THE HARRY POTTER CRAZE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 30 (ANTARA) - The Harry Potter craze seems  to have also hit Indonesian movie fans as evident from the long queues  seen at theaters' ticket counters days before last Friday's Indonesian premiere of  "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows."     People were willing to stand in line for hours just to buy  a ticket for the show, and later could consider themselves lucky if they  has gotten one as no small number of others went home disappointed because  tickets at all theaters were sold out even  two days before Friday.          While the Harry Potter spectators' explosion could have been caused by the fact that they had long missed box office films at Indonesian movies, the high interest of moviegoers could also be related to the success of the story on the boy wizard which had raked  up a record of US$476 million in ticket sales world-wide.          The final Harry Potter film shattered box office records worldwide with a whopping US$168.6 million in US and Canadian ticket sales over the opening weekend and nearly U$476 million globally.          After stopping the screening of  box office films for a long time, the Theater 21 movie network began on Friday to entertain  audiences with  "Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2."     Theater 21 Operations Director Jimmy Harianto said the Harry Potter Part 2 film was shown simultaneously at 40 Theater 21 movie houses across the country.         He hoped that the reentry into the country of foreign films would have a positive impact on the creative industry in Indonesia, particularly on the film industry  as it would provide inspirations for film stakeholders to create better products.          The high interest of Indonesian Harry Potter lovers is reflected in the sales of tickets at a number of movies in Jakarta and other cities where tickets were  already sold out even two days before the show.          Manager of Kelapa Gading XXI theater in North Jakarta, Dasuki, said that tickets for Friday's screening were sold out one day before the show so that moviegoers who wanted to watch the film had to wait for another two days.         The Kelapa Gading XXI cineplex showed Harry Potter simultaneously at its six studios. The same thing also happened with the Epicentrum, all of its theaters put Harry Potter on their screens.          Somali, manager of Epicentrum in Kuningan Central Jakarta, said his movies would screen Harry Potter for several days ahead and tickets had been sold up.         The condition also was experienced by EX XXI theater, Tickets were ordered by institutions and companies which hired one of its theaters for watching latest Harry Potter's sequel collectively.          EX XXI manager Rohadi said a number of institutions and business groups had hired one of its theaters for a joint watch of Harry Potter 2. "They have ordered it long before," he said.          In a number of theaters in Jakarta, one could see long queues of moviegoers who wanted to watch the ability of the boy wizard to vanquish the dark knight and a band of pirates. Spectators did not mind at all to stand in queue because they had been waiting for the film since long.          "There is no problem even if I have to queue and wait for hours. I am now in queue for a ticket but for watching the film tomorrow," Lia, one of the moviegoers who had snaked down before the ticket counter, said.          She said the long queue had happened because movie lovers had been longed for Hollywood films.          Operators of Theater 21 movie networks in Bandung, West Java, also put on their screens the latest sequel, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2. "Of the four studios of our BTC XXI, four showed Harry Potter," Public Relations BTC Fashion Mall R Lupiana Sekarwati said on Thursday.          Luppi said BTC XXI played Harry Potter on the screens of four of its studios to cater the explosion of spectators. "We have predicted that the audience of Harry Potter would explode so that we are preparing four studios all at once to serve our audiences," said Luppi.          She said that the film which was based on a J.K. Rowling's fiction novel was played every hour at four of BTC XXI studios. "The film screening begins at 12.00 and is played at each hour," she said.          Operator of Empire 21, one of the Theater 21's Bandung Indah Plaza (BIP) theaters, also did the same thing. "Of the six studios we have, four are playing Harry Potter, two are showing national films," Marketing Communication Manager of Bandung Indah Plaza Tubagus Feisal Yusuf said.          Tubagus said that although Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows-Part 2 began to be screened on Friday yet the spectators had hunted the tickets since Wednesday.          "We open the window for ticket sales before the film is played because on-lookers had packed the ticket window of Empire 21," said Tubagus Feisal Yusuf.          Long queues for tickets are also seen at a number of theaters in Semarang, Central Java. Movie goers who stood in queues were dominated by young spectators.          Public Relation (PR) Executive of Entertainment Plaza Semarang, Anggita Setia Dara said that on Friday the queues of ticket hunters had snaked down hours before the windows were opened at 12 a.m.          "At E Plaza Semarang theater we have four film screening schedules, namely at 1.00 p.m, 3.00 p.m, 6.00 p.m, and at 8.45 p.m so that we open the ticket counter  12.00 a.m but many come several hours earlier," she said.          She said Theater E Plaza had three studios with a total  capacity of 369 seats. Two studios are for Harry Potter and one for Blitz film.          She said that her theater prepared 1,000 tickets a day for the screening of Harry Potter and the seats were always fully booked.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/15:05/a014) 30-07-2011 15:25:1

RI'S SUGAR PRODUCTION LIKELY TO MISS TARGET

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 29 (ANTARA) - Amid legislators' calls on the government to continue monitoring progress of its sugar self-sufficiency roadmap, the Indonesian Sugar Council (DGI) is revising downward its sugar production target this year from 2.7 million to 2.57 million tons.          It seems that the country is unable to meet the target because of weather anomalies that affected various sugar cane plantations. Thus, the country's crystal white sugar production is expected to reach only 2.57 million tons lower than the earlier projection of 2.7 million tons.          "The production is estimated to be lower than the earlier target because of the effect of last year's weather anomalies is still felt this year," Head of DGI Secretariat Bambang Priyono said here on Thursday.          Although crystal white sugar production this year is lower than the initial prediction, yet production in 2011 will still be better than that of last year, when crystal white sugar production totaled 2.36 million tons only.          While this year's production estimate is only 2.57 million tons, the government has set the target of national sugar production at 5-5.5 million tons per year to reach self-sufficiency in 2014.          To achieve the target, according to Vice Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurti, the government has adopted a number of policies, including allocating Rp9 trillion in funds for the revitalization of sugar mills across the country.          There are about 60 sugar factories at home which in 2009 were able to produce 2.7 million tons of sugar, though their production has been showing a downward trend in the last two years.          "Only Rp1.5 trillion of the funds has been absorbed so many sugar mills have not been revitalized," Bayu said. Some Rp55-60 billion have also been allocated for the development of sugarcane seedling.          The decline in the production is expected not to affect the government plan to become sugar self-sufficient in 2014. Therefore, legislators called on the government to keep on monitoring the development of sugar industry in the country.          "The progress of the sugar self-efficiency road map program should be reported to the House once every six months through Commission VI," Chairman of Commission VI on trade and industry affairs Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday.          The Commission VI's call is one of the conclusions reached during a joint-working meeting between Commission VI and the United Indonesia Cabinet ministers responsible for economic affairs.          He said that the government should evaluate and monitor its sugar road map program which among others covered national sugar production balance, action plans, achievement targets, schedules and budgets.          In the meeting, the House Commission VI asked the government to formulate a comprehensive system of incentives, subsidy program, land auditing, 350,000 hectares of land for sugar new cane plantations in support of the 2014 sugar self-reliant program.          Indonesia's sugarcane plantations at present cover about 480,148 hectares in 2009.          According to Agriculture Minister Suswono, based on the results of a survey, the country now has around 7.3 million hectares of idle land. Nearly 2 million hectares of the land could be used as farm land including sugarcane plantation.          So, if the acreage of plantations could be expanded and the number of sugar factories could be increased, it is expected that the country would become self-sufficient in sugar production and does not need to import the commodity.         So far, Indonesia has been importing sugar to cover the balance its sugar needs. Its own sugar production could only meet about 50 percent of its total industry and consumption needs amounting to 5 million tons per annum.          This year, over 200,000 tons of sugar still has to be imported to increase stocks.  At the end of last May, the trade ministry issued licenses for the importation of 224,000 tons of raw sugar by seven sugar producers.          The licenses to import the sugar were among others issued for PT. Perkebunan Nusantara IX (12,600 ton), PT. Perkebunan Nusantara X (30,000 ton) and PT. Perkebunan Nusantara XI (22,800 ton).          Besides, the licenses were also issued for PT. Industri Gula Nusantara (100,000 ton), PT. Kebon Agung (7,000 ton), PT. Lajuperdana Indah (24,000 ton), and PT. PG. Gorontalo (27,800 ton).          But in a coordination meeting on Thursday, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu explained that the companies which had been given the license to import sugar were unlikely to carry out the sugar import quota.          State-owned sugar producer companies that have obtained the quota will not realize some of their raw sugar import quota because they have no longer idle processing capacity to produce crystal white sugar in the current milling season.          "We have issued licenses for the importation of raw sugar but we have received a report that the proceeds of farmers' sugar cane are more than enough so that they will not realize their raw sugar import quota," Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said.          President Director of PT Perkebunan Nusantara XI, Irwan Basri said that during the milling season this year, the capacity of state-owned sugar mills had been fully used to process sugar cane production.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/17:00/a014) 29-07-2011 17:09:

MUI ISSUES 'HARAM' ADVICE ON MINING

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 27 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Ulema Council has issued a fatwa/advice that it is 'haram' (not allowed by Islam) to exploit natural resources that causes damage to the environment and whose proceeds are not for improving people's prosperity.          "We see that natural resource exploitation has been so excessive that it has  caused damage. Even, there is possibility that our natural resources have been tapped for certain parties not for the prosperity of the people," Chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) for fatwa (religious advice) affairs Ma'ruf Amin said.          Damage to the environment in Indonesia could among others be detected when various parts of the country are affected by floods, landslides and other natural disasters during the rainy season and when the dry season comes, people suffered from shortage of water , forest fires, crop failures and many others.         Many still have doubts whether mining companies, particularly foreign ones, have been operating and exploiting the country's natural resources for the development of the people's welfare.          Observers recently even cast spotlight on Law No. 30 / 2007 on the mining sector. This law among others has a stipulation which enables foreign firms to gain control of 95 percent  of the mining sector.          Senior economist of the Advisory Group on Economic Industry and Trade (Econit) Hendri Saparini said many laws were pro-foreigners and disadvantaged the Indonesian people in the long run.          Therefore, she said, the government should evaluate the implementation of the mining licenses, which reached 6,000 units.          After all, the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said recently up to 2010 there were still 33 mining companies which owed over US$583 million in unpaid oil and gas taxes to the state.          This basically features whether the benefit of natural resource exploitation has been designed for the improvement of people's welfare, and whether the mining activities in the country have been done in the environmentally-friendly manner.          Based on the observation of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the level of damage to the environment in Indonesia has been so serious, prompting it to issue an edict or fatwa regarding the environment.         "MUI, based on its deep observation, has issued an edict on environmentally-friendly mining because it is concerned to see the conditions of damage to the environment," MUI chairman for fatwa affairs, Ma'ruf Amin said here on Wednesday.          He said that in Islam damage was divided into two, namely morality damage and material damage. Damage to nature is attributable to damage to morality so that morality should be improved.          In its edict, the MUI said natural resources could be exploited as far as it was aimed for the people's prosperity, but in doing so it should not cause damage to the environment.  "Based on the MUI observation, our environment has been seriously damaged. Religion teaches us to prevent damage," he said.          He said that mining activities are haram if they created  sufferings to the people,  and that government had the obligation to prevent it. "Islam teaches that any matters that cause damage should be prevented,"  Ma'ruf Amin added.          In principle, Islam recommends the development of people's prosperity and the prevention of damage, or at least efforts should be made to optimize benefits and minimize damage, he said.          In the meantime, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta hailed the MUI fatwa as it could reinforce positive law and serves as a normative reference for the government and mining firms in the management of the environment.          "The office of the Environment Minister already has a positive law which regulates sanctions against environmental offenses but we also use other ways  and means to produce sanctions," Minister of Environment Gusti Muhammad Hatta said here on Tuesday.          The minister said that natural resources had been created to be utilized by human beings but each activity would have impact so that efforts to minimize the impact should be made.          "We welcome the MUI fatwa on environmentally-friendly mining because no more-detailed ruling has been issued so far so that in a mining location, hills could be excavated until they even become lakes. So, MUI has just taken a proper decision to give priority to mining in its fatwa," Gusti said.          He said in the forestry sector for example there was already a ruling or a provision which regulateed that trees that were allowed to be cut down were those with a diameter of over 50 cm.          Actually, the fatwa on the mining sector has been planned since in the past six months. According to  Ilyas Asaad, a deputy for environment communication and people's empowerment at the office of the environment minister, MUI and the ministry of environment has signed an MoU on December 15, 2010.          "The MoU, however, did not specify what fatwa the MUI was going to produce. So, over the past six months we have intensive discussions until the formulation of a fatwa was finished on July 5, 2011," he said.          The MUI fatwa was expected to serve as a basis for the regional governments and businesses in the management of the environment.          Yet, Ma'aruf said MUI had issued the fatwa without anybody's order. "The MUI issued the edict without being ordered to by any party. So far, many people think that, if a MUI fatwa is in line with the desire of the government, the advice is issued based on an order," Ma'aruf said.          He said that MUI issued the fatwa based on its deep observation and concern over the serious damage being done to the environment.The MUI chairman said ulema (Muslim clerics) were concerned about damage to the environment.          Therefore, they  had set up an institution which dealt  with  environmental issues, namely MUI's Agency for Environmental Appreciation.          "Therefore, we are cooperating with the Ministry of the Environment," he said.***4*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/22:45/A/O001) 27-07-2011 22:57

LOCAL FOODS EXPECTED TO REPLACE RICE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 27 (ANTARA) - Rice is the most popular staple food for 237.6 million people in Indonesia, yet the government is conducting a study to promote local foods such as tubers, cassava, maize, sago and sweet potatoes.          Apart from that, an agriculture observer has also raised an  idea to cut rice consumption in line with the increasing number of population which is expected to reach 300 million in 2030.          The idea to reduce rice consumption came up amid the government efforts to create food resilience and promote local foods as staples.       The problem is that can people change their habit of eating rice, even they have alternative local foods? That is the reason why the government is now carrying out studies to assure whether or not rice could be replaced with local foods.          "We are conducting studies whether local foods can replace rice as staple ones. We hope these studies would have been completed this very year," Head of Food Resilience Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture Achmad Suryana said.           Though there are many kinds of local foods that can become alternative staples, yet rice for many people is a must. This because rice has become a staple for all classes in Indonesia, and it holds the central place in Indonesian culture.           According to Wikipedia.com, rice shapes the landscape, is sold at markets, and is served in most meals both as a savory and a sweet food.  Rice is most often eaten as plain rice with just a few protein and vegetable dishes as side dishes.          It is also served, however, as nasi uduk (rice cooked in coconut milk), nasi kuning (rice cooked with coconut milk and turmeric), ketupat (rice steamed in woven packets of coconut fronds), lontong (rice steamed in banana leaves), intip or rengginang (rice crackers), desserts, vermicelli, noodles, arak beras (rice wine), and nasi goreng (fried rice). Nasi goreng is omnipresent in Indonesia and considered as a national dish.          Seeing these facts on the popularity of rice served in most meals from Sabang in the Western tip of Sumatra to Marauke in the eastern part of Papua,  it would be hard for locals, except for certain tribes, to change rice.           Yet, Achmad Suryana showed his optimism. He hoped that the study on the possibility of changing rice with other local foods would be completed this very year and be reported to the office of the chief economic minister and the minister for people's welfare.       "We hope that, if approved, this program would have been launched next year," Achmad said.          In order to implement the plan,  the government will incorporate it with its 'raskin' program, namely a scheme where the government distributes cheap rice for poor families in the country.          The on-going government's rice for the poor (raskin) program may next year include allocation of local foods instead of merely rice.          In line with its raskin program, the government is studying the utilization of non-rice food stuff, or local foods to be included in the raskin program.          It is expected to include cassava, maize, sago and tuber that have become the staples of the local people.          Thus the 'raskin' (rice for the poor) program will change into 'pangkin' (food for the poor) scheme. This program will include in the first stage the extension of food  packages to poor families which are composed of  10 kg rice and 5 kg local foods (such as cassava, sago, maize, corn, tuber or other local foods).          In the second year, the portion of rice in the 'pangkin' packages will be reduced to 5 kg while local foods will be increased to 10 kg. And in the second year, the pankin packages will 100 percent be composed of 15 kg local foods.          Local foods in Indonesia vary, including a number of starchy tubers and maize. Cassava and dried cassava, locally known as tiwul, is an alternate staple food in arid areas of Java such as Gunung Kidul and Wonogiri, while other roots and tubers are eaten especially in hard times.          Maize is eaten in drier regions such as Madura and the Lesser Sunda Islands. A sago congee called Papeda is a staple food especially in Maluku and Papua.          Besides trying to change rice with local foods, an observer also suggested that people would reduce their rice consumption so that the country's target to achieve self-reliance in food would be achieved.          For this purposes, the government is expected to cut the rice per capita consumption of the people from the current 130 kg a year to 60 kg.          "The government must be optimistic that it will be able to keep down per capita rice consumption to 60 kg per year in the next 20 years, the more so because the country is projected to have a population of 300 million in 2030," agriculture observer Bungaran Saragih said at a food security seminar in Jakarta on Monday.          With an annual population growth rate of 1 percent, the Indonesian population would increase by 2.4 million per year.  Consequently, demand for rice would continue to increase and rice prices would become high.          If per capita rice consumption could be lowered to 100 kg from 130 kg a year the country would be able to reduce rice consumption by 30 percent, he said.          Actually, at present, Indonesia has almost reached self-reliance in food. National need for rice is estimated at 31.68 million tons a year, while its production, in 2008 for example, reached 59.88 million tons of dry unhusked rice or equivalent to about 34 million tons of rice.          Now, Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said that rice stocks were enough because Indonesia was now almost self-reliant in rice, even it was now able to export premium rice.         "We have reached 98.2 percent in rice self-reliance, we are already in a self-reliant category. So, there is no need to be worried," he said.***5*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/F001) 27-07-2011 10:18:5

PEOPLE CALL FOR PROBE OF GRAFT IN GOVT PROJECTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 25 (ANTARA)  - Calls on law enforcing institutions to investigate alleged corruption in government projects have been on the rise since the case of corruption suspect former Democrat Party  treasurer Nazaruddin came up to the surface of late.         Legal institutions, such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) should have the guts to investigate alleged bribery practices in government projects such as the alleged bribery in an athlete center project in Hambalang village, Bogor, West Java.         Contractors of the Hambalang project, PT Adhi Karya and PT Wijaya Karya, are  accused by Nazaruddin that they have won the tenders  because they give bribes. Therefore, the KPK and AGO are called on to summon and examine the managements of the two companies.          "The KPK and AGO,  should act and investigate the case in order to prove whether the allegation by Nazaruddin is true or not, Executive Director of Public Policy Study Center Sofyano Zakaria said last week in response to Nazaruddin's accusation.          Nazaruddin who is also a legislator of the Democrat Party (PD) fled to Singapore one day before he was banned from overseas trip recently in connection with his alleged involvement in a corruption case worth Rp3.2 billion in the construction of a SEA Games athlete house in Palembang, South Sumatra.          Sofyano urged the KPK to investigate the Hambalang athlete case. He called on the anti-graft body not to make red-handed arrest only," KPK should not only catch red-handed suspects with evidence", he said.          However, according to Ichsanuddin Noorsy, director of Public Policy Study Institute,  legal facts are needed to take the alleged Hambalang bribery case to the legal process. Yet, in the reality context, what have been said by Nazarduddin can all be categorized as a fact of an event whose investigation does not need the burden of proof principle.         In a telephone conversation with a private TV station last week, Nazaruddin said that the Hambalang athlete training center project was one of the projects whose tender winners had been decided even before they were called.         Nazaruddin said PT Adhi Karya and PT Wijaya Karya paid Rp100 billion in bribes to win the tenders for the project worth Rp1.5 trillion. In the conversation from his hideouts overseas, Nazaruddin said that PT Anugrah Nusantara played a role in arranging government contracts whose funds were to be taken from the revised state budget.          PT Anugrah Nusantara, which Nazaruddin said belongs to Anas Urbaningrum, general chairman of the ruling Democrat Party (PD),  collected a lot (of funds) from state-owned companies (SOE) such as Adhi Karya (ADHI) and Wijaya Karya (Wika) to enable them to win a tender.          The Hambalang project is a sports center project designed for athletes in Hambalang village, Citeureup sub district, Bogor district, West Java.          This athlete training center consisted of several buildings, such as dormitory and training halls. This project which belongs to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, sits on an area of 32 hectares and is expected to be completed in 2013.          Two state-owned enterprises operating in the construction business, Adhi Karya and Wijaya Karaya are the winner of the project. Based on first quarter 2011 financial report of PT Adhi Karya, the project is worth Rp1.518 trillion.          In the joint-venture business firm of the project, named Adhi Wika JO, Adhi Karya owns 70 percent of the shares while the remaining 30 percent belong to Wijaya Karya. The financial report also shows that the project is still undergoing.          According to Ichsanuddin, what was revealed by Nazaruddin in the TV telephone conversation was a normal practice in the business world, yet if the bribery practices involved state institutions they could have bad impact on the enforcement of the law. This is because bribery practices which involved government institutions would prompt corrupt practices.          Thus, the bribery case with the two state-owned firms is a public secrete. What has been done by Adhi Karya and Wijaya Karya is a normal practice in the business world anywhere.          Conspiracy of that kind in the country will only end with moral and social sanctions from the public. This is because the legal system in Indonesia is still trapped in the legal positivism aspect.          Researcher of Institute for Development of Economics and Finance Indonesia, Aviliani, said meanwhile that state-owned companies had practiced bribery cases since a long ago. Yet in recent days cases of this kind of practices in publicly listed state firms had declined because these companies were required to operate transparently and openly.          They are required to report to the Capital Market Supervisory Board - Financial Institution (Bapepam-LK) the process of each of the tender they have organized.          She said that bribery practices at state-owned companies which were not yet publicly listed such as Pertamina (oil and gas firm) and PLN (electricity) was still difficult to be monitored.          In this case, Aviliani expressed hoped that political parties would not disturb national development by seeking advantage for only a group of people.  What has been accused of by Nazruddin should serve as a reminder for political parties.          "Nazaruddin's disclosure is only a peak of an iceberg that calls for good governance in projects involving state companies," she said.          Nazaruddin, whose whereabouts are now unknown, has become fugitive. He is linked to a corruption case in the SEA Games athlete house in Pelambang. Rosalina Manulang, one of the suspects in the case, when grilled by KPK said she was a subordinate of Muhammad Nazaruddin.***3*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/14:37/f001) 25-07-2011 14:42:3

DEMOCRAT PARTY MEETS TO CONSOLIDATE AMID 'STORMS'

Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 23 (ANTARA) - The ruling Democrat Party (PD) began a two-day coordination meeting in Sentul, West Java, on Saturday to consolidate its cadres amid alleged internal frictions and corruption allegations.          At the opening of the meeting, PD General Chairman Anas Urbaningrum called on PD cadres to make use of the coordination meeting as a momentum to carry out internal consolidation and to show common solidarity and cooperation.          "Democrat Party cadres must be able to prove that the issue of internal frictions within the party is merely a public perception. Therefore, cadres must be able to always carry out internal consolidation until they show that their party is a big, modern and solid one," the PD general chairman said.          The Democrat Party is holding the coordination meeting amid storms of attacks linked to the case of its former treasurer corruption suspect M Nazaruddin who recently indicated in a private TV station interview that certain top leaders of the party were also involved in the corruption deal.          Anas said in order to become a modern and big party, its cadres must always cooperate and  not be influenced by negative issues.          He said that in recent days he had become a target of strong attacks to weaken his party. He said that he felt he was now the target of strong attacks amid the sensational issues plaguing the PD of late.          "I can feel I am the target of strong attacks as  general chairman of the Democrat Party," Anas Urbaningrum said when addressing the National Coordination Meeting of the PD at the Sentul International Convention Center (SICC , West Java, on Saturday.           He said  in the face of the attacks he was following a lesson he had learned from PD Chief Patron Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is also president of the Republic of Indonesia.           "I really learned from the chief patron that we have to remain strong in the face of ordeals. We have to stand firm and consistently wage our struggle because they are our answers to the public," Anas said.           Anas said the onslaught aimed at him was nothing comparable to the attacks launched against the PD chief patron so far. He said many attacks and slanderous allegations were aimed at PD to weaken and discredit the leadership of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.          "But he continues to demonstrate that a leader must continue to show patience and ability," he said.          In the meantime, the Democrat Party also admitted that some of its cadres were not yet clean.          In his opening speech, Yudhoyono reminded all cadres who failed to uphold civility and cleanliness in politics to get out of the party he had established.          Yudhoyono said cadres who failed to follow the principle and ethics of struggle should leave the Democratic Party.      "With goodwill and good name, for the honor and glory of the party, I want to convey to the cadres that anyone among us who does not want and is unable to uphold the principles and ethics of struggle should better leave this political party," Yudhoyono asserted.          Yet,  Yudhoyono also reminded that people should also uphold the presumption of innocent principles. He stressed this when referring to the case of fugitive former PD treasurer Nazaruddin.          "Let's uphold the principle of presumption of innocent. Whatever happens within the party, we should include it as a part in our efforts to put in order and improve the party," he said.           At the end of his address to about 5,000 DP cadres, Yudhoyono also called on Nazaruddin to return to the country.  If Nazaruddin does not return to Indonesia, he said, the people would continue to be confused, the domestic politics would continue to be filled with suspicions, premature conclusions and unilateral trials.          "We must uphold the rule of law. Therefore, it should be the court that should decide whether or not a person is guilty. We call it trial by the court, not trial by the press, trial by SMS, neither trial by BBM," he said.          But PD chief patron wanted that his party would be clean from cadres who only ruined its credibility and dignity.          Therefore, the Party will list the names of cadres it is considering problematic. Those who are proven problematic would be given sanctions.          Democrat Party (PD)'s Board of Patrons Ahmad Mubarok said the party would impose sanctions, including dismissal from membership, on problematic cadres.  "The names of problematic cadres have been noted by the party's Ethics Council for further processing," Ahmad Mubarok said.          Mubarok said the sanctions on problematic cadres were necessary to save the party and safeguard its identity as suggested by chairman of the Party's Board of Patrons, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who had given the directives that the Democrat Party should always uphold civility in politics, remain clean and perform better.          "The Democrat Party adopted this identity since the beginning  but in reality there were still badly performing, uncivil and unclean cadres in the party,"he said.          According to Mubarok, the Ethics Council will collect names of problematic cadres.  The action will be taken after the ongoing coordination meeting was concluded.  "The national coordination meeting will produce some recommendations among others for the Ethics Council to process problematic cadres," he said.           He said the names of the problem cadres have not yet been listed by the Council as the Council still has yet to collect them. The actions  against cadres involved in problems would be based upon the degree of their problems starting from verbal reprimand, written reprimand to dismissal from party membership.          Mubarok did not yet reveal the names of problematic cadres already noted by the Ethics Council.  "It is unethical to mention the names of the cadres now as the recommendations will only be submitted on Sunday (July 24)," he said.***3*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/00:00/H-YH) 24-07-2011 00:04

SOCIAL SECURITY BILL PUT TO NEXT HOUSE SITTING

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 22 (ANTARA)  - The government and the House are forced to extend the deliberation time-line of the Bill on Social Security Management Agency (RUU BPJS) over opposition on the planned merger of four state-owned insurance firms into BPJS based on the draft law.           "We agreed in view of the importance of the bill to discuss it again in the next House sitting period to assure that no more problem is left when it is passed" the President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said after a meeting with the House leadership on Thursday evening.          The government has previously agreed to speed up the enactment of the bill following insistence from many quarters, particularly trade unions, that the bill which had been drafted since the era of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, has to be endorsed soon.          However, the House of Representatives (DPR) and the government are not yet able to finish deliberating it in the current House sitting due to opposition to a clause in the bill that suggested the  transformation into BPJS of four SOEs that have so far been operating in social insurance services.          The four insurance agency SOEs are Jamsostek (for workers), Taspen (civil servants), Asabri (the military) and Askes (health insurance for civil servants). The opposition reportedly came to surface in recent rallies organized by a handful of the elite circles of the four state-owned firms' workers' unions.          "The government and the DPR agreed that the BPJS bill has to be settled. All the problems hindering its settlement so far have basically happened merely because information has not been received fully. So there is nothing extraordinary. But it needs time discuss it in more detail so that the law later could be implemented well not only by the present but also future governments and would not leave a "time bomb"," House Speaker Marzuki Alie said meanwhile.          President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Vice President Boediono and the House leadership met at the State Guest House on Thursday to discuss the  problem of bill.          The head of state said the decision to extend its discussion was made to assure that no problem was left when it was enacted to hinder or cause problems to the present and next government during its implementation. It must be assured that things would go smoothly when implemented such as the merger of a number of state-owned companies operating in insurance and social security business.           "Discussions have already narrowed down to one or two issues such as about the merger of insurance agencies like Jamsostek, Taspen, Asabri and Askes. This must be put in order well while the transition must be realistic so that no serious problem is left. We do not want problems to arise after it is enacted," President Yudhoyono said.           Earlier, the House's BPJS Special Committee and the government in a working meeting agreed to submit a proposal to the DPR plenary that the time-line for deliberations on the bill be extended to the DPR's next meeting period.          "The DPR's  RUU BPJS Special Committee   and the government agreed to propose to the plenary that the time allotted for deliberations on the bill be extended to the House's next sitting," chairman of the House's Special Committee, Ahmad Nizar Shibah, said on Sunday night.           Ahmad was reading out the conclusions of the working meeting between the government and the House special committee.  The other conclusion of the working meeting was that the government had accepted the report of the working committee on RUU BPJS. "The Special Committee and the government agreed to accept the report of the working committee on condition that point 2g of the report should be dropped," Ahmad said.          Clause or point 2g concerns the transformation of four state-owned social security firms, namely PT Taspen, PT Asabri, PT Askes and PT Jamsostek into two BPJSs. But it has sparked polemics and was rejected by a number of interest groups in society.          There are even allegations that foreign interest have interfered in the deal over the bill, but the House circles denied it.          Earlier, two economists, Didiek Rachbini and Faisal Basri, said there were sides who felt their 'game instruments' were to disappear if the four SOEs were transformed into a BPJS.          A researcher concurred the economists' view. "The problem is with the SOEs   which so far have collected hundreds of trillions of funds. It seems that there are parities who do not like if they become BPJS," Nusantara Study Institute (ISN) researcher Michael Umbas said.          As it was reported, the allegations over the presence of foreign involvement in the formulation of the bill came to the surface in line with the appearance of protests initiated by a handful of SOE's workers union elite.          Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso denied the allegation. He said the allegation had come to the surface when the four SOEs were expected to be transformed into two social security management agencies (BPJS).  "So, the House as if only talks about how to transform the SOE into a BPJS. This allegation is exaggerating," Priyo said.          "We hope our friends in the four SOEs would not think that we are going to dismantle the firms which so far have made great contribution," he said.          Chairman of the executive board of SOKSI (a Golkar Party's workers organization), Ade Komarudin regretted the fact that deliberations on the bill were not yet finished until now because the people urgently needed the law.       He said the majority of SOKSI members were workers such as laborers, farmers and fishermen.  "Therefore, SOKSI has instructed its cadres to seriously fight for the passing into law of the bill in the interest of the people.          Labor unions have urged the government and the House enact the bill. "We call on the government to endorse the bill this year so that the Social Insurance Management Agency can also be established this year," President of the Confederation of the Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (KSBSI), Mudhofir said last May.         Workers need the enactment of the RUU BPJS as a legal instrument to implement five insurance programs stipulated in Law No. 40 / 2004. The five social insurance programs contained in the law are national health insurance, old age insurance, occupational accident insurance, life insurance and pensioner insurance.***3*** (T.A014/ A/H-NG  ) 22-07-2011 11:17:2

RI ECONOMY TO PERFORM BETTER IN SECOND SEMESTER

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 20 (ANTARA) - Economic observers have predicted that Indonesia's economic performance will be better in the second semester, driven by government expenditures, capital inflows, public consumption and foreign investment.          "The government is likely to spend more capital expenditures on infrastructure development while foreign investment in the domestic markets is increasing, it even has entered the real sector," Economic observer of PT First Asia Capital Ifan Kurniawan said.          So far, foreign business players only liked to put money in the portfolio investment such as in the stock and money markets, bonds and Bank Indonesia (BI/the central bank) instruments, yet they have now entered the real sector, he said.          Therefore, he said, Indonesia's economy will grow by 6.8 percent in the second semester, which is higher than that in the first semester which is recorded at 6.5 percent. After all, the government will disburse big capital expenditures because in the second semester it has to do many projects.          "We are optimistic that the country's economy will grow and record better performance," he said. Indonesia is seen by investors as a good place to relocate their business production relocation.           He said that the better economic performance would had convinced foreign investors that Indonesia's economic conditions were increasingly improving. Moreover, Indonesia's economic growth is seen as natural.          Faisal Basri, economist of the University of Indonesia (UI) said he believed Indonesia's current economic growth was not a bubble.  "Indonesia's economy has grown naturally and there is no indication it is a bubble.         He said investors who wished to put their money in a country certainly would be very careful and consider to what extent its economy would grow.  "Investors also are not stupid. What happens in Indonesia now is positive growth," he said.          He said the capital inflow so far was driven by domestic economic growth which was good as could be seen among others in the growth of the capital market.          "So if I have money I would rather put it all in shares. Investing in a country with positive growth, we may just sleep and see the price of shares rising by itself," he said.          According to Bank Indonesia spokesman Difi A Johansyah, the strong capital inflows were reflected by foreign holding of state debt securities which reached about Rp242 trillion or 33.8 percent of the overall state debt securities issued.          Meanwhile, foreign investment put in Bank Indonesia Certificates (SBI) at the central bank reached Rp60.3 trillion or 33 percent of the overall SBI amounting to Rp189 trillion.          Faisal Basri said that the in next four years, the country's economy would still continue to grow and it was predicted capital inflows could reach US$25 billion until the end of 2011 to increase the country's foreign exchange reserves.          "In the next four years Indonesia's economy will continue to expand. Total capital inflows could reach US$25 billion and this will only increase our foreign exchange reserves," he said.          Basri however expressed disappointment that the benefits of Indonesia's favorable economic conditions were only being enjoyed by foreign investors so far as 70 percent of market players were foreigners.          "The problem now is that those who enjoyed the increasing price of shares in Indonesia are 70 percent foreigners because domestic investors have been threatened with bubble issue," he said.          According to Ifan, the onslaught of foreign capital inflows is partly due to the fact they restrain from putting their money in the United States and Europe which are not yet fully recovered from the impact of recent global financial crisis.          Bank Indonesia's Deputy Governor Budi Mulia shared Ifan's view saying that the prospects of global economy are still overshadowed by some risks among others due to Greek debt crisis and the slowdown of the Chinese economy.          At the same time, the Asian region is offering favorable business climate for foreign investment. This condition gives advantage to Indonesia as investors  see it as a more promising place for investment than other Asian countries like China and India.          In China production cost is increasing while India is having high inflation and imposing high interest rates.          Apart from that Vietnam is even undergoing inflation up to 11 percent, Ifan said.          This is one of the reasons why Indonesia will likely serve as a basis for relocation of foreign investors' business production that will in the end generate the development of the real sector and boost the country's economic growth,  he said.          After all, the central bank's deputy governor, Budi Mulia, has earlier predicted that  foreign investment is projected to reach US$16.7 billion this year or bigger than US$13 billion in 2010. Foreign investment in portfolios meanwhile is estimated to reach US$11 billion.          The country's improving economic conditions prompted the central bank to revise upward its previous economic growth prediction.          Bank Indonesia has raised its earlier projection that Indonesia's economic growth in the second semester will be at a range between 6.3 percent and 6.8 percent from its previous projection of between 6.1 percent and 6.6 percent.***5*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/A/O001) 20-07-2011 13:32

BAZAARS EXPECTED TO COUNTER PRICE HIKES DURING RAMADHAN

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 19 (ANTARA) - As the fasting month of Ramadhan is approaching, the prices of certain commodities have been showing an upward trend, while the government is pursuing various policies to prevent or counter sharp price hikes.          Although at present the prices of a number of commodities such as cooking oil, chili and sugar are going down, those of  other commodities  such as rice, chickens and eggs are now increasing.         Like in previous years, the prices of basic necessities always increase during the fasting month and the Lebaran festivities. Thus, prices  will invariably increase, particularly a week before the Idul Fitri festivities.          In order to normalize prices, guarantee the availability of supplies and provide cheap commodities for low-income people during the fasting month and the post-fasting Idul Fitri or Lebaran, the government will conduct market operations, organize bazaars and double food supplies.          The trade minister said that the National Logistics Agency Bulog should also increase its role in suppressing basic necessity price increases. "But Bulog is expected to launch market operations at  retail markets while the trade ministry at wholesale markets," she added.          In anticipation of lack of stocks or supplies, the government will double its staples supplies.          Deputy Agriculture Minister Bayu Krisnamurthi said that the government had prepared higher stocks (from 1.5 to 2.5 times higher then the normal one) of food and beverages each time the fasting month arrived.          He said that the government faced no problems with the availability of basic food such as meat, sugar, cooking oil, rice and wheat and it was expected that they would be enough until the end of Ramadhan.          The government will also organize bazaars in various parts of the country to give a chance to low-income people to enjoy various basic necessities with relatively low prices during the fasting month.          "Bazaars are expected to reduce the burden of low-income people," Minister Mari said on Tuesday. The bazaars would be organized together with the central and regional governments in various regions.          "We even have a proposal from an East Java region to set up a kind of 'Ramadhan village' where low-priced basic necessities are to be sold there until the end of the fasting month," she said.          The minister said that the demand for various basic necessities usually increased by about 20 percent in the run-up to the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities or Lebaran. At present however, the minister said, some prices on the national scale are now on the rise but some others are going down.          "Price increases have happened with rice, chicken meat and eggs while prices going down occurred with cooking oil, chili and sugar," she added.          Mari said that the price of meat (beaf) usually increased several days before the Idul Fitri festivities. "Usually, price hikes take place three days before the D-Day but after the peak day, it goes down again," the trade minister said.          Yet there is no problem with meat stocks. The stocks are enough for three months ahead.          Executive Director of the Indonesian Meat Importers Association (Aspidi), Thomas Sembiring said his association had prepared 150,000 cows to ensure meat stocks for three months.          Agriculture Minister Suswono has earlier guaranteed that the government would increase its meat stocks by about 7,000 tons.          In order to monitor the developments of prices and commodity stocks, the government is setting up a 24-hour command post to monitor the developments.          "It could happen that stocks run short due to a weather or distribution factor. We hope the media will report it to us if there are sharp price hikes. We have prepared a 24-hour command post to monitor these conditions and to coordinate with the regions," Mari Elka Pangestu said.           The minister explained that when her side conducted a market operation recently she was informed that traders had also increased their stocks to anticipate rising demand in the face the fasting month.          "We also held coordination, observation and field checks in the Cipinang Rice Wholesale Market last week," she said.          Rice price at East Jakarta's Cipinang Rice Wholesale Market (PIBC) has begun to increase.          Head of the Trade and Food Data Section of the PIBC, Suminta, said that the rice price had begun to increase because the fasting month would already begin early next month while farmers' rice harvest season was now about to end. The fasting month will start early next August.              After all, a number of regions such as Karawang had also faced difficulties to obtain rice, yet the problem still could be overcome by procuring unhulled rice from Lampung in Sumatra, she said. "Rice price has been increasing gradually since last week by 100 per kg to Rp200 per kg," she said.          Based on the PIBC data on July 19, 2011, the price of Muncul I rice was Rp7,750 per kg, Muncul II Rp7.200 per kg,  Muncul III Rp6.700 per kg, IR-64 I Rp7.500 per kg, IR- 64 II Rp7.000 per kg, IR-64 III Rp6.400 per kg and IR-42 Rp7.200 per kg.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/22:50/H-YH) 19-07-2011 22:33:

FOOD STOCKS ENOUGH FOR FASTING MONTH

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 18 (ANTARA)  - In the face of the fasting month of Ramadhan in the next two weeks, the government is preparing steps to ensure that Muslims in the country will be able to carry out their rituals solemnly without facing shortages of basic needs and security disturbances.          In order to meet the need of people for basic necessities and other things  during and in the post-fasting month festivities, the government is taking steps to ensure the availability of food, the smooth distribution of staples, stabilize commodity prices and ensure enough energy supplies.          President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday ordered his ministers to ensure the stability of basic commodity prices, and food availability across the country in the run up to and during the fasting month.          According to Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, the government has prepared four steps in the economic field to anticipate the worst possibilities during the fasting month and during the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities.          In a coordination meeting last week, the relevant ministers formulated the government steps to be carried out in the fasting month that would likely start on the first day next August.  "The first thing is that food must be available in all places," Hatta said.          Food was an essential element during Ramadhan and Lebaran and all people in the predominantly Muslim country must have access to food under whatever conditions, he said.          In this case, National Logistics Agency (Bulog) has assured that  it has a stock of 1.6 million tons of rice which are enough until the end of the year.          "Stocks are enough for six months ahead. Our supplies are estimated at 1.6 million tons. God Willing, we will have no problems in the post-fasting month festivities," Head of  Bulog Sutarto Alimoesa added.          "We can even guarantee that rice stocks are enough until the end of 2011," he added.          The second thing was that the government would ensure smooth distribution of staple foods and other basic necessaries to all regions in the country. Therefore, transportation facilities and infrastructures must be in good condition, Hatta said. "It   must run smoothly. We have decided to anticipate it," he said.          The third strategy is that the government would try its best to stabilize the prices of commodities. After all, the government would tolerate any price hike if it did not go beyond the limits of propriety.          Though now prices have begun to spiral up, yet the government sees that it is still within the reasonable level. Director General for Internal Trade of the Ministry of Trade Gunaryo said prices of commodities at present were still within the stable level so that market operations were not yet needed.          "Prices at present are relatively lower than those in the past year," he  said. The director general   said that market operations would be launched if prices were too high while stocks in the market were running short. "Market operations will be launched if price increases exceeded 15 percent. This is because we have to protect small traders," he added.          Basically, according to Hatta Rajasa, market operations will be carried out if prices are on the rise. "In case of a price surge we will intervene in the market by launching large-scale operations," he said.          For market operations,  Bulog is preparing  800,000 tons of rice to be released into the market. Of the amount, 500,000 would be for market operation and 300,000 tons of commercial rice.          Actually, Bulog has now begun conducting market operations  at a number of locations to stabilize the fluctuation rice prices. With the government step, the people should not be worried about shortage of stocks in the face of the fasting month and the festivities thereafter.          The fourth strategy was ensuring energy supplies, particularly electrical power and fuel oils. Therefore, there must be a good distribution system to ensure that energy supplies would reach all parts of Indonesia, the minister said.          But food is the most essential element during the fasting month. Therefore, Director General for Internal Trade Gunaryo inspected on Monday the bubulak  abattoir in Bogor as part of the government efforts to assure the availability of   food stocks, including meat. .          He said that food stocks, including meat, are enough in the face of the fasting month next August.  He guaranteed the availability meat until the post-fasting Idul Fitri festivities. "We have secure stocks of food stuff such as rice, meat, chicken and others. They are enough until Lebaran (Idul Fitri)," he said.          In the meantime to ensure security during the fasting month in the capital city of Jakarta,  the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Command is planning to field around 20,000 personnel.          "We have 29,000 personnel and we will field up to 20,000 or two thirds of them for Ramadhan," Jakarta Metropolitan Police Command spokesman Senior Commissioner Baharudin Djafar said.          The police personnel would be assigned until seven days after the Idul Fitri post-fasting holiday. Their operations would include monitoring possible sweeps by community elements on entertainment centers.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/00:05/A014) 19-07-2011 00:07:

LOCAL GOVT WANTS TO HAVE SHARES WITH INALUM

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 17 (ANTARA) - The North Sumatra administration is seeking a share-ownership with PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum), an Indonesia-Japan joint venture whose contract will expire in 2013 after operating in Asahan, North Sumatra, for 30 years.          The Sumatra administration's interest in the shares with Inalum comes up to the surface amid indications that the central government will take over the Japanese stake in PT Inalum.          While Japan is still offering a cooperation to continue the joint-venture, the central government has expressed its plans to acquire it in 2013 through the Government Investment Center (PIP).          Now, Indonesian owns 41.13 percent of Inalum's stake while the remaining 58.87 percent belong to Nippon Asahan Aluminum (NAA). Fifty percent of NAA shares are owned by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) which represents the Japanese government and 50 percent others belong to 12 other Japanese firms.          The project began operating on January 6, 1976 based on a master of agreement signed on July 7, 1975 and would expire in 2013.          Minister of State Enterprises (BUMN) Mustafa Abubakar has sent a letter to the Asahan Authority on October 29, 2010, expressing the intention of the government to take over the Japanese shares with Inalum as of October 31, 2013.          As regard, the local government is also seeking for stake ownership.          In order to have stake with Inalum, the North Sumatra province will set up a desk in charge of discussing the portion of stake it could have with Inalum when it is taken over by the central government.          The plan to set up the desk was formulated in a coordination meeting last week with the North provincial Sumatran government, the Inalum Special Committee of North Sumatra's Regional Legislative Assembly (DPRD) and representatives of ten district governments which overseas the operating areas of Inalum.          Chairman of the Inalum Special Committee Bustomi HS said North Sumatra was happy with the issuance of a Home Affairs decree on March 31, 2011 on the formation of a Working Group to end the Master Agreement on the Asahan Project.          He said that it was regulated in the minister's decree that the North Sumatran provincial government and the local governments of ten districts in the Inalum operating areas could obtain stake ownership after Inalum had been taken over by the central government.          Therefore, North Sumatra needs to set up an Inalum Desk charged with the task of calculating the reasonable portion of stake for North Sumatra. "The Desk will represent North Sumatra in having dialog with the central government," Bustami said.          Head of Regional Development Planning Board of North Sumatra Riyadil Akhir Lubis said the central government had set up a team and sub-technical team to discuss the management of Inalum after its takeover in 2013.          Therefore, his side hoped that the district governments should appoint their representatives immediately to the Inalum Desk. "They need to be appointed and sent immediately so that they would be able to follow the agenda discussed by the central government," Riyadil said.          Deputy Head of Toba Samosir District Liberty Pasaribu said that personnel of the desk must have comprehensive understanding of the share pattern that the government would make.          In the meantime, Hj Meilizar Latif, another member of the North Sumatra DPRD, said that Indonesia would be able to manage Inalum, even if without the involvement of foreigners.          "Indonesia must be able to manage it. Therefore, Inalum should not fall in the hands of foreigners after 2013," Meilizar Latif said. After all, almost all workers at Inalum are Indonesians. There are about 2,600 workers with PT Inalum. They are best Indonesian workers.          "The Indonesian sons are handling most of the activities of Inalum. Of the 270 Japanese workers at the beginning of the operations, only two are not yet replaced by Indonesians now. The two are in the top management positions," she said.          Now, Inalum has a production capacity of 230,000 - 240,000 tons per annum     She regretted if the government offered an open tender option on the management of Inalum after the completion of its contract in 2013 because all Indonesian sons in the company were already capable. "An open tender will enable the entry of foreigners again," she said.          PT Inalum booked a profit of US$12 million in 2010 while its debt burden amounted to US$70 million. This will disadvantage Indonesia if the company is put on tender, she said.          She said that instead of calling tender for it, it would be better to continue the joint-venture scheme with Japan.          Japan in the meantime is still offering its cooperation and expresses interest to resume the joint venture business with Indonesia.           According to Ambassador Yoshinori Katori, Japan hopes its cooperation with Indonesia in PT Inalum will continue following the expiry of its contract in the company in 2013.          "We still have a lot of time to discuss it before the expiration date comes. We will continue discussing the continuation of the project. What I can assure is that the project is very important for both countries," he said before academic community of  Universitas Sumatra Utara (USU)  in Medan last week.          But there are now strong indications that the government would take it over after the contract expires in 2013.          "If asked whether we have plans to buy shares such as those of Newmont, we will say yes and the most immediate one is likely PT Inalum whose contract will expire in 2013," PIP Head Soritaon Siregar said over the weekend.          The PIP head said that after the acquisition the government would call a tender for the firm which would be open for local bidders.           "After the acquisition, if there are interested local companies, we will call a tender for it. But we will acquire its entire stake in the first place in 2013," he said.***5*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/a014) 17-07-2011 18

INDONESIA GEARING UP TO HOST SEA GAMES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta July 17 (AMTARA) - Indonesia is making preparations to host the 26th Southeast Asian Gemas (SEA Games) where 10 countries from the region are expected to compete in 44 branches of sports and  vie for 454 gold medals at stake from November 11 to 22, 2011.       The sports affairs minister called on all sport executives to prepare the athletes to be fielded in next November's SEA Games in the best ways possible so that their performance targets would be achieved.          "Executives of all sports branches must prepare their athletes based on their programs to ensure their readiness to face the SEA Games," Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng said after attending a SEA Games 2011 roll call at the Bung Karno Sports Stadium in Jakarta recently.           He said Indonesia must really be ready to show its best performance in Southeast Asia's biggest event, whose organizing would need at least a fund of Rp2 trillion or about 232 million dollars.           "The central government, the municipal government and sponsors must chip in to ensure that the event is a success," Andi said.          Andi and other officials -including Coordinating Minister of Social Welfare Agung Laksono and Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) chairwoman Rita Subowo-  have made an inspection of the complex that will house the city's venues for  SEA Games in Palembang, one of the host cities of the event besides Jakarta.          The cost to construct and renovate the games' facilities in Palembang alone is estimated to reach Rp738 billion. The Sports Ministry has only asked the central government to foot Rp250 billion of that bill.          "We are still discussing funding. If we can't get more funding, we will find other sources including from sponsors," South Sumatra Governor Alex Nurdin said.          In order to host the vents, Indonesia has to accelerate its preparations. For this purpose, the technical delegates of the 44 sports branches will meet in Jakarta on July 25.          Sources at the SEA Games Secretariat said here on Saturday that some of the delegates have arrived in Jakarta and observed some venues to be used during the events. The delegates will observe various venues of the Southeast Asian sports competitions in Jakarta and in Palembang, capital of South Sumatra province. The SEA Games events will be held in these two cities.          The efforts to accelerate preparations of the biennial events were supported by the Indonesia SEA Games XXVI Committee (Inasoc).          "We need to accelerate preparations for the Southeast Asian games because we are racing against time,"  Inasoc Chairman Rachmat Gobel said in a coordination meeting here over the weekend.          He said that he appreciated all sides that supported the speeding up of preparations but all should be under the coordination of Inasoc so that overlapping would not take place.          Preparations are going on under the coordination of the Inasco in Jakarta and in South Sumatra (two cities that will co-host the events). Rachmat said coordination should be carried out between organizers in Jakarta and those in South Sumatra including the putting up of banners, billboards and other SEA Games symbols.          "The installations of various SEA Games attributes should remain under the coordination of Inasoc so that they will remain in order," he said.          Various banners and other SEA Games attributes have been installed in various corners of Jakarta and Pelembang, capital of South Sumatra province.          In the meantime, the committee is still running short of field officers to cater various activities in the field. The committee is therefore recruiting volunteers for this purpose. Up to Sunday, it had only succeeded to net 761 volunteers and still lacked about 3,000 field officials.          "Actually, the number of applicants we received for last week selections reached 7,000 but many of them did not show up during the selection process, maybe because it was held during holidays," Iansco chairman for human resources Pusparani HC Hakim said here over the weekend.           She said that the committee would also cooperate with a number of universities in seeking volunteers such as the University of Indonesia, the University of Pancasila, the University of Pelita Harapan, the London School of Public Relations and a number of other campuses.           "We will also cooperate with tourism schools recommended by the ministry of tourism. We hope that would be able to meet the need for volunteers," she said.           Those who have passed last week's selection will begin to be assigned at the technical meeting of the SEA Games which will be held on July 25, 2011.          The 44 branches of sports  will be competed in Jakarta and Palembang on November 11-22, 2011 are 1.Aquatics, 2. Archery, 3. Athletics, 4. Badminton,  5. Baseball, 6. Basketball, 7. Billiards & Snooker, 8. Bowling, 9. Boxing, 10. Bridge, 11. Canoeing, 12. Chess, 13. Cycling, 14. Equestrian, 15. Fencing, 16. Fin Swimming, 17. Football, 18. Futsal, 19. Golf, 20. Gymnastics, 21. Judo, 22. Karate, 23. Paragliding, 24. Pencak Silat, 25. Petanque, 26. Roller Sports, 27. Rowing, 28. Sailing, 29. Sepaktakraw, 30. Shorinji Kempo, 31. Shooting, 32. Softball, 33. Soft Tennis, 34. Table Tennis, 35. Taekwondo, 36. Tennis, 37. Traditional Boat Race, 38. Volleyball, 39. Vovinam, 40. Wall Climbing ,41. Water Ski, 42. Weightlifting, 43. Wrestling, and 44. Wushu. ***6*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/F001) 17-07-2011 14:00: