INDONESIA SHOULD PROTECT ITS AGRICULTURE SECTOR

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 9 (Antara) - With some 60-70 percent of its 240 million population hailing from the farming community, Indonesia needs to protect its agricultural sector to free itself from the influx of imported agricultural products and strengthen food resilience.          In an effort to advance Indonesia's agricultural sector, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the development of the country's agricultural and plantation sectors.          "The government is determined to improve the welfare of the people, particularly farmers, who work in the plantation and agricultural sectors," noted President Jokowi.          In the first six months of Jokowi's administration, the government claimed to have been able to successfully expand the country's rice fields by 700 hectares.          "We were evaluating our work during the October 2014-March 2015 period, and we found that we have been able to expand agricultural land by 700 hectares. God willing, it can produce an additional harvest of three million tons," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman revealed after attending the meeting with the president.

INDUSTRIES COMPLAIN OF POWER TARIFF HIKES

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 8 (Antara) -- Burdened by the depreciating value of the rupiah against the U. S. dollar, industries hope that the government does not raise the electricity tariffs anymore this year.          This is because power fares contribute some 30 percent to the production costs borne by industries.          "We hope the government does not raise the basic tariffs of electricity for industries this year because it will increase our production costs," Chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) for Central Java Frans Kongi said on Tuesday.          The industrial sector bears the burden of the weakening of the rupiah against the U. S. dollar because local industries still depend on imported raw materials.         According to calculations, raw materials constitute 50 percent and electricity, 30 percent, of the production cost. So if the basic electricity tariffs are raised for industries, it will have an impact on the sale prices of industrial products.          Kongi also hopes that if the government is resolved to increase the electricity tariffs, it should increase those for household consumers who make up the largest customer group of state-owned electricity company PLN.

GOVT EXPEDITES 35 THOUSAND MW POWER PLANT PROJECTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 8 (Antara) - The government is expediting the development of its power plant projects worth Rp1.2 thousand trillion to achieve the target of generating an additional 35 thousand megawatts of electricity during the next five years.          Thus, with the country's current capacity of 54 thousand megawatts, the completion of the development of power plants, with a targeted capacity of 35 thousand megawatts, will bring the country's total electricity generation capacity to 89 thousand megawatts by the end of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) government's term in 2019.          President Jokowi has therefore reminded the state-owned electricity firm PLN about the target to build power plants. He called for the accelerated construction of power plants in a bid to meet the electricity needs of the people and domestic industries.          "The target given to PLN was not small. Therefore, it should work (towards the end) as fast as possible," President Jokowi remarked during his visit to the PLN headquarters in South Jakarta on Tuesday.

FISHERMEN CALL FOR THOROUGH ELIMINATION OF POACHERS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 6 (Antara) - Indonesian fishermen on National Fishermen's Day on Monday called for the thorough elimination of illegal fishing, including those financing poachers, so that fishermen's welfare can be improved.          "National Fishermen's Day 2015 is observed across the country, especially in Banda Aceh, Buton, Manado, Semarang, and Jakarta," Secretary-General of the People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice (Kiara) Abdul Halim said on Monday.          Illegal fishing in Indonesian waters by large foreign vessels is one of the factors affecting traditional fishermen who are struggling to improve their prosperity.          Operations to eliminate illegal fishing from Indonesian waters should not be restricted to seizing illegal fishing boats. It should also take to court large companies providing financial backing for poachers.          Therefore, on the occasion of the fishermen's day, he noted, several activities are held in various regions focusing on ways to improve the welfare of fishermen who are still living in poverty.

GOVT URGED TO TAKE STERN ACTION AGAINST SLAVERY

By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, April 5 (Antara) - The Indonesian government is expected to take stern measures against companies operating fishing ships which practice slavery in the fishery sector.          "The disclosure of the slavery practice in Benjina, Aru Island, Maluku, indicates that the upholding of the law in the fishery sector in the past five months has not yet created significant deterrent effects," Indonesian Traditional Fishermen's Association (KNTI) General Chairman M Riza Damanik said here on Sunday.          The KNTI called on related parties, including the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) to investigate the alleged report of slavery practices in the fishery sector.          "The slavery case of fishermen in Indonesian waters should thoroughly be investigated,"  M Riza Damanik has earlier said.          Several international media outlets such as the Associated Press of the US have reported the slavery of boat crews employed by the company that conducts fishing in Indonesia.

AUSTRALIAN TOURIST ARRIVALS IN BALI REMAIN HIGH

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 4 (Antara) - Australian tourists visiting Indonesia's tourist resort province of Bali have continued to increase, regardless of the impact of Australian nationals Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran being sentenced to death in 2006 on drug charges.         Indonesia's plan to carry out the execution of the Australian death convicts has strained relations between Canberra and Jakarta during the past few months. Yet it has not hurt the Australian tourist traffic coming to Bali.         The two Australian convicts have been lodged in a Bali prison since they received the death penalty in 2006. But they were recently moved to a prison on the Nusakambangan Island, Cilacap District, Central Java, to be executed.         Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were members of the 'Bali Nine' drug ring, a group of drug traffickers, who were arrested on April 17, 2005 in Bali while trying to smuggle out 8.3 kilograms of heroin worth Rp40 billion to Australia.

INDONESIA'S HERBAL MEDICINES TO GET PATENT RIGHTS

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, April 3 (Antara) - Rich in medicinal plants, Indonesia has been studying the healing properties of its medicinal herbs to provide them with scientific recognition and patent rights so that they can be developed commercially.          By studying their healing properties, Indonesia is now in the process of providing its 'jamu' products with scientific recognition and patent rights that can increase their competitiveness and allow doctors to prescribe them.      Since 2010, experts have been conducting researches on medicinal herbs to ascertain their medicinal properties that can help cure diseases and explore possibilities for including them in doctors' prescription.          The Health Ministry has since carried out a program to 'scientize' Indonesian medicinal herbs to make them as scientifically credible as modern drugs and internationally acceptable.          Now, the government will give patent rights to its herbal medicines, which have been scientifically recognized as having credible healing powers.