YLKI mulls Pertamina boycott A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) strongly condemned on Monday a decision by state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina to raise the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), saying that it would impose more burdens upon the public. YLKI demanded the company to revoke the latest policy, and should they ignore the demand, the consumer rights group would mobilize the public to boycott Pertamina products.

Jakarta 'back to normal' Driving on Jakarta roads one week after Idul Fitri was enjoyable. Offices and shops were still closed, and trips from one place to another were smooth and fast, while the air was also clean due to reduced vehicular emissions. Things changed on Monday. Myriad cars and motorcycles are back on the roads from morning until night. Vehicles continue to congregate around the schools, shops and offices.

RI, China sign population accord BANGKOK: Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of China here on Monday to cooperate in the field of population and reproductive health/family planning. The MoU was signed by the chairwoman of Indonesia's National Family Planning Board, Yaumil Agoes Achir, and China's minister of the State Family Planning Commission (SFPC), Zhang Weiqing.

Certificates for street kids KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Some 200 street children and poor people will receive certificates from the local education office after participating in educational classes. Yoseph Ahryanto Ludoni, director of Purnama Kasih Foundation, which organized the classes, said the certificates would state that their education was on a par with that obtained at formal schools.

Batamindo Industrial Park: One of the huge industrial zones in Batam. Trans-Barelang bridge: A panoramic view of one of the six high- tech bridges that connect Batam and the surrounding islands.

Deutsche Bank optimistic about government bonds issue Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta As the government began on Monday a road show for its plans to issue some Rp 2 trillion (US$224.72 million) worth of bonds later this week, Deutsche Securities Indonesia -- one of the three firms appointed as arrangers for the issue -- expressed optimism that the market would fully absorb the bonds. Suresh L.

'Tourist slump not due to Bali terror' JAKARTA: A total of 91,506 foreign tourists visited Jakarta in October, or 7.59 percent less than the number in the previous month, which recorded more than 99,000 visitors, according to data at the City Statistics Office. However, the decrease had nothing to do with the Bali terrorist attacks, head of the office, Masni Rani claimed, explaining that October was the low season, beritajakarta.com reported on Monday.

STT commitment to develop fixed lines questioned A'an Suryana and Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The purchase of a 41.9 percent stake in state-owned telecommunications company PT Indosat by Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) may not necessarily provide benefits to local customers, as the Singapore giant was likely to focus more on the lucrative cellular business here, an industry expert said.

Hilda's groundbreaking ceramics in retrospect Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta "The approach to ceramics should start from basic knowledge of the material and from making pottery. Only thereafter can a ceramist proceed toward another level." This is what Hilda Soemantri, Indonesia's foremost fine art ceramist, scholar, lecturer and founder of the ceramic section of IKJ used to tell her students.

Indonesia hopes to bounce back against Cambodia Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta After its disappointing draw against Myanmar on Sunday, Indonesia will be looking to secure three points in its second match of the Tiger Cup soccer championship against Cambodia at the Bung Karno Stadium here on Tuesday.

Papua: A Zone of Peace Neles Tebay, Pontifical University of Urbaniana, Rome On Dec. 1, the Papuans made two fundamental decisions, namely to declare Papua as a zone of peace and to claim Dec.1 as the Papua's Day of Peace. The declaration was publicly announced on that day in a speech by the deputy chairman of the Papuan Presidium Council (DPD), Tom Beanal.

'Immaculate' conception unraveled Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang After sticking to her story of an immaculate conception for almost two months, the mystery of a 13-year-old girl who reportedly had a baby without having sexual relations with a man was finally disclosed on Saturday.

1. Neles -- Papua: A zone of peace 1 X 23 Papua: A zone of peace Neles Tebay Pontifical University of Urbaniana Rome 2. Simon -- Do something about radicals, Gus or Gus Dur must help stem radicalism 1 X 30 Do something about the radicals Gus Dur Gus Dur's help against radicalism Mafoot Simon The Straits Times Asia News Network Singapore 3. State -- Modified India? 1 X 32 Let's not insult Indian voters Modified India? The Statesman Asia News Network Calcutta

Goh told to pay attention to sand JAKARTA: People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais told Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on Monday to stop pretending he was unaware of the smuggling of sand from Riau islands to his country. Amien said the sand smuggling had been taking place for 20 years, causing four islands in Riau to sink. "All the illegal sand is smuggled from Riau to reclaim land in Singapore.

Mudslide and precautions Pondering the merciless and disastrous mudslide that hit a hot spring resort at Pacet, Mojokerto, East Java, during the Idul Fitri holiday, causing death to innocent schoolchildren enjoying their vacation (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 12 and Dec. 13), I couldn't help wondering why the accidents couldn't have been averted. This could have been by virtue of an earlier warning, regarding the required precautionary measures to be taken, from the responsible authorities.