Govt ready to cover maturing bonds: Boediono Dadan Wijaksana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The government would use part of the proceeds from the sale of assets by the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to cover bonds worth Rp 3.9 trillion (about US$415 million) maturing in July, Minister of Finance Boediono said on Friday. He said that the agency had collected enough funds to cover the payment of the maturing bonds.

Indonesian media lose their freedom Indonesian journalists are loosing their access to information and miss their press freedom in the Bali meeting, as they are practically banned from entering all meeting rooms, except the press rooms. "I feel like I am not in Indonesia, I cannot enter many of the venues because of the regulations set out by UN officials for media," Bonnie, camerawoman from Indonesian privately-owned Metro TV, said on Thursday.

Yogyakarta councillors take bribes, alleges witness Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta Provincial prosecutors made significant headway in their investigation into alleged bribery involving local councillors when a witness disclosed on Friday that a meeting had been held to discuss the amount of the bribes.

East Timor Senior Minister for Foreign Affairs Jose Ramos-Horta has rejected to talk about Indonesia's assets in the country, with the reason being that the new nation lost much more than what the assets are worth. The statement was made by Ramos-Horta a day after President Xanana Gusmao postponed his visit to Jakarta. If there had not been a delay, Xanana would have been in Jakarta for two days on May 30 and 31.

Ministers of NAM countries to meet Arafat on Sunday Annastashya Emmanuelle, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Indonesia and other Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries are to meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on June 2, as an expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday.

1. blbi -- 4 x 12 AGO plans to summon Soedradjad this month 2. hamzah -- 2 x 26 Hamzah seeking hard-liner vote for 2004 elections 3. poll -- 2 x 30 Poll shows Maluku people support moral movement to end conflict or Maluku people in favor of moral movement to end conflict: Poll 4. arafat -- 1 x 40 NAM countries to meet Arafat on Sunday 5. sipadan -- 1 x 35 Sipadan-Ligitan dispute ignored: DPR or DPR says ministry has ignored border issue

New Products and Services Make Business Stays in Indonesia Easier Allson Residence at Mitra Oasis Jakarta offers new products and services that will make business easier and expatriates in Indonesia more comfortable and secure. "With new products and services, we are offering total solutions for residential and business problems to our guests, most of whom are expatriates and foreign business people", says Cheah Hooi Theng, General Manager of Allson Residence.

What we do not need: Iwan Fals and cigarettes Santi W.E. Soekanto, Journalist, Jakarta Virtually every newspaper and magazine in the country was delirious with adulation when they reported last week the concert of music heroes Iwan Fals and Padi Group in Jakarta. They raved how impressive the concert and Iwan were, how the star came across as a humble and sympathetic man, and how they understood why the mostly young audience loved this Time-Asia version of an Asian hero.

BP West Java to increase gas output Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, West Java BP West Java, an Indonesian unit of British American firm BP Plc., said on Friday it would increase its gas production by more than 50 million cubic feet per day (mmscfd) in September to meet the growing gas demand in Jakarta and West Java.

1,500 troops pulled out of Poso PALU, Central Sulawesi: A group of unidentified people attacked the provincial branch office of the United Development Party of Reform (PPPR) early on Friday morning, leaving its front windows shattered. The incident took place at 3 a.m. local time when the attackers stoned the office established two months ago and located on Jl. Veteran in Palu, Central Sulawesi. The perpetrators remained unidentified.

Jakarta drowning in Pollution Ongoing damage to the environment has concerned many people, including students. The Jakarta Post interviewed several students about what their chief concerns were on the issue. Following this week's discussion on the environment, the Post will ask for comments on issues related to education, including student brawls. Krishna Pambudi, 18, a student at state high school SMU 73 in Slipi, West Jakarta. He lives in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta.

Blackout during World Cup opening JAKARTA: Residents of several parts of Greater Jakarta were disappointed on Friday evening when there was a power failure in their areas, making them miss the televised opening of the World Cup and the following first match between France and Senegal, reports said. El Shinta radio quoted an official from state electricity company PLN as saying that the outage was due to several technical problems, and that power would be restored at around 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m.

FKDPM to sue finance ministry Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The association of oil and gas producing regencies (FKDPM) said on Friday it would file a suit against the Ministry of Finance unless the latter immediately revoked its decree on the oil and gas revenue split between the regions and the central government.

1. Pangdam - 4x10 40 percent of military housing in bad state 2. Corrupt - 2x 21 Graft at waste incinerator purchasing disclosed 3. SCHOOL - 1x36 Brawls scare parents, not students 3. Council - 1x 28 Probe on JITF bribery continues 4. Speak - 1x30 Jakarta drowning in pollution

AGO questions Ary Suta over Indomobil stake sale Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Imanuddin, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The former head of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), I Putu Gede Ary Suta, has been questioned in relation to alleged irregularities surrounding the high-profile sale of government shares in PT Indomobil Sukses International.

In this era of globalization, a formal university education is often not enough to land a good job. This is why professional courses offering additional skills ranging from languages to computers are mushrooming. These professional courses are the topic of this week's Focus Issue, and the article below is one of three stories to explore the topic. English courses doing good business Joko E.H.

Maluku people need moral movement Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The majority of people in conflict-ridden Maluku reject the government top-down approach to end the prolonged conflict and instead favor a local moral initiative called the Bakubae Movement to stop the violence, according to an opinion poll.

The magic of soccer The World Cup is slated to kick off in South Korea on Friday. It is the first time Asia will host the event. Asia is the world's most populous continent but it has been left behind in soccer. The sport has been dominated by Europe and Latin America. So Friday's event should boost the spirit of Asian soccer players, particularly those from Indonesia, as the country is the world's fourth most populous country.

Remembering Mohammad Hatta A committee has been formed in Jakarta to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mohammad Hatta, Indonesia's first vice-president, who was born on Aug. 12, 1902. Together with Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, or Bung Hatta as he is more popularly known, co-proclaimed Indonesia's independence on Aug. 17, 1945.

Grace Emilia Contributor Jakarta More schools teach Mandarin language Lao shi (teacher) Melani, a senior language lecturer at the Trisakti Institute of Tourism, also spends several hours a week teaching Mandarin at the He Ping School, a one-year-old language school founded by the Chinese Hakka clan in Jakarta. Located in Glodok, the school has 200 students who attend three-hour classes twice a week.

Economists hail KPPU ruling on Indomobil scandal Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Analysts welcomed on Friday the sanctions imposed by antimonopoly watchdog Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) on parties involved in the Indomobil scandal, saying the move would help revive investor confidence in this country. They, however, expressed concern that the wrongdoers could still get away due to the corrupt court system. "The sanctions are fair enough ...

Democracy means responsibility Of late, and understandably, there has been a lot said about the depressing state of the Indonesian nation. The many reasons for that are all well known, well documented and well and truly expressed. Nevertheless, there is hope for the future as positive things have evolved since the fall of Soeharto. Politically, I am sure that many people in this country have a far better idea about what's going on, then they did back in 1998.

Police search for terror suspects JAKARTA: National Police will be on the lookout for five Islamic terrorists who Singapore claim have probably fled to Indonesia. "Their names are on our wanted list," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf said on Friday. He added that he had no idea whether the five were still in Indonesia or not.

Govt chips away at autonomy law, takes sand business from Riau Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru Despite increasing protests, the central government has taken over the authority from the Riau administration on the issuance of permits for sand extraction in Riau waters in an attempt to end the rampant illegal extraction, which is allegedly backed by unauthorized military personnel. President Megawati Soekarnoputri issued Presidential Decree No.

House may summon Megawati over Dili visit Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Eight legislators, on behalf of 31 House of Representatives (DPR) members, on Friday submitted a petition to House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, demanding that the House summon President Megawati Soekarnoputri over her May 19 visit to East Timor.

Padang 8 x 4 Semen Padang urged to fork out compensation GNOTA 20 x 2 230,000 students in Lampung face no more lessons Rokok 24 x 2 Smoking widespread among high school students JEC 24 x 2 Yogyakarta councillors take bribes, alleges witness Pasir 24 x 2 Govt chips away at autonomy law, takes sand from Riau Palu 24 x 2 1,500 troops pulled out of Poso as peace restored

Rupiah Rates May.31 JP/13/Conver Rupiah Rates May.31 Bank notes rates TT rates Selling Buying Selling Buying Rp Rp Rp Rp U.S.

Komnas HAM members to resign JAKARTA: At least six members of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) have refused to serve until 2003 and will submit their resignations in a plenary meeting on Tuesday, commission member Albert Hasibuan told reporters here on Friday. The main agenda of the plenary meeting will be to decide on the rights commission's membership as their tenure should have ended in September 2001 based on a 1999 law.

Defenseless animals For some time now I have been meaning to write to you to say just how much I admire The Jakarta Post for speaking out so often on many controversial environmental issues. These many articles and reports printed in recent months seem well researched and informed, more recently targeting the many endangered animals chained and caged in zoos, markets and private homes.

Dollar rallies on BOJ intervention Dow Jones, Jakarta The dollar recovered from lows against most Asian currencies Friday in the wake of Japanese intervention, but ended mostly down in sluggish pre-World Cup soccer trade due to doubts about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery. Comments from a senior U.S. official in The Wall Street Journal - which suggested Washington is unlikely to step in any time soon to help prop up the U.S.

Fourty-two prostitutes netted JAKARTA: As many as 42 prostitutes working in Central Jakarta and North Jakarta were rounded up early on Friday morning in a joint operation by the City Public Agency, the Social Agency, the Jakarta Police and the military garrison. The prostitutes, who are accused of violating City Bylaw No. 11/1988 on public order, were sent to the Kedoya rehabilitation shelter in West Jakarta.