2 x 18<\/p>\n
Police put Ambon
\ncity on top alert<\/p>\n
Bracing for the self-proclaimed South Maluku Republic (RMS)'s
\n55th anniversary on Monday, security has been tightened in Ambon,
\nand the police have declared an alert to anticipate any
\ndisturbances in the city.<\/p>\n
\"We're now on top alert and we've posted police personnel to
\nconflict-prone areas,\" Ambon and Lease Islands Police chief Adj.
\nSr. Comr. Leonidas Braksan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Some 745 police personnel have been deployed in Ambon and the
\nLease islands as well as two antiterror police units and Mobile
\nBrigade (Brimob) troopers.<\/p>\n
The police are also conducting helicopter patrols, especially in
\nthe Kudamati area, one of the RMS strongholds in Nusaniwe district.<\/p>\n
Leonidas said the air patrols were necessary since based on
\nlast year's experience, RMS flags might be raised in more remote
\nareas.<\/p>\n
\"In order to avoid a repeat of last year's events, we are
\nsetting up posts in areas where flags might be hoisted. And the
\nair patrols will help as the officers on the ground will not be
\nable to cover everywhere,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At least 38 people died and hundreds were injured in four-days
\nof communal clashes in Ambon last year, allegedly triggered by a
\nrally held by members of the separatist Maluku Sovereignty Front
\n(FKM), who are mostly Christians, to mark the RMS anniversary.<\/p>\n
The clashes last year were the worst since the inking of the
\nMalino II Peace Pact in 2002, which was signed after Ambon was
\nrocked by major sectarian clashes in 1999, in which thousands of
\npeople were killed and hundreds of thousands of others were
\nforced to flee their homes.<\/p>\n
This time around, the police have even occupied the houses of
\nRMS leaders, such as Alex Manuputty, who is in exile in the
\nUnited States, to prevent any incidents.<\/p>\n
Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. (Pol.) Adityawaman requested
\npeople to trust the police and military to provide security,
\nwhile Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu asked government and
\nprivate sector offices to continue working as usual on Monday.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, two bomb scares occurred in the city at different
\nplaces and time. The first one took place at the Ambon Plaza
\nshopping center at 2 p.m. local time, or 12 noon Jakarta time,
\nand the second took place at a Bank Central Asia branch at 7:30
\np.m. local time.<\/p>\n
After conducting searches, the police bomb squad found
\nnothing.<\/p>\n
Leonidas said the shopping center received an anonymous phone
\ncall saying a bomb had been planted there, while in the case of
\nthe bank, a suspicious cardboard box had been left on the
\nsidewalk in front of the bank. \"Residents were suspicious and
\nreported the box to the police. It turned out the box contained a
\ndead cat,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The police also arrested suspected RMS supporters in the
\nBatumeja area on Saturday, confiscating a number of pieces of
\nevidence, including two RMS flags, a documentary film on the
\nApril 25 riots last year, and another on the group's activities
\nin Europe.<\/p>\n
A married couple, Johny Rijoli and Rosanna, was also arrested
\non the same day. The suspected RMS supporters were taken into
\npolice custody for allegedly possessing a schedule of Alex
\nManuputty's activities the day before he left for the United
\nStates.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, most people in the city appeared to be going about
\ntheir normal activities, including attending morning church
\nservices.<\/p>\n
JP\/MALAYSIA<\/p>\n
2 x 21<\/p>\n
Malaysia, RI to limit
\nwarships in Ambalat<\/p>\n
Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed that only one warship from
\neach country should patrol a disputed oil-rich maritime area
\nfollowing recent clashes, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said
\non Sunday.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal of all other naval vessels from the Ambalat
\narea in the Sulawesi Sea off the coast of Borneo island would be
\ncarried out simultaneously, Najib, who is also defense minister,
\nwas quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.<\/p>\n
He said Malaysia welcomed the agreement, which was reached at
\nlast week's meeting between Malaysian Navy chief Adm. Mohamad
\nAnwar Mohamad Nor and his Indonesian counterpart Rear Adm. Slamet
\nSoebiyanto.<\/p>\n
The move should prevent a repeat of a recent near collision of
\nnavy ships from the two countries, the New Straits Times quoted
\nMalaysian Navy chief Adm. Mohamad Anwar Mohamad Nor as saying.<\/p>\n
The admiral did not disclose how many ships were patrolling
\nthe area at the moment.<\/p>\n
\"The agreement is not only about avoiding collisions but the
\nway the navies of the two countries should carry out their duties
\nwithout getting into conflicts,\" Mohamad Anwar was quoted as
\nsaying by the Star newspaper.<\/p>\n
Navy ships from the two countries \"brushed against each other\"
\non April 8 due to a \"judgment error\", he said without
\nelaborating.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month warships from the two countries brushed
\nsides near the Karang Unarang reef east of Borneo island, where
\nIndonesia is building a lighthouse to strengthen its territorial
\nclaims in the disputed region.<\/p>\n
Both countries have lodged official protests with each other
\nover the incident.<\/p>\n
Tensions are high in the area after Malaysia granted an oil
\nconcession in the region on Feb. 16 to Anglo-Dutch firm Shell.
\nJakarta says the blocks awarded by state oil firm Petronas are
\nnot in territory controlled by Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Officials from both sides began negotiations to settle the
\noverlapping claims to the area last month and are due to meet
\nagain in May.<\/p>\n
The two countries have locked horns over the region before. A
\ndispute over the ownership of two islands ended in December 2002
\nwith an International Court of Justice ruling that the islands
\nbelong to Malaysia.<\/p>\n
JP\/4\/TNI<\/p>\n
1 x 33<\/p>\n
Kostrad off-loads business units<\/p>\n
As the government tries to draw up an inventory of the myriad
\nbusiness interests of the Indonesian Military (TNI) as part of
\nthe preparations to remove them from military control as required
\nby law, the Army's Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) claimed
\nthat it now only has interests in three business units.<\/p>\n
Kostrad Commander Lt. Gen. Hadi Waluyo said recently that the
\nforce owned 100 percent of the shares in commercial aviation company PT
\nMandala Airlines and healthcare group Darma Medika General
\nHospital, and had a 25 percent stake in cargo company PT Darma
\nMandala.<\/p>\n
\"We're now trying to revamp Mandala Airlines,\" he said,
\npointing out that the company had not performed well due to
\nmismanagement.<\/p>\n
Hadi said that part of the revenue from the three companies
\nhad been used to help improve the welfare of soldiers and their
\nfamilies, brushing aside criticism that the military businesses
\nhad only benefited the generals as a result of rampant
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
Hadi claimed that Kostrad had gotten out of the timber
\nbusiness long ago. However, he did not provide any details on
\nwhy and when the force had divested its interest in the lucrative
\ntimber sector.<\/p>\n
He said that Kostrad had also unloaded its shares in \"other
\nbusinesses\", such as construction companies, as many of them had
\nnot performed well.<\/p>\n
He added that the stakes in the \"other companies\" had been
\ngiven to Kostrad by private investors for free. He failed,
\nhowever, to explain why private investors should gave Kostrad
\nshares in their companies.<\/p>\n
He pointed as an example to a road construction company in
\nwhich Kostrad had shares, which won the contract to build the
\nMalang-Gempol highway in East Java.<\/p>\n
\"The project, however, did not proceed well, so of course we
\ndidn't get any money,\" Hadi said.<\/p>\n
Hadi's statement is the first explanation given by a senior
\nmilitary officer on the state of the TNI's vast business
\ninterests since the Indonesian Military Law passed last year
\nstipulated that the TNI must relinquish its business interests
\nwithin a five-year period to ensure improved professionalism.<\/p>\n
TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto has claimed that the
\ndivestment of the military's business interests could be
\ncompleted within the next two years.<\/p>\n
The once supremely powerful TNI obtained its various business
\nunits under the 30-year authoritarian regime of former president
\nSoeharto. But critics have said that the military's involvement
\nin business has increased corruption and undermined military
\nprofessionalism, while the direct benefits to low ranking
\nsoldiers and their families have been meager.<\/p>\n
Hadi, however, rejected the criticism. He said that in the
\ncase of Kostrad, profits from its business units had been partly
\nused to provide scholarships for soldiers' children and
\ncompensation for the families of soldiers killed on active
\nservice.<\/p>\n
\"Roughly, we spend Rp 300 million to Rp 400 million on
\nsupporting the education of the children. We also provide Rp 25
\nmillion to families whose sons or husbands were killed during
\noperations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Other Kostrad spending took the form of housing allowances.<\/p>\n
While the mechanism by which the TNI will divest its business
\ninterests remains unclear, some government officials have floated
\nthe idea that the government take over part of the businesses and
\nturned them into state-owned enterprises.<\/p>\n
But a researcher with Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW),
\nDanang Widoyoko, has warned the government to be very careful
\nwhen acquiring the business units of the TNI since many of them
\nhad been mismanaged.<\/p>\n
He was worried that their acquisition would only increase the
\nburden on the state (and the taxpayers) as a result of the
\npropping up of loss-making firms.<\/p>\n
JP\/4\/dpo<\/p>\n
1 x 44<\/p>\n
Another alleged illegal timber boss arrested<\/p>\n
The National Police said they had arrested another Malaysian
\ncitizen on Saturday for allegedly financing illegal logging in
\nthe country's easternmost province of Papua.<\/p>\n
The head of the government's anti-illegal logging task force,
\nBrig. Gen. Suharto, said that Tie Sing Yew, 54, was apprehended
\nnear the Entikong border post in West Kalimantan province, where
\nhe was attempting to cross into Malaysia's Sarawak state.<\/p>\n
\"Right now the suspect is still being detained by the East
\nKalimantan Police. He will be brought to Jayapura on Sunday,\"
\nSuharto said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
He said Tie was believed to be funding illegal logging and his
\nname had earlier been placed on the immigration blacklist.<\/p>\n
Tie was suspected of masterminding the smuggling of illegally
\nlogged timber from Papua to Malaysia, as well as running illegal
\nlogging operations in Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Tie's arrest adds to a long list of Malaysian suspects being
\ndetained by the Indonesian Police. Previously, the police
\narrested nine other Malaysians and one South Korean citizen on
\nsimilar charges of financing illegal logging operations in Papua.<\/p>\n
\"He (Tie) almost escaped from our country, but the immigration
\nofficials recognized him from the immigration blacklist,\" said
\nEast Kalimantan Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Heru
\nSetiawan.<\/p>\n
He said that Tie had attempted to return to Malaysia through
\nEntikong as he thought that the security there would not be so
\ntight.<\/p>\n
After being questioned by the local police, Tie said he was
\nthe president of CV Makmur Abadi Trading, based in Brunei
\nDarussalam, and owned 25 pieces of heavy equipment that was
\nsuspected of being used in illegal logging.<\/p>\n
Based on the results of police investigations, Tie is also
\nsuspected of smuggling illegal timber from Papua to Malaysia
\nthrough Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
However, Tie denied all the charges. He said he had not
\nrealized that he had been placed on the immigration blacklist and
\nclaimed to have away from Papua for around six months.<\/p>\n
The government has said that illegal logging is causing the
\ncountry to lose over US$3 billion per year, with timber barons
\nnow targeting Papua as the forests on Java and Sumatra islands
\nhave already been plundered.<\/p>\n
Rapid deforestation due to massive illegal logging has
\nproduced devastating environmental consequences for both
\nIndonesia and the Southeast Asian region, causing floods and
\nlandslides and shrouding nearby countries with haze from illegal
\nfires set to clear land.<\/p>\n
JP\/4\/PKB<\/p>\n
1 x 41<\/p>\n
Gus Dur's daughter, actress join PKB board<\/p>\n
(unchecked version)<\/p>\n
The National Awakening Party (PKB) announced a new central
\nexecutive board here on Sunday, with party chief patron
\nAbdurrahman Wahid's daughter Zanuba Arifah Chafsoh Rahman and
\nactress-cum-women's activist Rieke \"Oneng\" Dyah Pitaloka being
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
Zanuba, better known as Yenni, and Rieke, who is popular with
\nher serial movie Bajaj Bajuri, were named deputies to PKB
\nsecretary-general Muhammad Lukman Edy.<\/p>\n
The new lineup also included senior women's activists
\nNursjahbani Katjasungkana and Maria Pakpahan as deputy PKB
\nchairpersons along with nine others, including legislator Effendy
\nChoirie and Maria Ulfa Anshori, a deputy chaiwoman of Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU)'s female wing Fatayat.<\/p>\n
To embrace pluralism, the PKB, founded in 1999 by NU -- the
\ncountry's largest Muslim organization, accommodated several non-
\nMuslim figures in the new board, such as Christians Hermawi
\nFransiscus Taslim and Jhon Wuwu, Catholic Alexius Gregoris Plate,
\nand Anak Agung Ngurah Agung and Krisna Bagus Oka, both from the
\nHindu-predominantly province of Bali.<\/p>\n
The lineup, comprising 55 members, was announced by newly
\nelected PKB tanfidziyah (executive) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar
\nand his uncle former president Abdurrahman, better known as Gus
\nDur who retained his top post as the party's powerful syuro
\n(consultative) board chief during last week's congress in
\nSemarang, Central Java.<\/p>\n
Muhaimin, however, failed to include in the new board four
\nsenior PKB politicians former defense minister Mahfud M.D.,
\nformer state minister for women's empowerment Khofifah Indar
\nParawansa, former state minister for research and technology
\nMuhammad A.S. Hikam and chairman of its faction in the House of
\nRepresentatives Ali Masykur Moesa.<\/p>\n
Mahfud, Ali and Hikam were Muhaimin's rival candidates who
\nwithdrew their bids to contest the leadership race, just hours
\nbefore elections started. Nor did Khofifah vie for the race but
\nback Mahfud's nomination.<\/p>\n
Muhaimin, also a deputy House speaker, said he would intensify
\nhis personal approaches with Mahfud, Ali and Khofifah to appeal
\nto them to help his PKB leadership.<\/p>\n
\"But the three are free to choose as to whether they would
\njoin in the board or not,\" added Muhaimin, as the post of his
\ndeputy was left vacant.<\/p>\n
As to Hikam who is a former Gus Dur's confidante, he had vowed
\nnot to join Muhaimin's board, claiming that the Semarang congress
\nand its outcome were illegitimate.<\/p>\n
He instead took side with PKB's rival camp led by chief
\nwelfare minister Alwi Shihab and State Minister for the
\nDevelopment of Disadvantaged Regions Saifullah Yusuf, who is Gus
\nDur's rebellious nephew.<\/p>\n
Alwi and Saifullah were suspended respectively as PKB chairman
\nand secretary-general after joining the Cabinet of President
\nBambang Yudhoyono last October.<\/p>\n
The two, backed a group of influential clerics that co-founded
\nthe PKB, were planning to stage a breakaway congress in
\nYogyakarta apparently to reinstate their party leadership.<\/p>\n
They were also suing the PKB for the suspensions decided in a
\nplenary meeting of the party's central board, which they said
\nviolated the party's statutes.<\/p>\n
In response to the moves by his rivals, Muhaimin said the PKB
\nwould punish Alwi, Saifullah and their colleagues opposed to the
\nrecent congress.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/2-x-18-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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