maintain, develop and expand it, in a quest for protecting Indonesians working overseas.

[The writer is a lecturer at International Relations Department, Parahyangan University, Bandung and a PhD candidate at School of Political and Social Inquiry, Monash University, Melbourne.]

Intolerant Indonesia

Jakarta Post Editorial - December 26, 2007

At first, they attacked churches and prevented Christians from attending Sunday prayers – and the police largely turned a blind eye. Then they attacked mosques that didn't comply with their version of the truth, but once again, the police did nothing to stop these acts of violence by people claiming to represent Islam.

And because the perpetrators seem to enjoy some degree of impunity, or even protection from the state, it's just a matter of time before they pick their next target. Sit tight and watch the tragedy unfold as Indonesia increasingly becomes a failed state.

Welcome to a new and so-far unseen face of Indonesia. In spite of constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and the right to practice different faiths, the state seems largely inactive in the face of increasing attacks against religious minorities and their houses of prayer.

The silence of the majority is a disturbing sign of an increasing acceptance or tacit approval of these attacks by the general public.

The image of Indonesia as a tolerant nation is fast disappearing. A nation that once took pride in itself as a pluralist state where people of different races, ethnicities, languages and faiths could coexist peacefully and enjoy equality, is drastically changing.

Instead of a democratic nation made up of the world's largest Muslim population, we now see an image of a country with a religious majority intolerant of religious minorities.

And Christians are not the only target today. Muslims who do not follow the "dominant" version of Islam have of late become targets of similarly violent attacks.

There is nothing wrong with the constitution or the law. There is something gravely wrong with the state, particularly in its failure to give protection to religious minorities and their right to practice their faith.

At times, there are even indications the state is part of the conspiracy. During last week's attacks against the housing compounds of Ahmadiyah in Majalengka and Kuningan, both in West Java, police removed Ahmadiyah followers "into safety", but in doing so gave the attackers virtual free rein to vandalize that property.

Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect with some 400,000 followers countrywide, has been the target of such attacks in recent years.

Earlier this month, the police arrested the leaders of Al Qiyadah al Islamiyah, an Islamic sect with some 40,000 followers, because they had caused public unrest. But they and their followers were the real victims of attacks and acts of intimidation by a group of people claiming to defend Islam.

In all these attacks, the perpetrators were clear for all to see. Their actions took place before television news cameras, and their leaders went around boasting they were taking the law into their hands, because the police had failed to ban the followers of Islamic sects considered heretic by the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

Today, instead of being locked behind bars where they belong, these people are roaming free, probably planning their next attacks.

And very few people have come out in condemnation of the attacks. The best that Vice President Jusuf Kalla could come up with was an order for the police to crack down on the attackers and to make sure followers of Ahmadiyah could practice their faith.

The Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, the two largest Islamic organizations that supposedly represent the moderate and tolerant mainstream Muslim in Indonesia, have also been largely silent on these affairs.

A strong condemnation from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or Vice President Jusuf Kalla would have gone a long way in assuaging religious minority groups in the country their constitutional rights would be protected and defended whenever they came under attack. In the absence of such a condemnation, we are left to wonder whether or not our elected leaders have the commitment or will to uphold the constitution.

If religious differences are not tolerated in this country, what chance is there for differences of opinion to prevail. The only thing worse than a tyranny of the minority is a tyranny of the majority.

As the largest religious community in the country, Muslims in Indonesia have an obligation to ensure religious minorities are given the freedom to exercise their rights and practice their faith. Like it or not, the state, by and large, is reflecting the dominant view of society. Let's hope it's not too much a reflection of the current leadership.

These attacks against religious freedoms are an attack against the very foundation upon which this republic was built. Our failure to prevent these attacks marks the beginning of the end for this republic, as Indonesia silently but rapidly becomes an intolerant nation.