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No.10 / October 2009

EMBASSY OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

Strada Orlando No.10 Sector 1, Bucharest

www.indonezia.ro

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CONTENTS

BILATERAL / INTERNATIONAL

1. Britain Acknowledges RI's Role In Handling Climate Change

2. RI, Tanzania To Increase Agricultural Cooperation

3. Britain Fully Supports Papua's Integration With NKRI

4. Korea Helps Overcome Power Crisis In West Nusa Tenggara

5. RI, US To Step Up Overall Partnership

6. President Wants RI-Malaysia Problems Settled Amicably

7. RI Wants G-20 To Become Permanent Forum

8. RI, Malaysia Agree To Avoid Cultural Claim Issues

9. President Sends Statement To UN Climate Change Summit

10. President Arrives In Pittsburgh For G-20 Summit

11. RI, China Sign MOU’s On Infrastructure Project Cooperation

ECONOMY

1. WTO Talks Expected To Open Up Markets For RI's Manufactures

2. WTO Talks Expected To Open Up Markets For RI's Manufactures

3. Jambi To Be Center Of Cassiavera In Indonesia

4. RI, India Can Cooperate In Energy, Iron/Steel : Minister

5. Bukit Asam To Produce 14 Million Tons Of Coal

6. Minister: RI Has 25 Million Hectares Of Land Potential For Raising Food Crops

7. President Optimistic Crisis To End In 2010

8. Holiday Travellers Expected To Spend Rp16.2 Trillion In Regions

9. Domestic Fossil Energy Production Rising : Official

10. PT Pusri To Export Urea Fertilizer

11. South Sulawesi, South Korea Discuss Future Trade Cooperation

12. Minister: Indonesia To Become Industrialized In 2010

13. North Sulawesi Declared As Special Economic Region

14. RI Businessmen Exploring Business Cooperation In Slovakia

15. Cirebon Records 80 Thousand Tons Of Rice Surplus

16. Anggrek Port A Potential Means For Exports

DIVERSE

1. Turkish Airlines Opens Istanbul-Jakarta Service

2. RI Children Participate In Unicef Cultural Festival In Bremen

3. RI Envoy Attends Iftar Dinner Hosted By Obama

4. Central Kalimantan Offering Unique Ecotourism

5. ASEAN Countries Invited To Palembang Dragon Boat Festival

6. Police Chief Confirms Noordin M. Top's Death

7. US Praises RI For Eliminating Long-Sought Terrorist

8. Australian PM Congratulates RI For Eliminating Top Terrorist

9. President Obama Congratulates Moslems On Idul Fitri

10. Maluku Preparing For Sail Banda 2010

11. Prambanan Temple Attracts 84,000 Visitors

12. US Expert Believes President Yudhoyono To Make More Progress

13. RI Attends Unesco Meeting On Intangible Cultural Heritage

14. Harvard University Students Greet Yudhoyono

EARTHQUAKE IN PADANG

1. Strong Quake Rocks Sumatra

2. President Instructs Rescue Workers To Focus On Survivors

3. Canada Offers Condolences Following Earthquake In W Sumatra

4. Personnel From 51 Int'l Organizations Already In W Sumatra

5. Foreign Military Personnel Arriving In W Sumatra To Help Rescue Efforts

6. Obama Calls Yudhoyono On West Sumatra Quake

7. Govt Allocates Rp6 Trillion For W Sumatra's Reconstruction

8. Hungarian Rescue Team Heading For West Sumatra

9. UN Mobilizes Relief Aid For W Sumatra

10. World Vision To Focus On Children Of W Sumatra Quake Victims

11. Foreign SAR Teams Leaving West Sumatra

12. UNICEF Provides 250 Tents For Damaged W Sumatra Schools

13. UNDAC Commends RI's Emergency Response Actions In Sumatra Quake

14. ADF Continues Carrying Logistics To Sumatra Quake Victims

15. Malaysia Gives Us$1 Million In Aid For Quake Victims

16. Australia Provides $17 Million Of Recovery, Reconstruction Assistance

17. IFRC Intensifying Relief Operations In Indonesia

18. UN Deputy Chief Praises RI's Emergency Responses

19. Some 52 Cultural Sites In Padang Damaged: Official

20. UN: West Sumatra Death Toll Reaches 1,117

21. Italy Sending 4 Plane-Loads Of Aid To W Sumatra

22. ADB To Provide Us$3 Million Grant For W Sumatra's Rehabilitation

23. Govt Preparing Reconstruction Plans For West Sumatra

Published By :

EMBASSY OF

THE REPUBLIC OF

INDONESIA

BUCHAREST

Editor in Chief :

Hadi Sufri Yunus

Collaboration :

Eddy Mulya

Pratiwi Amperawati

Fattah Hardiwinangun

Widya Airlangga

Ganis Laksono

Tri Murniati

Secretary of Editor :

Widya Airlangga

Agus Tata S.

Distribution :

Supri Martin Diauw

Address :

Strada Orlando No.10

Sector 1, Bucharest—Romania

Telp. : +40-21-3120742 /

3120743 / 3120744

Facs : +40-21-3120214

E-mail : [email protected]

www.indonezia.ro

No.10/09 , October 2009

Ind ones ian Newslett e r

E mbassy of The Repu b l ic o f Ind ones ia

3 No.10/09, October 2009


E mbassy of The Rep ub l ic o f Ind ones ia

BRITAIN ACKNOWLEDGES RI'S ROLE IN

HANDLING CLIMATE CHANGE

Jakarta - Britain recognizes Indonesia`s role

in efforts to cope with climate change, a British official said.

"Indonesia has shown great leadership, not

the least by hosting the COP 13 conference in

Bali two years ago. Indonesia is an important partner for the UK and we look forward to

working closely together to achieve an ambitious

and fair deal at the Copenhagen conference," British Ambassador to Indonesia Martin Hatfull

said, according to a press release receives here

on Friday.

The release also contained a joint statement issued by British Foreign Minister David Miliband

and the foreign ministers of several European

countries about the European Union (EU)`s commitments to promote more action to tackle

climate change at the Coppenhagen conference

to be held September 7-18, 2009.

The EU, at the Copenhagen conference, would press all parties to reach a deal on

keeping global warming to a maximum of two

degrees.

The union would also work to promote an ambitious and equitable international offer in

which Europe would take its fair share in financ-

ing mitigation, technology and adaptation efforts to be made by developing countries.

In terms of diplomatic effort, EU would en-

gage the full force of its diplomatic efforts to

persuade the key participants in the Copenhagen conference to agree on commitments made.

EU would also try to ensure that the

challenges climate change poses to international

stability and security gets a prominent position on the international agenda.

Another EU commitment was to continuously

show leadership in the negotiations with

readiness to move current commitment of reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent by

2020, to a commitment to reduce emissions by

30 percent in the context of an ambitious deal and comparable efforts by the other partners.

Through a strong message on finance for

mitigation, adaptation and technology EU hoped

it can make a contribution to a deal that gets all countries on board a new agreement to be

reached in Copenhagen.

RI, TANZANIA TO INCREASE

AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION

Jakarta - The governments of Indonesia and

Tanzania have agreed to increase bilateral cooperation in the agricultural field.

The agreement was reached at a meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

and Tanzanian Prime Minister Mizengo Peter

Pinda at the Presidential office here on Friday.

In the 40-minute meeting, the president was accompanied by Foreign Minister Hassan

Wirajuda and Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyan-

tono.

Prime Minister Mizengo was accompanied by Food Resilience Agriculture and Cooperatives

Minister Stephen Masato Wassira and

Agriculture, Supplies and Environment Minister Zanzibar.

Presidential Spokesman Dino Patty Djalal

after the meeting said that the two countries

agreed to focus cooperation on agricultural field which had been established in the past.

"In Tanzania, the agriculture is a priority

sector and Tanzania is willing to learn from

Indonesia which is considered to have been successful in agricultural development," he said.

In response to the desire of the Tanzanian

government, President Yudhoyono hailed the

Tanzanian offer and agreed to send technicians and successful farmers to share their knowledge

with Tanzanian counterparts.

"The president also encouraged Indonesian

businessmen to explore business opportunities in Tanzania," the presidential spokesman said.

The two sides also agreed to cooperate in the

field of research and technology and the micro

credit sector.

BILATERAL / INTERNATIONAL

COLLABORATIONS

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"In November, both sides agreed to hold an

Indonesian-Tanzanian joint commission meeting in Makassar to discuss concrete cooperation

between Indonesia and Tanzania," Djalal said.

During the meeting, all members of the

Tanzanian entourage wore batik clothes.

BRITAIN FULLY SUPPORTS PAPUA'S

INTEGRATION WITH NKRI

Jayapura - The British government fully sup-ports Papua's integration with the Unitary State

of Indonesian Republic (NKRI) and rejects se-

cessionist efforts of any kind.

The statement was made by British Ambassador to Indonesia Martin Hatfull after a

dialog with Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu

here on Monday.

"The British government will remain supporting Papua's integration with NKRI,"

Hatfull said.

But he added that several issues related to

social and political conditions in Papua should be improved and managed in an effort to

accommodate the aspirations of the people in

Indonesia's easternmost province.

Therefore, Hatfull said, the British government would also support the Indonesian

government's commitment to holding peaceful

dialogs with the people of Papua to find an effective solution to various problems in Papua.

He added his country would also support

human rights enforcement in Papua.

The desire of the Papuan people to secede

from the Unitary State of Indonesian Republic to date was still voiced by several parties who

were not satisfied with the history of Irian

Barat's integration with Indonesia, especially with the result of a referendum in 1969.

In addition, various human rights violations

in Papua continue to come up because of the

absence of a government-sanctioned solution.

The issues discussed by the British envoy and the Papua governor were related to mainte-

nance of Papua's integration with NKRI so that

the ongoing development activities in the province could run optimally.

In the dialog, Hatfull said, various issues

were discussed for the province's further

development, especially about the regional economy.

Forest management in Papua to overcome

global climate change was also discussed by

Hatfull and Suebu because it had something to

do with the Global Climate Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, scheduled to be

organized in December this year

KOREA HELPS OVERCOME POWER CRISIS

IN WEST NUSA TENGGARA

Mataram - President director of state power

firm PT. PLN Fahmi Mochtar said the Korean government helped overcome the power crisis in

West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) by building a 2x25

megawatts (MW) power plant.

"With the Korean goverment providing the cost of building the power plant, the power crisis

in NTB could be overcome, and new power

connections may even be installed to meet the applications of people who have been on the

waiting list for quite along time," he said in

Mataram Monday night.

During a fast breaking function with PT PLN overseeing West Nusatenggara, he said, two

coal-fired power plant (PLTUs) are under

construction in Jeranjang, Kebon Ayu villge, West Lombok, respectively a capacity of 1 x 25

Megawatts (MW) and 2 x 25 MW.

He said the PLTU under construction in

Taman, called PLTU 1 Lombok capacity 1 x 25 MW is funded by the State Budget under a plan

of the ministry of energy and mineral resources

of 2009, and scheduled for operation by the end of 2010 or early in 2011.

In the meantime, the PLTU in Jeranjang,

namely PLTU 2 Lombok capacity 2 x 25 MW

funded by PLN, is also part of the first stage of the 10,000 MW program.

The total cost of building the PLTU reached

Rp296.3 billion, and especially under the 2009

budget, the realization of the project get stimulus financial support of Rp68.8 billion, in

addition to the regular 2009 allocation of

Rp64.2 billion.

"Thus, Lombok island will have a 125 MW power plant, which is the current capacity, if the

construction of everything had been completed, there will be no more power crisis and the

applicants for new power connections could be

served," he said.

He said right now West Nusa Tenggara is short of 15 MW, which prompted the imposition

of rotating power cuts, and therefore the local

PLN will relocate the 15 MW power plant in Bay Island and will also operate a leased generator

of 15 MW capacity.

No.10/09 , October 2009

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Fahmi hoped the generators would start

operating in December this year, and the power cuts would be overcome.

RI, US TO STEP UP OVERALL PARTNERSHIP

New York - Indonesia and the United States

on Tuesday agreed to step up their overall

partnership.

The agreement, marked with the establishment of a biomedical research and

public health center, was reached at a meeting

of Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari with her US counterpart Kathleen Sebelius in

Washington, DC, on Tuesday.

Following the agreement, the health

ministries of the two countries planned to im-prove health-care cooperation under the overall

partnership.

To follow up on the partnership, the

governments of both countries would hold annual top officials bilateral meetings and

regular ministerial meetings.

It is expected that the governments of

Indonesia and the United States will step up and expand their biomedical research in the interest

of public health.

Tuesday`s meeting of Siti Fadilah Supari with

her US counterpart Kathleen Sebelius in Washington, was regarded as the first step

toward cooperation between the two countries`

health ministries.

Such a cooperation is important in an effort of the two countries to develop scientific

exchanges, technology transfer, human re-

sources development, and public health re-search on global diseases like tuberculosis, ma-

laria, and influenza.

As a first step toward that end, the two

governments of both countries also agreed to set up a new institution which they call

"Indonesia-United States Center for Biomedical

and Public Health Research."

The partnership will cover the development of scientific exchanges, new researches on public

health clinics, and training programs.

PRESIDENT WANTS RI—MALAYSIA

PROBLEMS SETTLED AMICABLY

Jakarta - In a meeting with visiting Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, President Susilo

Bambang Yudhoyono said the two countries'

problems should be settled amicably.

After the meeting at the presidential office

here on Thursday, presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal said various sensitive issues in the

two countries relations should be taken into

account.

"Indonesia and Malaysia have special relations but full of challenge because of cultural

similarities and people-to-people interdepend-

ence," Pati Djalal said.

Djalal admitted that there were frequent frictions in Indonesian-Malaysian relations but

Thursday's meeting between President

Yudhoyono and Anifah Aman showed that the two countries emotional relations remained

good.

Even in the meeting, the Malaysian foreign

minister admitted many of his country's cultural products were from Indonesia.

President Yudhoyono received Malaysian for-

eign minister at his office in the company of For-

eign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda and Indo-nesian Ambassador to Malaysia Dai Bachtiar.

Earlier the Malaysian foreign minister held a

meeting with his Indonesian counterpart at the

foreign ministry office, to discuss about the bi-lateral relations between the two neighboring

countries.

Indonesia and Malaysia have so far been ne-

gotiating on their overlapping claims to the oil-rich Ambalat Block in East Kalimantan waters.

Recently, tens of Balinese artists in Denpasar

staged a demonstration protesting a Malaysian

tourism advertisement featuring the Balinese 'pendet' dance.

Malaysia had explained that the dance had

been featured by accident in a tourism promo-

tion video clip produced by a private company and broadcast over Discovery Channel.

Some Indonesians had earlier protested

against alleged Malaysia's claims over East

Java's Reog Ponorogo dance and Maluku's 'Rasa Sayange' song.

Despite the territorial and cultural disputes,

however, the numbers of Indonesians and Ma-laysians visiting each other's country have in-

creased.

According to 2008 data on Malaysian tour-

ism , some 1.80 million Indonesians visited Ma-laysia in 2007, the second largest number after

Singaporean tourists. Malaysia hopes to receive

at least two million Indonesian tourists this year.

No.10/09, October 2009

6

RI WANTS G-20 TO BECOME PERMANENT

FORUM

Jakarta - Indonesia wants the G-20 to be-come a permanent forum playing a strategic

role in coping with various world problems, a

presidential spokesman said.

Presidential Spokesman for foreign affairs Dino Pati Djalal said here on Thursday Indonesia

as a member of G20 did not want the world to

be controlled by the advanced countries grouped in G8 or G14.

"Times have changed. World growth is now

led by countries in Asia such as India, China and

also Indonesia. There are now many emerging countries," he said.

Heads of G20 countries will hold their third

meeting in Pittsburg on September 24-25, 2009

to seek solutions to the world's financial crisis.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to attend the meeting after he also

attended the first meeting in Washington in No-

vember 2008 and in London in April 2009.

Dino said the G20 meeting this time will discuss wider issues such as small-scale busi-

nesses, unemployment and climate change.

The president who is scheduled to visit the

United States on September 23 29, 2009 will also give a public lecture at the John F Kennedy

School of Government, University of Harvard in

Boston.

RI, MALAYSIA AGREE TO AVOID

CULTURAL CLAIM ISSUES

Jakarta - Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to avoid raising cultural claim issues in

their relationships so as to minimize the possi-

bility of a conflict between the two neighboring countries, an official said.

"We have agreed to minimize sensitive mat-

ters that can trigger controversy in the society, including cultural claim issues. Avoiding such

matters will have a positive impact on bilateral

relations between Indonesia and Malaysia," In-donesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wira-

juda said here on Thursday.

The minister made the statement after a

meeting with Malaysian Minister of Foreign Af-fairs, Anifah Aman, at the foreign ministry here

on Thursday.

As close neighbors in historical and geo-

graphical sens, Hassan said, Indonesia and Ma-laysia share the same culture and arts through

the ages-old relations between their peoples.

Therefore, the two peoples are expected not

to be too sensitive about their cultural similari-ties since some of their cultural products can

be considered as belonging to both of them.

"Solutions to cultural problems shall be

sought through rational approaches in the spirit of wanting to unite the peoples of both

countries in harmonious relations," said the

minister.

Hassan added Indonesia and Malaysia had a year ago formed an Eminent Persons Grpup

(EPG) tasked with conducting research on prob-lems faced in Indonesia-Malaysia bilateral rela-

tions, and recommending solutions to the prob-

lems.

"The EPG has done its research and will soon report the results to the two govern-

ments." Hassan added.

On the same occasion, Malaysian Foreign

Affairs Minister Anifah Aman stated Malaysians had never intended to claim Indonesia's cultural

heritage as theirs.

"We have similarities in several cultural and

art products. We never intended to claim Indo-nesia's culture. In fact, we respect it through

exposure in Malaysia," Anifah said.

The minister also asked the media in both

countries not to spread issues that can cause discord between Indonesia and Malaysia.

"The media should consider the effect of a

news in the society. We expect the media to

write their news in appropriate ways so that people who read it can analyze the issue in

proper ways too," Anifah said.

Bilateral relations between Indonesia and

Malaysia became strained again this year due to a televised tourism advertisement in a "Visit

Malaysia Year" program which showed girls per-

forming the Balinese `Pendet` dance.



No.10/09 , October 2009

7



Protests were staged across Indonesia be-

cause the advertisement made it appear as if the pendet dance was part of Malaysia`s indige-

nous culture.

In the meantime, the Malaysian side was

reported to have said that the Balinese pendet dance in the advertisement was not made by a

Malaysian government body but by the Discov-

ery Channel as part of a program titled "Enigmatic Malaysia".

Previously, Malaysia had also claimed such

Javanese cultural products as batik and the reog

ponorogo as being part of its own heritage.

PRESIDENT SENDS STATEMENT TO UN

CLIMATE CHANGE SUMMIT

United Nations, New York, - Although offi-cially represented by Environment Minister

Rachmat Witoelar at the ongoing UN Climate

Change Summit here, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also sent a video recorded state-

ment to the meeting.

In the recorded statement to the Summit on

Tuesday (Sept. 22), President Yudhoyono said, the upcoming Copenhagen conference must

conclude with an agreement that ensures a se-

cure climate future for all and there must be no gap after the expiry of the first commitment

period of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

"Remember: we can negotiate about the cli-

mate, but we cannot negotiate with the climate. We cannot ask the climate for more time," the

president said. "Copenhagen is our time to

seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to launch the post-2012 climate agreement."

"We must reach a consensus for the sake of

our planet and for the future of humanity. Let us

demonstrate that we are up to that momentous challenge. And we shall prevail," he said.

All efforts must be made to ensure the

global average temperatures do not exceed 2

degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in 2050, he said.

"There is a historical responsibility that must

be translated into deep cut emissions. This also

should be transformed into willingness to help those who are vulnerable to the impact of cli-

mate change to adapt to it," he said.

To this end, developed countries must take

the lead in the global effort to combat climate change, while developing countries should also

engage in much broader actions to go beyond

business as usual, he stated.

As agreed in the Bali Action Plan, the nation-

ally appropriate mitigation actions should be truly supported by technology, financing and

capacity-building, in a measurable, reportable

and verifiable manner.

Indonesia had made climate change a key priority in its national budget for 2010, reach-

ing half a billion dollars, which includes preser-

vation and expansion of the country's tropical rain forest cover, he said.

Indonesia had also initiated, along with 10

other tropical rain forest countries, the Forest-

11 joint cooperation, to ensure that their forests would be a key part of global climate solutions,

Yudhoyono added.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon in his opening speech urged world leaders to take action on climate

change and save the planet.

Some 100 world leaders were present at the

United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday when the UN Secretary-General spoke.

The UN Climate Change Summit took place

just less than 80 days before this December's

climate change conference in Copenhagen. The December gathering is designed so the leaders

can make work out a new agreement to curb

greenhouse gas emissions that would go into effect in 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol's first

commitment period expires.

PRESIDENT ARRIVES IN PITTSBURGH

FOR G-20 SUMMIT

Pittsburgh - President Susilo Bambang Yud-

hoyono arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the United States, on Tuesday evening, for the G-20

Summit scheduled for Sept. 24 and 25.

The head of state and First Lady Ani Yud-

hoyono aboard Garuda Indonesia`s presidential plane bearing serial number A 330-300, landed

at Pittsburgh International Airport at around

10.05 pm local time on Tuesday or 09.05 am Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) on

Wednesday.

The president and his entourage were

greeted by Indonesian Ambassador to the US Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat, Indonesian Consul

General to New York Trie Edi Mulyani, and a US

protocol official at the airport.

From the airport, they proceeded to Westin Hotel in Pittsburgh, where Yudhoyono and the


8

entourage will stay during the G-20 Summit.

The presidential entourage included Finance

Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, and Indonesian Chamber of

Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Chairman MS

Hidayat.

The G-20 Summit which will discuss the global economic and environmental issues, will

be officially kicked off by US President Barack

Obama on Thursday evening.

The G-20 Summit will review the progress since the previous G-20 Summits held in Wash-

ington DC in November 2008, and in London in

April 2009.

Yudhoyono is scheduled to address the third G-20 summit on the importance of a common

agenda to handle the impact of climate change.

From Pittsburgh, he will proceed to Harvard

University in Boston on September 26, 2009 to deliver a lecture on the importance of inter-faith

harmony in a nation`s life.

The G-20 brings together important industrial

and emerging-market countries from all regions of the world. Together, the G-20 member coun-

tries represent around 90 percent of the global

gross national product, 80 percent of world trade (including EU intra-trade) as well as two-thirds of

the world`s population.

The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers

and central bank governors of 19 countries, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada,

China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy,

Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Af-rica, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom,

and the United States of America.

The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the president of the

World Bank, plus the chairs of the International

Monetary and Financial Committee and Develop-ment Committee of the IMF and World Bank, also

participate in G-20 meetings on an ex-officio ba-

sis. The European Union which is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European

Central Bank, is the 20th member of the G-20.

RI, CHINA SIGN MOUs ON

INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT COOPERATION

Jakarta - Indonesia and China have agreed to

step up cooperation in infrastructure and water resource development as marked by the signing

of two memorandums of understanding (MoUs).

The MoUs were signed by Djoko Kirmanto,

Indonesian Public Works Minister, Li Shenglin

and Chen Lei, respectively of the Chinese trans-

portation ministry, and irrigation ministry, in Bei-jing recently.

The MoU on road and bridge infrastructure

construction was signed on September 25, 2009,

and the MoU on water resource cooperation on September 26, 2009, both in Beijing, according

to Indonesian Ambassador to China Sudrajat in a

press statement received by ANTARA here on Sunday.

The road and bridge infrastructure projects

would be constructed with the support of a pref-

erential buyers credit facility of the Chinese gov-ernment, the ambassador said.

The projects will include the Musi III bridge in

South Sumatra, Tayan bridge in Kalimantan,

Kendari bridge in Southeast Sulawesi, Medan-Kualanamu toll road in North Sumatra, and Co-

leunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan toll road in West Java.

The cooperation in the infrastructure develop-

ment would also include transfer of technology, such as that in the implementation of the

Suramadu (Surabaya-Madura) bridge project in

East Java, he said.

The water resource development cooperation will cover a dam project in Aceh, Indonesia`s

northern-most province.

The Jambu Aye dam project in Aceh would

provide an irrigation for local farmers, in antici-pation of floods, and supplying hydro-electricity a

power plant in Aceh, according to Ambassador Sudrajat.

Indonesia and China have been working on the construction of a dam in Jatigede, West Java,

he said.

The governments of Indonesia and China de-cided to speed up the construction of Jatigede

dam, and begin with building of the Jambu Aye

dam in Aceh, the ambassador said.



No.10/09 , October 2009

9



WTO TALKS EXPECTED TO OPEN UP

MARKETS FOR RI'S MANUFACTURES

Depok, West Java - Trade Minister Mari Elka

Pangestu said she hoped ongoing World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations would open up

market access for Indonesia`s manufactured

products.

"Not only market for CPO (crude palm oil) which will be open with the tariff reduction, but

also also manufactured products such as textiles

and textile products, shoes, automotive, and processed food," Minister Pangestu said after

visiting Cisalak`s traditional market at Cimang-

gis here on Monday.

Indonesia`s defensive position in the WTO talks was quite good, and it would be followed

by an offensive position to ask for opening of

market access for Indonesia`s main export products, she said.

"The negotiations have been carried out for

quite long time. And (our) position does not

change much. We considered the defensive po-sition quite good, and an offensive position

needs to be boosted," the minister said.

The Indonesian government planned to in-

clude legal experts in the national team for in-ternational trade negotiations permanently for

the success of the WTO negotions, Minister

Pangestu said.

"It`s not a matter of cost, but the right per-sons to work fully. The trade ministry plans to

have such persons, and we are conducting a

training for that," she said.

Trade ministers from around 35 countries attended an informal meeting of WTO talks in

New Delhi, India, September 3-4, 2009, to dis-

cuss how to bridge differences which have stalled efforts to reach a global trade pact.

The talks, known as the "Doha Round" collapsed last year, casting serious doubts over the possi-

bility of hammering out a global trade deal un-

der discussion since 2001.

The WTO informal meeting agreed to resume negotiations on September 14 in Geneva.

The global trade talks are stalled since July

last year. Indian Commerce and Industry Minis-

ter Anand Sharma said: "We have reached an agreement to intensify the negotiations. It has

been a breakthrough in this meeting, if I can

use this expression, the impasse has been bro-ken."

The Geneva talks had collapsed after India

and other developing countries opposed the ag-

riculture subsidies offered by developed nations

to their farmers.

JAMBI TO BE CENTER OF CASSIAVERA

IN INDONESIA

Jambi, Sept 8 (ANTARA) - Jambi province will become a center of cassiavera in Indonesia,

Head of the Kerinci Industrial and Trade Office

Lukman said here Tuesday.

The agreement in that effect was reached at a meeting of the Indonesian council of spices

held in Solo, Central Java, on July 19, 2009.

In addition, in August 2009 a number of ex-

porters came to Kerinci to look from close quar-ters the storage facilities and the land where

cassiavera is being raised.

Kerinci, a regency in the high lands in the

extreme west of Jambi province, is located 410 kilometers from Jambi city, known as a cas-

siavera producing center.

"We are the biggest cassiavera producer in

Indonesia, and in the meeting with the spices council, Jambi province will be declared as a

cassiavera center," he said.

If this has become a fact, the cassiavera

from the province or any other parts of the

country must enter Jambi, and on the other hand, if businessmen and people from outside

the country wished to buy cassiavera they have

only to contact Jambi province without contact-ing Jakarta first.

E C O N O M Y


10



RI, INDIA CAN COOPERATE IN

ENERGY, IRON/STEEL : MINISTER

Jakarta - There are opportunities for Indonesia

and India to cooperate in the supply of energy, iron and steel, Indonesian Energy and Mineral

Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said

here on Tuesday.

"Indonesia`s coal production reaches 230 mil-lion tons a year. The domestic market only ab-

sorbs 40 percent while the rest is exported," he

said.

Purnomo said 13 million tons or 60 percent of the country`s coal exports meanwhile went to

India.

"Indonesia could still increase coal exports to

India by 20 million tons a year," he said.

In his meeting with Indian officials and busi-nessmen in New Delhi this week, he said, he

had clarified Indonesia`s potentials in coal, iron

ore and limestone resources.

India, represented Virbhadra Singh from the ministry of steel, meanwhile said that Indonesia

still needed more coal from Indonesia.

Purnomo and delegation were in India for two

days from September 5 to 9. The visit was aimed at exploring the possibility of cooperating

in the fields of energy and iron-steel processing.

In the meeting Singh said the cooperation in the

fields would benefit both parties.

He said because of increasing domestic demand for steel iron-steel industries in India had grown

fast. In view of that extra-coal supply is needed

from abroad to be used as a source of energy in smelting process.

Singh said the additional supply would also be

used to meet demand for mega power projects

called Ultra Mega Power with a capacity of 4,000 MW, expected to be operational in 2012.

As a country rich in natural resources especially

in raw materials and energy for steel industries

Indonesia has invited Indian investors to invest in the iron-steel processing industries in the

country.

Purnomo while in India also met with business

leaders grouped in the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry including

CEOs of Tata Company, WIPRO and Bharat

Earth Movers Lts.

BUKIT ASAM TO PRODUCE 14 MILLION

TONS OF COAL

Jakarta - State-owned coal mining firm PT

Bukit Asam (PTBA) has set a coal production target of 14 million tons in 2010, which is a

slight increase from the 13.5 million tons a year

earlier.

"We hope we can raise production to 14 mil-lion tons in 2010. Up to June this year, the com-

pany`s coal production had reached 5.6 million

tons, or an increase of 20 percent, compared with that in the same period in the previous

year," PTBA Corporate Secretary Ahmad Su-

darto said here on Tuesday.

He said that the increase in the coal produc-tion was supported by improvement in rail

transportation of PTBA`s coal.

The company has previously purchased a

number of locomotives and wagons in an effort to maximize the volumes of its production this

year.

In the meantime, the average coal sales in

the first semester of 2009 increased 55.7 per-cent to Rp768,553 per ton.

PTBA President Director said last month in

Palembang, South Sumatra that his company

was ready to meet a production quota of 20 mil-lion tons per annum.

He made the remarks in a coordination

meeting on the acceleration of the development

of Tanjung Api-Api project, which was led by South Sumatra Governor H Alex Noerdin.

On the occasion, the South Sumatra gover-

nor asked the support of PTBA for the produc-

tion of 20 million tons of coal per annum for a concession period of 30 years.

The PTBA president director expressed his

company`s readiness to meet the 20 million ton

quota.

MINISTER: RI HAS 25 MILLION HECTARES

OF LAND POTENTIAL FOR RAISING

FOOD CROPS

Jakarta - The Agriculture Ministry said 25 million hectares of land in Indonesia are suitable

for raising food crops.

An Agriculture Ministry`s Water and Land

Management Directorate General expert Suhartanto said the land is usually looked at

from its physical appearance only, not including

infrastructure and ownership.

He said that the 25 million hectares are lo-

No.10/09 , October 2009

11



cated in Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi and Kaliman-

tan.

Besides, there are also areas which are po-tential for raising food crops, such as land which

was once peat-land for development projects

covering 1.2 million hectares, but only 300 thousand hectares are suitable for raising food

crops, Suhartanto said.

He said the farmland in Indonesia now reached reached 7.8 million hectares, and five

million hectares of which are for irrigation areas

and 700,000 hectares irrigated.

Meanwhile, about the deliberations of sus-tainable protection of food crops under the cur-

rent food crops plantation protection (PLPPB)

bill, he believed it could be completed before the House of Representatives (DPR)`s term of office

for the 2004-2009 period ends in October.

Right now, the formulating team has finished

the draft bill and it would be signed on Wednes-day (9/9).

"The draft would be brought to the House

plenary session," said one of the team mem-bers.

ACEH TO REEXPLORE FOREIGN INVESTORS'

INTEREST IN POWER GENERATION

Banda Aceh - Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

(NAD)`s provincial government is to reexplore foreign investors` interest in power generation

in the region after the House of Representatives

has passed the electricty bill that will replace Law No 15/1985, an official said.

"We will again explore investors` interest in

power generation projects we hope will solve

Aceh`s electricity supply problems," Aceh Vice Governor Muhamad Nazar said here on Wednes-

day.

The new electricity bill would make it possi-

ble for the private sector to supply electricity to the public. It would also permit the formation of

power tariff zones.

In addition, the bill would give local govern-

ments more authority to engage in electricity services in the spirit of desentralisation.

With the changes proposed in the new elec-

tricity bill, Nazar said, the Aceh government

would again actively promote power plant pro-jects among investors.

When implemented, the power plant projects

were expected to reduce Aceh`s dependence on

electricity supplied by other provinces. Accord-ing to data from the Aceh energy and mineral

resources office, over 62 percent or 168 mega-

watt of the province`s daily need for electricity was being met by power plants located in North

Sumatra.

The Aceh government had previously offered

South Korea to build a 400-MW hydropower plant in Krueng Tampur, Aceh Tamiang district.

An Aceh government delegation had visited

an electricity company in South Korea and the

latter had promised to help solve Aceh`s elec-tricity problem.

Unfortunately, he said, the South Korean

company eventually cancelled its investment

plan after meeting regulation-related obstacles in Indonesia. The South Korean company even

came to doubt the possibility of finding buyers for the electricity produced, Nazar said.

PRESIDENT OPTIMISTIC CRISIS

TO END IN 2010

Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang Yud-hoyono said he was optimistic the current global

financial crisis would end in 2010 , followed by

recovery in 2011 and further economic growth.


12

He expressed the optimism at a fast breaking

gathering with board members of the Indonesian

Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) at the Jakarta Convention Center here on Thurs-

day.

"Our hope is it will end in 2010 and in 2011

economic growth will begin," he said.

In view of that he called on all Kadin members and national businessmen to join the govern-

ment in supporting growth and to contribute to

settle the impact of the crisis in the country now.

"I am grateful that Kadin and the government

have jointly taken a number of measures and

contributed to important periods of economic developments," he said.

The head of state also called on the business

community to introspect to see shortcomings in

the domestic economy for use as inputs for the economic development for the next five years.

President Yudhoyono meanwhile said that the

government would continue current bureaucratic reform which certainly would benefit business

community and promote national economic

growth.

"I would dedicate my energy and minds for the next five years to improve this sector. I am

a common human being and certainly also have

shortcomings and so through cooperation we could help cover our shortcomings," he said.

Yudhoyono asked businessmen to keep seek-

ing opportunities in the current crisis so that

they could continue to contibute to the develop-ment of national economy.

Yudhoyono won a re-election in a recent presi-

dential race pairing up with economist Boediono,

who also attended the gathering that evening.

Yudhoyono and Boediono will be sworn in as president and vice president for 2009-2014 peri-

ods next month.

HOLIDAY TRAVELLERS EXPECTED

TO SPEND RP16.2 TRILLION IN REGIONS

Jakarta - The 27 million people expected to

make home-bound trips for the Idul Fitri holi-

days this year have the potential of contributing up to Rp16.2 trillion to the regions through the

tourism sector, a minister said.

"The expenditures of each traveller is mini-mally Rp600,000 so regional governments and

tourism industry players should do their best to

serve them," Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wasik said here Monday.

The minister appealed to tourism industry cir-

cles in the transportation, accomodation and

tourism sectors not to increase the prices while demand was high because tourism was the right

of all.

This way the Islamic post-fasting holiday mak-

ers would get the best service, he said.

Domestic tourists are indeed the engine of regional economic growth. Last year the move-

ment of 225 million tourists produced around

Rp123 trillion. In view of that regional govern-ments must be able to give the best service to

and welcome the holiday makers.

"A month ago the ministry of tourism has writ-

ten to all governors, mayors and district heads asking them to check tourism facilities and facili-

ties in tourist objects that would likely be visited by the holiday makers such as the beaches, rec-

reational parks, the zoos and others," the minis-

ter said.

Regional administrations that have been able to enjoy a local income from tourism to also

check security facilities and traffic signs so that

the holiday makers visiting their regions would really get the best service.

The minister had also asked provincial gover-

nors to check sanitary facilities at the airport

and other tourist sites.

The ministry's director general of destinations, Firmansyah Rachim, said since 2007 he had

opened a complaint center to promote tourism

during the holiday.

"Any complaint would be dealt with quickly and especially for Java and Bali we have already

had the contact numbers of those in charge of

tourism facilities," he said.

Minister Jero Wacik meanwhile also called on parents to use their tourism activity to promote

the government's programs such as "Know Your

Country", "Love Your Country."

"For those who have never visited Makassar the city now has a Disneyland-like tourism site

which provides a new opportunity for people to

visit cities in the eastern regions," he said.

The minister also appealed to bay-watchers to increase their control to anticipate increasing

visitors to beaches such as in Banten, West

Java, and Kuta in Bali and others.



No.10/09 , October 2009

13

DOMESTIC FOSSIL ENERGY

PRODUCTION RISING : OFFICIAL

Jakarta- The country`s output of fossil energy

sources such as oil, gas and coal during the 2005-2009 period showed a continuing upward

trend, an official said here on Tuesday.

The secretary general of the ministry of energy

and mineral resources, Waryono Karno, said production of the three energy sources would

even be further increased due to rising needs

and to boost state income from their exports.

"Total production of fossil fuels in Indonesia in 2008 is equivalent to 5.026 million barrels a

day. The quantity has tended to increase since

2005," he said.

He said total domestic energy production in 2008 rose compared to that in 2007 when it

reached 4.819 million barrels per day or to that

in 2006 then the figure was 4.672 million bar-rels a day.

According to data from the ministry, national

oil production in 2005 and 2006 reached 1.062

million and 1.006 million barrels a day respec-tively but in 2007 it dropped to 954,000 barrels.

In 2008 it rose slightly to 977,000 barrels a day.

Production of natural gas in 2008 meanwhile

reached the equivalent of 1.416 millions barrels per day or rose compared to that of 2007 which

reached an equivalent of 1.369 million barrels

per day.

Coal production in 2008 meanwhile reached an equivalent of 2.634 million barrels a day, up

from an equivalent of 2.496 million barrels a

day in 2007.

Waryono said the positive movement of do-mestic energy production was inseparable from

continued efforts by the government to conduct

reform and restructuring in the sector including the issuance of four laws in the sector namely

the law on oil and gas, the law on geothermal,

the law on energy and the law on mineral and coal mining.

"Another law is still being awaited namely the

law on electricity. We are still waiting its en-dorsement by the president and it is heped it

will not be too long," he said.

Waryono said in general the energy and min-

eral resource sector had contributed quite much around 36 percent of total state income in 2008.

He said state income from the sector contin-ued to increase significantly and became the

biggest after taxes.

In 2008, income from the sector reached

Rp350 trillion or around 36 percent of state in-come.

Investiment in the sector meanwhile had also

shown a positive development reaching US$20

billion in 2008.

"Investment in the sector is encouraging, especially after the issuance of the law on oil

and gas," he said adding from 2001 to 2008 a

total of 124 contracts on oil and gas had been signed.

He said the ministry of energy and mineral

resources continued coordinating with other of-

fices concerned including regional administra-tions to keep the investment climate in the sec-

tor conducive.

The head of legal affairs and public relations

of the ministry of energy and mineral resources, Sutisna Prawira said until now a total of 20 by-

laws linked to levies had been revoked.

PT PUSRI TO EXPORT UREA FERTILIZER

Palembang- PT Pupuk Sriwijaya (Pusri) plans

to export 470,000 tons of urea fertilizer in the near future and will to this end hold a tender, a

spokesman said.

The exports were permissible because the

government-sanctioned stipulation that domes-tic reserves should at least be 500,000 tons

had been met, Psusri president director

Dadarng Heru Kodri said here Wednesday.

National fertilizer stocks right now reached more than 1.5 million tons so that the exports

would not affect needs, he said.

In connection with it he said the company had

been allowed to conduct exports because stocks for domestic needs were already safe, he said.

He said at least 500,000 tons must be made

available as stocks, which is the main require-

ment, before exports could be carried out and PT Pusri had been able to meet it.

Regarding exports destinations he said they

usually went to Thailand, Vietnam, India and

other Southeast Asian countries.

The export price of the fertilizer is estimated at between US$260 and US$270 per ton, he

said.

He said PT Pusri had shrived to increase its

production and also farmers' fields so that the government set the requirements for exports.




14

SOUTH SULAWESI, S. KOREA DISCUSS

FUTURE TRADE COOPERATION

Makassar, South Sulawesi - Some 28 entre-

preneurs from South Korea had a talk with South Sulawesi's authority about cooperation in

trade sector, South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul

Yasin Limpo, stated here on Thursday.

The governor expressed his appreciation for South Korea's interest in exploring the trade

cooperation saying that his side always opened

for any investment proposal coming from South Korea's entrepreneurs.

Syahrul explained only 12-15 percent of lo-

cal natural resources had been managed by pri-

vate industries, and only some 80 percent of South Sulawesi's top commodities such as

chocolate and seaweed were industrialized.

Therefore, a chance for new investment was

still wide-opened in South Sulawesi, the gover-nor said.

The governor also guaranteed the availability

of support from his side along with sufficient

facilities for South Korean entrepreneur willing to invest in South Sulawesi. However, he added,

the cooperation must be mutually beneficial.

The 28 South Korean entrepreneur visiting

South Sulawesi are member of South Korea's Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Some of

them are engaged in several business sectors

such as telecommunication, mining and indus-try.

Earlier, on August 6, 2009, Governor Syahrul

Yasin Limpo commissioned two bio-ethanol ma-

terial processing plants set up by a South Ko-rean company in two districts in the province.

The two plants, technically called Integrated

Post-harvest Processing Unit (IPPU), were built

over the past two years by South Korea-owned PT EN3 (Environment, Energy, Engineering)

Green Energy in Gowa and Takalar districts.

The plant in Gowa district has a production

capacity of 25,000 chips and the one in Takalar 75,000 chips per year. The vegetable materials

were being cultivated on a total of 7.5 hectares of attached plantations, grown by local farmers

and bought from local suppliers.

MINISTER: INDONESIA TO BECOME

INDUSTRIALIZED IN 2010

Jakarta - Minister of industry Fahmi Idris said

Indonesia expects to be able to become an in-

dustrialized nation in 2010 to enable it to com-pete at an international level.

"It is hoped in 2010 Indonesia as a new in-

dustrialized country will be able to safeguard its

national potentials well such as its natural and human resources," he said when receiving 49

Japanese businessmen who came to expand

their business and business opportunities in In-donesia.

He said Indonesia had already had a policy for

long-term industrial development program until

2025, which was focused on five sectors namely the transportation equipment industry, agricul-

tural-industry, information technology industry

and small and medium industry supported by strong manufacturing industry.

In all the industries would be able to produce

78 percent of the total national industrial pro-

duction and 83 percent of the total non-oil and gas exports, he said.

"Strategies for the development of each sector

has already been prepared," he said.

On the occasion the minister also said that in

order to speed up economic growth and over-come unemployment and poverty the Indone-

sian government had also produced a policy to

speed up development of the real sector and empowerment of micro-, small- and medium-

businesses.

The policy contained in Presidential Instruction No 5 of 2008 as continuation of Presidential

Instruction No 6 of 2007 on the Acceleration of

Development of the Real Sector and Empower-ment of Micro-,Small- and Medium-Businesses.

The move was taken to improve the invest-

ment climate, financial sector and speed up in-

frastructure and small and medium businesses development, he said.

NORTH SULAWESI DECLARED AS

SPECIAL ECONOMIC REGION

Manado - In view of North Sulawesi's rapid investment and economic development, the

central government has named the province a

Special Economic Region (KEK).

"Of the 25 provinces in the country, North Sulawesi is the second to have passed the verifi-

cations as a special economic region in Indone-

sia," Governor SH Sarudajang said here on Sat-urday.

The governor said the central government

gave its serious attention to North Sulawesi and

named it special economic region after the prov-ince had made every effort to accelerate the

development of its economic-supporting infra-



No.10/09 , October 2009

15

structure projects.

Sarudajang said that the Bitung international

sea port overlooking the Pacific Ocean as a gate-way for exports and imports in East Indonesia

had a strategic function to support the special

economic region.

"Besides Bitung sea port, Sam Ratulangi air-port has also established international flights to

a number of countries such as Singapore, Tai-

wan, the Philippines, Japan, and some others," Sarundajang said.

According to the governor, both domestic and

foreign investment in North Sulawesi had in-

creased significantly every year, and in 2005 to Rp3.13 trillion, and in 2008 to Rp7.46 trillion,

while exports also increased from Rp6.54

trillion in 2005 to Rp10.94 trillion in 2009.

Meanwhile, North Sulawesi councilor Benny Rhamdani said positive response should be given

to the province after it has been named special

economic region.

"The central government trust to the province i proves that the economic development in the

area had substantially progressed," Benny said.

But he pointed out that the unemployment

and poverty rates in the province were still high enough and therefore a solution needs to be

immediately sought to prevent a negative im-

pact from hitting the economic sector.

RI BUSINESSMEN EXPLORING BUSINESS

COOPERATION IN SLOVAKIA

London -- Indonesian businessmen had a busi-ness meeting with their Slovak counterparts

grouped in the Slovak Trade and Investment

Development Agency (SARIO) and the Indonesia-Slovakia

Chamber of Commerce (SIOK) at the Indonesian

embassy in Bratislava.

Embassy First Secretary Wanton Saragih

Sidauruk said Monday Indonesian leading com-panies conducted a business mission to Slovakia

from September 22 to 28, 2009.

On the occasion Indonesian Ambassador to

Slovakia Harsha E. Joesoef in his brief address said the two countries have ample opportunities

to develop business cooperation.

He said that with a per capita income of

20,000 US dollars, the people of Slovakia have a significant purchasing power for Indonesian

products.

The Slovak economy in 2007 and 2008 had

been growing by more than eight percent per annum, the highest in Europe.

In the meantime, Juraj Sumichrast of SARIO

said Slovakia's strategic geographic position in

the heart of Europe if combined with its neighboring countries Austria, Czeck Republic,

Hungary, Poland, Ukraine, Croatia, and Bulgaria,

would offer a big market with a potential of 300 million people.

The Indonesian businessmen on the

business mission included Mucki P.L. Tan of PT.

Rodamas, Ipung Kurnia of PT. Hero Group, Husodo Angkosubroto of PT. Gunung Sewu Ken-

cana, Pino Iskandar of PT. Conbloc Infratenco,

Jimmy Masrin of PT. Lautan Luas Tbk, Iman Loebis of PT Java Motor, Indriani Ismail of Yo-

gen Fruz, and Timur Sukirno of Hadiputranto, Hadinoto & Partners.

They had business meetings with 25 medium and upper Slovak business companies such as

Drevona holding, Kerametal a.s., DMD. Group, GBT Slovakia, Rona, a.s., and Padington Indus-

trial consulting.

According to Wanton Saragih, in view of the

existing opportunities and potentials, the busi-ness meetings had been focused more on explo-

rations of cooperation in the sectors of agricul-

ture, defence industry, energy, retail trade, con-struction and chemical industry.

He said that Sandiaga Uno of Saratoga

Capital had a business meeting with Slavia Capi-

tal, Slovakia, to explore CPO development coop-eration in the production of bio energy in Slova-

kia.

The current Indonesia-Slovakia bilateral trade

had yet to be maximized in view of the existing potentials, he said.

In 2008 trade between the two countries in-

creased from 113.14 million to 133.04 million

euro, in which Indonesia's exports increased from 108.99 million to 123.54 million euro.

Indonesian commodities which had entered

the market in Slovakia included food, footwear,

electronic products, tin, plastics, garments, tex-tile, wooden products including charcoal, furni-

ture, musical instruments, organic chemicals,

machinery and mechanical equipment, tobacco, fruits, coffee, tea and second crops.

Similar meetings were scheduled in January

next year, Wanton Saragih Sidauruk said.




16

CIREBON RECORDS 80 THOUSAND

TONS OF RICE SURPLUS

Cirebon, W Java - Cirebon district of West

Java province is able to produce a surplus of 80,000 tons of rice and exceed its rice produc-

tion target this year, a local agricultural official

said.

"Cirebon's rice production target in 2009 is

478,000 tons but until September this month it had produced 492,000 tons," Head of Agricul-

tural Service of Cirebon, Ade Hasan said here on

Monday.

He said that the rice production of Cirebon was still expected to increase owing to the fact

that there was still a harvest season this month,

whose yield had yet to be calculated.

"This year's harvest season would end later this month. Farmers would commence planting

season in mid October 2009," he said.

He said that the rice surplus would be sup-

plied to Jakarta. Last year, Hasan said, Cirebon also supplied s rice surplus of 70,000 tons to

Jakarta.

ANGGREK PORT A POTENTIAL

MEANS FOR EXPORTS

Gorontalo - With its strategic geographic

position with easy access to other countries, the Anggrek Port in North Gorontalo has a great

potential for exports of animal farm and marine

products.

North Gorontalo Regent Rusli Habibie said Anggrek Port could be used by other areas for

their exports.

"North Gorontalo will open its portals widely

to other regencies for the export of their animal farm and fishery products," Rusli said Monday.

He also said the breakthrough was made to

raise the region's income, such as by using the

existing port.

"We have established cooperation with some other countries to promote social welfare, and

raise our income," Rusli said.

He added that some of the existing facilities

could be used to help some other areas raise

their social welfare.

He said to raise social welfare in other regons his side has formed several self-

sufficient rural groups engaged in cow breeding.

These groups were aimed at boosting beef

production for export through Anggrek Port," Rusli said.

He also hoped with the existing means and

facilities North Gorontalo's potential could be

raised to equal those of other regions.



No.10/09 , October 2009

17

TURKISH AIRLINES OPENS

ISTANBUL-JAKARTA SERVICE

Jakarta, - Turkish Airlines has opened an

Istanbul-Jakarta flight service to increase coop-eration between the two countries.

"The opening of the service is part of the

company's efforts to widen relations between

the two countries," the airline's chief, Candan Karlitekin, said here on Saturday.

He made the statement at the opening of the

service, which was also attended by the chair-

man of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly, Hidayat Nur Wahid.

The opening of the service had long been

awaited by various parties in the two countries,

Karlitekin said adding the route to Jakarta was one of hundreds the airline was serving in the

world.

He said he was optimistic the service would

increase the two countries' relations in the eco-nomic field and also in tourism and make the

relations between the two countries and their

communities closer.

"Indonesia is a big country and potential so that the company has considered it necessary to

open flights to Jakarta," he said.

For the time being flights would still make a

stopover in Singapore but in 2011 there would be direct flights, he said.

Hidayat Nur Wahid welcomed the opening of

the service and hoped it would make the two

countries' relations closer.

"I welcome the opening of the service and hoped it would benefit both Indonesia and Tur-

key," he said.

The Istanbul-Jakarta service will be carried

out five times a week namely on Monday, Tues-day, Thursday, Friday and Sunday departing at

11.20pm local times and arriving at 05.25pm

local times.

The Jakarta-Istanbul service will also be car-ried out five times a week on Monday, Tuesday,

Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with schedule

of departure at 07.15pm local time and arrival at 05.40m local time.

RI CHILDREN PARTICIPATE IN

UNICEF CULTURAL FESTIVAL IN BREMEN

London - Indonesian children took part in a

UNICEF Culture Festival in Neudstadt, Bremen, Germany, organized in cooperation with Arche

Neudstadt Church to enhance migrant resi-

dents` knowledge about children and migrant integration issues.

The festival took place in an immigrant set-

tlement and was opened with a Sumatra tradi-

tional dance presented by children of Braun-schweig city.

Indonesia`s Margi Budoyo dancing group

presented the "Pemburu Kijang" (Antelope

Hunter) and `Merak` (Peacock) dances and the "Dondong opo Salak" (Great Hog Plum or Snake

Fruit) song to the warm applause of the audi-

ence.

Apart from performing traditional dances and songs, the Indonesian participants also pre-

sented traditional Indonesian culinary treats

such as fried noodles, bakwan, and fried ba-nanas which also received a positive response,

the Indonesian consulate general (KJRI) in

Hamburg told ANTARA correspondent on Tues-day.

Children groups from Germany, Angola,

Peru, Thailand, and Turkey also joined the

`Kinder-Kulturfest` festival, attended by 300 visitors consisting of local and immigrant fami-

lies.

Klaus-Peter Fischer, Bremen Neudstadt dis-

trict head, expressed his appreciation and grati-tude to Indonesian Consul General Teuku Dar-

mawan for his contribution to the festival by involving an Indonesian children`s group.

Teuku Darmawan said the consulate in Ham-burg was participating in the program as its pur-

pose was to have local and immigrant children live in peace and mutual tolerance.

"Indonesia`s contribution to this festival is to show that Indonesia is an open country, has

more than 300 ethnic groups with various relig-ions and cultures who can live in peace based

on the `Bhinneka Tunggal Ika` (Unity in Diver-

sity) principle,"Darmawan said.

The first `Kinder-Kulturtag` program held in Bremen city, was a success and ended with the

singing of a song by all participants.



D I V E R S E


18

RI ENVOY ATTENDS IFTAR

DINNER HOSTED BY OBAMA

New York - Indonesian Ambassador to the

United States Sudjadnan Parnohadingrat at-tended an Iftar dinner to break the fast during

the fasting month of Ramadan hosted by Presi-

dent Barack Obama at the White House, in Washington DC, on Tuesday evening.

The Iftar dinner was attended by around 90

guests comprising among others foreign ambas-

sadors from Muslim-majority countries and prominent US Muslims, Ambassador Sudjadnan

told ANTARA in New York on the phone.

US high ranking officials such as Defense

Secretary Robert Gates, Health Secretary Kath-leen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder

were also present at the Iftar dinner.

On the occasion, President Obama also

greeted and shook hands with his guests, in-cluding Ambassador Sudjadnan.

"As usual, he responded to our greeting in

the Indonesian language. He said `Kabar saya

baik` (I am fine). He also sent his regards to the President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono),"

the Indonesian ambassador said.

Sudhadnan said he came to the Iftar dinner

wearing a traditional batik shirt and Obama no-ticed it, saying "your batik shirt is good."

On the occasion, President Barack Obama in

his speech expressed appreciation for Muslims in

the United States who he said were making great contributions to society.

"For well over a billion Muslims, Ramadan is

a time of intense devotion and reflection,"

Obama said, in remarks welcoming his guests in the State Dining Room of the White House.

"Tonight`s Iftar is a ritual that is being car-

ried out this Ramadan at kitchen tables and

mosques in all 50 states," Obama said.

"Islam as we know is part of America. Like the broader American citizenry, the American

Muslim community is one of extraordinary dyna-

mism and diversity.

"On this occasion, we celebrate the holy month of Ramadan and we also celebrate how

much Muslims have enriched America and its

culture in ways both large and small," the presi-dent said.

In a message marking Ramadan last week,

Obama pledged "concrete actions" to renew ties

with Islamic countries, less than three months after his historic address to the Muslim world in

Cairo.

"I want to reiterate my commitment to a

new beginning between America and Muslims around the world," Obama said in a video ad-

dress posted as the world`s estimated 1.5 bil-

lion Muslims prepared for a month of fasting and reflection.-

CENTRAL KALIMANTAN OFFERING

UNIQUE ECOTOURISM

By Hasan Zainuddin

Jakarta - The Sebangau National Park in Cen-

tral Kalimantan, Indonesia, has a unique fauna

and flora biodiversity including a black water ecosystem.

"The unique ecosystem makes the park a po-

tential ecotourism region," head of the Tourism

Destination Development Section at the East Kalimantan Culture and Tourism Office, Aida

Meyarti, said here recently.

Tourists consider the black water ecosystem

a unique thing. The ecosystem came into being by the decay of organic substances on peatland.

The uniqueness of the ecosystem is among

the things being promoted in the Sebangau Na-

tional Park as a tourist site which is visited by many domestic and foreign tourists.

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in

2006 conducted a research in the Sebangau Na-

tional Park and found 808 herbal plant species.

The Sebangau National Park which is home to a number of animals including different species

of bird, bear (helarctos malayanus), deer

(cervus unicolor), small antelope (muntiacus atheroides), mouse deer (tragulus javanicus),

tiger (neofelis nebulosa), squirrel (tupaia spp)

and orangutan (pongo pygmaeus).

The research in 2006 found 6,000 - 9,000 orangutans living in the Sebangau National

Park.

Meanwhile, research conducted by Palang-

karaya University in East Kalimantan resulted in the discovery of at least 106 floral species in-

cluding native plants in the Sebangau National

Park.

Kalimantan`s native plants include ramin (gonystilus bancanus), jelutung (dyera constu-

lata), balangeran (shorea belangeran), bintan-

gur (colophyllum sclerophyllum), meranti (shorea spp), nyatoh (palaquium spp), keruing

(dipterocarpus), agathis (agathis spp) and men-

jalin (xanthophyllum spp).

The national park also has 116 bird species



No.10/09 , October 2009

19

including Kalimantan`s native bird called Eng-

gang, besides 35 species of mammals like orangutans and bekantan (nasalis larvatus, a

monkey with a big nose which is found only in

Kalimantan, the largest island in Indonesia.

The national park also has black or gray long-tailed monkey or lutung, owa-owa (hylobates

agilis), long-tailed monkey (macaca fascicularis)

and gray monkey among other mammals.

Several species of swamp fish were also found in the national park like gabus (channa

striata), lele (clarias sp), papuyu (anabas testu-

dineus), kapar (belontia hesselti), sambaling (betta sp), gurami (helostoma temminckii),

karandang (channa pleuropthalmus and tapah

(wallago leeri).

The national park is also rich in unique flower species like black orchid (coelogyne pandurata)

and such wild plants as kantung semar

(nepenthes ampullaria).

The Sebangau National Park has a nature laboratory managed by the Center for Interna-

tional Cooperation on Tropical Peat Land Man-

agement of Palangkaraya Univesity as a re-search institute focusing on peat land manage-

ment.

As a tourist site, the Sebangau National Park also has water falls, beautiful valleys and lakes.

The national park covers an area of 569,700

hectares where the Sebangau and Katingan riv-ers flow, and occupies parts of Katingan district,

Pulang Pisau district and Palangkaraya city.

In the national park, tourists can traverse

peat land forests, trek along rivers and observe unique flora and fauna, climb hills, swim in the

rivers or watch Dayak traditions.

WWF concept

Ecotourism is a form of sustainable tourism de-

velopment in support of efforts to preserve the environment, including nature and cultures. The

local government involves local people in devel-

oping ecotourism in the Sebangau National Park.

The World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF)

Indonesia has offered its concept of community

based ecotourism development in the Sebangau National Park, said Rosenda Ch Kasih, project

leader of WWF-Indonesia Sebangau Conserva-

tion

According to Rosenda, the WWF`s concept com-bines the community-based tourism concept and

the ecotourism concept in an effort to develop

local economic potentials under the sustainable development concept which generates direct

advantages to the local people of every genera-

tion.

Ecotourism deals with natural resources and

cultures which must be developed on four pillars -- conservation, economy, education and peo-

ple`s participation, Rosenda said.

WWF Indonesia sees the Sebangau area as a

nature conservation area home to thousands of fauna, flora and animal species including

orangutans.

With the development of ecotourism in the

national park, local people must have equal val-ues and bargaining position with other people,

and they should not become objects but sub-

jects of the ecotourism development projects, Rosenda said.

ASEAN COUNTRIES INVITED TO

PALEMBANG DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL

Palembang - A number of ASEAN countries

have been invited to join a Sriwijaya Interna-

tional Dragon Boat Festival (SIDBF) to be held in the Musi River in Palembang, South Sumatra.

South Sumatra provincial administration

spokesman Apriadi S Busri said here on Thurs-

day he had sent invitations to a number of ASEAN countries to participate in the water

sporting event.

Apriadi said the dragon boat festival which

would showcase local culture and popular enter-tainment was expected to kick off in the second

week of December this year at the Benteng Kuto

Besak Plaza.

It is an annual event organized by the local government to introduce the local culture and

entertainment to foreign as well as domestic

visitors.

According to Apriadi, the dragon boat festival this year was intended to attract as many for-




20

eign tourists as possible to visit South Sumatra.

He said similar event last year was joined by

participants from neighboring countries like Sin-gapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Hong

Kong.

Besides foreign participants from the

neighboring countries, local dragon boat teams from Batam, Riau, Jambi, West Sumatra, East

Kalimantan, Jakarta, Riau Islands, and Jakarta

also participated in the event last year.

POLICE CHIEF CONFIRMS

NOORDIN M TOP'S DEATH

Jakarta - National Police Chief Gen Bambang Hendarso Danuri has confirmed that one of four

terror suspects shot dead during a raid in Solo,

Central Java, on Thursday morning was Malay-sian fugitive terror mastermind Noordin

Mohammad Top.

Danuri made the confirmation on Thursday

evening in a press conference at the National Police Headquarters where he also recounted the

chronology of the armed police raid on a terror-

ist hideout in Solo, Central Java, on Thursday morning.

Among the four bodies recovered after the raid

on house in a village in Solo was a decapitated

one believed to belong to terror mastermind Noordin M Top who had been at large for nine

years.

In the press conference, the National Police

chief was accompanied by his deputy Com Gen Makbul Padmanegara, Operations Deputy Insp

Gen SY Wenas, and other top police officials.

Danuri made the confirmation after the police

matched Noordin's fingerprints with those police had kept in their files.

"We obtained Noordin's fingerprints from the

Malayian Police and after we matched these with

those of one of the bodies, we found they matched on 14 points on the right and left fin-

gers," Danuri said.

Although the identification by the fingerprints

was convincing enough, Danuri said, the police would still conduct a DNA test and announce the

results within the next 20 hours.

Besides Noordin, the armed police in the raid

also shot dead three other terror suspects, namely Bagus Budi Pranoto alias Urwah, Hadi

Susilo dan Aryo Sudarso alias Aji, and found a

cache of weapons including grenades in the house as well as eight sacks of explosives.

Danuri explained that before the raid, police

had captured two other suspected terrorists, namely Rahmat Puji Prabowo alias Bejo and Su-

pono alias Kedu at Solo's Gading market, The

arrests took place five hours before the raid in which Noordin and his three other colleagues

were shot dead.

The police found out Noordin's whereabouts

from Rahmat Puji Prabowo and Supono alias Kedu.

US PRAISES RI FOR ELIMINATING

LONG-SOUGHT TERRORIST

New York - The United States administration

has praised the Indonesian police for their suc-

cess in eliminating top Southeast Asian terrorist Noordin M Top in a raid in Central Java on Thurs-

day.

"Obviously, this potentially represents a sig-

nificant step forward for Indonesia in its battle with political extremists," US State Department

spokesman Philip J Crowley, said in Washington,

DC, Thursday.

"As for the specific details, we'll refer to the Indonesian Government. We did not participate

in the operations nor did we provide information

that led to the raid," Crowley said.

National Police Chief Gen Bambang Hendarso Danuri at a press conference in Jakarta on Thurs-

day evening confirmed that one of four terror

suspects killed in an early morning shootout in Solo, Central Java, on Thursday was Noordin M

Top.

Among the four bodies recovered after the 8-

hour raid on a house in a village in Solo was a decapitated one believed to belong to terror

mastermind Noordin M Top who had been at

large for nine years.

Danuri made the confirmation after the police matched Noordin's fingerprints with those police

had kept in their files.

"We obtained Noordin's fingerprints from the

Malayian Police and after we matched these with those of one of the bodies, we found they

matched on 14 points on the right and left fin-

gers," Danuri said.

Although the identification by the fingerprints was convincing enough, Danuri said, the police

would still conduct a DNA test and announce the

results within the next 20 hours.

Besides Noordin, the armed police in the raid also shot dead three other terror suspects,



No.10/09 , October 2009

21

namely Bagus Budi Pranoto alias Urwah, Hadi

Susilo dan Aryo Sudarso alias Aji, and found a cache of weapons including grenades in the

house as well as eight sacks of explosives.

AUSTRALIAN PM CONGRATULATES RI

FOR ELIMINATING TOP TERRORIST

Brisbane - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has

praised Indonesian authorities over the death of Noordin Mohammed Top, saying his killing by

police was a significant achievement.

"This is welcome news and I congratulate the

Indonesian security authorities for their success," the Australian prime minister told ABC Radio on

Friday.

Rudd said this would cause great damage to

the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror group which was responsible for a series of attacks on Australians,

including the 2002 Bali bombings.

He said Noordin had been behind numerous

attacks on Australians in Indonesia.

"This has been a very difficult operation over a long period of time and the credit goes to the

Indonesians through their security agencies for

doing this."

Noordin, the mastermind behind a string of terrorist attacks, died in a violent police raid on a

militant hideout in Central Java early on Thurs-

day.

Rudd said there was still no room for compla-cency as JI and al-Qaeda were still alive and

well.

"But this is a very significant result. This man

is a mass murderer," he said.

"He is responsible for the murder of Austra-lians and I congratulate the Indonesians on their

success," Rudd said.

Rudd said Australia would continue to encour-

age Indonesian authorities to keep on the pres-sure on the terrorists.

"Our relationship with the Indonesian govern-

ment in counter-terrorism is very strong," he

said.

"We have sought to build on that and expand it further. We cannot afford to be complacent

and I believe the Indonesians fully understand

and accept that themselves given their own re-cent experiences," he said.

At a press conference at the National Police

Headquarters in Jakarta, Thursday evening, Na-

tional Police Chief Gen Bambang Hendarso Da-nuri confirmed that one of four terror suspects

shot dead during the raid in Central Java, was

Malaysian fugitive terror mastermind Noordin Mohammad Top.

PRESIDENT OBAMA CONGRATULATES

MOSLEMS ON IDUL FITRI

Jakarta, - As the fasting month of Ramadhan

is coming to an end in the next couple of days,

followed by the Idul Fitri holidays throughout the world including the United States, US President

Barack Obama and his wife Michelle on their own

behalf sent out congratulatory messages on the great occasion for Moslems.

"The Idul Fitri marks the end of 30 days and

nights of fasting and prayers. However, during

those happy moments, Moslems were still think-ing of those still suffering, including the poor, the

hungry, conflicts and diseases," a press realse of

the US embassy in Jakarta said Friday quoting Obama as saying.

In the course of this month, he added, the

Moslems have been collecting and distributing

tithes for the poor and underprivileged people.

"As I have said in Cairo, the government un-der my leadership had been constantly making

efforts to enable all Moslems to be able to help

the poor, not only during the Ramadhan, but throughout each year.

Therefore on this sacred occasion, on behalf

of the people of the United States we wish to

congratulate all moslems in the United States and throughout the world, Obama said.

MALUKU PREPARING FOR SAIL BANDA 2010

By Otniel Tamindael

Jakarta, - After a successful Sail Bunaken

2009 in Manado, North Sulawesi, the Maritime

Affairs and Fisheries Ministry will organize a simi-lar international event in Banda, Central Maluku,

next year.

To be called Sail Banda 2010, the event would

be the brainchild of Maritime and Fisheries Min-ister Freddy Numberi, Alex Retraubun, director

general of coastal area and small island affairs at

the maritime and fisheries ministry, said.

"The Banda Islands are known worldwide for their historical significance and undersea natural

beauty, and therefore Maluku will host Sail

Banda 2010," Retraubun said in the eastern In-donesian city of Ambon recently.




22

Banda is known as the original and only

source of the once precious spices, nutmeg and mace, trade commodities that had a significant

impact on world developments in the 15th cen-

tury.

Early European reports described the tropical Banda Islands as a jewel-like cluster surrounded

by crystal waters and brilliant coral reefs, and

the most beautiful cluster of islands in Maluku.

Banda is made up of eleven small volcanic islands namely

Neira, Gunung Api, Banda Besar, Rhun, Ai,

Hatta, Karaka, Manukan, Nailaka, Syahrir and Batu Kapal.

Syahrir island or formerly known as Pisang

Island, and Batu Kapal Island which combine well

for a morning dive, a picnic on the beach, and an afternoon dive are just 20 minutes by boat from

the hotels on the town of Banda Neira.

All those Banda islands offer stunning tropical

scenery, a remarkable history, friendly villages, and some of the globe's most pristine, biologi-

cally diverse corral reefs which are good for that international event later next year.

Therefore members of Sail Banda 2010 in-

ternational committee from various maritime

countries will soon arrive to survey three loca-tions in Maluku for consideration as the event's

venue.

Maluku provincial administration's communi-

cation and information spokesman, Bakrie Lumbessy said in Ambon recently that the com-

mittee members would in the near future survey

three locations, namely Lucipara islands in the Banda Sea, Banda Islands, and a diving site in

Southwest Maluku district.

"Soon the international committee of Sail

Banda 2010 will visit Maluku to survey the three locations in the province," Lumbessy said.

He said the same committee had success-

fully organized the Sail Bunaken event in North

Sulawesi which was participated in by hundreds of sail boats and yachts from various countries

last August.

According to Lumbessy, all the three locations

for the Sail Banda 2010 offer undersea pano-ramas featuring many coral reefs and ornamen-

tal fish.

"Especially for an undersea flag raising cere-

mony, it will be conducted in one of the outlying islands in Southwest Maluku district," Lumbessy

said referring to Wetar, Kisar, Romang, or Mau-

pora islands.

He said Sail Banda 2010 was scheduled to run from July 27 to August 28, 2010 and to be

participated in by hundreds of sail boats and yachts from various countries around the world.

The Banda Sea which is known to have the deepest basin in the world also had areas

abounding in colorful coral reefs and ornamental fish on which visitors could feast their eyes.

Banda islands also had various cultural tourist spots and famous historic sites that had been

named by UNESCO as one of the world's cultural heritages.

The Maluku provincial administration's infor-

mation and communication office had also asked

for the active role of the press in the province and all elements of the public to jointly make Sail

Banda 2010 a success.

Meanwhile, the national shipping company PT

Pelni is also ready to help make the Sail Banda 2010 event a success by putting more ships into

service on its route to the Banda Islands in Cen-

tral Maluku, a spokesman said.

Bachtiar, head of PT Pelni's Ambon branch office, said in Ambon that the national shipping

company felt it bore the moral responsibility to

support the international maritime event in Banda.

"The exact date of Sail Banda 2010 has actu-

ally yet to be confirmed but we at PT Pelni are

ready to help make the event a success," Bachtiar said.



No.10/09 , October 2009

23

He said the company was currently operating

MV Ciremai and MV Kelimutu on its route to Banda in Central Maluku, Tual in Southeast

Maluku, and a number of ports in West Papua

and Papua.

Asked if the number of ships for Banda would be increased in the runup to Sail Banda 2010,

Bachtiar said it was the responsibility of PT

Pelni's head office to decide.

"But because Sail Banda 2010 is an interna-tional event, I think there will be a good coordi-

nation between the transportation ministry and

PT Pelni to increase the number of ships sailing to Banda," Bachtiar said.

Meanwhile, Maluku Culture and Tourism Office

spokesperson Florence Sahusilawane said Sail

Banda 2010 is expected to reflect an interna-tional shipping expedition.

She said the international event is being de-

signed by adopting the past period of

"hongitochten", punitive expeditions conducted by the Dutch to suppress uprisings in Seram,

particularly in the clove-rich peninsula of

Hoamoal and nearby islands with traditional boats.

Therefore, Sahusilawane called on villages

across Maluku which have typical traditional boats to take part in and liven up the Sail Banda

2010.

She said the promotion of Sail Banda 2010

would not be very difficult because Banda islands had been known worldwide since the past as

spice islands, and even UNESCO has named the

islands one of the world heritages.

Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu said recently that some 150 sail boats from various

countries had been registered to take part in Sail

Banda 2010.

PRAMBANAN TEMPLE ATTRACTS

84,000 VISITORS

Yogyakarta, - The old Hindu temple in

Prambanan, Yogyakarta, has become one of the popular objects visited by holiday makers in the

region so far.

Until Saturday afternoon around 84,000 people had visited the temple. "The number of visitors is

already declining compared to the days before,

the head of the Prambanan Temple Tourism Park unit, Bambang Bandono said.

He however predicted it would rise again on

Sunday which would be the last day of the Is-

lamic post-fasting holiday seasons this year.

"Last year the number of visitors reached

around 90,000. This year it is expected to be the

same as last year's," he said.

To attract more visitors in the holiday seasons this year he said he staged various traditional art

and music performances and also offered a tour

to Ratu Boko Palace.

He said after having been satisfied enjoying their visit at Prambanan Temple visitors could

take a tour to Ratu Boko at a cost of Rp30,000.

Bambang said he had raised the price of tick-

ets to enter the Prambanan Temple Park includ-

ing the archeology museum from Rp15,000 to Rp20,000.

The Prambanan Temple Tourism Park is a com-

plex of old Hindu temples built around 850 AD,

located 17 kilometers east of Yogyakarta in Cen-tral Java.

He said visitors could not as yet be able to en-

ter all the temples in the complexs as some of

them were still under renovation after being damaged following a strong earthquake on May

27, 2006.

Another popular temple in Central Java which

has become a popular tourist attraction is a Budhist Borobudur temple in Magelang.

US EXPERT BELIEVES PRESIDENT

YUDHOYONO TO MAKE MORE PROGRESS

Boston - Strategic management expert Mi-

chael Porter of Harvard University in Boston,

Massachusetts, believed Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would be able to

make more progress in the 2009-2014 period.

"I am optimistic that Indonesia will be able to




24

make good progress," Porter told newsmen at

the Four Seasons Hotel here on Monday after speaking at a two-hour forum which was also

attended by President Yudhoyono.

The forum, held to discuss the improvement

of Indonesia`s competitive power, was attended by representatives of the Indonesian govern-

ment, private sector, and academics from Har-

vard University.

In the discussion, Porter explained the strate-gies for next priorities that President Yud-

hoyono`s government should shoulder in the

second period from 2009 to 2014.

The priorities Porter mentioned were improve-ment in provincial governments` effectivity,

communication facilities, energy to produce elec-

tric power, and the war against corruption.

If those priorities were not managed well, Por-ter said, it would hamper Indonesia`s national

development and economic growth.

Porter said the priorities he mentioned were

actually in accordance with President Youd-hoyono`s plans to step up Indonesia`s competi-

tive power and economic development.

"But cooperation between the government

and private sector is also needed," Porter said, adding that although in the midst of various chal-

lenges, Indonesia was actually undergoing better

economic development than many other coun-tries.

"Its experience in the Asian crisis has made

Indonesia stronger," Porter said.

On the occasion, President Yudhoyono was

accompanied by Trade Minister Mari Elka Pang-estu, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Indonesian

Ambassador to the United States Sudjadnan Par-nohadiningrat, presidential spokesmen Dino Patti

Djalal and Andi Mallarangeng, Indonesian Cham-

ber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Mohamad S. Hidayat, Investment Coordinating

Board (BKPM) chairman Muhammad Lutfi, and

state oil company PT Pertamina Commissioner Gita Wirjawan.

Also present were experts from Harvard Uni-

versity, namely the dean of the John F. Kennedy

School of Government Prof. David Ellwood, and other academics such as Prof. Joseph Nye, Prof.

Graham Wilson, Prof. John Thomas and Prof.

Dani Rodrik.

RI ATTENDS UNESCO MEETING ON

INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE

Jakarta - An Indonesian delegation is attend-

ing a meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Safeguarding of the Intangible

Cultural Heritage being held in Abu Dhabi, the

United Arab Emirates, from September 28 to Oc-tober 2, 2009.

The Indonesian delegation is being led by Tjetjep Suparman, the cultural and tourism min-

istry`s director general for film, cultural and art

values, a press statement from the culture and tourism ministry said here on Tuesday.

Members of the delegation include Sunu Soe-

marno of the foreign affairs ministry, Dindin Wa-

hyudin of the Indonesian representative office at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, Iman Sucipto

Umar and Elfitro Muchtar of the Indonesian

Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN), Hariyanto of the culture and tourism ministry,

and Gaura Mancacaritadipura, a cultural expert.

In its meeting, UNESCO is expected , among

other things, to make public its decision to rec-ognize batik as a unique hallmark of Indonesia`s

heritage.

The Batik nomination selection was con-

ducted by a UNESCO Subsidiary Body consisting of Turkey, Estonia, Kenya, Korea, Mexico, and

the United Arab Emirates.

The Subsidiary Body has considered Batik

Indonesia as the best nominee which should be-come an example for future nomination, the min-

istry said.

Besides, the Batik Cultural Heritage Training

and Course for students in Pekalongan, Central Java, has also been nominated as "the Best Prac-

tices" for intangible cultural heritage.



No.10/09 , October 2009

25

Based on the government regulation No. 78 2007, Indonesia is a State Party to the UNESCO

Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible

Cultural Heritage, which was adopted in 2003.

One-hundred-fourteen States Parties are bound by the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of

the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

One of the tasks of the Intergovernmental Com-

mittee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heri-tage Committee is to inscribe the first elements on

UNESCO`s List of Intangible Heritage in Need of

Urgent Safeguarding and on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Human-

ity.

From 11 to 15 May 2009, a subsidiary body

formed by six of the 24 members of the Committee examined the 111 nominations, submitted by 35

States, with a view to their inscription on the Rep-

resentative List, including Batik from Indonesia.

The Committee in Abu Dhabi will decide on these inscriptions.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

GREET YUDHOYONO

Boston - A group of Harvard University students

greeted visiting Indonesian President Susilo Bam-

bang Yudhoyono outside their campus on Tuesday afternoon.

When President Yudhoyono arrived at the cam-

pus, the students greeted the Indonesian head of

state by expressing their gratitude for Yud-hoyono`s and Indonesia`s leadership in making

climate change management a global concern.

Outside the university campus were Michelle

Kissenkoetter, Dominic Maxwell, Michael Blomfield and Joel Kenrick who chanted and unfurled posters

as President Yudhoyono`s motorcade passed by.

The students carried yellow and pink posters

with the messages: "Thank You Indonesia", "Harvard Says Indonesia`s Our Climate Change

Hero", "President Yudhoyono World Climate

Change Leader", "The Earth Our Future, Thank You Yudhoyono."

"We are Harvard University students from vari-

ous nations. We want Indonesian people to know

that America and even the world highly appreciate what your leader has done for climate change,"

Michelle said.

Meanwhile, Dominic said that Indonesia had

made a great contribution to the efforts to deal with climate change by convening world leaders at

the Bali Summit on climate change two years ago

to discuss ways to manage global warming.

"What Indonesia has done is really of great sig-

nificance because, after the Bali summit, world

leaders continue to meet and are going to meet again in Copenhagen, Denmark," Dominic said.

In December 2009, world leaders will meet in

Copenhagen to discuss climate change issues again

and are expected to reach a global agreement on ways to deal with global warming after the expiry

of the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

President Yudhoyono came to Harvard Univer-

sity on Tuesday to deliver a general lecture on "Cultural Harmonization."

Meanwhile, Joel Kenrick said he would be unable

to attend Yudhoyono`s lecture to around 800 stu-

dents and academics because he did not have an entry ticket.

He said the students and academics were sup-

posed to buy entry tickets in advance for President

Yudhoyono`s general lecture.




26

STRONG QUAKE ROCKS SUMATRA

Medan, N Sumatra, - A strong earthquake

measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale rocked Suma-

tra at 5.16 pm Western Indonesian Standard Time, an official of the Meteorological, Climatol-

ogy and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said.

"The earthquake occurred at 5.16 pm with

epicenter in West Sumatra," Esti of the BMKG said here on Wednesday evening.

She said that the epicenter of the earthquake

was at 0.84 degrees south latitude, 99.65 de-

grees east longitude at a depth of 71 km below the see surface.

The location of the quake's epicenter was also

about 78 km north-west of Padang city, 99 km

south-west of Bukit Tinggi or 106 km north-east of Mentawai Islands.

The quake's tremors were felt in the prov-

inces of Riau, North Sumatra and Bengkulu.

PRESIDENT INSTRUCTS RESCUE WORKERS

TO FOCUS ON SURVIVORS

Padang, W Sumatra, - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday afternoon in-

structed rescue workers here on Thursday to fo-

cus on the evacuation of quake survivors.

"Rescue workers should continue to make evacuation effort, especially for survivors who

are trapped in the rubble of collapsed houses and

buildings," the president said as he inspected the quake-hit area.

On Thursday afternoon, the head of state

inspected The Ambacang Hotel in Padang which

was flattened by a magnitude-7.6 earthquake on Wednesday.

The president said rescue workers, National

Defense Forces (TNI) personnel, National Police

(Polri) personnel, and other related parties were

involved in the evacuation efforts.

People who thronged the quake-hit areas were asked by the president not to disturb the

evacuation activities.

As of Thursday evening, data from Field Co-

ordination Unit (Satkorlak) indicated that the death toll of Wednesday's devastating earth-

quake has reached 364 and thousands others

were heavily wounded.

At a meeting held at the West Sumatra gov-ernor's residence to handle the impact of the

quake, Padang Mayor Fauzi Bahar and West Su-

matra Governor Gamawan Fauzi reported the conditions in the aftermath of the magnitude 7.6

earthquake to the President.

Also present at the meeting were Military

Chief Gen Djoko Santoso, Police Chief Gen Bam-bang Hendarso Danuri, Coordinating Minister for

People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, Home Affairs

Minister Mardiyanto, Transportation Minister Jus-man Syafei Djamal, Public Works Minister Djoko

Kirmanto, Industry Minister Fahmi Idris, Minis-

ter/State Secretary Hatta Rajasa and Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi.

Yudhoyono asked the president director of

state electricity company PT PLN to step in to coordinate efforts to repair electricity networks

damaged in the quake. Many areas have seen

blackouts since the quake devastated the prov-ince on Wednesday evening.

"I also ask (state oil and gas company Per-

tamina) to ensure that fuel oil stocks are safe so

that the community will not panick," he said.

The Padang mayor said since Thursday morn-ing Pertamina had twice replenished its fuel oil

stocks for Padang city.

The President said the government had dis-

bursed emergency response funds worth Rp100 billion which could be directly used to finance

two-month long emergency response programs.



EARTH QUAKE IN PADANG

No.10/09 , October 2009

27

CANADA OFFERS CONDOLENCES

FOLLOWING EARTHQUAKE IN W SUMATRA

Jakarta - Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Lawrence Cannon, offered his country's condo-lences to the people of Indonesia following the

7.6-magnitude earthquake in West Sumatra

which struck on September 30, 2009.

"Canada is deeply concerned about the peo-ple of Indonesia who fell victim of the earth-

quake in W Sumatra and by the impact on their

lives and livelihood," said Minister Cannon on a press release received here on Friday.

"To date, we have no reports of Canadian

death or injuries due to the earthquake. Cana-

dian officials in Ottawa and at the Embassy of Canada in Jakarta will continue to monitor the

impact of the earthquake in Indonesia, and are

in close contact with Indonesian authorities," the Minister added.

"We invite Canadian citizens who are in the

affected area to call their homes and reassure

their loved ones, even if they have not been af-fected by the disaster," the minister said.

The 7.6 strong temblor hit West Sumatra on

Wednesday (September 30) at 17.16 local time.

According to the Meteorology, Climatology

and Geophysics Agency the epicenter of the quake was located at 0.84 degrees southern lati-

tude and 99.65 degrees northern longitude, 57

kilometers northwest of Pariaman district, West Sumatra, at a depth of 71 kilometers, as well as

78 km northwest of Padang, 99 km southwest of

Bukit Tinggi, and 106 km northeast of Mentawai Islands.

Apart from devastating houses and buildings,

the quake also caused fires in several parts of

Padang city.

Up till Thursday at 11.00 local time, the death toll of the powerful earthquake had in-

creased to 215, according to data from the

Natural Disaster Mitigation Task Force (Satkorlak).

The figure comprised fatalities in three differ-

ent areas in West Sumatra, namely Padang (139 people), Padang Pariaman district (62 people)

and Pariaman city (14 people).

According to ANTARA`s observation, thou-

sands of people are estimated still trapped in the collapsed buildings in several areas in West Su-

matra`s capital city, Padang, such as Mara

Palam district, Adira Finance building in Sawahan district, Nurul Iman mosque, Sari Pharmacy

Store and Gama course building.

Other parts of the province affected by the

impact of the earthquake were the districts of South Pesisir , West Pasaman, Agam, Solok, and

Solok city. Unfortunately, data on victims in

these areas had not yet reached the Disaster Mitigation Post centered at the West Sumatra

Governor`s office.

On the day after the earthquake, streets in

Padang city were deserted and cracked in a num-ber of locations. Thousands of electricity poles

had sagged or collapsed, and power supply had

been cut off.

PERSONNEL FROM 51 INTERNATIONAL

ORGANIZATIONS ALREADY IN W SUMATRA

Padang, West Sumatra, - Personnel from as many as 51 international organizations have

arrived in West Sumatra to help in the evacua-

tion of earthquake victims and provision of their logistics needs.

Hundreds of foreign personnel from the inter-

national organizations have reported to local

authorities, West Sumatra Vice Governor Marlis Rahman stated here on Saturday.

The foreign volunteers had spread to different

locations, the sites of collapsed buildings in West

Sumatra province to help in efforts to rescue and evacuate people trapped in the ruins caused by

last Wednesday's magnitude-7.6 earthquake.

Among international organizations providing

assistance in West Sumatra are the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Indonesian-

based Hope, Japan International Cooperation

Agency (JICA), AusAID from Australia, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), HK Logistics

and US Consulate General in Medan.

Other institutions are USAID, European Com-

mission, Crown Medical Center Hospital from Ma-laysia, Turkey Humanitarian Aid, Church World

Service (CWS) and UNOCHO.

The foreign volunteers were mostly focusing

their attention on victims in the two worst im-pacted locations in West Sumatra : Padang city

and Padang Pariaman district.

According to ANTARA`s observation, thou-

sands of people are believed still trapped in col-lapsed buildings in several areas in West Suma-

tra`s capital city of Padang such as in Mara Palam district, Adira Finance building in Sawahan

district, Nurul Iman mosque, Ambacang and

Bumi Minang hotel, Sari pharmacy store and Gama course building.




28

Other parts of the province affected by the

impact of the earthquake were the districts of South Pesisir , West Pasaman, Agam, Solok, and

Solok city.

According to data from West Sumatra`s Cen-

ter for Natural Disaster Management, up till Sat-urday ( ), as many as 466 people had died due

to the powerful earthquake.

Some 279 local residents were seriously in-

jured and 2,530 others lightly wounded.

FOREIGN MILITARY PERSONNEL ARRIVING

IN WEST SUMATRA TO HELP

RESCUE EFFORTS

Padang - Dozens of foreign military personnel have arrived at West Sumatra to assist in the

ongoing rescue efforts following the 7.6 magni-

tude earthquake which had massively rocked Padang city and other nearby areas in the prov-

ince.

According to the Coordination Unit for Disas-

ter Mitigation (Satkorlak) of the Disaster Man-agement Agency in Padang, West Sumatra, Sun-

day, several foreign high-ranking military officers

coordinated and reported their arrival to the Command Post.

Most of them came from the United States,

Australia and some countries in Europe and Asia.

Their military trucks also began to arrive in

Padang like the Malaysian trucks already there.

Besides military personnel, hundreds of vol-unteers from dozens of social agencies and for-

eign SAR (search and rescue) institutions have

also arrived in West Sumatra.

Foreign SAR teams, such as from Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Australia, Switzerland,

Germany, Canada, the United States, Turkey,

Saudi Arabia, the European Union and many oth-ers are under the coordination of the United Na-

tions.

Previously, US military personnel offered as-

sistance, equipment and machinery which had been flown to the province by aircraft carriers.

The assistance was offered by the U.S. gov-

ernment through its Consul General in Sumatra,

Chief Executive of the West Sumatra Sarkorlak Marlis Rahman said.

The US aircraft carrier with hundreds of mili-

tary personnel and under the escort of a U.S.

corvette had been carrying the relief assistance, he added.

He said that according to the U.S. consul-

general, in the next several days more relief and rescue personnel will be coming to West Suma-

tra.

OBAMA CALLS YUDHOYONO

ON WEST SUMATRA QUAKE

Washington, Oct. 5 (ANTARA)- After a few

unsuccessful attempts to reach President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono by phone on Thursday, US

President Obama spoke with the Indonesian

leader on Saturday, according to the official web-site of the US embassy in Jakarta on Monday.

The call lasted five minutes. The President

expressed condolences for the loss of life and

devastation caused by the earthquake in West Sumatra.

He received an update from President Yud-

hoyono on the situation on the ground and reit-

erated his offer, on behalf of the United States, to do everything to help alleviate the suffering

and provide assistance to the relief operation.

The two presidents plan to see one another

again at the APEC Summit in Singapore in No-vember.

As part of its initial $3.3 million commitment

to the Padang Earthquake Response Effort, the

United States Government (USG) immediately provided a $300,000 emergency grant to Mercy

Corps International through the U.S. Agency for

International Development (USAID).

The funds will be used immediately for emer-gency relief kits, clean water and sanitation kits,

and household repair and rebuilding kits.

Mercy Corps is a member of the Emergency

Capacity Building (ECB) consortium in Indonesia. ECB is a consortium of local and international

organizations working to build emergency re-

sponse capacity in Indonesia.

Mercy Corps has an office in Padang and works closely with other NGOs and the Govern-

ment of Indonesia in implementing its programs.

USG disaster relief experts are in West Su-

matera now to assess and respond to additional requirements. President Barack Obama has ex-

pressed his condolences to the Indonesian peo-

ple over the tragic earthquake that struck West Sumatra this week.

In October 1 remarks in Washington, the US

President said "We`re deeply moved by the suf-

fering and loss of life that`s been caused by the recent earthquake in West Sumatra. And my ad-

ministration has been in touch with the Govern-



No.10/09 , October 2009

29

ment of Indonesia to make it clear that the

United States stands ready to help in this time of need, and I`ve ordered my administration to co-

ordinate with the ongoing relief and recovery ef-

forts there.

"Indonesia is an extraordinary country that`s known extraordinary hardship from natural disas-

ters. I know firsthand that the Indonesian people

are strong and resilient and have the spirit to overcome this enormous challenge. And as they

do, they need to know that America will be their

friend and partner," Obama said.

GOVT ALLOCATES RP6 TRILLION FOR

WEST SUMATRA'S RECONSTRUCTION

Pekanbaru - In addition to Rp100 billion in emergency response funds, the government has

also allocated Rp6 trillion for quake-devastated

West Sumatra`s rehabilitation and reconstruc-tion, a minister said.

Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare

Aburizal Bakrie made the statement here Monday

on the sidelines of preparations to stage a Golkar Party national congress to elect a new chairman.

The minister said that of the total amount,

Rp4 trillion would be allocated for reconstruction

of people`s houses which were destroyed in last Wednesday`s powerful earthquake, Rp1 trillion

for reconstruction of schools and public facilities,

and Rp100 billion for the reconstruction of roads, bridges, and other infrastructures.

"The government will make every possible ef-

fort to rebuild Padang and Pariaman cities, espe-

cially schools and public facilities which were dev-astated by a magnitude-7.6 earthquake last

Wednesday," Aburizal said.

Aburizal said the funds would be disbursed

soon after the public works ministry had com-pleted a verification of the damages.

The people`s welfare minister said the reha-

bilitation and reconstruction funds would be pro-

vided by the central as well as provincial govern-ments.

Commenting on the handling of quake vic-

tims , the minister said everything was running well but the voluntary teams found it difficult to

retrieve bodies buried under the rubble of col-

lapsed houses and buildings.

"Therefore, the government badly needs ade-quate heavy-duty equipment to evacuate the

bodies," Aburizal said, adding that evacuation

was difficult because of the shortage of adequate heavy-duty equipment.

HUNGARIAN RESCUE TEAM HEADING

FOR WEST SUMATRA

London - Two groups of Hungarian rescue

teams have been dispatched to Padang, West Sumatra, to provide help in searching for quake

victims in the province, an Indonesian diplomat

said.

Third Secretary at the Indonesian Embassy in London Shinta Hapsari said on Monday the Hun-

garian teams also brought medical supplies and

heavy equipment for rescue operations to evacu-ate victims from the ruins of collapsed buildings.

Hapsari said that the Hungarian rescuers also

took with them sniffer dogs which were trained in

detecting victims under ruins of buildings.

In the tsunami disaster in 2004 and earth-quake in 2005 in Aceh and Nias, Hungary also

deployed the same teams in the affected loca-

tions where they also set up field hospitals.

The first group of the Hungarian team, which was composed of 19 rescuers, left for West Su-

matra on October 1, 2009 from Budapest, and

the second group was sent by the Hungarian Red Cross with a plane and was led by Major Peter

Jakovics.

Indonesia and Hungary have established un-

derstanding on disaster handling cooperation, particularly between the Indonesian National Dis-

aster Mitigation Agency and the Hungarian Direc-

torate General for Disaster Handling, Shinta Hap-sari said.

UN MOBILIZES RELIEF AID

FOR WEST SUMATRA

Jakarta - The United Nations in association

with the Indonesian government has provided

relief aid for quake victims in West Sumatra, and coordinate humanitarian assistance from the in-

ternational community.

In 24 hours following the quake which struck

West Sumatra on September 30 leaving hun-dreds of fatalities and very serious damage, the

Indonesian government has responded to emer-

gency help quickly and effectively, accepting re-lief aid offered by other countries and interna-

tional organizations.

The UN in Indonesia has dispatched a joint

team on October 1 to help coordinate quick joint assessment by various international organiza-

tions to identify urgent emergency needs. The




30

United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordi-

nation System (UNDAC) team is now also al-ready in the field to help the government coordi-

nate with international SAR teams.

Emergency funding has also been prepared to

supplement the government`s emergency ef-forts.

The initial assistance from the UN agencies

include family needs, school tents, reproductive

health equipment, and heavy equipment and machinery to assist SAR operations.

The UN along with national and international

non-governmental organizations and the relevant

parties sent their experienced and skilled staff personnel, resources, relief aid to quake-affected

regions, and provide logistic assistance to sup-

port national response.

The needs of the victims are currently being

assessed for the use of the available resources in the most effective way and timely. The UN has

also assigned coordination representatives at the

different West Sumatra quake command post at the governor`s official residence.

WORLD VISION TO FOCUS ON CHILDREN

OF W SUMATRA QUAKE VICTIMS

Banda Aceh - International humanitarian or-

ganization World Vision is to focus its activities in

quake-devastated West Sumatra on children of the disaster`s victims, a spokesperson said.

World Vision Indonesia Operation Director

Amelia Merrick in a press statement here on

Tuesday said her organization would undertake efforts to restore the mental well-being of quake-

affected children in West Sumatra.

Amelia Merrick said World Vision had also

called on the Indonesian government and other humanitarian organizations to prioritize the chil-

dren`s physical and psychological recovery.

"It is a very critical moment when the need of

the quake-affected children in West Sumatra should be the top of our priority," she said, add-

ing that the children were in desperate need of

adequate food and clean water, good sanitation and shelter.

As part of a 90-day emergency response, she

said World Vision would open 13 rooms in

Padang Pariaman and Padang city for the chil-dren to play, study, and be at ease with their

peers.

To date, World Vision had distributed relief aid

that included clothes, mats, household utensils, medicines, kerosene, blankets, food, and bottled

water to the victims in Padang and Padang Paria-

man.

World Vision in Indonesia today is committed to partnering with the people of Indonesia to en-

hance their lives today and to help enact sustain-

able solutions for the future of their communi-ties, families, and children.

Currently, nearly 87,000 children are regis-

tered in the World Vision sponsorship program.

Several times this number of children and

other family members benefit from World Vision activities.

Of these registered children, many have World

Vision sponsors in other countries.

US donors sponsor 20,000 girls and boys. In

addition, World Vision operates 30 development programs, six of which are supported by US do-

nors.

Through a grant from USAID`s Food for Peace

program, World Vision Indonesia is providing education about nutrition, hygiene, water, and

food processing; renovation or building of public water and sanitation facilities; training of local

health workers to educate communities; and

training in improved water management and per-sonal hygiene.

FOREIGN SAR TEAMS LEAVING

WEST SUMATRA

Padang - Search and rescue (SAR) teams from foreign countries that have been conducting

operations in quake-hit West Sumatra have now returned to their respective countries.

"We have returned them to their respective countries and now all search and rescue opera-

tions will be carried out by Indonesian teams," the deputy for emergency operations of the Na-

tional Agency for Disaster Control (BNPB), Soet-

risno, said at a press conference held by BNPB and the United Nations-Office for the Coordina-

tion of Human Affairs (UNOCHA) here on



No.10/09 , October 2009

31

Wednesday.

He said the return of the foreign teams had already been coordinated with the government as

emergency operations to rescue survivors by the foreign teams had been concluded.

He said the operations were now being taken over by teams from BNPN and other domestic

teams.

"We will keep working to evacuate victims and also search for more possible survivors," he said.

He denied rumors that the foreign teams` return was related to a lack of coordination with

the government.

"We have been coordinating well since we ar-

rived and also with regard to information on dis-aster-affected areas and so we could work well,"

UNOCHA coordinator Michael Chang said.

He said the foreign teams worked maximally with the help of the Indonesian government.

"We just helped. Before we arrived on October 2, Indonesian search and rescue teams had al-

ready started searching for victims," he said.

He said a total of 688 volunteers from 130

international organizations had given humanitar-ian assistance to find and rescue survivors buried

under the ruble.

UNICEF PROVIDES 250 TENTS

FOR DAMAGED W SUMATRA SCHOOLS

Padang, W Sumatra - The United Nations Chil-

dren`s Fund (UNICEF) has provided 250 tents for damaged schools in West Sumatra which was

devastated by a magnitude-7.6 earthquake last

week.

"We will distribute the tents in Padang city and Padang Pariaman district," UNICEF spokes-

person Leli Djauhari said here on Thursday.

She said the tents could be used as temporary

shelters for the activities of children whose schools were damaged by the earthquake.

According to UNICEF, a total of 15 tents have

been set up in Padang city, among others at SMA

Negeri 1 (senior high school) and SD (elementary school) Gurun Laweh.

Besides tents, UNICEF was also providing

emergency study tool packages for about 4,800

school children. Each of the packages contains 80 study tool items such as books, ballpoints and

other things.

Leli said that UNICEF would do its best to

encourage children to return to school after the

earthquake which killed at least 700 people.

"We are also trying to restore the mentality of children who suffered from traumatic problems as

a result of the earthquake," she said.

In its program in West Sumatra, UNICEF also

provided clean water, assisted in finding clean water resources and provided a sanitation pro-

gram.

UNDAC COMMENDS RI'S EMERGENCY

RESPONSE ACTIONS IN SUMATRA QUAKE

Padang - The United Nations Disaster Assess-

ment and Coordination (UNDAC) has commended

Indonesia`s emergency response actions in the

aftermath of the magnitude-7.6 earthquake in

Padang, West Sumatra.

"UNDAC is of the opinion that Indonesia is more than able to overcome the problems in

West Sumatra after the devastating earthquake,"

UNDAC team leader Winston Chang said here on Thursday.

He said Indonesia was so good in its emer-

gency response actions that a lot of technology

which UNDAC had prepared for the evacuation of quake victims had remained unused.

"What Indonesian people have done in West

Sumatra earthquake management is outstanding because all systems in the field are running

smoothly," Winston Chang said.

He said cooperation between international non

-governmental institutions and the Indonesian government in earthquake management proc-

esses was also running very well.

"In UNDAC`s view, Indonesia is skilled

enough in handling the disaster but it continues cooperating well with international parties as part

of the world`s community`s joint commitment,"

Chang said.

More than 700 people have been killed, at least 340 others remain , and thousands of others

have become homeless after the strong quake

rattled West Sumatra.

Meanwhile, a United Nations Children`s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson, Leli Djauhari, said here

on Thursday that UNICEF had provided 250 tents

for the quake victims in Padang city and Padang Pariaman district.

She said the tents could be used as temporary

shelters for the activities of children whose

schools were damaged by the earthquake.

According to UNICEF, a total of 15 tents have been set up in Padang city, among others at SMA




32

Negeri 1 (senior high school) and SD

(elementary school) Gurun Laweh.

Besides tents, UNICEF was also providing emergency study tool packages for about 4,800

school children. Each of the packages contains

80 study tool items such as books, ballpoints and other things.

Leli said that UNICEF would do its best to en-

courage children to return to school after the

earthquake which killed at least 700 people.

ADF CONTINUES CARRYING LOGISTICS

TO SUMATRA QUAKE VICTIMS

Jakarta, - One week after the Padang earthquake, the Australian Defence Forces (ADF)

continues to bring medical supplies, fresh drink-

ing water and tonnes of humanitarian aid into the region.

The ADF teams which departed RAAF bases in

Darwin, Richmond and Amberley soon after the

earthquake, have quickly established themselves in the city of Padang and outlying areas de-

stroyed in the disaster, assessing medical and

engineering needs.

An Australian Embassy media release said on Saturday that RAAF C-130 Hercules aircraft, fly-

ing missions in and out of Padang from Jakarta,

have ferried 250 tonnes of equipment and emer-gency aid from the United States, the United

Kingdom, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Singapore

and Indonesia so far.

With the cooperation of AusAID and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the

ADF had managed a graduated and measured

response to the needs of the earthquake victims.

The initial commander of the Joint Task Force (CJTF) 629 , Lieutenant Colonel Neil Sweeney,

says a big change is being made by the advance

team.

"The ability of our people to get on the ground quickly and provide informed advice

about what the people need is a credit to their

professionalism," Sweeney said.

"Because of their initial work, we have been able to deploy the most appropriate resources to

the areas that need them the most," he added.

Initial assessments indicated that fresh drink-

ing water was the number one priority for the people of Padang as the local water treatment

plant, supplying sixty percent of the city's water,

had been damaged in the earthquake.

The Darwin-based 1st Combat Engineer Regi-

ment, using an ADF water purification plant, is now producing about 10,000 litres an hour of

fresh water a day after arriving.

Tasting the water during a visit to the site,

Padang Deputy Mayor Mehyeldi Ansarullah thanked the Australians for helping the people of

Padang.

"The water tastes good. Thank you to all the

Australians, it is very nice of you to help us," Ansarhullah said.

"Thank you for solving our water problem, I

have never seen water from the sea being made

into drinkable water ," he added.

Further north of the city, 1 Health Support Battalion (1HSB) from Sydney has established a

Primary Health Care Team (PHCT) in the village

of Sie Geringging.

With a staff of just 22 doctors, nurses and medics, the PHCT has been providing basic medi-

cal care similar to that of an Australian doctor's

clinic, to help people in the outer regions where primary health care has been limited.

Commanding officer 1HSB Lt Col Lachlan Sin-

clair says they are managing the general health

issues facing the local population.

"With so many people's homes destroyed, we are looking at treating disease and illness that is

associated with living outside in community

groups," Sinclair said.

With local authorities shifting focus from res-cue to recovery, the ADF continues to provide

essential water and health services as well as

structural engineering assessments.

Army and Air Force engineers from Darwin are currently inspecting government buildings to as-

sess the levels of structural damage as well as

determining what work can be done.

Once established, the engineers will focus recovery work on clearing irrigation channels,

repairing a damaged bridge, clearing rubble and

debris from two schools.

The team will also construct a semi-permanent medical centre to be used by local

medical staff at Sie Geringging.

HMAS Kanimbla is planned to depart Darwin

on the weekend, bringing its significant medical facilities, two embarked Sea Kings, a further

Army engineers and various landing craft to as-sist getting equipment ashore.



No.10/09 , October 2009

33

MALAYSIA GIVES US$1 MILLION IN

AID FOR QUAKE VICTIMS

Padang, West Sumatra, - The Malaysian

government has provided assistance worth US$ 1 million for infrastructure and building recon-

struction in earthquake-devastated West Suma-

tra.

The financial aid was presented by Malaysian Defense Minister Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid bin

Hamidi to West Sumatra Governor Gamawan

Fauzi here on Sunday.

The assistance is prioritized for reconstruction of damaged infrastructures, government offices,

and public facilities such as places of worship and

schools.

Malaysia had earlier sent 15 airplanes carry-ing relief aid, and 15 rescue teams immediately

distributing the assistance to earthquake-

devastated towns and villages in West Sumatra.

Besides, 70 Malaysian volunteers had been mobilized to help rescue and search victims in

the aftermath of the powerful earthquake.

Governor Fauzi said the West Sumatran peo-

ple very much appreciated the valuable assis-tance from Malaysia.

According to the governor, the earthquake

killed at least 805 people, destroyed 102 houses,

and caused 27 fires in Padang City. Hundreds of people and 241 houses went missing in the dis-

aster.

The 7.6-magnitude earthquake affected

Padang City, Padang Pariaman District, Pessel District and Agam District.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in

Kuala Lumpur, on Oct. 3 that Malaysia was chan-

neling three types of assistance to earthquake-hit West Sumatra, namely search and rescue,

medical relief and humanitarian aid.

"I've spoken to President Susilo Bambang

Yudhoyono through the telephone late Friday night and conveyed the government and the Ma-

laysian people's condolences on the tragedy in

Padang," he said as quoted by Bernama.

The Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy Malaysia) sent a surgical and a medical team to

treat earthquake victims in and around Paria-

man, about 60km north of Padang, the capital city of West Sumatra. The team has brought

along surgical sets and primary healthcare kits

worth RM100,000 (US$29,040).

AUSTRALIA PROVIDES $17 MILLION OF

RECOVERY, RECONSTRUCTION ASSISTANCE

Jakarta, - Australian Foreign Affairs Minis-

ter Stephen Smith has announced that Australia will support Indonesia with $17 million of recov-

ery and reconstruction assistance following the

recent deadly earthquakes in West Sumatra and West Java.

"Last Sunday, 4 October, I spoke with Indo-

nesian Foreign Minister, Dr Hassan Wirajuda,

about the earthquakes that hit Padang in West Sumatra on 30 September and 1 October and

assured him of Australia's commitment to sup-

port Indonesia in both the emergency and recov-ery and reconstruction phases," Minister Smith

said in a media release posted on the Australian

foreign affairs ministry's official website on Sun-day.

Previously the Australian minister had spoken

to Dr Wirajuda about Australian assistance for

the recovery and reconstruction phase following the earthquake in West Java on 2 September.

"Dr Wirajuda and I spoke about Australia's

capacity to help rebuild damaged schools and

public health facilities," he said.

"Today I announce an Australian commit-ment of $17 million to help the people of Indone-

sia rebuild after the earthquakes, $12 million for

West Sumatra and $5 million for West Java," Smith said.

In West Sumatra, Australia will provide up to

$10 million to help rebuild schools and public

health facilities .

Australia will also provide $1 million to the Government of Indonesia's Reconstruction Trust

Fund and $1 million to Australian Non Govern-

ment Organisations to assist with their recovery and reconstruction efforts.

This assistance for recovery and reconstruc-

tion is in addition to Australia's emergency assis-

tance, including urban search and rescue teams and support for the local Red Cross to distribute

cooking, hygiene and medical kits.

To assist with reconstruction in West Java following the earthquake in Tasikmalaya on 2

September, Australia will provide $5 million to

help repair or rebuild up to 100 schools.

This assistance will build on the existing school construction program delivered through

the Ministry of National Education and the Minis-

try of Religious Affairs.




34

IFRC INTENSIFYING RELIEF OPERATIONS

IN INDONESIA

Jakarta - The Geneva-based International

Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socie-ties (IFRC) is scaling up its relief operations in

Indonesia.

"This includes the launch of a series of emer-

gency food distribution programs and the use of helicopters to shuttle food and shelter supplies to

families living in isolated villages which have

been cut off by landslides," the IFRC said on its

official website on Monday.

The relief will be distributed by local Red Cross volunteers. Over the past week, Indone-

sian Red Cross medical teams travelling by heli-

copter have been the first teams to identify and reach these communities.

"The priority at the moment is to get the food

to the people rather than have people leave their

homes and come to towns in search of food," explained Wayne Ulrich, head of the IFRC`s

emergency operation in Padang.

The first of seven flights in a week-long series

of emergency aid deliveries to the survivors of the West Sumatra earthquake took off from

Kuala Lumpur on Monday (Oct. 12).

The plane, packed with around 40 tonnes of

tents, tarpaulins, blankets and shelter kits, landed in Padang an hour later and was offloaded

by staff and volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI).

The IFRC has also dispatched an early recov-ery team to Padang. Its role will be to launch a

temporary shelter programme in the coming weeks that will involve distributions of tools and

local building materials to people whose homes

have been badly damaged.

The IFRC is also launching a revised prelimi-

nary appeal for the Philippines. After further as-

sessments of the damage caused by floods and landslides in Manila and northern Luzon, the ap-

peal has been increased to more than 6.8 million

Swiss francs (6.65 million US dollars/ 4.51 mil-lion euro) to help Philippines National Red Cross

assist 200,000 people for a year.

UN DEPUTY CHIEF PRAISES RI'S

EMERGENCY RESPONSES

Jakarta - Deputy Secretary-General of the

United Nations (UN) for Humanitarian Affairs, Ambassador John Holmes, has praised the Indo-

nesian government`s emergency responses to

natural disasters.

The Indonesian government`s emergency response actions were good and very fast he said

at a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.

"We will be very happy if we do not have to

do our job here because the Indonesian govern-ment is handling it so well. Its emergency re-

sponse actions are among the most successful in

the world," he said.

However, the concerning thing now for the world community, especially in the Asian Region

which had been hit by many disasters such as

floods, typhoons and earthquakes, was preparing the necessary actions to minimize the impact of

the disaster itself.

He said that Disaster Risk Reduction can

rightly be a government programs to deal with any disasters in the future and reduce casualties.

"Disaster Risk Reduction steps must be con-

sidered next. It is how the government familiar-

izes the people with what to do when a disaster like an earth quake occurs, and minimize casual-

ties," said Holmes.

Beside informing the correct action when dis-

aster strikes, the government must also ensure that all buildings or buildings to be constructed

will meet seismic building standards or resilient

foundations.

"For the Indonesian government must also consider the construction of buildings to be re-

built in earthquake-prone locations, the building

must meet requirements of earthquake resil-ience, so as to reduce the risk of a major disas-

ter in the future," he added.

Regarding the development of infrastructure

in earthquake-hit areas, Holmes said the first priority was reconstruction or repair of damaged

hospitals and schools to help the recovery of the



No.10/09 , October 2009

35

victims physically and psychologically.

Holmes had previously visited the disaster

site in Padang, West Sumatra on Wednesday (Oct 14) by helicopter to see in person the im-

pact of the magnitude-7.6 earthquake on the

local people.

Earlier, Holmes also handed US$38 million in emergency aid funds from the UN to the Indone-

sian government for earthquake victims in West

Sumatra.

UN: WEST SUMATRA DEATH TOLL

REACHES 1,117

Jakarta - The official death toll from last month`s earthquake in West Sumatra has

climbed to 1,117, including those still missing,

the United Nations humanitarian arm reported on Thursday.

Under-Secretary-General for the Office of the

Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

John Holmes met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, donors and the head of the National Dis-

aster Management Agency (BNPB), as well as

humanitarian agencies before leaving the area.

The magnitude-7.6 Indian Ocean earthquake on 30 September left 198,200 households in

need of emergency shelter, according to initial

assessments by OCHA as reported on the official website of New York-based UN News Center.

In the coming weeks, international non-

governmental organizations (NGOs) plan to

reach around 62,000 of those households with distributions of emergency shelters, and at least

16,000 tents and tarpaulins have been distrib-

uted to date. Further shelter will depend upon additional funding.

Last week the humanitarian community, in

close consultation with the Government,

launched a $38 million humanitarian response plan, identifying acute needs to be addressed

within 90 days and identifying 74 projects.

OCHA said that Padang City, Pariaman and

Agam, the three most affected areas, have been struck by extensive damage to water and sanita-

tion infrastructure, leaving more than 50,000 people requiring assistance.

In addition around 190,000 people are suffer-ing from serious shortages of staple foods, such

as rice. WFP is providing fortified biscuits to chil-dren under five years old and to pregnant and

lactating women and has started a school feed-

ing programme.

Almost 1,000 schools have been damaged

and an estimated 90,000 students are reported

to be in urgent need of teaching materials. The UN Children`s Fund (UNICEF) has distributed

228 school tents, 80 school-in-a-box kits and 80

recreational kits.

The BNPB has requested a shift in emergency relief aid to the neighbouring disaster-affected

area of Jambi province, which was hit by another

earthquake on 5 October. Around 500 houses, 11 schools and 2 health facilities in Kerinci district

were damaged by that tremor, and over 100

houses and 123 schools in Merangin district were also damaged.

ITALY SENDING 4 PLANE-LOADS OF AID

TO WEST SUMATRA

Jakarta - The Italian government is sending

four airplanes carrying aid packages to help

quake victims in West Sumatra and they are ex-pected to land in Padang on October 17-20,

2009.

According to a press release received here on

Friday, the first plane is scheduled to arrive in West Sumatra`s capital city, Padang, on October

17 at 17.30 local time. All planes will bring assis-

tance from the Italian government worth US$ 459,159.

The aid would include 4,950 blankets, 50

tents for cold climate, 20 multipurpose tents,

972 kitchen sets, two collapsible water tanks which can hold 7,500 liters of water and 33 die-

sel generators.

Other packages carried by the four planes

would among other things contain one water pu-rifier, three Calcium Hypochlorite mixers, and

three collapsible water tanks to hold 1,000, 3,500 and 7,500 liters of water respectively.

Italy which was also hit by an earthquake last April 2009 in the region of Abruzzo, feels even

stronger solidarity with Indonesia and will con-tinue to assist the people in West Sumatra with

volunteers from Non-Governmental Organiza-

tions (NGOs) and personnel of the Italian Red Cross.

ADB TO PROVIDE US$3 MILLION GRANT

FOR W SUMATRA'S REHABILITATION

Jakarta - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is to extend a US$ 3 million grant to Indonesia

for the rehabilitation process in quake-

devastated West Sumatra, a spokesman said




36

"The grant is intended for the restoration of

public facilities and access to remote areas in West Sumatra province," ADB`s Country Director

for Indonesia, James Nugent, said here on Fri-

day.

The US$ 3 million would be taken from ADB`s emergency aid budget called Asia Pacific

Disaster Response Fund. Money from the fund

can be disbursed quickly as it is intended to help restore important public facilities in the after-

math of disasters.

"ADB will cooperate with the Indonesian gov-

ernment and other partners to give assistance to the quake victims in West Sumatra," Nugent

said, adding that ADB and the Indonesian gov-

ernment would make an evaluation of the mate-rial damage in the quake-affected region.

In managing humanitarian aid packages for

West Sumatra, Nugent said, ADB would use its

long experience in handling natural disasters like the tsunami which hit Asia in 2004.

An earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter

scale hit West Sumatra province last September

30. Up till now, the death toll has reached 1,117. The temblor also caused damage to 283.067

houses in the area.

According to data from West Sumatra`s Natural Disaster Mitigation Agency (Satkorlak

PB), the province might suffer Rp 2 trillion loss

due to the earthquake.

Meanwhile, several hamlets in Tandikek vil-lage, namely Sumanak, Lubuak Laweh, Pulau Air,

Paraman Cumanak Korong Laweh Nan Panjang

and Kapalo Koto with a total population of around 300 people were buried by landslides

triggered by the earthquake in West Sumatra

last September 30.

No single house or structure was still seen in the areas where the hamlets had stood as the

earth had swallowed them up.

Some 165 bodies were evacuated from im-

pacted areas while 145 others are yet to be found.

Thirteen days after the disaster (Oct 12), lo-

cal government and public figures there decided

to turn the three villages impacted by landslides (Lubuk Laweh, Pulau Air and Paraman Cumanak

Korong Laweh Nan Panjang) into mass graves for

the lost bodies.

GOVT PREPARING RECONSTRUCTION

PLANS FOR WEST SUMATRA

Jakarta - The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) is preparing plans for the recon-

struction of residential houses and infrastruc-

tures which were damaged by a strong earth-

quake in West Sumatra recently.

"We are still continuing emergency response handling while preparing rehabilitation and re-

construction plans. We hope we can begin work

in the near future but we are not willing to be in a hurry," BNPB head Syamsul Maarif said here on

Monday.

After meeting a group of Japanese volunteers

who were returning to their country, Maarif said that his side was still preparing coordination,

budget and command for the implementation of

the rehabilitation and reconstruction works on damaged areas as a result of the magnitude-7.9

earthquake which struck West Sumatra on Sep-

tember 30, 2009.

He said that the plans would be discussed with officials from the relevant ministries such as

the office of the coordinating minister for peo-

ple's welfare and the office of the coordinating minister for economic affairs.

"We are still preparing it and we still have

time to do so. The president asked that the reha-

bilitation and reconstruction work is done in a transparent and accountable way so that it would

not create problems later on," Maarif said.

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