| by Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 29 (ANTARA) - The government will stop raw rattan exports amid a 'war' between rattan industries and rattan producers over whether the exportation of the commodity needs to be halted. Rattan industry entrepreneurs have urged the government to stop rattan exports so that they will have enough raw materials while rattan farmers do not want the government to stop exports on the ground that local industries had proven unable to absorb all the rattan they were producing. The government will soon stop rattan exports and let local industries absorb the country's raw rattan output so as to create more jobs and added value. The government decision is in favor of industry which has called on the government to stop raw rattan exports. "We hope that the new trade minister will not extend a trade ministerial decree which allows the exportation of rattan raw material. The regulation should no longer be implemented," Chairman of the Indonesian Rattan Handicraft and Furniture Industry Association (Asmindo) Sumartja said. The trade minister's decision No. 36/2009 allows the exports of raw materials, including raw rattan, causing local industry to face difficulties in obtaining raw materials. As a result, many rattan industries in Cirebon, one of Indonesia's rattan industry centers, closed down. "The new trade minister is expected to issue a new regulation which boosts export of finished rattan furniture and handicraft products, not raw rattan," Sumartja said. He said that the permit to export raw rattan based on the minister's decree in 2009 had caused the drop in the production of rattan industry. Before the regulation was introduced in 2009, rattan-based product exports could reach 3,000 containers per month. But now it dropped to 700 containers only, said Sumartja. Thus, tens of rattan industry entrepreneurs in Cirebon hailed Minister Gita's statements, saying they had suffered great losses over the past six years because of raw rattan scarcities as a result of government regulations. The government regulations concerned were Trade Minister's Decree No 12/2005 as revised by Trade Minister's Decree No 36/2009. In the meantime, Industry Minister MS Hidayat who also attended the meeting with Cirebon entrepreneurs said the government was resolved to revive the domestic rattan industry's 1980-2000 glory because rattan was one of the country's most precious natural products that should be used for the welfare of the majority of the people. "So, the policy to stop rattan exports will not only be to serve the interest of Cirebon or West Java rattan industries but also for developing rattan handicraft industries in provinces that are also producing rattan," he said. Cirebon district head Dedi Supardi said in the heyday of the rattan industry in 1988-1989, the value of rattan handicraft and furniture exports from Cirebon reached US$124 million a year while as many as 300,000 people were employed in the industry. In 2010-2011 however the export value dropped by 70 percent. "Only 30 percent of the rattan industries has survived until now while many of their skilled workers have changed profession or become unemployed," Dedi Supardi said. He said rattan as a raw material was now worth only US$1 to US$1.5 per kilogram but when it had been turned into finished products it could be worth US$8 to US$20 per kilogram. "This is the added value that has so far been enjoyed by other countries," he said. However, from the rattan farmers' point of view, the closure of raw rattan exports is disadvantageous lest there is a guarantee their products would be absorbed by industry at home. Thousands of tons of rattan, for example, are now piling up at production centers because industries stopped buying them from rattan farmers and collectors. This happens as the export quota has not yet been decided. Chairman of the Indonesian Rattan Farmers Association (APRI) Sabar Nagarimba said that the allocation for export quota has not yet been issued so that they could not yet export their products. Actually, the minister's decision No. 36/2009 which expired on August 11, 2011 has been extended until December 31, 2011, but the export quota has not yet been issued. Therefore, APRI asked the government not to stop raw rattan exports because it would have negative impact on two million rattan farmers and collectors and two million traders in Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra. Sabar said that Indonesia had a large surplus of rattan stocks. APRI predicted that rattan consumption by industry at home in 2011 is only 15,000 tons while production reaches 696,000 tons. Secretary General of APRI Lisaman Sumardjani said that in 2009 alone, Indonesia's rattan which was not exported accounted for 628,014 tons or equal to US$1.414 billion in value. The volume of those exported ones was only 67,986 tons. "It would be a pity not to take advantage of this. If the government bans rattan exports, it should think of how to make use of the rattan surplus at home" Lisman Sumardjani said. About 85 percent of the world's rattan population is found in Indonesia. World demand for rattan-based furniture and rattan-made handicraft products are relatively high, where in 2008 and 2009 reached around US$100 and US$104 billion. Of the total market share, Indonesian rattan-based products only accounted for 2.6 billion dollars in 2008 and 2.3 billion dollars in 2009. |
Jumat, 28 Oktober 2011
EXPORT BAN TO DISADVANTAGE RATTAN FARMERS?
Selasa, 25 Oktober 2011
RI TOURISM READY TO COMPETE IN ASEAN COMMUNITY
| by Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 24 (ANTARA) - As a member of ASEAN, Indonesia, its tourism industry in particular, is ready for the establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 when trade, services and manpower will flow freely within the region. "Beginning in 2015, manpower in the tourism sector will flow freely within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), but we are optimistic that the competitive edge of Indonesia's human resources in the tourism sector is already strong," Head of Tourism Resources Development Agency of the Tourism Ministry I Gde Pitana said recently. Indonesia's human resources in the tourism sector would play a dominant role within the ASEAN region. To support this role, I Gde Pitana's office had been making various efforts, among others, research, development and training. "The research we have conducted is not always scientific in nature but practical so that it can be applied by industry at the technical and policy levels," he said. In the field of education I Gde Pitana's office had set a target of increasing the number of graduates from higher learning institutes in tourism studies and tourism academies under the tourism ministry. "We are optimistic because several indicators show that the competitive edge of our human resources in the tourism sector is improving," he said. He said that in 2009, the World Economic Forum (WEF) placed Indonesia's tourism human resources in the 40th position among 133 countries in the world. Moreover, Indonesia had for a long time been using a tourism educational curriculum based on the ASEAN Common Competency Standards for Tourism Professionals (ACCSTP). These standards were being aplied in the whole ASEAN region. About 80 percent of the curriculum's contents had been proposed by Indonesia which had been applying the principles for a long time. "This means that graduates from Indonesian tourism schools, particularly higher learning institutes and academies, will be treated on equal footing with those from other countries within ASEAN," he said. Other indicators that showed the strength of Indonesia's tourism human resources' competitiveness was the fact that many Indonesian human resources had assumed strategic posts in a number of ASEAN countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. However, the number of human resources from other ASEAN countries working in the strategic sector of Indonesian tourism was still small. I Gde Pitana said his office continued to make efforts to increase the competitive edge of human resources of the Indonesian tourism so that in the coming several years Indonesia would become a leader in Southeast Asia. However, the tourism ministry's overseas orientation has been criticized as being not nationalistic. The Association of Indonesia Tour and Travel Agencies (Asita) complained that the Indonesian tourism education system only produced graduates designed for work abroad. "The Indonesian tourism education only produces graduates oriented to work overseas," Asita spokesman for Jakarta, Jongky Adiyasa, said. Jongky Adiyasa regretted that graduates of the Indonesian tourism schools were produced to plan products or packages for overseas destinations. In fact, they are expected to help develop the country's tourism and design creative products that would promote new destinations that had not yet been developed in the country. "Unluckily, they are better in producing overseas destination packages, for example, Jakarta-Singapore, Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta-Bangkok packages, not domestic packages," he said. His side also regretted that many tourism school graduates at home chose to work overseas rather than developing the tourism sector in the country. "This indicates that our tourism education still lacked nationalism," Jongky said. This is ironical, as currently the Indonesian tourism sector still badly needs trained workers so that he country will become more competitive, not lagging behind other neighboring nations. Asita hopes that the government through the ministry of tourism would coordinate with tourism higher institutions and tourism academies to work out educational curriculum that takes side with the domestic tourism. Regarding Asita's claim that the tourism education in the country is lacking nationalism and is oriented to overseas, the ministry of tourism denied it. "It is not true. Our tourism education aims to produce graduates which are able to build the country's tourism sector," I Gde Pitana said. He said that although it was universal in nature, the tourism education system at higher educational institutions and tourism academies under his ministry's auspices, remained to contain local values. The education system aimed to produce trained tourism workers who were ready to be placed in any market. "Our tourism workers should be able to flood global market. It should not happen that our market is flooded by foreign workers," he said. The system was designed to provide deep knowledge about the country's tourism for graduates with the capability to work out alternative but attractive tourism products, he said. "Exporting trained workers is far better than exporting domestic helpers who are tortured overseas," he added. In the meantime, newly appointed Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu who replaced Jero Wacik, expressed her determination to make the tourism and creative economy sectors as a source of foreign exchange that contributed a lot to the national economy. "I think we need discussions in this matter," she said. Though, the new tourism minister appreciated very much the achievement made so far by her predecessor Jero Wacik. "I promise to continue Jero Wacik's programs," Mari added. Among the programs that deserved to be continued included the development of Belitung and Lombok islands as a tourism mainstay destination, the development of an airport in North Bali and Indonesia's tourism branding "Wonderful Indonesia," "The target for this year is over seven million and until now 5.3 million foreign tourists had come to the country," Tourism and Creative Economy Deputy Minister Sapta Nirwandar said meanwhile. He said that for 2012, Indonesia was expecting eight million foreign tourist arrivals. Indonesia had set a higher target for 2012 because the number of foreign tourists to Southeast Asian countries was expected to grow by around five percent due to improving conditions in the region. "We should receive up to 10 million foreign tourists by 2014 if all tourism stakeholders cooperate. This is our challenge and the existing opportunity must be seized," he said.***5*** |
Minggu, 23 Oktober 2011
SABANG TOURISM PINS HOPE ON NEW MINISTER
| by Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 23 (ANTARA) - The natural seaport city of Sabang on Weh Island in the western part of Aceh province which is rich in marine tourism potentials is waiting for the new tourism minister's help to develop its tourism. Sabang which has a natural deep-sea port sits on Weh Island where the extraordinarily beautiful submarine biota and scenery constitute great potentials for the development of marine tourism. With these potentials, local tourism operators are convinced that newly appointed Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu will not ignore it and extend a helping hand to develop and advance Sabang's tourism. "The central government will not ignore Aceh's tourism potentials but will continue to pay attention to its development , particularly the development of Sabang tourism," Aceh tourism operator Zulfikar said. Zulfkiar, who is also secretary of the Indonesian Restaurant and Hotel Association (PHRI) for Aceh, said that Aceh expected the minister's attention through her ministry in the form of promotions of the province?s potentials. "At least, Sabang, which is now developing itself into a national tourism destination should be promoted as a venue for national and international tourism events," Zulfikar said. The ministry of tourism and creative economy was also expected to partner with national investors to develop Sabang. Head of Sabang's Tourism and Culture Service Yusfah Hanum also expressed hope that Minister Mari Elka Pangestu would launch intensive promotions to introduce the tourism potentials of Sabang Islands. "I am confident that Madam Mari Pangestu would come to see herself the tourism potentials of Sabang whose beauty has been well-known not only by local tourists but also foreign ones. These potentials should be developed so that it would be comparable to other popular tourism destinations in the country," Yusfah said. Yusfa said that Sabang very much hoped that it would be able to host various national and international tourism events that could boost the progress of local economy. The local people were aware of the importance of the economic growth through the tourism sector in their region. In the meantime, the local government is of the view that Sabang city is ready to welcome investors who will build star-rated hotels to support the region as an international tourist destination. "We will do our best so that investment in Sabang will run well. The local people will be very happy if they have enough infrastructures to support the region's tourism," Sabang Deputy Mayor Islamuddin said on Saturday. He said that the local government would provide facilities and comfortable business climate for investors who were will to develop supporting tourism infrastructures in the region. Regarding land, Islamuddin said that investors did not need to worry about because investment areas had been made available. Sabang Business-Area Development Authority (BPKS) has cleared people's lands which are designed as business areas for investors. A number of investors have in the past several months come to Sabang to explore the possibility of building star-rated hotels in Sabang which is located about 14 miles away from Banda Aceh City. "A number of national investors have conducted a survey but none of them have yet to expressed commitment to starting building star-rated hotels," the mayor said. He said that the presence of star-rated hotels in Sabang was badly needed by tourists, both foreign and locals. So far, Sabang only has several non-star hotels and tens of hostelries. "We are convinced that Sabang deserves star-rated hotels as it has awesome natural beauty which could attract not only local visitors but also foreign tourists," he said. Tourism observers and foreign visitors admitted that Sabang had beautiful tourism objects such as the undersea natural panorama at Pulau Rubiah, the white sand beach of Gapang and a number of other tourist destinations in the Weh Island. The local government will also maintain Sabang?s natural beauty in developing its tourism. "The local government of Sabang has the commitment to developing Sabang's tourism sector through an environmentally friendly concept," Head of Sabang's Tourism and Culture Service Yusfah Hanum said. In developing the facilities at Lake Aneuk Laot, the local government will not use cement materials so that the location would look naturally beautiful and match the existing environs. "The development of supporting facilities will become the local government's priorities so that the tourism sites will remain clean and natural in an effort to make visitors enjoy themselves when they visit Sabang," Yusfa said. This means that international tourists who have ever visited Sabang would come back to Sabang such as those who took part in the recent Sabang International Regatta 2011, a yacht festival, where at least 11 yachts came from the Netherlands, Britain, the United States, Australia, Malaysia and Thailand . |
INDONESIANS EAT TOO LITTLE CHICKEN MEAT
| by Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 23 (ANTARA) - While the poultry industry in Indonesia is now able to meet the ideal need at home, people still eat too little chicken meat and eggs so that the government and industry should jointly promote consumption of the two commodities. Last week, poultry industry players, in support of the government, held a chicken and egg festival at the East Parking Lot of the Senayan Sports Complex, to help promote chicken and egg consumption among the people. After all, the government has set itself the target of doubling the people's chicken and egg consumption in the coming three years. Agriculture Minister Suswono said during the festival that the per capita consumption of the two commodities in Indonesia was still low, even lower than in other ASEAN member countries. In Malaysia, he said, the per capita chicken consumption of the people was about three chickens per month while in Indonesia the people's per capita consumption was only 7.6 kg per annum or only about one chicken per four months. The same is true to the egg consumption. In Indonesia the per capita egg consumption of the people was recorded at one egg per week while in Malaysia the per capita egg consumption was noted at three per day. "Therefore, in 2014, the chicken and egg consumption is expected to double from the present level, namely to 2-3 eggs per week per person," he said on the sidelines of the festival. The chicken and egg festival which was organized by 14 national poultry associations was intended to promote chicken and egg consumption among the people. Suswono said in term of production Indonesia had actually now achieved self-sufficiency. Even, the poultry sector has contributed a lot to the national meat need which accounted for 65 percent of the country's total meat consumption. "What remains to be done now is to increase the people's chicken and egg consumption. To meet the people's need for proteins should not always come from cow meat but it could also be met with chicken and egg," the minister said. The increase in the people's chicken and egg consumption will boost the demand for the commodities which will eventually also encourage the poultry business at home. Chairman of the Indonesian Poultry Society Forum (FMPI) Don Utoyo, said Indonesia's chicken production at present was recorded at about 1.6 million chickens, equal to 2.4 million tons of live chickens or about 1.7 million tons of carcass or 900 million kg of chicken meat. The country's egg production in the meantime, was estimated at 1.4 million tons per annum. Chicken and egg consumption in Indonesia is still low if compared with that in a number of ASEAN countries, Don Utoyo said. He said that Indonesia's per capita consumption of chickens was only 7 kg per annum while its per capita consumption of egg was only 80 per year. In Thailand, the people's per capita consumption of chickens reached 16 kg per annum, in Singapore 28 kg and in Malaysia 36 kg, he said. So is the case of egg consumption in those countries where people consumed eggs more than those consumed in Indonesia. The average per capita egg consumption in Thailand was 93 eggs per year, in China 304 eggs and Malaysia 311 eggs. Chairman of the Chicken and Egg Festival Rakhmat Nuriyanto said the event was intended to promote and increase the people's consumption of chickens and eggs. He said that the people still lacked awareness of the importance of consuming these commodities for the growth, health, intelligence of children and other family members. "Therefore, the festival is mainly intended to popularize the importance of chicken and egg consumption among the people," he said. The low chicken and egg consumption in Indonesia is partly due to wrong perception that consuming chickens and egg will increase cholesterol. "The problem is that people are afraid of having high cholesterol or allergy if they consume too much eggs," Rachmat Nuryanto, chairman of the Indonesian Animal Drugs Association, said. The people still lacked information so that they had no complete knowledge about the benefit of consuming chickens and eggs. Many were not convinced with the nutritional content of the two commodities. Negative campaigns aired by several societal groups that the injection of hormones into chickens was harmful also caused people to be scared of consuming chickens. "They are afraid of cholesterol and bird flu so that they are reluctant to eat chickens and eggs while actually studies have shown that what they fear is not true," Rachmat said. Minister Suswono said that chicken and egg consumption was very important for improving the people's nutritional intake. People's consumption of the commodities only reached 5.72 grams, lower than the national nutritional standard of 6.5 grams per capita per year. "The people's low consumption of chickens and eggs is because they lack knowledge, they do not have the habit of eating it or they have low purchasing power," the minister said. Suswono said that meat was a protein source which had high quality and children, as well as adults, needed to consume it because the amino acids contained in meat could improve damaged cells in the body. The same is true of eggs which contain complete nutritions. Actually, many people still are able to purchase these commodities. Compared with other sources of protein, eggs are relatively cheaper and have a higher protein content. Data at the EMPI indicated that one kilogram of eggs valued at Rp13,500 contained 12.5 percent of proteins while a kg of chicken with a price of Rp25,000 contained 18.5 percent protein. A portion of tofu with a price of Rp9,000 contains 7.4 percent proteins while fish with a price of Rp22,500 contains 15 percent proteins. A portion of Rp65,000 beef contains 20 percent proteins. Basically, the national chicken and egg industry is now able to meet the ideal need for chicken and eggs of the people. "The national poultry and egg layer industry is already self-sufficient and is able to meet the people's need for animal proteins," FMPI chairman Don P Utoyo said.***5*** |
RICE AS STAPLE REPLACEABLE?
| by Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 23 (ANTARA) - Rice has since time immemorial become one of the staples, yet of late, when they increasingly become rice-minded, the people are encouraged to consume non-rice crop-based foods as their staples to help increase the country's food resilience. "We are conducting studies whether local foods can replace rice as staples. We hope these studies would have been completed this very year," Head of Food Resilience Affairs of the Ministry of Agriculture Achmad Suryana said recently. There are many kinds of local foods derived from secondary crops such as tubers and maize but so far, rice for many people have been their staple. Rice has become a staple for all classes in Indonesia. To promote non-rice consumption, an expert staff of the minister for economic affairs said that the Indonesian people do not need to eat rice as their daily staple as they can also consume other crops like tubers and maize. "It is wrong to have the perception that we have to eat rice if we want to stay healthy," Arifin Habibie, an expert staff of the chief economic minister said in a workshop on agricultural technology innovation held to observe the 31st World Food Day here on Saturday. He said that the government should encourage all regions to choose their own staples and promote them as part of the efforts to increase national food resilience. "If the people of Gorontalo take maize as their staple or of Maluku make their choice on sago for their main daily diet, just let them do it because it is their rights to decide which food they will eat for their staples," Arifin said. He said that the fertility of the Indonesian land enabled the people to plant whatever crops they want apart from rice, for example, cassava, sweat potato, maize and sago. If the people make their choice to consume carbohydrate sources apart from rice it means that the food diversification in Indonesia is successful, he said. The Indonesian government has made different efforts to guarantee food stocks in the future. Among the efforts is a program to diversify the country's food. Food diversification is considered one of the ways to overcome food crisis in a number of regions in Indonesia. Farmers who are not able to plant rice during a dry spell could plant secondary crops in order to increase their food stocks. Data at the trade ministry and the Central Board of Statistics (BPS) show that the acreage of crops plantations has undergone a significant increase. The increase in the acreage of secondary crop plantations also boost production. Maize production increased 3.96 percent from 17,630 tons in 2009 to 18,328 tons in 2010. The same thing also happened to cassava plantations whose production experienced a growth of 8.53 percent to 1,879 tons in the same period. With the fact on the increase in non-rice production, the Indonesian people are able to overcome food crisis. However, the people's awareness of consuming non rice food stuff is still low as reflected by the BPS data. Based on the BPS data, the people's non maize consumption in the 1996 - 1999 period dropped from 3.8 kg per capita per annum to 3.7 kg per capita per annum. The rate of potato consumption of the people also declined from 1.8 kg per capita per annum in 1996 to 0.9 kg per capita per annum. This shows a fact that the habit of the people to eat food other than rice was still low, after all, this happened at a time when the national secondary crops production increased in the 2010 - 2011, such as maize which rose 7.24 percent to 17,592 tons. In spite of that, campaigns to consume non rice commodities continue to take place as they will help the country increase its food resilience where all regions will no longer depend too much on rice. "We have to change the people's mind that only poor people consume cassava or maize. We have to launch campaigns that non rice food also has high benefit and nutrition contents," he said. 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. 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 tubers that have become the staples of the local people.***5*** |
Sabtu, 22 Oktober 2011
RI NEEDS TO PREPARE STEPS TO FACE GLOBAL CRISIS
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 22 (ANATARA) - Many economists have predicted a downward correction of world economic growth in 2012 and Indonesia has thus been well advised to take whatever steps are necessary to anticipate the impact of the expected global downturn. Consequently, the Indonesian government is now continuously monitoring world economic developments and devising measures to protect the national economy from any possible adverse effect of the upcoming economic slump. "The global economic crisis has several times cut world economic growth. If we do not do our homework, the decline in economic growth in Europe, the United States and Asia will impact on and cut our economic growth," Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa said. Hatta said that one of the anticipatory efforts that could be made was to maintain and improve the investment climate, enhance the domestic market and maintain the people's purchasing power with strong commitment to the principle of prudence. "We have to take anticipatory steps while we are now still OK and investors still come here enabling investment to increase. The main task at hand is how to enhance the domestic market, keep it stable and sound, and maintain the people's purchasing power. This must be done," Hatta said. He said the government would also increase its budget allocation for fiscal risk reserves which in the current 2011 revised state budget amounted to Rp4.7 trillion. In the 2012 draft state budget it was raised to Rp15.8 trillion. In a meeting with the House of Representatives (DPR)'s budgetary body the government even had proposed an additional allocation of Rp1.6 trillion for the fiscal risk reserves. "Our fiscal risk reserves are big and have reached Rp15 trillion, We are still discussing how to prepare project-optimizing funds, but in my mind the correct priority must be given to the very important sectors, for example, food, irrigation and the creation of new rice fields," he said. He explained that the latest developments on the projection of the Asian economic growth (which had been corrected downward by the International Monetary Funds/IMF), did not actually describe the real condition because it was made based on concerns only over the world economic growth projections that had been corrected downward for several times. However, Hatta was still optimistic that the economic growth in 2011 still could reach 6.5 percent and if there was no serious turmoil it would reach 6.7 percent in 2012. "This year Indonesia will have a 6.5 percent economic growth and next year the economic growth will reach 6.7 percent," he said. Economic observer of PT First Asia Capital Ifan Kurniawan said not long ago that d, Indonesia's economy would grow by 6.8 percent in the second semester of this year, 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 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. "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. 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. Yet, an IMF report has mentioned that the Asian region is facing risks as a result of the debt crisis in Europe and the economic slowdown in the United States. The IMF predicted that the economic growth in Asia would be recorded at 6.3 percent in 2011 and 6.7 percent in 2012, or lower than the previous prediction of 6.8 percent and 6.9 percent in 2012. The downward correction in the economic growth projection indicated that the escalation of economic crisis in Europe had obvious impacts on macroeconomic and financial developments in Asia. In an effort to face economic turmoil and further develop the country?s economy, the government is also launching a master plan for the acceleration and expansion of economic development. However, the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI) will need stability in its implementation. "Economic and political stability is the key factor to the good implementation of KP3EI," Nina Sapti, member of the National Economic Committee (KEN), said in a discussion on the MP3EI and the absorption of the state budget in the face of global crisis recently. Financial Director of Reform Institute Muhammad Husni Thamrin said Indonesia was seen by many parties as a country which had a good political stability. "Many countries see Indonesia as an ideal state which has a better political stability if compared with, for example, Thailand and Malaysia," Husni Thamirin said.***5*** |
Jumat, 21 Oktober 2011
MANDALIKA BEING DEVELOPED INTO WORLD TOURIST RESORT
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 21 (ANTARA) - West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) province is expected to have a world-class tourist resort comparable to Bali, when the Mandalika Resort Development project in Central Lombok District is completed. The development of the US$3 billion Mandalika Resort which is expected to attract one million tourists annually began on Friday when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono afficiated at its groundbreaking function. Sitting on a 1,175 hectare area in Kuta, Pujut subdistrict, Central Lombok, the Mandalika Resort will be developed into one of the national tourism icons, even of the world, Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said. For the development of the Resort Area, at least six Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on its development were signed in conjunction with the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday. The six MoUs on the development of the resort area were signed in front of President Yudhoyono. The MoUs concerned cooperation between PT Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) and its partners such as PT Global International, Global Land Development (MNC group) and PT Canvas Development (Rajawali Group). MNC Group through PT Global Land Development will build an integrated park as part of the development of Mandalika Resort area. Chief Commissioner of PT Global Land and Development Budi Rustanto and President Director of PT Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) Ida Bagus Wirajaya signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the development of Mandalika Resort. Global Land will develop an integrated park in the form of Disneyland, an underwater park and a technical park. MNC Group in the meantime will build a Formula I Circuit track, a plenary room for concert events, a seaport for excursions and other ships. The other investor which also signed MoUs with BTDC was Rahmat Gobel who owns PT Gobel Internasional. The Gobel Group will develop environmentally friendly technological facilities such as water and water waste treatment, solar system and other environmentally friendly facilities. Gobel will also build hotels, villa and a high end resort. Rajawali Group will also develop hotels, villas and high end resort at Tanjung Ann area. PT BTDC President Director I Bagus Wirajaya said his side had also signed MoUs with eight other investors for the development of Mandalika Resort, apart from the three major investors and four others in the educational field Hatta said that most of the funds used to develop the tourist resort area came from investor partners collected by state-owned PT Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC). It is projected that tourists visiting NTB will continue to increase from year to year, and for the Mandalika Resort area it is expected to be visited by about one million tourists when its infrastructures have been built. "This will of course increase the regional government's incomes. The local people will also become increasingly empowered because the need for workers will increase since the beginning of its construction until its commercial operation," Hatta said. While being developed into an integrated tourism resort area, Mandalika is also expected to be included as one of the country's special economic zones. He said that the special economic zone status would soon be given to the resort area if it already meets all requirements based on regulations in force. In his report to the president, Hatta said that the proposal for the granting of the status was now in process at the National Council for Special Economic Zones. The proposal was made by the regional government of NTB and of Central Lombok district in its capacity as the owner of the Mandalika resort area. The local governments made the proposal because the central government had decided on July 22, 2011 to accelerate the development of infrastructures in NTB to support its tourism. Besides giving a priority to the development of the tourism potential, the government will also develop a food production center which will cover agriculture, animal husbandry, marine resources and geothermal energy development, especially the in Mount Rinjani area. The decision was made in a limited cabinet meeting where the center would be developed in line with the operation of new Lombok International airport. The airport is located in Tanak Awu, Pujut subdistrict, Central Lombok district, about 16 km from Mandalika resort area, or about 40 km from the Mataram City, NTB's provincial capital. During the meeting President Yudhoyono expressed hope that the program would successfully be carried out in the coming three years. The president stressed that the acceleration and expansion of development in NTB should be adjusted to the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI). In the MP3EI concept, NTB was placed in the same corridor as Bali and East Nusa Tanggara (NTT) provinces where the development of tourism and food is given priorities. Hatta said that the proposal to grant a special economic zone status to Mandalika resort area was based on Law No. 30/2011 on the Special Economic Zones and on Government Regulation Number 2 / 2011 on the Implementation of the Special Economic Zones. "If this area is granted the special economic zone status, it will gain fiscal and non-fiscal facilities so that it would attract investors to develop the tourism sector," he said. ***5*** |
Rabu, 19 Oktober 2011
MERPATI TO PAY PART OF DEBTS TO PERTAMINA ON FRIDAY
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 19 (ANTARA) - Merpati Nusantara Airlines is expected on Friday to pay part of its debts to state-owned oil/gas firm Pertamina after Pertamina stopped its aircraft fuel supply to Merpati at Surabaya and Makassar airports last weekend. "Merpati already has made a commitment to pay part of its debt to Pertamina," Pertamina's vice president for corporate communication, Muhammad Harun, said. He said he was sure that on October 21, 2011 at the latest, state-owned Marpati would keep its promise and honor its unpaid aviation turbine fuel (avtur) bills. "We were pessimistic before that Merpati would pay its debts due to its financial troubles, yet with its response to our goodwill, we hope that Marpati's management will no longer break its promise and pay its debts," Harun said. He said that Merpati's debts amounted to Rp550 billion, including its debt principals which in 2006 amounted to Rp270 billion. "The amount swelled to Rp550 billion because of interest and fines," he said. PT Pertamina last week terminated its aviation turbine fuel (Avtur) supply to Merpati Airlines at Juanda and Hasanuddin aiports as of 00:00 October 15, 2001, following Marpati's failure to pay for its aircraft fuel supply. "Consequently, we have to stop our flight operations from and to Surabaya's Juanda and Ujung Pandang's Hasanuddin's airports until an unspecified time," Merpati President Director Capt Sardjono Jhony told the press Saturday last week. Pertamina imposed a limited termination of its Avtur supply to Marpati because the state-owned airlines had yet to settled its obligation to pay for the avtur. "Based on the Pertamina letter, the balance of our unpaid aircraft fuels for the August 27, 2011 - October 13, 2011 period amounts to Rp2.7 billion and US95.6 thousands," the Merpati president director said. According to Harun, Merpati has unpaid bills on the purchase of avtur to Pertamina worth Rp266.987 billion up to Ocotber 2011. Based on Pertamina's data obtained by ANTARA on Monday, the amount of obligation (long outstanding/first phase debts) that has to be settled by Merpati totaled Rp212 billion. This amount is accumulation of Merpati's avtur consumption in the 2006-2007 period. Besides, Merpati also has the obligation to pay its debts (second phase) from its avtur consumption up to August 2011 which amounted to Rp44.2 billion and US$700 thousands. "This means that Merpati has the obligation to pay Rp256.78 billion plus US$700 thousands. This value does not yet include the interest and fines," M. Harun. Regarding Merpati's decision to stop its flights at the two airports of Juanda in East Java and Hasanuddin in Makassar, Harun said Pertamina regretted the policy. Merpati President Director Sardjono admitted that the problem had happened as a result the financial troubles the airlines had faced in the last several years, and at present it was waiting for the disbursement of the government's financial assistance. He said that actually, Merpati and Pertmina had agreed to settle the debts during a meeting on February 12, 2011 with the Asset Guarantor Company (PPA) which was led by the state-owned enterprises (BUMN) minister. The meeting on August 18, 2011 concluded that Marpati's accumulative debts amounted to Rp270 billion plus an avtur obligation, This amount of debts would get payment priority when the government's capital participation with Merpati worth Rp561 billion was disbursed. "This means that institutionally, Marpati's obligation to Pertimina is guaranteed," Sardjono said. Therefore, Pertamina urged to government, in this case the ministry of state-owned enterprises (BUMN) to help Merpati pay off its debts to Pertamina. "We urged the BUMN to help Merpati settle its debts because up to now Merpati still has no goodwill to pay its debts," Muhammad Harun, said on the sidelines of the World Renewable Energy Congress in Nusa Dua, Bali, early this week. Pertamina hoped that the BUMN minister would soon mediate the failure of Merpati to pay its debts. "Up to now, (Merpati) has made no efforts yet to pay its debts, but we hope that in the coming several days there has been a solution," he said. Luckily now, Pertamina is optimistic that Merpati will pay its debts on Friday, October 21, 2011 at the latest. After all, Pertamina has also decided to supply avtur again to Merpati. Harun said he appreciated the management of Merpati which had shown a good reaction to Pertamina's good intention to provide avtur again. Pertamina beginning on Monday supplied avtur again to Merpati, after it stopped it on October 15-16, 2011. "We began supplying avtur again since Monday at the two airports," Harun said. He said that Pertamina began supplying the aircraft fuel after Merpati had agreed to pay its first phase debts amounting to Rp212 billion, excluding its fines and interest. It will pay off in seven years at the latest. The second phase debts amounting to Rp44 billion and 700 thousands US dollars will be paid off in two years. The current balance of debts amounting to Rp8.2 billion and US$121 thousands will be paid on Friday, October 21, 2011. And for this, Merpati has resumed its flight operations at the two airports. Sriyanto Senoadi, Merpati's manager for Surabaya, East Java, said that flights of Merpati on seven routes from Surabaya to other destinations have now returned to normal.***5*** |
Jumat, 14 Oktober 2011
GOVT TO REHABILITATE CRITICALLY DEGRADED LAKES
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 14 (ANTARA) - Hundreds of lakes or reservoirs which are vital to human life in Indonesia are now in bad or even critical condition - a situation that has prompted the government to plan their immediate rehabilitation. At least 15 lakes in Indonesia are in deplorable conditions that urgently need to be addressed. "Therefore, we need to seriously handle and rehabilitate these lakes which are now in an advanced stage of degradation. Efforts to save these lakes have to receive top priority so that water supply for the people around the lakes will not decline," Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta on Friday. He admitted that a total of 15 lakes in different parts of Indonesia were now in critical conditions and in urgent need of rehabilitation. "The lakes are located in various parts of the country such as Lake Rawa Pening in Central Java and Lake Toba in North Sumatra," the minister said after opening the second National Conference on Indonesian Lakes (KNDI) here on Friday. He said that indicators of critical lakes included the silting of the lake bed due to soil erosion and the growing of various plants such as water hyacinth that caused the drop of the lake's water. On the measures to be taken safeguarding the critical lakes, the minister explained that the government will give priority to the rehabilitation and the restoration 15 lakes. The 15 lakes' conditions were very critical. "The budget for lake rehabilitation will be taken from the office of the environment minister. Other ministries like the ministry of public works will also provide assistance," Gusti Muhammad Hatta said He said that the handling of Central Java's Lake Rawa Pening whose condition was very critical would be prioritized and be done immediately, of course with the assistance of the local government. "We hope that the people and the local governments would also involve in the lake safeguarding drive because it will be difficult if the efforts are only made by the central government," the minister said. He said that besides the 15 very critical lakes, there were still 840 others whose conditions were also critical, yet they were not as worse as those of the 15 lakes. In Jakarta .for example, there are at least 200 dams that need rehabilitation. In West Java's Jatiluhur district, the water level of Lake Jatiluhur had dropped causing fish to die en masse. The fish deaths occurred in a number of sections of the lake such as in Blok Cibinong, Kaleosan and Pasirjangkung. "Golden fishes which were ready to be harvested died in the shallow sections of the Lake due to drought," he said. "The fishes are sick in the first place and then they die due to lack of oxygen," Danu, a fish breeder, said. Komaran said the mass fish deaths occurred in several parts of the Lake whose depth was not enough for fish, due to depreciation of the water volume of the lake. Reverse currents in Lake Jatiluhur often caused the death of thousands of tons of fish which happened at the peak of the rainy season at the end of the beginning of the year. This could happen because the lake already in bad condition. In Jakarta and environs at least 200 dams were also in degraded conditions. Some time ago, the Environmental forum ,Walhi, suggested that government should renovate at least 200 dams in Jakarta and surrounding areas so that they would ba able to contain excess water from heavy rains in upstream areas. "This revitalization program needs to be coordinated immediately between the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) and the Ministry of Public Works as well as with the regional governments of Jakarta, Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi areas (Jabodetabek)," Erwin Rustam of Walhi said. He said the program should be carried out immediately, particularly for dams whose downstream areas were residential regions. The other solution that could be pursued r to overcome possible natural disasters was to stop the conversion of river basin (DAS) and water catchment areas into land for development projects or other purposes. The change in the function of water catchment areas had caused the decline in the number of reservoirs in the Jabodetabek region. According to Walhi, at least 56 lakes had disappeared due to failure to conserve them. "The number of dams in the Jabodetak area has declined from 240 in 2004 to 184 in 2009 while the government always claimed that there are over 200 lakes at present," Erwin Rustam said. Of the 184 dams, 19 are still in good condition while the remaining ones are now experiencing serious sedimentation and damage. In term of width, the 240 reservoirs in the Jabodetabek areas have also decreased from 2,337.10 hectares to 1,462 hectares (184 dams). The average depth of the reservoirs also has dropped from the previous 5 to seven meters to less than 2.5 - 3 meters, including the Gintung dam in Jakarta outskirts in Cireundeu village, Ciputat sub-district, Tangerang. Three main factors have caused the disappearance of the lakes, namely the change in the function of land, the lakes being used as garbage dump sites and sedimentation. The change in the function of land has caused the dam to be converted into resettlement, restaurant and business centers. "There are lakes in Jakarta and Depok which have become garbage dumping sites," Rustam said. ***4*** |
Kamis, 13 Oktober 2011
MOST OCCUPATIONAL ACCIDENTS IN RI OCCUR ON ROADS
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 13 (ANTARA) - The number of deaths in occupational accidents in Indonesia is high because most of them occur on roads filled with motorists who flout the traffic rules. "Sixty percent of occupational accidents were traffic accidents while the remaining 40 percent happened at workplaces," the director general told a two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) workshop on National Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) held in Semarang on Wednesday and Thursday. The rate of occupational accidents in Indonesia is high compared with those in other Asian countries and Europe. "In 2010, the number of occupational accidents in Indonesia was recorded at 98,000. Some 1,200 of the total were fatal, the director general said on Thursday. This meant that an average of seven workers die due to occupational accidents every day in Indonesia. If compared with the rates of occupational accidents in Denmark and Germany, the number of occupational accidents in Indonesia was smaller as in the two other countries occupational accidents totaled 100,000 in 2010, yet the number of workers who died was smaller, namely about 500. According to Secretary General of Manpower and Transmigration Partnership, Besar Setyoko, in the first semester of 2010, Indonesia recorded a total of 53,000 occupational accidents. "About 60-70 percent of the accidents were traffic accidents, which took place when workers were heading to or returning home from their workplaces," Besar Setyoko recently. He said that the remaining ones were accidents in the workplaces. Some died of diseases they suffered as a result of work. "Therefore, our main target is to reduce accident cases that can cause death," Muji Handaya said. He said that every company must meet all health and safety work (K3) requirements because meeting these requirements would not only be useful for improving workers prosperity but also become part of the company's need. "Fulfilling the K3 requirement will support the company's business activities such as improving productivity and the acceptance of the company's products by the market," he said. Therefore, Indonesia is proposing that standards that should be reached in the implementation of the health and safety work requirement should be raised. The standards should be set not only Asian countries but also in Europe in an effort to give workers better protection against occupational accidents. "The awareness and cooperation of all sides to support the implementation of the occupational health and safety is needed to attract investment and increase economic development in Asian and European countries," Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said in written statement the Asem meeting. The minister made the proposal when he opened the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) workshop on National Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) strategies held in Yogyakarta on Wednesday and Thursday. Representatives of the International Labor Organization (ILO), ASEAN Secretariat and European Commission also attended the meeting, besides delegates from 24 Asian and European countries. Muhaimin said that in the globalized era, particularly in the face of international trade, the implementation of occupational health and safety standards was a prerequisite which had big impacts on the investment values, quality and quantity of products, companies' sustainability and the competitive edge of a country. The minister in its efforts to promote the health and safety work standards would award regional governments who are successful in minimizing occupational accidents. Last May for example, at least 11 governors and 20 mayors/district heads were awarded for their success in promoting occupational safety and health (K3) programs at national and district levels. "The awards are a form of the government's appreciation for their endeavors in familiarizing the public with occupational safety and health programs at national level. Hopefully, the awards will motivate regional governments, companies and the public to promote the programs in pursuit of an occupational safety and health-minded Indonesia in 2015," the minister said. The minister also presented 750 awards consisting of zero accident awards to 512 companies and occupational health and safety management system awards to 238 companies from all over the country. He said the implementation of occupational safety and health programs must become a cross-sectoral activity and therefore, there must be coordinated and integrated steps to ensure that the programs could be carried out well at municipal/district level. The minister admitted the implementation of the programs was still facing a number of obstacles including low awareness and discipline among employees, employers and the community, and a lack of supervisory officers. "To improve the awareness and discipline among workers, all managers of companies and heads of labor unions are expected to implement occupational safety and health programs at their respective companies/workplaces under the spirit of togetherness in pursuit of the companies' progress and workers' welfare," he said.***4*** |
Rabu, 12 Oktober 2011
GOVT CAN SHUT DOWN FRAUDULENT CONTENT PROVIDERS
| By Andi Abdussalam |
Jakarta, Oct 12 (ANTARA) - Amid customers' complaints of cellular phone credit theft, the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Board (BRTI) has held a meeting with 60 suspected content providers and told them that those found to have offered fraudulent services to the public can be shut down. "This is a crime. Their licenses will be revoked and they will be blacklisted if content providers are found to have stolen customers' phone credits. We will ask all cellular phone operators to terminate their business relations with such content providers," Communications and Informatics Minister Tifatul Sembiring said. Cheating through cellphone text massaging system to suck customers' phone credits has become rampant lately. The modus operandi include offering collateral-free loans, prizes and requests for phone credits. Tifatul said that his ministry had held a meeting with the Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) of the Indonesian Police Headquarters regarding the rampant cellular phone credit scams. "Yesterday, we had a meeting with the police investigation department (Bareskrim) and the BRTI has collected data, the alleged credit theft has been reported to the Bareskrim," the minister said. Reports by victims of SMS fraud are still flowing in. The number of cellular phones in Indonesia has reached 230 million so that a relatively long time must be allowed for more reports to come in. "The cases that have been reported are now being investigated," the minister said. BRTI said it had gathered 60 suspected content providers suspected to have committed the crime through cellular telephone premium services which were believed to have sucked customers phone credits. The minister said content providers that prove to have committed fraud would be given administrative sanctions in the form of license revocation based on existing laws. According to the minister, his ministry had received 9,638 reports from the public, and about 95 percent of the cases had been settled. He said the reports were handled by the BRTI through call center number 159. He said that at present many reports on phone credit theft had been received by the ministry of communications and informatics. "We are now investigating the allegations of phone credit theft. If we find evidence, we will report it to the police," Tifatul said. Roy Suryo, member of House Commission I on information affairs asked the minister to publicly name the 60 content providers that have been defrauding people of cellphone credits since July 2011. He said the swindlers often changed their names to make it difficult to trace them. "In this case, BRTI must adopt a firm stance, particularly with regard to registration so that consumers will not continue to be disadvantaged," Roy said. In the meantime, high publicity by the media about SMS fraud is seen by the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) as a development that could kill Indonesia's creative industry. Kadin said in its press release that the heavy publicity by the media about the SMS fraud was feared to harm the interest of many parties which officially use the SMS medium as a communications means. It has the potential to kill content creative industries in Indonesia. For this purpose, the Indonesian Mobile and Online Content Association and the Indonesian Cellular Telecommunications Association (ATSI) feel the need to straighten out media reports on the cheating though SMS text dispatches. They said that SMS text messages now being on public spot light were in three classifications. There were SMS messages sent by parties not related to the operators and content providers such as the one which asked phone credits from phone customers. There were also SMS messages offering collateral-free loans which were also sent by parties not related to the operators and content providers. According to ATSI, this kind of SMS is not a cheating but a form of marketing. The third type is that content premium SMS which constitute an official cooperation between the operators and the content providers with certain agreements. The agreements contain articles on the rights and duties of parties involved. Kadin said that it was clear that the articles of the agreements contained was no policy allowing the sucking of the customers' phone credits illegally. Bareskrim Head Commissioner General Sutarman said in Bali on Tuesday that police were still investigating cases of phone credit stealing. He said that phone credit theft involved two parties. One party, namely phone users, were aware of their credits being sucked because they were promised prizes. Sutarman said that his side was cooperating with the Ministry of Communications and Informatics and information technology experts in the investigation of SMS scams. In the meantime, banks were also called on to close fraudulent accounts that were used to ask for transfer of money through the cellular text messaging system. "In order to protect and provide customers with convenience, all banks must be serious in clearing accounts used to cheat. Banks also have to improve their marketing strategies by observing the principles of ethics," Kemal Azis Stamboel of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said. He said in the future there should no longer be SMSs terrorizing bank customers or offering credits without collateral (KTA) to them. Bank Indonesia should strongly reprimand banks which were still involved in such a practice, he said. Many bank customers have complained about being bothered by SMSs containing KTA offers or requests for money transfers to accounts in the name of people with false identities.***3*** |