INDEPENDENT TEAM NEEDED TO INVESTIGATE COLLAPSED MAHAKAM BRIDGE

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 30 (ANTARA) - Last Saturday's collapse of the 10-year-old Kutai Kartanegara (Kukar) bridge over the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan  has elicited expressions of  concern from  many quarters at home and abroad, including engineers, legislators and experts.          To find out what caused the tragedy in which  at least 19 people were killed and dozens of others injured, the government has been urged to set up an independent team of experts that could do the job  professionally.          "Surely, certain parties  must be  held responsible for the collapse of the bridge and in this case the government should set up an independent team to investigate it," Malkan Amin of the House Commission V on transportation affairs said on Wednesday.           Malkan said  it was ironical to see the facts that a bridge which was only built ten years ago could collapse while many other bridges which were built during the Dutch colonial era were still strong and safe to use until today.          Therefore, the government should form an independent team to investigate the accident. The need to conduct a comprehensive investigation was also stressed by the Indonesian Engineers Association (PII).

GOVT URGED NOT TO WASTE STATE BUDGET

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 29 (ANTARA) - Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo has called on ministries and other state institutions to maximize the absorption of the state budget as up to November 7, the realization of state expenditures has only reached 69.1 percent.          The ministry of finance recorded that up to November 7, 2011, the realization of state expenditures reached only Rp912.1 trillion, or 69.1 percent of allocated budget for 2011.          Yet, lawmakers have criticized the habit of ministries and other government agencies in spending the state budget by having various non-essential activities in the run up to the end of the year.          "The habit of organizing meetings and seminars at the end of the year (to maximally use budget) must be stopped because the activities are useless," House Speaker Marzuki Alie said on Monday.          He called on the leaders of ministries and state institutions not to spend budget for wasteful activities only to catch up with budget absorption target at the end of the year.          According to the House Speaker, the efforts to spend budget without clear objectives should no longer be made. "I have received many reports from the people on how ministries and other state institutions spend the people's money without clear objectives," he said.          Deputy House Speaker Taufik Kurniawan supported Marzuki's argument, saying that ministries and other state institutions should stop their habit of accelerating the absorption of budget with non-substantial programs.          He said that Ministries and state institutions should not force themselves to carry out unclear programs if they were not able to absorb the budget that had been allocated for them.          According to Marzuki,  the habit of organizing nonessential seminars, workshops and meetings which were held only to use up budget was a bad practice. Regional governments and regional legislative assemblies (DPRD) also did the same things.          Therefore, all sides must follow the president's instruction on budget savings. "The country still needs a lot of funds to improve the quality of the people's life, education, health and other pro-society economic programs," the House Speaker said.          The House Speaker said if an activity was really urgent and needed there was nothing wrong for the ministries to do it but it should not be `orchestrated? for the sake of spending budget.          "I have checked the truth of the reports I received and you can see that hotels are full of activities by the government and state institutions. Hotels in the Puncak area (mountainous retreat area), for example, are full," he said.          These are wasteful activities and leave the impression that they have been spontaneously programmed  as part of their efforts to finish unspent budget, while actually according to Deputy House Speaker Taufik Kurniawan, the unused budget could be utilized for next budgetary year.         "If the budget is not absorbed, the ministries should change their pattern of thinking. They should not think that the budget is only for one year and if it is unused it will forfeit," he said.          He said that they should think that if the budget was not used they should return it to the state. "Admittedly, the money will not be given to the ministries concerned but it can be used for other programs in the following budget year," Taufik stressed     Taufik said that there had been an impression that if they fail to carry out the programs their performance was not good. It had been a public secret since long that ministries and other state institutions had always tried to spend budget by having non-essential programs.          The activities they were carrying out to accelerate the absorption of the budget were non-substantial programs and spontaneous in nature like seminars, discussions and workshops. "This practice must be ended. Ministries and institutions should draw up realistic programs that could be implemented without considering the nominal value of the budget they are going to get," the deputy speaker said.          Legislator Andi Rahmat of the House?s Commission XI on financial affairs said that the slow absorption of state budget was caused by weak coordination  among the ministries and institutions concerned with goods and service procurement.          He said that capital expenditures for example had only reached 40.7 percent due to the weak coordination.  "Coordination is weak in terms of regulation policy at the ministerial level and at its lower level. The business world seems also to be unfamiliar with the procurement system," Andi said.           Andi said that the government and the Government Goods and Service Procurement Policy Agency (LKPP) had conducted a review of Presidential Decision No. 54/2010 on Goods and Service Procurement, which was suspected to be the cause of the slow absorption of budget for capital expenditure.          Thus for next year,  Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo hoped that ministries/state institutions would maximize their absorption of state budget as of the beginning of 2012.          "We are preparing to kick off so that the budget absorption in 2012 should be maximized since the beginning and it would be better," the finance minister said.          According to the finance ministry, the realization of state expenditures up to November 7 this year has reached 69.1 percent, or Rp912.1 trillion, of the assumption in the revised 2011 state budget set at Rp1,320.7 trillion.***5*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/11:40/A/O001) 29-11-2011 11:45

RI HAS LOW SOVEREIGNTY OVER ENERGY

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 28 (ANTARA) - Once an oil exporting country, Indonesia is now rated as an importer one which has low sovereignty over its energy where foreign countries can enjoy relative liberty in tapping its energy resources.         This is one of the opinions raised by speakers at a seminar on "Energy Resilience and Sovereignty In the Perspective of National Resilience" in Jakarta on Monday. The lack of sovereignty for Indonesia over its energy  is a result of an energy paradigm  inherited from the New Order government.         "Talking about energy, the important thing is to change the old paradigm. Indeed, energy is a matter involving the sovereignty of the state," Deputy House Speaker Pramono Anung said.          Therefore, the government should change the  energy management paradigm it has inherited if the country's energy sources are to be preserved.         "This paradigm has been applied since the New Order government and we are now facing its carry-over problems. For this, we need new people such as Pak (Mr) Dahlan to change this paradigm," Pramono said.         Dahlan Iskan who was also a speaker at the seminar is the minister for state enterprises who is expected to advance state firms in the energy sector. He had earlier said that the  government should develop five energy sectors in order to achieve national energy resilience, namely gas, geothermal, solar power , coal and nuclear.          "The five aspects will be able to fulfill the country's energy resilience in the long run if they are developed based on the government's general energy principles." Dahlan told the national seminar.          Unfortunately,  so far national energy policy has not yet been aimed at preserving energy sources. This could be seen from the great liberty outsiders enjoyed in tapping Indonesia's natural wealth.          Thus, according to Pramono,  national energy resilience  would  only be a dream if the people did not realize the importance of energy.  He said  that North Korea, for example, had based its energy policies on its sovereignty. Energy was placed as a matter of state sovereignty where the state would base what it would do about energy on its sovereignty.          The same was true in Cuba, he said, where people use energy in a frugal way as they realized the importance of energy. The price of fuel oil in Cuba was the same as in Indonesia. Yet, Cuba  never felt it was running short of energy.          "The United States which needs 30 million barrels of oil per day, does not use its own energy but imports it. It does not use even a single drop of its fuel oil, even if it could tap it from its own oil fields in Texas," Pramono said.      Regarding sovereignty over energy,  National Resilience Institute (LEMHANAS) Governor  Budi Susilo Soepandji  said the degree of Indonesia?s  energy sovereignty was very low so that efforts must be made to find renewable energy sources for the benefit of the people's welfare.         Yet,  former lawmaker Permadi said it was difficult for Indonesia to use and develop its energy sources  for the benefit of the people while many of those sources were controlled by foreign companies.         In fact, Indonesian workers including those of state oil and gas company Pertamina were able to manage energy sources on their own, yet  sources were controlled by foreign firms.          "How can we become master in our own  home if many of Pertamina's competent workers are made to remain mere spectators," he said.           LEMHANAS Governor Budi Susilo Soepandji said that based on information from various sources, Indonesia's energy supply and demand situation is quite precarious.          The use of renewable energy sources and the implementation of energy conservation programs had not yet been optimal, he said in a paper titled "Energy Resilience and Sovereignty In the Perspective of National Resilience.           Energy consumption which was growing by an average of 7 percent per year is not accompanied by adequate energy supply. The country's dependence on fossil-based energy was still high, accounting for 95.21 percent of its overall energy needs, he said.         Therefore according to Dahlan Iskan, the government should change its pattern of fuel oils (BBM) consumption because  oil production continued to drop while gas production continued to increase.          In such a situation,  commercial vehicles should no longer use fuel oils but compressed natural gas (CNG), or electricity. "Trucks must be directed to use CNG and  motorcycles electricenergy," the minister said.           Apart from that,  Dahlan said. in order to overcome the shortage of power supply during the peak burden, the gas allocation for PLN should be increased.          He said that in order to overcome the problem of high power demand during the peak burden, PLN was now building mini CNGs throughout Indonesia and was now in trial test in Jambi.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/13:00/A014) 29-11-2011 01:04:

GOVT PONDERING 'LIVE-OUT' SYSTEM FOR ITS MIGRANT WORKERS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 28 (ANTARA) - Often called "foreign-exchange income heroes" Indonesian migrant workers overseas, particularly those employed as domestic helpers, often get into trouble because of  disputes with their employers or are maltreated or even tortured, sexually harassed at their work places.         In most of the cases that have happened so far, they ended up as the losers  due to lack of protection or access to legal aid, and this fact led many  parties at home to criticize the government for failing to pay proper attention to migrant workers problems.     Therefore, the government is now considering introducing a 'live-out' system for its workers abroad, calling on Indonesian representatives abroad to pay more attention to them and asking Indonesian lawyers to provide them with legal advice when they are facing legal problems abroad.         "With the application of a 'live out' system, Indonesian domestic helpers (TKI) do not need to stay 24 hours at their employers' houses," Moh Jumhur Hidayat, head of the National Agency for Placement and Protection of Workers Abroad (BNP2TKI), said.          The BNP2TKI chief said Indonesian domestic helpers were often exposed to the risks of maltreatment by and conflict with their employers if they were employed on 'live-in' terms that required them to stay 24 hours in their employers' homes.

LESSON MUST BE LEARNED FROM MAHAKAM BRIDGE

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 27 (ANTARA) - The collapse of the Mahakam bridge should serve as a lesson for Indonesia which is planning to construct its longest bridge that will connect Java and Sumatra on the Sunda Straits.

         Indonesian engineers expressed concern over the collapse on Saturday of Indonesia's 10-year old Kutai Kartanegara bridge which spans 710 meters over the Mahakam river  in East Kalimantan.
        Reportedly built with a high technology and has a suspended section of 270 meters over the river, the bridge collapsed at 4.30 pm local time when traffic was busy on it.
        "All parties involved, beginning from its designers, contractors and operational period, must be held responsible. The incident must be investigated thoroughly to disclose whether it has been built based on the required construction standards," Chairman of the Indonesian Engineers Association (PII)  Said Didu said.
         Therefore, the PII said it was ready to help the government conduct an investigative auditing of the bridge which connects the sub district of Tenggarong Seberang and Kutai Kartanegara district with East Kilamtan provincial capital of Samarinda.

JAKARTA ALERTED OVER POSSIBLE MASSIVE FLOODING

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 26 (ANTARA) - With the current rainy season  expected to peak in January and February, Jakarta city authorities have been called upon on to prepare for possible massive flooding and take steps to minimize its destructive impact if it happens,    "I am paying  special attention to Jakarta, although it has been relatively safe in the last four years. But you have to remember that next year it could be different," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo here on Friday.         The president made the statement in a limited cabinet meeting on climate change also attended by  Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo.       The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (MBKG) has predicted that in the current rainy season extreme weather in a number of regions in Indonesia will take place. Moreover, now is the time for the five yearly cycle of big floods to take place again.         Yudhoyono said Jakarta was  hit by floods every year. Therefore, he asked the Jakarta government to prepare various steps to anticipate floods.  "I am confident the Jakarta governor has taken the anticipatory steps," the president said.          The president asked the people to take a lesson from the experience of several neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, like Thailand and others, which were hit by floods.          Therefore the relevant ministries have also prepared steps so that floods, if they take place, would not have impact and last for long like those taking place in Thailand.          Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al-Jufri said the government had made preparations to face the possible major floods in Jakarta. "All relevant ministries have made preparations for floods, not only in Jakarta but also in other regions in Indonesia. After all, the rain falls in January and February are high. So, we have to make preparations so that it would happen like in Thailand," Minister Salim said.          He said his ministry had prepared emergency funds, inflatable  and salvaging boats. Besides, a total of 1,250 rescuers are alerted in Jakarta and more than 30 thousands others all over the country.  "We are doing our best so that the victims could be well safeguarded when there are floods," the minister said.          Especially in the face of the fiver yearly cycles of big floods in Jakarta, the Jakarta government said it had made preparations even since 2008, such as dredging rivers and cleaning   sewage.          Head of Jakarta Public Work Service Ery Basworo said his office had allocated a fund for cleaning 144 rivers and sewages every year in Jakarta. In 2008, 12 rivers were dredged while in 2009 the same thing was also done on 64 rivers. Last year, six rivers were dredged and cleaned of     refuse clog.          "The main cause of floods in Jakarta is garbage that clogged the sewage system and rivers. Therefore, the regional government also called for the participation of the people,"  Ery Basworo said.          Besides, the Jakarta public works service also is also preparing at least 646 flood task forces which are deployed in a number of flood prone areas in Jakarta. It has also made available at least 334 units of water pumps with a capacity of 358.7 cubic meters per second in 121 flood prone locations, 17 pick-up trucks, 25 units of Beco heavy equipment, 32 mobile water pumps, 38,500 sand bags, 6 rubber boats,  he said.         According to Ery Basworo, the equipment needed to overcome floods is now ready for operations in five areas of Jakarta in the current rainy season. "The Jakarta Public Work Service has conducted monitoring and detection on flood locations in Jakarta in the run-up to the rainy season," he said.         Regarding the widening of rivers and dams, Ery said his office would be assisted by the central government in widening five rivers from six meters to 22 meters. "Besides, narrow culverts would also be widened. Those previously having a diameter of 60 cm are now replaced with those with a diameter of 1.8 meters," he said.          Ery said that the rivers that would be widened included the Sunter, the Cipinang, the Grogol, the Krukut and the Pesanggrahan. "The width of the five rivers is only six meters. We plan to widen it into 22 meters with a length of 35 km for each of the rivers," Ery said.          House Speaker Marzuki Alie appreciated the various efforts by the regional government of Jakarta and the people made to anticipate floods in the capital city as a result of increasing rain falls which is expected to take place next month.          "The House hails the regional government and people's efforts to face floods such as the cleaning and the construction of walls on the brink of River Ciliwung and floods safeguarding simulations," the House Speaker said.         Marzuki said Jakarta as the capital city is the center of government, economic activities and the activities of state institutions. Therefore, Jakarta should be free from floods because the disaster would disturb the government and people economic activities.         "If the construction of the east and west flood canals have almost been completed, revitalization of dams and 13 rivers which crisscross Jakarta should be carried out soon, including the Ciliwung  river" Marzuki Alie said.***6**** (T.A014/A/HAJM/18:10/A014) 26-11-2011 18:19:

RI FACING CRITICAL PERIOD IN INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 25 (ANTARA)  - The coming three years will be a very critical phase for Indonesia in the development of its infrastructure as  it  would only have two options, namely developing fast and strategic infrastructures or being trapped in  structural and prolonged congestion.          The next three years until 2014 will be crucial for Indonesia's infrastructure development. However, observers see that the government still has no solid policy in the field that would support the development of its infrastructures.           "The government's latest policy in this sector such as a master plan for the acceleration and expansion of Indonesia's economic development (MP3EI) has not yet been prepared well in the field," Suyono Dikun, a professor at the University of Indonesia, said on Thursday.          Failure to develop enough infrastructures in the country will cause congestion in different sectors, not only in the traffic one.          "The congestion will happen not only on roads but also on railway tracks, ports, airports, power energy, irrigation, drinking water and others," Suyono said.          He said that if Indonesia failed to develop more modern, efficient and quality infrastructure in the coming few years, it would  lag far behind other nations.          Legislator Rhendy Lamadjido and expert staff of the ministry of public works Danang Parikesit shared Suyono's view.           Suyono, who is also a former deputy to chief economic minister for infrastructure pointed out that institutionally the government had basically tried to do its best to develop infrastructures such as through the Policy Committee for the Acceleration of Infrastructure Development Preparations (KKPPI) and the issuance of various presidential regulations such as Presidential Regulation No. 81/2003, Presidential regulation no. 42/2005 and No. 12 / 2011.          "Presidential Regulation No. 13/2010 on Public Private Partnership (PPP) has also been revised with presidential Regulation No. 56/2011, yet the long efforts made in the span of 10 years have not yielded an encouraging result," he said.           Sharing Suyono's view was legislator Rhendy Lamadjito of the House Commission V on public works affairs. He said that Indonesia's infrastructure development was now entering a critical period.          Rhendy said that so far there was something wrong with the budget policy on infrastructure. He cited as an example tenders for infrastructure projects. Tenders were called in June-July while their contracts were signed in August, only after which could the budget be disbursed.          "To make this more complicated difficult is the fact that there were post-fasting month and Christmas activities, while at the same time the budget year and disbursement were limited to the year-end," he said.          As a result according to Rhendy who is also chairman of the National Construction Services Development Institute, it is quite understandable if the absorption of public works budget in the infrastructure sector only reached 50.8 percent, leaving about 1,500 more infrastructure projects in the ministry not implemented.          "Players in the field also face a problem of interest rate where they need soft interest policy so that  it is urgent in this respect for the government to consider establishing a construction bank," Rhendy said.           The situation was also worsened by new policies issued to accelerate infrastructure development such as the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI). It turned out that these policies had no strong legal basis such as law. "This is why it is difficult for foreign and domestic investors to enter infrastructure projects," he said.          Rhendy said that the other important thing was the fact that many legal products and other regulations had been issued but the government was inconsistent  in its implementation,  such Law No. 18/1999 on construction Services.          Expert Staff of the Public Works Minister, Danang Parikesit said that what the government expected in issuing a number of polices such as the PPP and MP3EI could not yet be realized as the scems could not be implemented in the field.          "Initially in November 2009 the MP3EI was only an idea, along with the idea of economic corridors, yet in May-June this year it was decided as a policy that has to be carried out while the instruments and strategies for its implementation in the field not yet existed. Only now does the government formulate it," Danang said.          Therefore, the government needs to stress the MP3E and PPP, whether they are merely re-branding or they are needed to boost development. "If they are only for re-branding, there is no need to support them with a law," he said.          Regarding the critical situation in the coming three years, Danang said it was in the context of comparing it with other countries."Yet, in the real sense, the Indonesian infrastructure is basically growing," Danang said.           In term of infrastructure development financing where the state budget is expected to provide 30 percent while the private sector is expected to contribute 70 percent, Danang said that if the 30 percent financing is carried out in the right way and transparently, the private sector would contribute the70 percent easily.          Some time ago, an estimate made by  the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) showed that Indonesia will need Rp2,855 - Rp2,910 trillion to finance its infrastructure development in the 2010 - 2014 period.          The government since recent years has the commitment to stimulating investment in infrastructure development in order to boost economic growth to about 6-7 percent by 2014.          The government hopes for a total investment of Rp2,000 trillion while actually it will have an investment of about Rp1,600 trillion in the next five years in order to achieve the growth target.          Owing to the big investment needed to develop infrastructure, the government has to promote its infrastructure development to the private sector as it could only finance 30 percent of the total funds needed for the projects.         About 70 percent of the infrastructure projects are expected to be financed by private companies, among others through a private public placement (PPP) scheme.***5*** (T.A014*E008/A/HAJM/23:51/a014) 25/11/2011

RI RICE PRODUCTION BELOW TARGET

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 20 (ANTARA) - Indonesia is expected to import rice to cover its rice shortage as its  production this year is estimated to be below the target due to unfavorable climate and planting pattern changes.          "A third rice production forecast by the central board of statistics puts the figure at 65 million tons. If in the coming two months (November-December) improvements can be made, the figure could be 66 million tons. This means we will still miss our target by 4 million tons," Deputy Agriculture Minister Rusman Heriawan  said over the weekend.          The government has set a production target of 70 million tons of unhusked rice in 2011. But the country's rice production  is likely to reach only 66 million tons of unhusked  rice which would be below the targeted figure of the 70 million tons.          According to the deputy minister, it is difficult to say at present that the target would be met because of the changed planting pattern as a result of climate change. The deficit of four million tons could only be covered in the 2012 harvest season.          "The planting pattern is changed so that four million tons are to be harvested in 2012," he added. However, the target of 74 million tons next year is achievable. "I have calculated  that in 2012 we will see a production increase, perhaps an extraordinary one," he said.          Rice is the main staple food in the country with a population of about 237.6 million. Its annual rice need reaches 33 million tons.          In order to cover the shortage of rice stocks at the end of this year the government will still import about 500 thousand tons  to meet its  need for the staple  until the end of 2011.          President Director of state-owned logistics agency  Bulog, Sutarto Alimoeso, said the Indonesian government was importing an average of 250 thousand tons of rice each month.          "Based on our calculations, Indonesia needs 500,000 additional tons of imported rice to meet domestic needs until the end of the year," he said. The calculations  had passed a series of analysis by various parties in a number of meetings held at the finance ministry.          "The volume to be imported is ultimately to be decided by the government but according to our calculations, we need approximately  500,000 more tons," he said.          With the addition of 500,000 tons, Bulog was convinced the national rice stocks would  be enough for the coming five months which would aggregate about 1.8 million tons.          He said that up to now, Indonesia had already  imported a total of 700,000 tons  from Vietnam and Thailand.          Based on data available at the Central Board of Statistics (BPS), Indonesia's total rice imports through several ports in the January - September 2011 period have reached 1.870 million tons.          As per October 2011, Bulog alone has imported 536 thousand tons of rice or less than a half of the 1.2 million tons Indonesia had contractually intended to buy from Vietnam. Meanwhile, the government has canceled earlier a plan to import 300 thousand tons of rice from Thailand.          According to Rusman Heriawan, the Indonesian government has so far imported rice from Vietnam and Thailand as the biggest rice exporting countries. Yet, the floods that hit Thailand have made Indonesia to seek another rice exporting country which has enough rice reserves like India.          "It is now difficult to find countries which want to export rice, even,  rice exporter countries now are imposing complicated requirements," he said.          But Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said on Saturday that Thailand and Vietnam have signed a new agreement to export rice to Indonesia.          "Thailand will remain exporting 300,000 tons of rice to Indonesia this year," Gita Wirjawan said on the sidelines of the 19th ASEAN Summit at Bali International Convention Center in Nusa Dua on Saturday.          In the meantime, Indonesia and India have not yet completed their negotiations on the plan of Indonesia to import 500,000 tons of rice from that country.  Until now, both sides have not yet reached an agreement, while negotiations are still continued. "India asked for too rigid requirements. India has enough rice reserves and this is for the first time Indonesia is willing to cooperate in the rice import with India," Rusman said.          He said the Indonesian government was facing difficulties in importing rice because Thailand as a main rice supplier country to Indonesia was experiencing a production decline by about 10 to 15 million tons due to the floods.          "Thailand is of course willing to reinforce its food resilience following the floods," Rusman said.          Yet, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan disclosed on Saturday that Thailand along with Vietnam had renewed its commitment to exporting rice to Indonesia     Gita said the agreement of Thailand and Vietnam to export rice to Indonesia was stipulated in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) as part of a bilateral meeting during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.         Gita explained that although Thailand was hit by devastating flood recently, the country would supply rice to Indonesia, and committed to supplying 1 million tons of rice per year from 2012 to 2016.          The renewal of the commitment assured that the needed to import rice this year could be met. After all, according to Rusman, it is impossible for Indonesia to import rice from Japan, South Korea, China and the United States because rice from these countries were too expensive.          In addition, Indonesia is also still negotiating rice imports from India. According to Bulog Chief Sutarto Alimoeso, rice imports from India are expected to arrive in Indonesia next month.          "Hopefully, the imports will be arriving early in December. We have agreed to import 250,000 tons," Alimoeso said last Thursday.          He said that the imported rice would be used to increase Bulog's rice stocks. "It is for a standby stock in the face of a possible rice crisis  up to four months ahead," Sutarto Alimoeso said.***5*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/16:20/A/S012) 20-11-2011 17:06

SEA GAMES EXPECTED TO PROMOTE RI TOURISM

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 13 (ANTARA) - The on-going 26th Southeast Asian Games is expected to help promote Indonesia's tourism, particularly the tourism development in Jakarta and Palembang which  host the region's biggest sport events from November 11 to 22, 2011.          Indonesia is hosting the 26th SEA Games where  296 sport branches are be competed in Palembang and the other 266 branches in Jakarta.      The foreign athletes, officials and supporters will automatically become tourists who at a certain occasion would be potential to return to Indonesia as tourists     "The big event of this scale is effective in attracting more tourists to Indonesia. Those who come to Indonesia are not only athletes but also their supporters," Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Mari Elka Pangestu said on Saturday.          The activities will also develop the creative economic sector and promote the country's culture and tourism in the wide sense.          "Creative industry will develop significantly through sports events of this kind," the minister said.           The same view was also expressed by the home affairs promotion director of the Tourism and Creative Economic Ministry Muhammad Faried said. "This event will be a very effective tourism promotion media,"  Muhammad Faried said.           The minister said that the arrivals of many visitors to Jakarta and Palembang as the hosts of the SEA Games should be taken as an advantageous opportunity to promote Indonesia's tourism.          Mari Elka Pangestu said that the biggest Southeast Asian Games were effective in promoting the Indonesian tourism while developing the creative economic sector.          The turnover of the MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition) sector like those of hotels and meeting convention halls will also be boosted during the SEA Games events.          During the events, athletes, officials and supporters from various countries in Southeast Asia, or even from the world, will visit Indonesia to witness the games.          After the games, they could also become international tourists who at another time to come would return to Indonesia.          Therefore, the minister said her office was determined to make use of the 26th Southeast Asian Games in the two places of Jakarta and Palembang as one of the country's means of tourism promotion.          The provincial administrations of Jakarta and South Sumatra will offer several tourism packages for the athletes namely the Palembang city tour and four Jakarta tourism packages.          In Palembang,  some of the tourism events which enliven the SEA Games are among others the Sriwijaya International Expo, Arts & Culture and Film Week 2011. Besides, the events could also promote South Sumatra's  traditional 'songket' dresses.         "There are many ways of promoting cultures such as making use of the current SEA Games to promote the Palembang songket," Tourism and Creative Economic Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said when she visited the songket production center in Tanggabuntung area, South Sumatra, on Saturday.          The minister asked 'songket' dress producers to make use of the on-going SEA Games as a means of promoting Palembang's cultures such as its 'songket' dresses.          She cited Palembang as an example where noted producers of local traditional 'songket' dress, like Zainal Songket and Fikri Collection in the Tanggabuntu songket production center, were expected to be flooded by orders.          "Zainal is convinced his turnover would jump up to 300 percent during the SEA Games while Fikri predicts his business could increase 75 percent," Mari said.          In the meantime, the Jakarta regional administration, which co-host SEA Games, also offered tourism packages. The tourism packages which will be offered for the athletes are the free-of-charge city tours to the Old Town, the National Monument and the Indonesia in Miniature Park. Apart from that, the athletes will also have opportunities for shopping at famous shopping malls.          Therefore, the Jakarta Administration hoped that SEA Games XXVI athletes who came to the Indonesian capital city would enjoy their visits like in line with Jakarta's tourism slogan: "Enjoy Jakarta".          "We are having good coordination in order to turn Jakarta as a friendly host which serves hospitality, provides security while the people and government give their best services. We hope that the SEA Games athletes would  enjoy their visits in  Jakarta," Sukesti Martono, assistant to the Jakarta governor for cultural and tourism affairs said.           Sukesti said the SEA Games would boost the tourism activities, including the business activities of hotels, culinary businesses and recreation centers in Jakarta.          "This is a chance for Jakarta to serve delegations from the ASEAN countries, not only their athletes but also their officials and supporters. This is a good chance to increase economic activities," Sukesti said.          The SEA Games is participated in by thousands of athletes from 11 countries, namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Timor Leste, Vietnam and Indonesia as the host.          Indonesia has several times hosted the Sea Games, namely the 10th Sea Games in 1979, the 15th Sea Games in 1987 and the 19th Sea Games in 1997.  ***5*** (T.A014/A/H-NG/11:30   ) 13-11-2011 11:37:3

RAINY SEASON LIKELY TO AFFECT GOVT'S SALT OUTPUT TARGET

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 3 (ANTARA) - The arrival of the rainy season can disturb the country's salt production and prevent the government from achieving its target to produce some 1.4 million tons of salt this year.          Though the government is still optimistic,  salt farmers have  expressed pessimism about the possibility of achieving the target.          "The target is difficult to achieve because up to October this year production has only reached about 55 percent,"  Chairman the Iodized Salt Producers Association (Aprogakob)  Slamet Untung Irredenta said here on Thursday.          He said that several salt production centers in West Java and Central Java had begun to stop production in line with the arrival of the rainy season. "It is predicted that until the end of the harvest period in mid December 2011 additional production would, at the most, be only 30 percent of the target," he said.          Slamet who is also president director of PT Garam (salt) predicted that salt production throughout Indonesia was only about 1.1 - 1.2 million tons until the end of the harvest seasons in 2011.           The same pessimism is also aired by  Chairman of Salt Farmers Association (Aspag) for Sampang (East Java) branch, Jafar Sodiq.          "West Java has stopped production. Some producers in Central Java have also followed suit while production in East Java has begun to be disturbed by cloudy conditions," he said.          However, the ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries   is still optimistic with the target, which it said was achievable.          Director General of Marine Resources, Coastal Areas and Small Islands of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sudirman Saad said up to November 1, people's salt production in 40 districts /salt producing cities in 10 provinces has reached 881,603 tons.          "This has accounted for more than 60 percent. We are optimistic that up to the end of the harvest seasons, East Java will produce 900,000 tons of salt and West Nusa Tenggara 350,000 tons. It will be added with production from other regions so that the total production would reach 1.4 million tons," Sudirman said.          The government is implementing a salt self-efficiency program  in the 40 districts in 10 provinces in Indonesia. Under the program, the government is intensifying salt production on a total area of 4,365 hectares belonging to farmers and increase salt production from 60 tons to 80 tons per day.          Data at the ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries indicated that the national need for salt in 2011 is set at 2.9 million tons, consisting of 1.l million tons of consumption salt and 1.8 million tons of industrial salt.          Fadel Muhammad when he was still maritime and fisheries minister  recently said  actually Indonesia's total need for salt reached 3.4 million tons this year.          The country's total need for salt was formulated by related ministries. The  four related ministries have agreed to set the national need for salt at 3.4 million tons, consisting of 1.6 million tons for consumption and 1.8 tons for industry.          "The need for 3.4 million tons of salt was agreed by four ministries, namely the trade ministry, the industry ministry, the maritime and fisheries ministry (KKP) and the office of coordinating minister for economic affairs," Fadel Muhammad said.          This data is almost the same as that available at the ministry of industry where the national need for salt in 2011 is set at 3.15 million tons which consist of 1.38 million tons of salt for consumption  and 1.77 million tons of salt for industry.          Up to now, almost all salt for industry need still has to be imported because domestic production is not yet able to meet it.          Some of the salt for consumption is also still imported from other countries because the production of salt farming which according to the ministry of industry covered an area of 25,064 hectares is fluctuating in accordance with the climate conditions.          Data at the Central Board of Statistics (BPS) showed that salt import in the January - September 2011 period totaled 2.33 million tons worth US$122.52 million. Salt is mainly imported from Australia, India, Singapore, Germany and  New Zealand.          Fadel Muhammad when he still led the maritime and fisheries ministry  decided to stop importing salt for consumption. Salt that will be imported is only that for industry.          Because production at home is only about 1.4 million while the need for consumption is 1.6 million tons, the remaining 200 thousand tons could be imported.          Under Fadel's leadership, the ministry of maritime and fisheries affairs was tough on its stand to boost salt production at home and opposed salt importation.          "It is okey to import salt if it is for industrial need and our production is still unable to meet the required standards. But import must be in a limited volume," Fadel said recently.          Fadel's successor, newly named Minister for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries  Sharif Cicip Sutardjo, will resume Fadel's program, particularly the salt-sufficiency program in the 10 provinces.          For this purpose, the maritime affairs and fisheries ministry has allocated funds totaling Rp90 billion to support the program.          Supporting the program is one of the ministry's efforts to increase the domestic salt making industry's ability to meet the domestic need for salt. ***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/21:40/H-YH) 03-11-2011 21:39:

LAW MINISTER TO DECIDE ELIGIBLE PARTY FOR NEWMONT STAKE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 2 (ANTARA)  - The 'dispute' between the finance minister and the House about the party most eligible to purchase shares to be divested by PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT) is expected to be solved after the law and human rights minister issues a legal opinion.         "We will wait for the legal opinion of the ministry of law and human rights," Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said here on Wednesday after he had  decided to leave the issue to the Law and  Human Rights Ministry.          The local government of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) has been struggling for the right to purchase seven percent of  PT NNT shares in the last phase of a mandatory divestment process although Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo wanted the government to buy the stock through the Government Investment Center (PIP).          Earlier, the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission XI on financial affairs said it would summon the finance minister about  the government's decision  to purchase the seven percent stake in NNT.          "The finance minister will be summoned as soon as possible to cancel the government's plan to purchase the NNT divestment shares," said Commission XI Deputy Chairman Harry Azhar Azis.          A mining observer  even  suggested that the government cease its efforts to acquire the  NNT stake and sit together with all parties involved to discuss the problem.          "I think all parties involved should sit together to discuss the problem and try to reach a new agreement," Khomaidi, a mining observer, who is also deputy director of the Reforminer Institute, said.          The parties involved are the government, NNT, the Government Investment Center (PIP), the finance ministry, the House of Representatives (DPR), and the State Audit Board (BPK) which audited the  process the government had initiated to buy MNT shares.    The State Audit Board (BPK) in its  opinion said the acquisition process the government had begun called for the use of  funds from the state budget.          "The BPK said in its opinion that its audit had shown there was the potential of  violations in the government's plan to fpurchase  the MNT shares. So, we will soon summon the minister," Harry said.          He said that there were two points in the opinion of the state audit board that had needed to be heeded by the government.          "BPK said an investment by the government using state money needs to be covered by a special government regulation. The same applies to the provision of state participation funds to state-owned enterprises which also needs a special government regulation," he said.          The second thing, he said, is that the government needs approval from the House if it wants to make the investment.          "The House must approve it in the first place because the funds to purchase the MNT stake would come from the state budget. So far, the finance minister has never asked for the House's approval," he said.          In order to get another legal opinion, Minister Wacik left the matter to the law minister.  He said  the ministry of law and human rights was now studying the legal aspects of the process to divest  the 7-percent stake in  NNT.          The House of Representatives  had asked the ministry of energy and mineral resources to give a chance to the West Nusatenggara (NTB) region to obtain the  NNT stake, even if  Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo had said the government would  acquire it through  the PIP.          Wacik said he had just received a letter from House Commission VII on energy affairs asking the minister to give the seven percent stake to the region (regional government). "So, we will look into it which one is legally correct, whether it is the central government or the regional administration that has the right to purchase the stake," Wacik said.          The government's decision to acquire the seven percent stake in PT  NNT which operates the Batu Hijau mine, Indonesia's second-largest copper and gold mine in West Nusa Tenggara, has since the beginning been opposed by the local people.          Last April, thousands of West Sumbawa district civil servants and other locals took to the streets and blocked roads to the mining location in protest against the central government's plan to buy the shares. They demanded that the seven percent stake be offered to the  government of West Sumbawa distict, West Nusa Tenggara province.      The Indonesian government, through the  PIP had decided to buy the seven percent stake as part of the implementation of Article 24 of NNT's work contract signed in 1986.         The law in Indonesia requires foreign companies in the mining sector to transfer 51 percent of their shares to the government or local companies after five years of commercial operation.         Thus, NNT had the obligation to divest 51 percent of its stake but because PT Pukuafu Indah, a local company  owned a 20-percent stake in NTT, the company was only required to gradually sell a total of 31 percent of its stake to the government or local parties.         However, both the government and NNT  were then involved in a dispute on how to implement the divestment scheme.  The international arbitration court ruled in favor of the Indonesian government, where NNT had to divest three percent of its shares for 2006 and seven percent stake for each year from 2007 through 2010.         Up to 2009, 24 percent of the divestment process had been carried out, leaving another seven percent in the last phase for 2010, which  until now the central government and local administration are fighting to acquire.***5*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/00:22/a014) 03-11-2011 00:29:5