A Better Deal—Incentivising wise land use with the Tropical Landscape Finance Facility

The private and public sectors got together in Jakarta this week to launch the commercially innovative Tropical Landscapes Finance Facility (TLFF). This enterprising initiative, exceeding USD 1.1 billion of investments, will provide long-term finance (10-15 years) to projects and entities that ensure green growth and positive benefits to rural livelihoods. The projects will focus exclusively on renewable energy and remunerative landscape transformations, with a worthy gender parity philosophy.

With strong support from the Indonesian Government, the TLFF consists of a billion dollar Loan Fund with liquidity provided by BNP Paribas and others, and managed by Hong Kong-based ADM Capital. From our new offices in Jakarta, ICRAF – The World Agroforestry Centre (with UNEP support) provides the Secretariat to the TLFF.

The Loan Fund will be supported with a USD100 million Grant Fund to ensure affordable loans to projects and reduced risks to investors. Commercial returns to responsible investors are expected with premium off-taker contracts for electricity, agricultural/forestry products, and environmental services.

Given the cross-sectoral nature of the TLFF it was especially encouraging to have such strong national commitment to the TLFF. At the launch event hosted by H.E. Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, there was also strong endorsement expressed by Dr Siti Nurbaya Bakar, Minister of Environment and Forestry; Dr Sofyan Djalil Minister of Spatial and Agrarian Planning; and other agencies.

Open lands used for cabbage plantation in Situ Gunung, Indonesia. Photo by Ricky Martin for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). www.cifor.org & blog.cifor.org

Working alongside the Indonesian Government,  BNP Paribas, ADM Capital, UNEP, UN Women, ICRAF and others in the initiative, the TLFF will bring landscape transformations at scale. The portfolio of projects will ensure greater climate resilience by boosting smallholder revenues, reducing emissions from unwise land conversion, reversing land degradation and sourcing cleaner renewable energy. By targeting large scale transformations this will: (i) leverage policy reforms of the Indonesian Government and (ii) help build successful models to better combine commercial finance with development needs.

One of the world's greatest conundrums is how two sectors which together: employ more than 50% of the world's population; cover 67% of the earth's land area; account for 75% of fresh water usage; and provide over 90% of human dietary supply – only account for 5.5% of the world's GDP. Something is surely amiss for that is the case of agriculture and forestry, and it means that the world's balance sheet is out of balance.

The creation of the TLFF with blended finance from private and public sources will catalyse more sustainable land use.

Several approaches have already been used to tackle this problem including full cost accounting, payment for environmental services and certification premiums. Granted, there have been isolated successes but no real systemic change. The TLFF seeks to amend this with a view that remunerative returns and sustainable development do not have to be trade-offs against one another. Accordingly, the creation of the TLFF with blended finance from private and public sources will catalyse more sustainable land use and offer more attractive risk-reward ratios.

By ignoring the negative externalities of natural and social capital, the private sector and the banking sector are depicted as making private profits at public expense. But in reality someone eventually has to pay. In essence we are just accumulating a raft of hidden costs that will emerge eventually as ecosystem collapse or social conflict. Recognising these realities this broad TLFF partnership of bankers, financiers, fund managers, UN Agencies, NGOs and the CGIAR have triggered a paradigm shift of "investing in development". The powerful partnership consist of the launch partners listed above along with others including: Global Canopy Foundation, Initiative for Smallholder Finance, Marine Change, Green Initiatives for a Sustainable Tomorrow, Forest Carbon, RSPO, Kaltimex, and ADM Capital Foundation.

"This ground-breaking and innovative financial platform, a world's first, can transform the lives and livelihoods of millions of Indonesians in rural areas that deserve it the most," Dr Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Chair of the Steering Committee of the TLFF, told the audience at the launch event hosted by the Indonesian Government.

Watch this landscape…

Source: A Better Deal—Incentivising wise land use with the Tropical Landscape Finance Facility

Former India football goalkeeper Prodyut Burman passes away

Kolkata, Oct 29: Renowned former football goalkeeper Prodyut Burman, a member of the gold winning Indian team in the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games, died at a state-run city hospital on Saturday following old age complications, family members said.

Burman, 81, left behind his wife, a son and a daughter.

Prodyut Burman was part of India's 1962 Asian Games Gold Medal winning squad (Image courtesy: Indian Football Team Twitter handle)

He was suffering from Parkinson's disease for several years. He had been in and out of the hospital over the past few months.

Burman was the number two goalkeeper in the Indian team at the Jakarta Asiad, but put up sparkling performances when he was fielded in three matches during the tourney.

There was a strong demand from among the players to name Burman in the playing XI for the final, but the management instead opted for Thangaraj.

Known for his acrobatic saves, Burman started his career with the Eastern Railway, and during his time the outfit claimed the Calcutta football league in 1958. He later switched over to Mohun Bagan.

IANS

Source: Former India football goalkeeper Prodyut Burman passes away

101 things to do in Taipei | if you're planning a trip to Taiwan, consider a… – Jakarta Picture

101 things to do in Taipei | if you're planning a trip to Taiwan, consider adding a few items from this list to your visit. Taipei is a city filled with things to explore – from skyscrapers and museums to hot springs and mountain hikes.

Source by agerak used under Creative Commons license.

Source: 101 things to do in Taipei | if you're planning a trip to Taiwan, consider a… – Jakarta Picture

Cyanide coffee murder: Australian resident Jessica Wongso jailed for 20 years

Australian permanent resident Jessica Kumala Wongso has been sentenced to 20 years' jail for murdering her friend with cyanide-laced coffee after a sensational trial broadcast live on national television in Indonesia.

Wayan Mirna Salihin, who was found by an Indonesian court to have been poisoned with cyanide in Jakarta. Photo: Facebook

Jessica Wongso, right, takes part in a police-organised re-enactment at the Olivier Cafe, where the poisoning was found to have taken place. Photo: Twitter

Jessica Wongso at Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday. Photo: Danta Zikry

Jessica Wongso hears judges deliver their verdict at Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday. Photo: Danta Zikry

Jessica Wongso speaks with her lawyer, Otto Hasibuan at Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday. Photo: Danta Zikry

Jessica Kumala Wongso, centre, flashes a smile as she is surrounded by her lawyers after her jail sentence at a courtroom of Central Jakarta District Court. Photo: AP/Tatan Syuflana

exit

Jakarta: Australian permanent resident Jessica Kumala Wongso had been so convinced she would be found innocent of murdering her friend with a cycnaide-laced coffee she had packed her clothes to go home.

But on Thursday evening the packed Jakarta Central District Court applauded as three judges sentenced her to 20 years' jail for the premeditated murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin, a crime they said was even more cruel because she had killed her own friend.

Wongso blinked rapidly as the judges delivered their stinging verdict but her face remained impassive.

"I don't accept this verdict because this is unfair and one-sided," said the 28-year-old, who had told her family not to attend the verdict.

Her lawyer, Otto Hasibuan, said they would appeal.

"Of course we are disappointed ... I told Jessica don't cry otherwise the judge ... will be happy," Mr Hasibuan said.

He had tried to prepare his client for the worst: "I told Jessica: 'You have to prepare a space in your mind for the bad thing that may happen'. She said: 'I don't want to think like that because I am not guilty.'

About 500 police were on standby in front of the Central Jakarta District Court as three judges delivered the long-awaited verdict in a sensational trial broadcast live on national television in Indonesia..

Ms Salihin, 27, died on January 6 after drinking a Vietnamese iced coffee that Wongso had bought for her at the glitzy restaurant Olivier in a central Jakarta shopping mall.

The prosecution said the emotionally unstable Wongso poisoned her friend to avenge her pain over Ms Salihin's criticism of Wongso's Australian ex-boyfriend.

The two friends had studied together at Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney.

The judges said aggravating factors were that she had never admitted her crime and had killed her own friend.

However on her side were her youth, the fact she had never committed a crime before and could change.

The crowd cheered as Ms Salihin's father, Edi Dermawan Salihin, said: "I can't say anything other than Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest)".

"Allah is everything, Allah can show who is cruel, who is evil, all has been proven today," Mr Salihin said. "She sadistically poisoned Mirna."

Mr Salihin said Wongso may have been given the death penalty if Indonesia had not given a guarantee to the Australian Federal Police that it would not be imposed.

"A promise was made. Indonesia is a nation that keeps its promises to Australia. What can we do? The important thing is that it has been proven that Jessica was the perpetrator, that is all."

The trial, which provided a ratings boost for the TV networks, had all the plot points of a soap opera: beauty, youth, revenge, jealousy, murder, intrigue, inconclusive evidence and a murky motive.

Talk shows dissected Wongso's inscrutable demeanour during the trial, which many interpreted as evidence of a cold heart, and Vietnamese iced coffees became the ghoulish drink du jour at cafes throughout Jakarta.

It was speculated that Wongso was jealous of her beautiful friend, who had recently married.

Wongso insisted to the end she was innocent. "I swear I am not a murderer," she told the court during the trial. "Mirna knows I never poisoned her."

She said there was "nothing left in me" after the trial, which had been filled with bitterness. A nadir was the re-enactment of Ms Salihin's death at Olivier restaurant, during which people screamed "murderer" at her.

"Only God knows what has happened," Wongso said.

Mr Hasibuan had argued there was no motive for the murder.

He said it didn't make sense that Wongso would travel all the way from Sydney to Jakarta to murder her friend merely because Ms Salihin had advised her to break up with her ex-boyfriend.

Mr Hasibuan also pointed to the testimonies of three Australian experts who said there was no proof cyanide was the cause of death.

Toxicology reports tested negative to cyanide in gastric fluid, bile, liver and urine 70 minutes after her death and only a small amount of cyanide was found in her stomach several days later.

"These [toxicology] results show there is no evidence of cyanide ingestion," Australian forensic toxicologist Michael Robertson told the court.

Defence expert witnesses were also critical that a full autopsy had never been conducted, saying death by natural disease could not be ruled out.

Australia took a keen interest in the trial. The Australian Federal Police provided assistance after receiving an undertaking the death penalty would not be imposed.

Death is the maximum punishment for premeditated murder in Indonesia.

NSW police provided an insight into Wongso's tumultuous life in Australia. Multiple police reports were read to the court, mostly relating to Wongso threatening self-harm.

It was also revealed that her Australian ex-boyfriend, Patrick O'Connor, had obtained an interim restraining order against Wongso, fearing she would become violent after their split.

Wongso's ex-boss at the NSW Ambulance service, Kristie Carter, painted a picture of a manipulative, scheming and emotionally unstable person who had "two different personalities".

Wongso had said "you must die and your mum must die" when Ms Carter had refused to help her.

She had also told Ms Carter at one point: "If I wanted to kill someone I surely know how, I can get a pistol and I know the right dose".

Ms Salihin's supporters, who wore white T-shirts saying "Justice for Mirna", were told by police to enter the court through the right door, while Wongso's supporters entered through the left.

Asked if the family was depressed over the case, Wongso's mother Imelda, who was not present in court, told INewsTV: "We are not depressed. We are destroyed."

with Karuni Rompies 

Follow Jewel Topsfield on Facebook

The story Cyanide coffee murder: Australian resident Jessica Wongso jailed for 20 years first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Source: Cyanide coffee murder: Australian resident Jessica Wongso jailed for 20 years

Cyanide coffee murder: Jakarta court sentences Jessica Kumala Wongso

Jessica Kumala Wongso has been convicted of the so-called Jakarta coffee murder and sentenced to 20 years in jail. Picture: Adek Berry

AUSTRALIAN resident Jessica Kumala Wongso has been convicted of the so-called Jakarta coffee murder and sentenced to 20 years in jail amid dramatic scenes in a Jakarta court tonight.

The 28-year-old was found guilty of lacing her friend Mirna Salihin's Vietnamese iced coffee with cyanide in an up-market Jakarta cafe on January 6 this year.

Judges said they were satisfied it was the former Sydney woman's malicious actions which killed her 27-year-old friend.

The trial has gripped the nation since it began in June this year and last night's verdict, as with much of the trial, was broadcast live on television.

Jessica Kumala Wongso was found guilty of murdering her friend by poisoning her with cyanide. Picture: Tatan SyuflanaSource:AAP

More than 500 police were on hand for security and actions were taken to separate the supporters of the two camps — the Wongso camp and the family and supporters of Mirna.

They wore T-shirts emblazoned with her photograph as show of support.

Wongso escaped the death penalty, which is the maximum for premeditated murder in Indonesia. Prosecutors had demanded a 20-year sentence.

The Australian government sought a guarantee from Indonesian authorities that she would not be sentenced to death in exchange for providing evidence from Australia about the two women's time in Sydney and about Wongso's criminal record in Australia.

The court has previously said it was not bound by any such guarantee. Wongso and Mirna Salihin met while both were students at the Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney in 2007. Wongso had gone on to work as a graphic designer at NSW Ambulance and stayed in Sydney while Mirna had returned to Jakarta.

Murder victim Mirna Salihin. Picture: FacebookSource:Supplied

The Judges accepted that the motive was revenge and jealousy after Mirna had told Wongso to dump her then boyfriend, an Australian called Patrick O'Connor. Only months before the murder Mirna had married her sweetheart Arief Soemarko and Wongso had not been invited to the

wedding.

Jessica Wongso at the crime reconstruction in the cafe Olivier Grand in central Jakarta. Picture: Indonesian PoliceSource:Supplied

The Judges also recounted evidence from Australian police that in 2015 Wongso was depressed and often drunk in Australia, had rammed her car into a Sydney nursing home on one occasion and attempted suicide.

Her former boyfriend in Sydney had also taken out an AVO against her. And the court was read a statement by Wongso's former boss at NSW Ambulance, who said Wongso had told her she knew exactly how to kill someone and knew the right dose.

On December 1 last year Wongso was fired from her job at NSW Ambulance.

Soon after she arranged to return to her native Indonesia and said she was looking for a job.

Source: Cyanide coffee murder: Jakarta court sentences Jessica Kumala Wongso

Returned fighters dominate Jakarta talks

The danger posed by returned fighters from Syria and Iraq has dominated talks between Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Indonesia's security minister, with both countries discussing the need to strengthen intelligence sharing.

On the first day of her three-day visit to Indonesia, Ms Bishop met with President Joko Widodo and her counterpart Retno Marsudi on Wednesday morning in which counter-terrorism and ongoing tensions in the South China Sea were touched upon.

After lunch, she met with Security Minister Wiranto and had a "detailed discussion" about returning fighters, with around 110 Australians and 500 Indonesians believed to be in Iraq and Syria.

"They have networks, they have connections, they have experience and skills that can be used against Australian citizens and we intend to do whatever we can working in co-operation with partners like Indonesia to keep our citizens safe," Ms Bishop told reporters.

This included sharing more information, including intelligence provided to Australia by its other partners when relevant, she said.

Around 53 Indonesian fighters have returned from Syria and Iraq, Mr Wiranto said, adding that they were taking a "soft approach" - through deradicalisation programs and encouraging them to "go back to normal life".

So far, he added, Indonesia's partnership on counter-terrorism has worked well, pointing to how Australia's assistance with technology and intelligence had helped police finally track down Santoso in July - then the country's most wanted militant.

The comments came after the US government review board earlier on Wednesday rejected the release of Indonesian Encep Nurjaman Hambali - alleged to be behind the deadly 2002 Bali bombing - from Guantanamo Bay.

A statement announcing the Periodic Review Board decision said Hambali continued to be a "significant threat to the security of the United States."

Mr Wiranto said Indonesia was the most populous Muslim country in the world and so has the danger of becoming the "source and target" of terrorism.

He said Indonesia would not tolerate terrorists and would only welcome them back if they realise such acts were "evil".

Ms Bishop is expected to fly out to Bali on Wednesday night where she attend the 16th Indian Ocean Rim Association Council of Ministers Meeting.

Source: Returned fighters dominate Jakarta talks

Artists Take On UN's Sustainable Development Goals in Jakarta Exhibition

One of the artists, Teguh Susanto, took on the environment theme, specifically endangered species, using an ancient woodcut technique.

Teguh came up with seven different installations for his piece, each discussing the hot topic of conservation for nature, land and wildlife.

"The 'Save the Helmeted Hornbill' piece was one I made for this year's CITES convention in South Africa," Teguh said at the exhibition opening on Monday (24/10). "I made it after meeting local tribesmen in West Kalimantan and hearing their stories of how [the helmeted hornbills] are still hunted at large."

Another of Teguh's piece highlighted the issue of water security in many parts of Indonesia.

"Water is life – water is the future. That's why it's important to save our rainforests so we can ensure water security for our future generations," Teguh said.

The exhibition opened on UN Day, Oct. 24, and will run until Oct. 30.

Across Indonesia, the UN also celebrated the anniversary with its Turn Indonesia Blue visual campaign, where Jakarta's National Monument, Bandung's Gedung Merdeka and Gedung Sate and Yogyakarta's Prambanan temple compounds were lit up in UN blue.

The UN is also celebrating the appointment of its new secretary general, Antonio Guterres, on Oct. 13. The former Prime Minister of Portugal will take Ban Ki-moon's place in the new year.

"This year's United Nations Day celebrations occur at a time of transition for the world and for the United Nations […]. At a time of record heat, member states have embraced the Paris Agreement on climate change in record time [...]. Across that historic threshold lies our best chance for a greener, cleaner, low-carbon growth," Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

Source: Artists Take On UN's Sustainable Development Goals in Jakarta Exhibition

Simon Crean to hold talks in Jakarta amid concerns over new cattle breeding rule

Australian live cattle representatives have flown to Jakarta for talks amid fears a proposed new trade rule could threaten the viability of the industry.

No cattle were exported to Indonesia in September. Photo: Michel Bunn

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chairman Simon Crean was scheduled to meet with Indonesia's trade minister on Monday. Photo: Arsineh Houspian

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Jakarta: Australian live cattle representatives have flown to Jakarta for talks amid fears a proposed new trade rule stipulating one in every six cattle imported to Indonesia must be for breeding could threaten the viability of the industry.

Indonesian Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita​ shocked the beef industry when he announced last month the quota system for importing cattle would be abolished but companies would only receive permits if they complied with the new breeding rule.

No cattle were exported to Indonesia in September due to delays in the issue of permits amid negotiations over the new domestic breeding program, which Indonesia hopes will assist in its drive to achieve food self-sufficiency.

"Delays in further permits and reduced volumes to Indonesia are expected until the issue is resolved," Meat and Livestock Australia warned in its Livelink statement.

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chairman Simon Crean was scheduled to meet with Mr Lukita on Monday.

It is hoped the issue will be resolved before Indonesian President Joko Widodo​ visits Australia next month.

Tensions over the live cattle trade have dogged the bilateral relationship.

In 2011 a temporary live cattle export ban ahead of Ramadan following the release of footage of cattle being mistreated in Indonesian abattoirs strained the friendship between the neighbouring countries.

It is feared the proposed new breeding rule would drive up the cost of importing cattle for Indonesian feedlot operators and could lead to a reduction in the number of cattle imported.

Indonesian Cattle Farmer Association executive director Joni Liano​ told Fairfax Media feedlot businesses could not afford to keep the cattle for the 14 months required for the breeding program.

He said feedlots currently only kept cattle for four months to fatten them before slaughter.

"Fourteen months is not feasible for us and it is not profitable for banks," Mr Joni said.

"Banks would not lend us any money and therefore there would be a threat of bankruptcy on our side."

He said it would also take time to build the pens and develop the skills needed for a breeding program.

"The government wants us to have a breeding industry but it won't happen instantly.

"What's also important is that we haven't seen the regulation, it's not there yet."

Mr Joni said while there had been no live cattle from Australia in September, some had started to come in October after the government issued some import permits.

Jakarta-based veterinarian consultant Dr Ross Ainsworth wrote in Beef Central on October 7 that with zero imports during September and only a limited number of permits issued so far, the number of cattle on hand in feedlots was alarmingly low.

"Assuming further delays in import permit allocations, feedlots are expected to essentially run out of fat cattle around January."

He wrote that in the past when feedlots were empty the focus for fresh beef had shifted to the domestic herd.

"With no other alternatives and prices for these local cattle at very attractive rates, the sale of these breeders for slaughter becomes an extremely attractive proposition," he said.

"And crash goes the domestic herd once again."

On October 20, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce announced 300 Australian cattle had arrived in South Kalimantan – the first shipment of cattle under the Indonesia-Australia commercial cattle breeding program.

"As the demand for beef in Indonesia continues to increase, this project is another example of Australia's commitment to co-operate with the Indonesian industry to increase productivity through the transfer of skills and expertise in breeding cattle," Mr Joyce said at the time.

Mr Crean told Fairfax Media ahead of Monday's meeting the live trade between Australia and Indonesia was a partnership built on years of significant collaboration and strategic alignment.

"The opportunity to spend time in Indonesia this week has galvanised my belief that the export of both feeder and breeder cattle from Australia to Indonesia has an economically sustainable and mutually beneficial future," he said in a statement.

This was "underpinned in the long term by our shared objectives around ongoing economic development and working co-operatively to build Indonesia's beef and cattle capacity".

Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said he had spoken to Indonesia's Trade Minister Lukita over the new cattle import protocols for breeding cows.

"We had a warm and cordial conversation and agreed on the importance of industry engagement and advice on this matter," he said.

"Indeed, this week's meeting is a key part of this conversation. Australia and Indonesia will continue to work together on this issue of importance to both countries."

– with Karuni Rompies

The story Simon Crean to hold talks in Jakarta amid concerns over new cattle breeding rule first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Source: Simon Crean to hold talks in Jakarta amid concerns over new cattle breeding rule

Christian Governor of Jakarta faces blasphemy charges

Two years ago, amid protests from hardline Islamic groups, he was sworn in as only the second Christian Governor of  Jakarta, the capital territory of world's most populous Muslim country, Indonesia.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known by his nickname "Ahok",  is not only Christian by faith but also ethnically Chinese. He was not directly elected then. He was  the deputy to the then Governor Joko Widodo. When Widodo was elected national President he automatically became Jakarta's Governor.

Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)

Now as he faces re-election in February 2017, he is being accused by Islamic groups of blasphemy. The accusation came because he protested the use of a Quranic verse by his political opponents in the electoral campaign. This is the Quranic verse in question.

O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you – then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.                                               Quran     5:51

On October 14 there was a huge demonstration in Jakarta by Islamic groups urging the government to prosecute the Governor.

Hardline Muslim groups protest against Jakarta's incumbent governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian running in the upcoming election, in Jakarta, Indonesia, October 14, 2016. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Thousands of people from hard-line Islamic groups gathered at Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta and started to march through the city, pushing for criminal proceedings against Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama over alleged blasphemy.

The protesters, most of whom were men dressed in white Muslim attire, were heard yelling, "We want a Muslim governor", "Burn Ahok!" and "Kafir!"

"Indonesia is a country based on the rule of law. We want the state to show presence in this case, because the law has regulations on this [religious defamation]," Ja'far Shodiq, vice secretary general of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), said at Istiqlal Mosque on Friday.

Ja'far asked the protesters to carry out "peaceful action". He also reminded the demonstrators to not be racist.

He said the protest was not connected to the upcoming gubernatorial election. The protesters only wanted to express their belief, which was in accordance with the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), which had said that Ahok had committed blasphemy by telling people in Thousand Islands regency not to be "deceived" by a Quranic verse, Surah al-Maidah: 51.

Even before this protest march  the Governor had clarified that what he said was not against Quran or Islam.

Ahok said a video published on social media, in which he mentioned the Quran's al-Maidah:51 verse during a working visit to Thousand Islands regency on Sept. 27, was cut and edited and did not display his full conversation with the local residents.

"I did not say [things] that insulted the Quran. I did not say the Quran was stupid. What I said to the local people of Thousand Islands is that if you are fooled by racists and cowards using that verse in the Quran not to vote for me, then don't vote for me," he said on Friday as reported by kompas.com.

He mentioned the al-Maidah verse because the verse is often used by his political opponents to encourage people not to vote for him. Ahok's opponents have used this line of attack against him since he started his political career in East Belitung in 2003.

He had to say the verse was not wrong, though it is obvious that the verse propagate hatred and suspicion of other religions.

"There is nothing wrong with the verses in the Quran. It was not the context [of my speech]," Ahok added.

Later he apologised for hurting religious sentiments.

"I want to apologize to Muslims or other people who feel offended. I never intended to insult Islam or the Quran," Ahok said at City Hall on Monday.

Ahok said he was not anti Islam and cited some of his policies that he said had benefited Muslims, such granting permits for Islamic schools, providing Jakarta Smart Cards (KJP) to the students and building a mosque in the City Hall complex.

He added that during his speech made in the Thousand Islands on Sept. 27, in which he mentioned Surah al-Maidah, verse 51 of the Quran, the residents were not insulted.

"They even laughed while listening," he said.

The former East Belitung regent said he regretted that his statement had created public uproar and hoped that the issue would soon come to an end.

The huge protest that Jakarta saw on October 14th proved that the issue will not end soon.

Current opinion polls show Ahok will win the elections with more than forty percent of votes.

Will that lead stand under the strong pressure from Islamic groups ?

Let us hope voters of Jakarta will not vote as per the Quranic verse and will thereby strengthen humanism and secularism.

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Source: Christian Governor of Jakarta faces blasphemy charges

High Court rules out $US125 million lawsuit against Jakarta international school

The mother of one of the children sued the school after claiming that both the cleaners and educators sexually assaulted her son.

Indonesian teacher's aide Ferdinant Tjiong and Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman. Photo: Jewel Topsfield

The school released a photo of the student and his mother during a police reconstruction of the alleged crime. Photo: Supplied

Teachers' aide Ferdinant Tjiong awaits the first day of his trial at South Jakarta court. Photo: Michael Bachelard

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Jakarta: The High Court has upheld a decision to throw out a $US125 million lawsuit against a prestigious Jakarta international school by a mother who claims her son was sexually abused.

Five Indonesian cleaners, Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman and Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinant Tjiong have been jailed for up to eleven years for the alleged sexual abuse of three kindergarten children at Jakarta Intercultural School, as it is now known, in 2013 and 2014.

The mother of one of the children sued the school for $US125 million after claiming that both the cleaners and educators sexually assaulted her son, who was six at the time.

The South Jakarta District Court threw out the lawsuit last year but the mother appealed to the High Court. However, the Jakarta High Court ruled on September 7 that it upheld the dismissal, according to a verdict published on the Supreme Court website.

The alleged sex abuse scandal rocked the international community and raised questions about the integrity of the Indonesian judicial system, with critics saying the case was rife with irregularities.

Last month Fairfax Media revealed a report by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) outlined cleaners' claims that they were tortured by police until they confessed.

The report - never publicly released - details horrific allegations of cigarette burns and beatings that were so severe the wife of one of the cleaners did not recognise her husband's face because of the wounds and bruises.

A sixth cleaner died in custody. Police say he died from drinking bleach he found in the toilet.

The cleaners and teaching staff insist they are innocent and their lawyers plan to request a judicial review of the case, which is the last legal resort.

A lawyer representing Jakarta Intercultural School, Harry Ponto, told Fairfax Media on Friday that the High Court decision was "obviously good news for the school".

However the mother could still appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.

This month Indonesian Police Chief Tito Karnavian said the cleaners had been found guilty based on a transparent and fair trial.

"With relation to the allegation of torture by police against the cleaners that one was killed and so on we have done a number of investigations," he said.

"But there was no indication of torture or him being beaten by police.

"Rather he by mistake swallowed chemical things for cleaning. He was killed by it".

Follow Jewel Topsfield on Fairfax Media

The story High Court rules out $US125 million lawsuit against Jakarta international school first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Source: High Court rules out $US125 million lawsuit against Jakarta international school

Bring them back alive: Jakarta offers bounty to citizens who catch rats

The infamous Jakarta rat now has a hefty price on its head, as the city outsources its vermin eradication program to the populace.

Jakarta: The infamous Jakarta rat is wanted dead or alive (preferably alive) with a hefty price on its head, as the city outsources its vermin eradication program to the people.

Everyone who lives in the teeming metropolis has a rat story, with the bloated corpses of dead vermin littering footpaths and clogging up sewers.

This week Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat announced a bounty of 20,000 rupiah ($2) would be offered for every rat captured.

This is a significant amount of money in Indonesia, where about 40 per cent of the population hovers around the international poverty line of $US2 a day.

But the city administration may do well to read up on "the Cobra Effect": when an attempted solution to a problem creates a perverse incentive and actually makes it worse.

The Cobra Effect, a term popularised by German economist Horst Siebert's book of the same title, takes its name from anecdotal reports that a bounty on cobras in Delhi during the British colonial era led to people establishing cobra farms.

Jakarta has budgeted 80 million rupiah ($8000) for the Rat Eradication Movement, as the program is known, with a trial to start later this year.

"Can you imagine 80 million rupiah means 40,000 rats! It's a lot," Mr Djarot told Fairfax Media.

He warned Jakartans not to use air guns or poison when capturing the pests, saying the preferred method was the rat trap. "We will encourage people to capture them alive," he said.

Yet to be discussed was "how we will deal with it afterward, where we will dump the carcass etc".

Mr Djarot said cats were outnumbered by rats in the city.

"The most dangerous ones are the black head rats, because they eat everything such as asphalt, heavy equipment, diesel - they eat them all."

The Jakarta administration became alarmed after receiving information people had contracted leptospirosis - a bacterial infection transmitted by rat urine that can be life-threatening - after being bitten by rats.

"There are growing numbers of rats where there are no predators and rice fields have turned into high-rise buildings," Bambang Sugiyono, the assistant secretary of the Jakarta Administration Office for Governance Issues, told Fairfax Media.

Mr Bambang said the mechanism for the bounty would still need to be worked out.

"But for sure the rats should be caught alive, people are not encouraged to kill them because it would be dangerous for them," he said.

Michael Vann, an associate professor of history at California State University Sacramento, has suggested the Cobra Effect should be called the "rat effect" after a similar scheme had unintended consequences in French colonial Vietnam.

The French offered a bounty for each rat killed after they became alarmed following an outbreak of vermin in Hanoi in 1902.

"Thousands of rat tails are being delivered to the city hall. The French think they're really making a dent into the rat population," Professor Vann told a 2012 Freakonomics podcast on the Cobra Effect.

But a health official discovered a rat farm on the outskirts of Hanoi.

"And the Vietnamese were growing rats, cutting off their tails and bringing them into the city, to the city hall, to collect the bounty," Professor Vann said on the podcast.

"You know, this is absolutely a disaster in terms of trying to remove rats."

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The story Bring them back alive: Jakarta offers bounty to citizens who catch rats first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Source: Bring them back alive: Jakarta offers bounty to citizens who catch rats

Jakarta declares war on rats with bounty program

The Jakarta administration has earmarked Rp 80 million (US$6,152) to eradicate sewer rats, with a bounty program to kick off this year.

The funds would come from the General Bureau budget and trials would start soon, Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said on Thursday.

Djarot has previously vowed to pay residents a Rp 20,000 bounty on the head of each rat exterminated.

"We will try to implement the program this year. If the trial succeeds, we will continue it next year. The program won't require a lot of money. Just imagine, with Rp 80 million, we can catch 40,000 rats. That is a lot of rats," Djarot told journalists at City Hall on Thursday.

The city administration was now preparing the mechanism to implement the rat eradication program, he added. Once implemented, the program would involve district officials, Public Facility Maintenance (PPSU) and several working units in the city, he said.

The city eyes for residents to help eradicate rats from the sewer, not houses. No air guns or poison would be allowed to catch the rats, as the city urged residents to only use mouse traps, Djarot added.

Djarot called the infestation of rats in the capital dangerous for public health. (rin)

Source: Jakarta declares war on rats with bounty program

Wanted dead or alive: Jakarta puts a $1.50 bounty on every rat in city

JAKARTA // Indonesia's capital, one of the world's most overcrowded and polluted megacities, has launched a new bid to rid its streets of vermin — by offering residents US$1.50 (Dh5.5) for every rat they catch.

Authorities hope the Rat Eradication Movement will help clean up the teeming city of about 10 million where enormous vermin are a common sight on rubbish-strewn roads and in slums.

"There are many rats here, and big ones," Jakarta deputy governor, Djarot Saiful Hidayat, said a government news website, as he announced the plan recently.

He said a recent encounter with a large rat had inspired him to start the programme, adding that the vermin were dangerous and could spread disease.

"For each rat, we will pay 20,000 rupiah," he said.

The deputy governor did not say how residents should catch rats, but urged people to refrain from using firearms.

"If possible, please do not use guns," he told the Jakarta Post. "If you miss your shot, the bullets could hit other people."

The captured rats will be handed over to local officials, who would dole out the money and pass the animals to Jakarta's sanitation agency for burial, the paper said.

There is no guarantee the plan will work — a similar scheme in Vietnam's Hanoi during French colonial rule backfired.

Rat catchers were required to present the tails as evidence they had caught the animals, but in many cases they simply cut off the tail and then released the rats. The released animals would return to the sewers and breed, meaning the population of the creatures did not fall as intended.

* Agence France-Presse

Source: Wanted dead or alive: Jakarta puts a $1.50 bounty on every rat in city

Jakarta governor Ahok investigated over alleged Islam insult as elections loom

Jakarta: Maverick Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or Ahok, as he is known, has never had a filter. Impulsive and polarising, the city's first Christian and ethnic Chinese governor - a double minority in Indonesia - seems to court controversy.

He questioned a ban on beer sales in mini markets - "no one has ever died from from drinking beer" - suggested schools should not compel girls to wear hijab, insisted he needed no support from political parties and antagonised the urban poor with mass forced evictions.

Muslim protesters hold a banner calling for the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, outside City Hall in Jakarta. Photo: AP

"If only there were some magic tape to put [over his mouth] so that he would talk as we hope," former Indonesian president Megawati Soekarnoputri reportedly lamented at a meeting before her party announced it would endorse him in next February's gubernatorial elections. "But there's no such thing."

For all this, the feisty, straight-talking governor is remarkably popular. Ahok, the former deputy governor, assumed the top role in 2014, when his predecessor Joko Widodo was elected president of Indonesia. His no-nonsense efficiency and tough stance on corruption struck a chord with voters, more than 95 per cent of whom are Muslim.

Ahok overhauled the stodgy bureaucracy, launched a smartphone app called Qlue which allowed Jakartans to report flood, crime, fire or waste, and worked on reducing floods and improving the city's lamentable public transport.

The polls suggest he will be hard to beat: Poltracking Indonesia put his popularity at 92.56 per cent and his electability at 40.77 per cent in September.

But just days before the official election campaign begins on October 26, Ahok is being investigated by police over claims he defamed a verse in the Koran.

Prior to the alleged blasphemy, some Islamic groups had urged voters not to re-elect Ahok, citing verse 51 from the fifth sura or chapter of the Koran, al-Ma'ida, which some interpret as prohibiting Muslims from living under the leadership of a non-Muslim. Others say the scripture should be understood in its context - a time of war - and not interpreted literally.

Ahok, right, greets people after arriving at the National Monument in Jakarta in 2014. A Christian and ethnic Chinese, he became governor after his predecessor and political ally Joko Widodo was elected president of Indonesia. Photo: New York Times

In recorded remarks to a group of fishermen that went viral, Ahok suggested that some Muslims were "deceived" by al-Ma'ida 51. The comments caused outrage.

Ahok apologised and insisted he was not criticising the Koranic verse but those who used it to attack him.

Ahok's remarks about opposition to his candidacy citing the Koran have triggered furious protests among some sections of the Indonesian community. Photo: AP

But on Friday thousands of hardline Muslims took to the streets, calling on police to process the case. The maximum penalty for blasphemy in Indonesia is five years' jail.

"The investigation is still going on," Ari Dono Sukmanto, the head of the national police's Criminal Investigations Department, told Fairfax Media. "We are now transcribing from the video what was actually said, what actually happened."

The gubernatorial elections for Jakarta are seen by many analysts as a test of the maturity of Indonesian democracy. Photo: Bloomberg

Sukmanto said Ahok would be summoned for questioning: "Everybody is equal before the law and we will need his explanation over what has happened for clarification."

The two largest Islamic organisations in the country - Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) - have stressed that they have no problem with a Muslim voting for a non-Muslim.

Masdur Anwar, the deputy secretary of the Jakarta chapter of NU, does not believe Ahok set out to insult Islam.

"It is impossible that he deliberately did it because it would be suicidal for him," Anwar told Fairfax Media. "It was just a slip of the tongue. But I can understand those who think it was an insult. Perhaps it is an accumulated feeling [of resentment] about the way Ahok speaks. He is blunt and perhaps these folks couldn't stand it any more."

Anwar hopes police investigate the case quickly so the election campaign does not become sectarian.

An editorial in Tempo magazine says the Jakarta election will be a test of the maturity of the young democracy: "Just how far have people left behind primordial prejudices such as religion and race when they go to the polls next February?"      

The gubernatorial election is a three-legged race. Ahok's opponents are Agus Harimurti, the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and former education minister Anies Baswedan, who was dumped in the last cabinet reshuffle. Both were surprise candidates: Agus is a political novice who left behind a promising 16-year military career.

The stakes are high. "The position of governor can, as Ahok's predecessor Jokowi demonstrated, be a springboard for higher office at the national level," La Trobe University senior lecturer Dirk Tomsa writes. "Indeed, whoever wins in Jakarta next year might well be expected to find himself in the running for a presidential, or more likely, vice-presidential ticket in 2019."

with Karuni Rompies

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Source: Jakarta governor Ahok investigated over alleged Islam insult as elections loom

Layoffs no longer first option

The use of natural waste, in the form of husks and shells from tobacco, cashew and coconut production, as fuel for electricity generation — replacing coal — has helped Semen Indonesia, the nation's largest cement maker, make a major saving in its operating costs.

So why lay off workers when there are other ways to cut costs?

This is the thinking behind many Indonesian corporations these days, which have been racking their brains to squeeze costs without laying off their employees amid difficult economic conditions.

When 77,787 workers were laid off in 2014 and 48,843 more in 2015, purchasing power weakened in the domestic, consumer spending-reliant, economy, which saw growth slowing to a six-year low last year.

This year, only 8,733 employees saw their jobs terminated from January to August, according to data from the Manpower Ministry.

Most companies have resorted to the use of technology and boosting worker productivity rather than simply opti ng for layoffs to cut costs, as they grapple with weak demand that has squeezed their income, according to corporations and consulting firms contacted by The Jakarta Post.

"Our energy-related costs hovered around 60 percent of overall costs so we prioritized making them more efficient," said Agung Wiharto, corporate secretary of state-owned Semen Indonesia, highlighting energy as the focus of the company's cost-saving measures.

The company's plant in Tuban, East Java — operated by subsidiary Semen Gresik — now uses husk and tobacco waste for electricity generation. Another plant in Pangkep, South Sulawesi — operated by subsidiary Semen Tonasa — has also replaced coal with coconut shells and cashew-nut waste.

As a result, Semen Indonesia's costs of revenue dropped 2 percent year-on-year in the first half of this year to Rp 7.5 trillion (US$ 577.5 million). At the same time, net profits dropped 10 percent to Rp 2 trillion as a result of a 1.3 percen t decrease in revenue to Rp 12.5 trillion amid weak demand and tight competition.

For the country's biggest coal producer Kaltim Prima Coal, the widespread shift to abandon coal in favor of cleaner and greener materials to generate electricity has increased the pressure.

To cut costs, the subsidiary of publicly listed miner Bumi Resources has gone the extra mile in renegotiating all contracts with suppliers and contractors by preferring longer-period contracts and bigger coal volume in order to achieve discounted prices.

In the past three years, it has also carried out efficiency measures in the use of machinery, saving on fuel costs and optimizing coal production and shipment, among other efforts. These led to a 15.8 percent decrease in costs last year alone.

"No workforce cut," said the company's chief finance officer Ashok Mitra. "We are already the number-one coal producer in Indonesia with the lowest costs."

To incentivize workers to ra ise their productivity, employees of Kaltim Prima Coal are given time off when the production target has been reached — a major change that has reduced average working hours to 10 hours per day, from 12 hours previously.

Most firms try to increase labor productivity and the use of digital technology during unfavorable conditions, said McKinsey Indonesia partner Khoon Tee Tan, whose expertise is in oil and gas companies' strategy, organization and capacity building. "They are investing in people and technology rather than cutting staff," he said, adding that a lot of companies were focusing on how they could go further in the downstream sector to add value.

Although layoffs are among the available options, several firms have chosen instead look for ways to improve productivity, said Yulius, partner and managing director of Boston Consulting Group's Indonesian operation.

"The number-one objective should not be reducing the workforce but improving producti vity. To improve productivity you need operational improvements," he said, adding that technology disruption should be seen as an opportunity to improve the workforce's skills.

The improvements are needed, he went on, because companies have to start thinking about how to grow and compete not only in the domestic, but also the global, market.

"Many of our clients grew very rapidly in the last 10 years and they had no time to take a step back and look at their operations," Yulius said, adding that many companies were faced with the issue of corporate bureaucracy, which causes inefficiency and adds costs.

"This downturn is a time for clients to reassess their operations and find where the fat lies and to make themselves lean."___________________________

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Source: Layoffs no longer first option

Bantargebang Police Seize Dozens of Boxes of Liquors

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Bantargebang Police, Bekasi, West Java confiscated 17 boxes of illegally locally produced liquors from a number of stalls in Banrtargebang traditional market.

The local residents find it troubling that liquor can be accessed in the market.

"Bantargebang subprecinct police have followed up reports from the local residents in Bantargebang market by conducting raids in a number of jamu stalls (traditional herbal drinks)," Chief of Bekasi Metro Police, Police Commisioner Umar Surya Fana said in Bekasi on Saturday (16/10).

He added that the owner of a jamu stall, Abdul Mumin (35), from Cirebon was reported to sell illegal liquor.

Umar claimed that Bekasi police will intensify the operation. The selling of liquor will be terminated following the decision of Bekasi court.

"The termination will involve all related institutions," He said.

ANDI FIRDAUS | ANTARA

Source: Bantargebang Police Seize Dozens of Boxes of Liquors

Indonesian Islamic hardliners demand execution for Christian governor

JAKARTA // Thousands of Muslim hardliners protested in Jakarta on Friday demanding the Christian governor of the Indonesian capital be executed for allegedly insulting Islam.

About 10,000 demonstrators wearing white Islamic robes and skullcaps rallied outside city hall in Jakarta, waving banners that read: "The blasphemer must be prosecuted".

The protest was triggered by accusations that the governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, insulted Islam by criticising opponents who used Ouranic references to attack him ahead of the February polls.

"Ahok must be executed. According to Islamic teaching, he must be killed," Emed Muhammad, a hardline opponent of the governor, told the cheering protesters.

"Jakarta is now being governed by an infidel, but Indonesia has the biggest Muslim population."

Hundreds of police and soldiers were deployed around city hall to ensure the rally did not spiral out of control. In his controversial remarks last month, Purnama told a crowd they had been "deceived" by his opponents who used a Quranic verse to try to put them off voting for a Christian.

"You are being fooled," he said.

Mr Purnama, Jakarta's second Christian governor and the first from Indonesia's ethnic Chinese community, has won huge popularity with his no-nonsense style and determination to clean up Jakarta, an overcrowded, disorganised and polluted metropolis.

But his tough-talking style — unusual for a politician in Indonesia — has alienated some and he has also faced constant opposition from hardline Islamic groups, who protested for weeks when he became governor two years ago.

Mr Purnama still remains the favourite to win the election but the race has heated up in recent weeks with two other candidates, the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a popular ex-education minister, declaring they will run.

He became Jakarta governor in November, 2014, but was not elected to the post. He was deputy governor and automatically became governor after incumbent Joko Widodo was elected Indonesian president.

* Agence France-Presse

Source: Indonesian Islamic hardliners demand execution for Christian governor

Indonesian gay couple arrested over Facebook photo

Reuters file photo

JAKARTA, Indonesia — An Indonesian gay couple has been arrested after a photo on Facebook of the men kissing sparked anger, police said Friday, in the latest move against the country's homosexual community.

There has been a growing backlash against gay people in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country this year, with government ministers and religious leaders lining up to denounce them.

The 22-year-old university student and 24-year-old office worker were arrested Tuesday in the city of Manado, on central Sulawesi island, after social media users complained about the picture of them kissing in bed, police said.

"The couple admitted it's them in the picture and they posted the picture to prove their love," local police spokesman Marzuki, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.

Homosexuality is not illegal in Indonesia, but police plan to charge the men with breaking anti-pornography laws and under tough legislation governing internet content.

The couple, who are not in police custody and whose identities were not disclosed, could be jailed if found guilty.

After the picture was posted on October 9, it went viral and sparked a flood of angry responses.

The image was removed from Facebook after a request from the communications and information technology ministry, local media reported.

The case follows criticism of the government after the youth and sports ministry this week barred members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from applying for a job.

The online advertisement for the post of creative youth ambassador said candidates should "not be involved in casual sex or deviant acts, including LGBT", and that this should be proven with a doctor's certificate.

The ad was revised, with the part about LGBT dropped, after an outcry.

Prior to the recent wave of intolerance, members of the gay community had been able to quietly get on with their lives.

Activists believe the backlash was triggered by widespread coverage of the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the United States last year.

Source: Indonesian gay couple arrested over Facebook photo

Post Office Found Ecstasies Sent from Germany

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) received a report from the West Jakarta Post Office in relation to a finding of 49,447 ecstasy pills sent from Germany to Indonesia.

"The recipient is stated [on the package], but they don't have the courage to collect the package at the post office," BNN head Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said at his office on Thursday, October 13, 2016.

Budi explained that the drugs were mixed in boxes of candies packed in cardboard boxes. However, not all of the plastic boxes contained ecstasy pills. Some of them contained real candy used as cover ups.

According to Budi, the package arrived at the post office a month ago. Since no one had picked up the package, the post office handed over the package to the BNN.

Budi revealed that the pills were of a new kind in Indonesia, with a rectangle shape and a straight line in the middle. Meanwhile, the one commonly found in Indonesia is round.

Budi said that the evidence would be kept for the purpose of investigation before being publicly disposed. The BNN, Budi claimed, would recount the number of the ecstasy pills to ensure that no individuals would sell the evidence.

AVIT HIDAYAT

Source: Post Office Found Ecstasies Sent from Germany

Sting Operation at Transport Ministry Part of Public Service Reform: Kalla

The sting operation conducted by the National Police at the Ministry of Transportation was part of government's commitment to reform the public service, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday (12/10). (Antara Photo/Puspa Perwitasari)

Jakarta. The sting operation conducted by the National Police at the Ministry of Transportation was part of government's commitment to reform the public service, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on Wednesday (12/10).

During the police raid on Tuesday, at least six people, including two officials from the ministry, were arrested with more than Rp 90 million ($6,900) in unreported cash and Rp 1 billion in receipts in their possession. The raid was part of an investigation of illegal fees for permits at the ministry's sea transportation directorate.

"It is the government's commitment to implement law reforms and to eradicate corruption. The illegal fees only involved small amounts, but when it is added up, the amount actually becomes large," Kalla told reporters in Jakarta.

The raid took place an hour after a cabinet meeting on the eradication of extortion, led by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the Presidential Office in Jakarta.

Jokowi visited the ministry offices following the sting operation and called on the members of all state institutions and agencies to fight against extortion in the public service sector.

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Source: Sting Operation at Transport Ministry Part of Public Service Reform: Kalla

Girls worldwide take over as ministers, CEOs in campaign to push for equality

Posted 11 Oct 2016 18:43

Updated 11 Oct 2016 18:50

Emma Watson in Malawi as part of a campaign to end child marriage and encourage girls to pursue their ambitions. (Photo: UN's Twitter page/Karin Schermbrucker)

JAKARTA: Teenage girls across the world became government ministers, mayors and chief executives for a day on Tuesday (Oct 11) in a global campaign to push for greater gender equality.

They staged the mock takeover in more than 50 countries - including Thailand, Bangladesh and Canada - as political and business figures stepped aside to let the girls take charge of issues affecting them, from child marriage to child labour.

"The takeover is a great statement of girls' power and their ability to change the world," said Anne-Birgitte Albrectsen, head of children's charity Plan International, which organised the campaign to mark the International Day of the Girl Child.

"It also serves as a reminder to governments how millions of girls are held back and denied an equal chance in life just because they are girls," she added in a statement.

Women head only 14 of 194 governments globally. Less than 4 per cent of the world's 500 top corporations are led by women, according to Plan International, citing discrimination as a reason why women are left behind.

In Indonesia, 17-year-old Nur Annisa was named as the "manpower minister" for the day after she beat 600 other high school students who competed for the post in the campaign.

"I am nervous but very proud," Annisa told reporters before chairing a meeting with the new line-up at the ministry made up of 10 other teenage boys and girls.

"I will lead my ministry to identify the root causes of child labour and our action plan to tackle it," she said, adding that the campaign has inspired her to become a politician.

The International Day of the Girl Child, which takes place on Oct 11 every year, is a United Nations initiative to recognise the rights of the 1.1 billion girls around the world and the challenges they face. 

- Reuters/hs

Source: Girls worldwide take over as ministers, CEOs in campaign to push for equality

Jakarta police probe mosque vandalism amid tension ahead of election

JAKARTA Indonesian police on Monday urged Muslims to stay calm and not be "provoked" by the vandalism of a mosque in the capital, aiming to dispel fears of growing ethnic tension in the run-up to next year's election for the governor of Jakarta.

Over the weekend, white Christian crosses were found spray-painted at several locations, including on the green gates of the Al Falah Mosque in Jakarta, the largest city in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation.

The incident risks fuelling already simmering tension ahead of February's election, which pits the Christian and ethnic Chinese incumbent, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, against Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, a son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the previous education minister, Anies Baswedan.

Yudhoyono and Baswedan are both Muslim in a nation where about 90 percent of the 250-million population follows Islam.

Indonesia also has a sizeable ethnic Chinese minority, many of whom are Buddhist. The country has a history of anti-Chinese violence, most sharply in the late 1990s amid the political and economic crisis that brought down authoritarian ruler Suharto.

Police were still looking for the vandal, Jakarta police spokesman Awi Setiyono said, adding that it was uncertain whether the act was linked to the election. "We urge the public not to be influenced and to control themselves."

Purnama, better known by his nickname "Ahok", became Jakarta's first ethnic Chinese governor in 2014, after then-governor Joko Widodo stepped down to successfully run for president.

Hardline Muslim groups had opposed his rise to power.

Purnama has a reputation as a tough reformer, but he has recently come under attack from several Muslim groups for allegedly insulting the religion's holy book, the Koran.

Muhammadiyah, one of the country's biggest Muslim organizations, had asked the police to investigate Purnama for alleged religious defamation.

During a visit to an Indonesian island last month, Purnama referred to a verse from the Koran that seemed to suggest it was unIslamic to vote for a leader of a different religion, according to a video circulated on social media.

"Insulting a religion and spreading hatred among Muslims is a criminal case," Pedri Kasman, an official at Muhammadiyah's youth wing, which filed the police report, told Reuters.

Purnama's words were taken out of context and incorrectly linked to religious defamation, said Mohamad Guntur Romli, an official of his election campaign. Political opponents had been fanning tension ahead of the election, he added.

While most Indonesians are rational and will choose a leader based on merit, some camps would still vote along racial or religious lines, said Irine Gayatri, a political analyst at government body the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.

"Race and religion are a convenient tool that can easily be exploited by political opponents," she added.

(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Eveline Danubrata; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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Source: Jakarta police probe mosque vandalism amid tension ahead of election

‘I have no doubt that she is capable of ... killing another person’

60 Minutes investigates whether Jessica Wongso is responsible for poisoning her best friend's coffee with cyanide or if she is innocent. Courtesy: 60 Minutes/Channel 9

Australian resident Jessica Wongso (right) is accused of murdering her best friend in a cafe in Jakarta.

IT'S described as "Indonesia's trial of the century".

Jessica Kumala Wongso, an Australian permanent resident, is accused of murdering her former Sydney design school classmate and friend Wayan Mirna Salihin, who collapsed and died after drinking an iced coffee at a Jakarta cafe in January.

Prosecutors allege the 27-year-old decided to kill the victim with cyanide after Mirna, also 27, advised her to break up with her Australian boyfriend Patrick O'Connor because he was allegedly on drugs.

This evening 60 Minutes delved into the case, as the media circus surrounding the trial intensifies — the courtroom tends to have at least 15 cameras at any one time and there is now a "live Jessica Wongso trial show" on Indonesia's Kompas TV.

The murdered girl's twin sister Sandy Salihin told 60 Minutes' Ross Coulthart she believes Wongso is "enjoying the media" surrounding the trial and can't believe how "happy" Wongso appears to be about her current situation.

Jessica Wongso faces reporters in Jakarta. Image: 60 MinutesSource:Supplied

"I think she's enjoying the attention. I think she likes the attention because she doesn't have that, maybe ... Yeah, I think she's enjoying the media".

She also believes that Wongso was motivated by envy.

"She's jealous of Mirna because maybe Mirna have a good life ... she just married and she have a good future ahead of her, and maybe Jessica's life is crap," she tearfully told Coulthart on camera.

Jessica Wongso (left) with her friend Mirna Salihin. Wongso is accused of murdering Salihin at a Jakarta cafe in January this year. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

According to various sources, things started to go off track between the friends two years ago when Mirna (who had moved back to Indonesia following her studies) holidayed in Sydney and caught up with Wongso. But the two women clashed over a meal when Mirna gave Wongso frank advice to dump her then boyfriend.

Mirna's husband, Arief Soemarko, said after the dinner his wife became cautious of Wongso.

Mirna Salihin with her husband, Arief Soemarko.Source:Facebook

"After that meeting, she grew a fear of Jessica, like, she don't want to meet her face-to-face just the two of them. She wants someone to accompany her," he told 60 Minutes.

Following the falling out, Wongso's behaviour in Sydney became more and more troubling.

She was hospitalised five times last year after self harming.

In August she crashed her car into a Leichhardt nursing home only metres from the bedrooms of dozens of elderly residents. Police were of the opinion she had been drinking.

Soon after Wongso's accident, Mirna and Soemarko married in Bali. He is of the opinion their wedding sent Wongso into a jealous rage.

"Because Mirna grew cautious of Jessica, we didn't invite her to the wedding," he explained.

Mirna Salihin on her wedding day. Picture: FacebookSource:Facebook

Days after the wedding, back in Sydney, Wongso was sacked from her job with NSW Ambulance.

She then returned to Jakata and made plans to catch up with Mirna and another Australian college friend, Hani Juwita.

On January 6 this year, they agreed to meet up at Olivier, a cafe in an up-market Jakarta shopping centre. Strangely, Wongso messaged her friends hours before, insisting she pre-order their drinks.

Wongso's arrival at the cafe was caught on CCTV at 3.30pm — more than 90 minutes before her friends were due to arrive.

Wongso can be seen leaving the restaurant soon after she gets there. She says she left to buy presents for her two friends. She is seen returning with three large bags, each containing a small bottle of liquid soap.

She then places the large bags at the edge of the table — police say she did this to obscure the view of the security cameras.

Jessica Wongso pictured at the crime reconstruction in the Olivier cafe in Jakarta.Source:Supplied

About an hour before her friends arrive, Wongso orders an iced coffee and two other drinks and places them behind the paper bags. This is when police say she laced Mirna's drink with cyanide.

Within moments of sitting down, Mirna takes a sip of her iced coffee. Soon she is frothing at the mouth.

Police claim the footage shows Wongso calmly watching on as Mirna take her last gasps of breath. As Mirna's twin sister points out, "she is the only person who is not crying".

Wongso then asks the cafe staff what they put in her friend's coffee. The accusation unnerved the staff member on duty, so they kept the cups and their contents ... without realising it, they were retaining what would be a vital piece of evidence in a murder case.

Jessica Wongso's wealthy family have hired an expensive defence lawyer.Source:Supplied

Wongso's defence lawyer Otto Hasibuan is focusing on autopsy results that show no cyanide was found in any of Mirna's organs other than her stomach. But one of the world's top toxicologists, Australian Professor Ian Whyte from Newcastle's Calvary Mater Hospital, told 60 Minutes that's not at all unusual — the fact that there is no cyanide found in the heart, brain, lungs or liver three days afterwards doesn't indicate there was no cyanide used to murder that person.

Timothy Marbun, who hosts the live coverage of Wongso's trial on Indonesian television, says there's one other "big missing link" in the case.

"There is no cyanide on [Wongso], there is no instance of her putting anything in the drink. She did touch the drink, she did move the drink, but moving a drink doesn't kill anyone," he explains.

The iced coffee has become a key piece of evidence. Image: 60 MinutesSource:Supplied

A damning assessment of Wongso's character comes courtesy of her former boss Kristie Carter, the head of media and marketing at NSW Ambulance in Sydney.

A statement from Carter to Indonesia police was read out by prosecutors at Jakarta District Court on Tuesday morning, following a marathon hearing.

In the statement Carter described Wongso as a woman with "two personalities".

"At one time, I saw Jessica as someone kind, who loves to smile and suddenly she could be someone quick to anger when someone didn't follow what she wanted.

"I have observed her for the last eight months. And from her attitude, hatred, and nature of her craziness, I have no doubt that she is capable of hurting or killing another person," she said.

When 60 Minutes journalist Ross Coulthart asked Wongso whether she could explain the cyanide in the drinks she said "no, I have no idea".Source:Supplied

Cater told Indonesian police that Jessica once admitted to knowing how to use poison to kill. It happened when she was in hospital, recovering from one of her incidents of self harm.

"I visited her. She said, 'I want to go home. They're treating me like I killed someone. If I wanted to kill someone, I'd know exactly the right dose.'"

Then, just two months before Mirna's death, Carter received a death threat.

"Jessica threatened me by saying, 'You have to die, and your mum should die too.'"

Her comments are part of a dossier on Wongso collected by the Australian Federal Police and handed over to their Indonesian counterparts.

Australian Federal Police only co-operated with the Indonesian police on the promise that a guilty Wongso would not be sent to the firing squad.

But according to 60 Minutes the judges have made it clear that they don't see themselves as being bound by any such undertaking.

Mirna's twin sister, Sandy Salihin. Image: 60 MinutesSource:Supplied

Mirna's twin sister is certainly hoping for the death penalty:

"I would like to see justice for my sister and eye for an eye ... You know what I'm saying? Like, it's ... A life for a life".

A verdict is expected later this month.

— With Megan Palin

Source: 'I have no doubt that she is capable of ... killing another person'

Rights Group Urges Govt to Include Death Penalty Moratorium in Law Reform Package

"As the most severe form of punishment, the imposition of the death penalty must comply with much highest standards," ICJR executive director Supriyadi Eddyono said on Friday (07/10).

In its call for the moratorium, the Jakarta-based group cited unfair trials, a problem it said has been rampant in cases that resulted in the imposition of the death penalty.

"Proper legal procedures, strong evidence and effective legal assistance must all be guaranteed," Supriyadi said. "Based on the rampant problems in our criminal justice system, it is already appropriate for the government to examine the matter of the death penalty before it releases the law reform package."

Having declared a state of emergency over the high rate of drug abuse in the country, the government has pressed ahead with the execution of death-row inmates, especially those convicted of drug offenses.

The government executed four inmates by firing squad in a third round of executions three months ago. Fourteen other drug convicts were executed last year, some of them foreign nationals.

Amid a national and international outcry, the Indonesian government has repeatedly called on other countries to respect its legal system.

Source: Rights Group Urges Govt to Include Death Penalty Moratorium in Law Reform Package

Raging fire destroys several houses in east Jakarta; more than 100 homeless

Picture for representation Reuters

Dozens of houses were destroyed leaving 116 people homeless as a fire raged through the Palmeriam subdistrict in East Jakarta on Friday.

According to Jakarta Post, nearly 30 buildings, occupied by 44 families, were gutted by the fire that raged from midnight until 4am. The victims are currently sheltered at a student dormitory on Jl. Bunga, Palmeriam. Around 20 nearby cafes were also destroyed in the fire.

A victim, identified as Suwarti, reportedly said that the fire broke out in a nearby cafe and started spreading. Several residents shouted and warned people about the fire who were asleep in the building.

"Most of people could only save important possessions before running out from their houses as the fire spread quickly," said Suwarti, the Post said. 

Suwarti was one of the residents living in neighbourhood unit (RT) 05/community unit (RW) 09 of the subdistrict.

Another eyewitness said that the cafe caught fire from a burning candle. "The fire came from the café and then spread to the residential areas," the witness said. 

The resident, who refused to give his identity, said that the fire brigade was late to arrive. According to him, prompt action would have saved many houses.

Jakarta Social agency, accompanied by neighbouring residents, is reportedly carrying out relief operation. Daily requirements like food packets and mattresses are distributed among the victims, according to Jakarta Post.

Source: Raging fire destroys several houses in east Jakarta; more than 100 homeless

The popular Mandiri Jakarta Marathon 2016: “Run a matter of time”

The popular Mandiri Jakarta Marathon 2016: "Run a matter of time" 6 Oct 2016

The Mandiri Jakarta Marathon 2016, -the  biggest running event in Indonesia – is with us again. Continuing its success in previous editions,  the Jakarta Marathon will again turn the streets of the capital city of Jakarta into a colossal race track for thousands of runners on Sunday, 23rdOctober 2016. This mega sport-tourism event is jointly presented by the Ministry of Tourism of Indonesia and the Jakarta Provincial Government in cooperation with promoters INSPIRO and Bank Mandiri as main sponsor.

As always, the Jakarta Marathon 2016 will feature 5 categories which are: The Full Marathon (42.195KM, flag off start at 05.00 West Indonesia Time), the Half Marathon (21KM, flag off start at 05.10 West Indonesia Time), 10K (Flag off Start at 05.20 West Indonesia Time), 5K (flag off start at 05.30 West Indonesia Time), and 1.3Km Maratoonz (Childrens' Sprint, flag off start at 08.00 West Indonesia Time).

With the Start and Finish Line at Jakarta's iconic National Monument (Monas), the race will again pass some of Jakarta's most prestigious landmarks including the Old Batavia complex and the Fatahilah Square, the Istiqlal Mosqueand the Cathedral , as well as the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout. Meanwhile  10K and 5K runners will be presented passing some of the most impressive buildings in Jakarta's own Central Business District. The Jakarta Marathon's route has received certification from the Association of International Marathon and Distance Races (AIMS) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) with elevation level 0 m/km.

This year, Jakarta Marathon has chosen the theme "Run a matter of time".  Chairman of Jakarta Marathon, Sapta Nirwandar expects that the theme can light the spirit of Indonesians and International runners to make their best efforts to conquer the challenging course of the streets in this capital city,   known for its high humidity. At the press conference held on 5thOctober 2016 at the Shangri-La hotel it was revealed that 16,000 runners have registered participating in the event, with 1,300 international runners from many other countries.

As in all previous editions, Jakarta Marathon this year will also feature a charity activities collaborating with the Indonesia Cancer Foundation (YKI) and Indonesia Children Oncology Foundation (YOAI), Dompet Dhuafa Foundation, and Arka Mahesa Run for Charity.

Due to the fact that the event  will take place along major roads of the capital city, there will be road closures and traffic diversions on some streets. These will be applied on 23rdOctober 2016 from 00.00 to 12.00 West Indonesia Time starting from the Monas area (as Start and Finish line) and along streets passed by the route that are the track of the race. Further notice of road closure and traffic diversions are still being coordinated with the Office of Transportation of Jakarta and Jakarta's Police.

However, beyond these, the public is expected to give a warm welcome and cheer runners on, since it is this warm and enthusiastic  support of  spectators  that urge runners to keep returning  and participating in the race.

As mentioned in the official press release, Minister of Tourism, Arief Yahya acknowledged that sport -tourism events such as  the Jakarta Marathon  are among tourism sectors that attract huge crowds of both domestic and international tourists. Through the event, Minister Arief Yahya is confident that more tourists will visit Jakarta, Indonesia's capital city. Meanwhile, Governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaya Purnama  - popularly called Ahok - expressed his pride in the accomplishment of Jakarta Marathon.  "We have shown the world that the streets of Jakarta that are usually crowded with heavy traffic, can be transformed into an international scale marathon course"

More information is available at: http://thejakartamarathon.com

Source: The popular Mandiri Jakarta Marathon 2016: "Run a matter of time"