East Asian economy forecast to grow 5.8 percent in 2003 Agence France-Presse, Tokyo East Asian economies, excluding Japan, are forecast to grow 5.8 percent in 2003, the same rate as this year, as brisk investments offset slumping exports, a government-run trade body said here Wednesday. But the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) warned it may cut the projection if the impact of the Oct.

ADB lends 292 million dollars to Indonesia Agence France-Presse, Manila The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved two loans totaling US$292.2 million to Indonesia, the bank announced Wednesday. The first loan, amounting to $250 million, will go to support a program of reforming financial governance and social security in Indonesia, the ADB said in a statement from its headquarters in the Philippine capital.

UN invited to curb border crossing ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: Police in the province of East Nusa Tenggara have invited the UN Civilian Police (Civpol) in East Timor to cooperate in curbing illegal border crossings, which have lately been on the rise following unrest in the newly independent state. "I communicated the call for cooperation to the Civpol representative, who visited the Belu district Police Headquarters last Monday," district police chief, Adj. High Comr.

Streets in Bogor busy again BOGOR: Traffic jams started to occur on Wednesday on the streets of Bogor, which had been quiet during the Idul Fitri holidays. Many motorists were trapped in serious traffic congestion on Jl. H. Juanda, heading toward the market, passing the Bogor Botanical Garden and Sukasari. Among the vehicles were dozens of public minivans and those belonging to vacationers from outside the town, Antara reported. Traffic jams also occurred on Jl.

1,000 city administration employee absent Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta About 1,000, or 20 percent of the 5,000 civil servants at City Hall and 60 percent of the City Council's 84 members failed to show up at the office on Wednesday, the first working day after the Idul Fitri holiday. "We will sanction those people who were absent without a proper excuse," Governor Sutiyoso said after inspecting offices at City Hall.

ADB lends $292m to Indonesia Agence France-Presse, Manila The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved two loans totaling US$292.2 million to Indonesia, the bank announced Wednesday. The first loan, amounting to $250 million, will go to support a program of reforming financial governance and social security in Indonesia, the ADB said in a statement from its headquarters in the Philippine capital.

TV Program: Thursday, December 12, 2002 TVRI 6:00 a.m. News 9:00 Film 10:30 Quiz 11:30 Music 12:00 p.m. News 1:00 Talk Show 2:00 News 3:00 Widya Wahana 4:00 TV Drama 5:03 Quiz 6:00 News 7:00 The Brilliant 9:00 Talk Show 10:00 Health Program 11:00 Music 12:00 a.m News TPI 6:00 a.m. News 7:00 Quiz 8:00 Music 9:00 Indian Film 12:00 p.m.

Megawati to stay overnight in Aceh Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta President Megawati Soekarnoputri is slated to make a visit to Aceh from Dec. 17 to Dec. 18 to enjoy the reigning peace nine days after the signing of the cessation of hostility agreement early this week. The President considers the visit important in ensuring the peaceful situation after the signing of the peace accord, since previous presidents have never overnighted during their visits to the province.

Bimantara sets up holding company JAKARTA: PT Bimantara Citra said Wednesday it set up PT Mobile-8 Telecom earlier this month as a holding company for telecommunications companies it plans to acquire. Bimantara spokeswoman Intan Abdams said Bimantara owns a 99.99 percent stake in Mobile-8, which would become a holding company for cellular phone PT Komunikasi Selular Indonesia, or Komselindo, and PT Metro Selular Indonesia, or Metrosel.

Batam Center Grand Mosque: A Rp 15 billion mosque with gorgeous architecture to create a dynamic religious atmosphere. Novotel Batam: One of Batam's star-rated international-standard hotels that is a favorite among expatriates. Global Indo-Asia school: An international school for children of expatriates residing in Batam.

PATA sticks to Bali venue JAKARTA: The annual meeting of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) will be held in Bali next April as planned, despite last October's terrorist attack on the island that claimed 190 lives, mostly Western tourists, a PATA official said Wednesday. "The participants insisted on holding the meeting here," said I.B. Ngurah Wijaya, a member of the PATA organizing committee.

Court delays rights trial verdict JAKARTA: The Indonesian human rights court delayed sentencing a senior police officer over charges stemming from East Timor's bloody secession from Indonesia in 1999, saying it needed to hear further testimony from witnesses. Lt. Col. Hulman Gultom, the former police chief of East Timor's capital Dili, is accused of failing to prevent pro- Jakarta militiamen from massacring at least 12 pro-independence supporters in the city on April, 17, 1999.

RI considers careful change to liberalized downstream sector Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta In contrast to the upstream sector, liberalization of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry has been slow. With a population of over 210 million and fuel demand growing by about 3 percent to 5 percent a year, Indonesia promises oil and gas investors a fat market and plenty of room for competition.

Unilateral actions not effective in fighting terrorism: Minister Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Indonesia reiterated its criticism of certain countries supporting Australian Prime Minister John Howard's threat of ordering preemptive strikes against suspected terrorists in Asia, saying it was against the UN charter of countries' sovereignty.

RI told to continue reforms to win CGI financial support Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Indonesia would have a good chance of securing a greater amount of loans from the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) next year as long as the country remains committed to implementing economic reforms, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Wednesday.

Endless floods hit Kapuk Muara area Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The rainy season has yet to come but the residents of Kapuk Muara subdistrict in North Jakarta had to put up with water from the Angke river deluging the road and their homes for the last week. The water reached knee-level over the Idul Fitri holiday. This is not new for the residents, who have mostly lived alongside the river for over 30 years.

JI behind 50 bombings in RI: ICG Agence France-Presse, Jakarta The Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) has staged some 50 bombings or attempted bombings in Indonesia since April 1999 including the Bali blast, an international research group said Wednesday. The International Crisis Group (ICG), in a report entitled "Indonesia's Terrorist Network: How Jemaah Islamiyah Works", calls for the reopening of investigations into these blasts "as a top priority" and with international help if possible.

Editor charged over article SAMARINDA, South Kalimantan: The chief editor of the weekly tabloid Dayak Post, Minhayuddin MH, has been charged as a suspect for defaming the Prophet Muhammad in his articles. Police investigator Chief Comr. Hisbullah said on Wednesday that the police had reached this conclusion after thoroughly evaluating the articles published in the tabloid. "We have charged him as a suspect because his articles could enrage Muslims," he said.

Students investigated for smoking pot PALANGKA RAYA, Central Kalimantan: Palangka Raya police are continuing their questioning of 11 students caught red-handed smoking marijuana in a local music studio on Tuesday afternoon. Palangka Raya police chief Adj. Sr. Comr Budi Waseso said on Wednesday that none of the students had been charged as suspects. The raid was launched by police after receiving a tip-off from neighborhood residents.

Police name suspect in fatal train derailment Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Kebumen Police in the Central Java district of Kebumen have declared the driver of a box truck as a suspect in the railway accident in which a train hit the box truck and derailed, killing at least six people and injuring 30. The locomotive and eight of the train's 11 carriages, packed with around 450 passengers returning to Jakarta after celebrating Idul Fitri in their hometowns, derailed and plowed into rice fields.

E. Timor rioters fled to RI: Envoy UNITED NATIONS: A preliminary inquiry into last week's riots in East Timor has found that some of the people behind the violence fled afterward to neighboring Indonesia, the tiny new nation's UN ambassador said on Tuesday. Some of those behind the riots "sought refuge in west Timor," a province of Indonesia, Ambassador Jose Luis Guterres told reporters, adding he hoped Indonesia would seek to arrest them once the inquiry was completed.

Most public offices stay closed after Idul Fitri The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Medan/Surabaya Public offices in many cities throughout the country remained empty on Wednesday as civil servants skipped work after an extended holiday. The government had extended the Idul Fitri holiday this year through a presidential decree, apparently in an effort to try and eliminate the bad habit of civil servants' skipping work after the celebration.

Rupiah Rates Dec.11 Banknote rates TT rates Selling Buying Selling Buying Rp Rp Rp Rp Australian dollar 1 5,305.69 4,740.96 5,050.67 4,995.76 Brunei dollar 1 5,356.19 4,787.65 5,098.74 5,044.96 Canadian dollar 1 6,067.56 5,423.10 5,775.91 5,714.56 Swiss franc 1 6,471.15 5,785.55 6,160.10 6,096.49 Danish krone 1 1,284.34 1,147.89 1,222.61 1,209.58 Euro 1 9,537.94 8,526.11 9,079.48 8,984.34 Poundsterling 1 14,859.73 13,281.46 14,145.47 13,995.26 Hong Kong dollar 1 1,213.79 1,085.52 1,155.45 1,143.

Aceh peacemakers set sights on Myanmar Reuters, Geneva The Swiss humanitarian group that brokered a cease-fire in Indonesia's restive Aceh province said on Tuesday it was seeking a go-between role between Myanmar's military government and the democratic opposition.

Moving towards the Free Trade Zone era in Batam Legal certainty for investors An industrial zone with international scope such as Batam absolutely requires sufficient area for further expansion in the future. The Batam Authority has anticipated this requirement by launching various efforts, such as diversifying land use and appropriating land allocation. All these efforts are related to legal certainty pertaining to investments in Batam.

Monas park to have deer, soccer fields Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Jakarta administration announced on Wednesday it would soon release deer into the 108-hectare National Monument (Monas) park in Central Jakarta, as well as developing soccer fields and a jogging track in the park. "We asked the Bogor Palace for some deer and will release them into the park," Governor Sutiyoso said at City Hall.

East Asian economy to grow 5.8% in 2003: JETRO Agence France-Presse, Tokyo East Asian economies, excluding Japan, are forecast to grow 5.8 percent in 2003, the same rate as this year, as brisk investments offset slumping exports, a government-run trade body said here Wednesday. But the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) warned it may cut the projection if the impact of the Oct.