JP\/5\/D02<\/p>\n
Two Africans arrested in S. Sumatra<\/p>\n
PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: Police in Palembang, capital of
\nSouth Sumatra, arrested Ghanaian Abale Goble Jules Olive Cesar,
\n29, and Cameroonian Teufak Bernard, 40, on counterfeiting
\ncharges.<\/p>\n
Police said they seized from the two suspects equipment used
\nto print fake US dollars.<\/p>\n
The chief of detectives in Palembang, Sr. Comr. Wahyu
\nTriwidodo, said the two men were arrested on Wednesday when
\nofficers raided a house where they were printing counterfeit
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
"We are coordinating with their embassies in Jakarta to
\nconduct a further investigation," he said.<\/p>\n
Abale denied that they were involved in counterfeiting, saying
\nthe pair were in Indonesia on business. --JP<\/p>\n
Driver demo paralyzes Padang<\/p>\n
PADANG, West Java: Thousands of workers and students trying to
\nget to Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, were left stranded on
\nThursday when public transportation drivers went on strike.<\/p>\n
The drivers called the strike to protest the mushrooming
\nnumber of unofficial terminals on the city's outskirts.<\/p>\n
Many workers and students were forced to walk to their offices
\nand schools in the city.<\/p>\n
The drivers held demonstrations in front of the provincial
\nlegislature building and the governor's office, promising to
\ncontinue their strike unless the authorities shut down the
\nunofficial terminals that were cutting into their income.<\/p>\n
"All buses and other public transportation vehicles should be
\nobliged to enter only the terminal in the city, where they should
\npick up their passengers," Eri, a driver, said.<\/p>\n
Almost all public transportation vehicles, including intercity
\nbuses, have been reluctant to enter the terminal since it moved
\nto the city's outskirts.<\/p>\n
The head of the local transportation office, ANS Bukhari, said
\nhis office had no authority to prevent the drivers from striking,
\nand would cooperate with the land transportation agency to phase
\nout all unofficial terminals around the city. --JP<\/p>\n
Conservation area converted into farmland<\/p>\n
BANJARNAGARA, Central Java: Some 30 hectares of the 101-
\nhectare Dieng Temple archaeological conservation area in
\nBanjarnagara has been turned into farmland by local residents, an
\nofficial said.<\/p>\n
A staff member at the local education and culture office,
\nNgudi Utomo, said his office had tried to prevent locals from
\nmoving into the conservation area, which is protected by law, but
\nto no avail.<\/p>\n
"Locals have planted potatoes in the conservation area and
\nhave even threatened to ransack the temple if they are forced off
\nthe land," he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Banjarnagara Regent Djasri S.T. said he had reported the
\nmatter to President Megawati Soekarnoputri, but had not yet heard
\nback from her.<\/p>\n
"We are also coordinating with the local police to monitor
\nthe temple, which has historical value," he said. --JP<\/p>\n
Fire sweeps through Ciremai forest<\/p>\n
KUNINGAN, West Java: A fire has burned some 25 hectares of
\nfour-year-old pine forest located at the foot of Mount Ciremai in
\nKuningan regency.<\/p>\n
Tatang Sutisna, an employee of state-owned PT Perhutani's Unit
\nIII in the regency, said here on Thursday his company was having
\ntechnical problems putting out the fire.<\/p>\n
"Besides lacking human resources, PT Perhutani also has
\ndifficulty getting water to put out the fire because of the
\nprolonged drought in the regency," he said, adding that local
\nforest rangers were still investigating the cause of the blaze.<\/p>\n
Tatang said the forest fire was a result of the prolonged
\ndrought, and that his company would deploy locals to help put out
\nthe blaze.<\/p>\n
He estimated that the fire would cause the company more than
\nRp 58 million in losses. --JP<\/p>\n
Two men arrested for smuggling bullets<\/p>\n
PALU, Central Sulawesi: Police here arrested on Thursday
\nmorning two people who were allegedly attempting to smuggle
\nthousands of bullets into the conflict-torn regency of Poso.<\/p>\n
The suspects, identified only as Fah and Sis, were arrested
\naboard the KM Nggapulu as they were carrying a box of munitions
\nfrom the ship.<\/p>\n
The ship arrived at the Pantoloan seaport in Palu on Thursday,
\nas it traveled from Jakarta to Balikpapan via Surabaya.<\/p>\n
Central Sulawesi Police chief Zainal Abidin Ishak confirmed
\nthe two people had been declared suspects.<\/p>\n
The munitions were all made by state-owned Pindad. They
\nincluded 2,228 5.56-caliber bullets, 448 9-caliber bullets, 99
\n4.5-caliber bullets, 47 86-caliber bullets and 34 SS1 bullets.<\/p>\n
Abidin said that Fah had previously spent a year in jail for
\nhis involvement in an attack on the village of Mapane. --Antara<\/p>\n
Bengkulu faces deforestation<\/p>\n
BENGKULU: Rampant logging around the protected forest of
\nKerinci Seblat is threatening the Kerinci Seblat National Park.<\/p>\n
About 1,500 hectares of the total 203,000-hectare conservation
\narea has been deforested.<\/p>\n
An official with the North Bengkulu Forestry Office, Untung
\nPramono, said that 60,000 hectares of protected forest had been
\ndepleted, with 19,000 hectares being transformed into farmland.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, 37,000 hectares of the 219,000-hectare production
\nforest has been exhausted. The deforestation has reached a level
\nof 2 percent of the forest per year.<\/p>\n
North Bengkulu deputy regent Imron Rosadi confirmed that the
\nlocal administration was attempting to curb the deforestation,
\nparticularly with surprise inspections.<\/p>\n
Bengkulu province covers an area of 920,000 hectares, most of
\nwhich is protected and conservation forests. Bengkulu is known as
\nan area of biodiversity conservation, not as a log producer.
\n--Antara<\/p>\n
Students skipping exams to get married<\/p>\n
MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Teachers and education officials
\nhere have expressed concern over an increasing number of junior
\nhigh school students who are skipping their final exams to get
\nmarried.<\/p>\n
The head of the province's office for education, youth and
\nsports, Zaini Arony, has urged the local office for religious
\naffairs not to issue marriage licenses to students.<\/p>\n
"Usually, the students are getting married during final exam
\ntime," Zaini said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Seven junior high school students in East Lombok skipped their
\nfinals last year to get married.<\/p>\n
According to Zaini, his office is collecting data about the
\nproblem from every school in the province.<\/p>\n
Among the local Sasak tribe, it is common to "steal" school-
\nage women for marriage. So most women who follow this tradition
\nget married around the age of 13.<\/p>\n
Zaini said he would monitor the situation and appeal to the
\nstudents to delay getting married until they at least completed
\ntheir exams. --Antara<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp5d02-1447899208",
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