It would be spectacular if Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh's
\nstatement that some 1,000 village heads in the regency of Bireuen
\nin the war-torn province were prepared to resign came to pass.<\/p>\n
Puteh did not elaborate on why the village heads would give up
\ntheir posts. However, it is obvious that the desire to cripple
\nthe administration at the lowest level, following the maneuvers
\nof the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), is behind the threatened
\nresignations.<\/p>\n
Administrative chaos at the low levels is commonplace in Aceh.
\nYet some villages have two heads; the state's version and the GAM
\nversion. And some village heads did not have the courage to do
\ntheir jobs because of GAM intimidation.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the home ministry's plan to replace those village
\nheads without the guts to do their jobs could be considered as
\nbeing responsible for the threatened resignations.<\/p>\n
A statement from the ministry was answered by 76 village heads
\nwho stated they were ready to resign. They may have thought that
\nsooner or later they would be dismissed, in line with the
\ngovernment's actions against GAM.<\/p>\n
It would, therefore, be wise for the government to review its
\nstance on village heads. Village administrations must be
\nreactivated to serve the public and to protect the people from
\nGAM's propaganda and terror.<\/p>\n
The presence of the TNI and police should be increased in the
\nvillages to boost the spirit of the villagers, and we suggest
\nthat soldiers and police officers become patrons of the village
\nheads going about their daily duties.<\/p>\n
-- Suara Karya, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The annual disaster comes again<\/p>\n
It is really ironic that forest fires have begun to rage in
\nseveral Indonesian islands only a week after the country
\ncommemorated Environment Day.<\/p>\n
Kalimantan and Sumatra have for the past six years been facing
\nthe disaster every year. Fires have destroyed some 2,000
\nhectares of forest land in Riau province this week alone. They
\nhave also damaged forests in Jambi, South Kalimantan and Central
\nKalimantan provinces.<\/p>\n
The forest fires reportedly started in the two islands last
\nMay. Smoke from the fires have disrupted land, air and water
\ntransportations. The fires have also posed threats to the
\npeople's health.<\/p>\n
Head of forest and land protection of the provincial forestry
\noffice in Riau, Fadrizal Labay, attributed the forest fires to
\nthe onset of the land-clearing season, usually during the dry
\nseason.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the annual practice of land-clearing has not
\nonly caused forest fires but also transportation disturbance.<\/p>\n
If the practices remain uncontrolled, its bad impact would not
\nonly threaten the local people but also those in neighboring
\ncountries like Malaysia and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Thus, trusting provincial administrations to deal with forest
\nfires is unrealistic as they do not have enough money, facilities
\nand human resources to face the disaster.<\/p>\n
If the government handles the forest fires without any effort
\nto change the local people's attitude and regreen the damaged
\nareas, the same disaster will recur next year.<\/p>\n
We should take stern and integrated actions to manage the
\nproblem. -- Kompas, Jakarta<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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