Shrimp farmers demand debt pardon JAKARTA: Hundreds of shrimp farmers from Lampung rallied in front of the House of Representatives on Wednesday to demand the cancellation of all of their debts.

2 high school girls shot dead in Aceh Ibnu Mat Noor, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh Two schoolgirls from the same village as the head of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) were abducted and executed by armed gunmen in Pidie regency, Eastern Aceh on Wednesday. The shocking murder of two unarmed girls comes as new figures show the situation in the resource-rich province is deteriorating, with increasing numbers of civilians being tortured, killed or both.

Public, elite divided over Yogyakarta's special status Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta Councillors in the provincial legislative council are divided over Yogyakarta's future directions in the fields of public administration, politics and culture.

Legislators prefer proportional system Kurniawan Hari and Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Makassar The House of Representatives (DPR) looks set to stick with the existing proportional electoral system, which has been widely criticized for hampering the accountability of legislators.

Refugee camps to be demolished ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: A military team involved in Disasters and Refugees (PBP) in Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara plans to demolish refugee camps in Tirta forest next week. PBP operations commander Lt. Col. Tjuk Agus Minahasa said that the mainly East Timorese refugees would be moved to 276 houses in 18 resettlement sites in 10 districts of the regency.

SE Asia calls for ban on tobacco advertising Alarmed by rising numbers of juvenile and female smokers in Southeast Asia, government representatives from across the region called Wednesday for tougher anti-tobacco regulations including a total ban on advertising. The call was made at the end of a three-day meeting in Bangkok of officials from 10 Southeast Asian countries to forge a common stand ahead of negotiations for a global anti-tobacco treaty.

'Coercive diplomacy' favors India Anuradha Nagaraj, Deutche Presse-Agentur, New Delhi Over the years, most countries had stopped listening. But then suddenly, after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, India's voice became audible again, and this time the entire globe was listening.

House may approve new mining policy for protected forests The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The House of Representatives may approve the government's plan to allow mining companies to operate in protected forests, according to legislators. Priyo Budi Santoso, a legislator on House Commission VIII for mining and energy, said on Wednesday that the House had set up a special team to decide which mining firms could resume operations.

Minister slams city's poor public services Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Residents who have long complained about the state of public services provided by city administration officials got major backing on Wednesday in the form of State Minister of Administrative Reforms Feisal Tamin, who was openly critical of the services. Feisal asked Governor Sutiyoso to improve his administration's services and acknowledged that civil servants had a low accountability level.

Indonesia needs to face up to its obligations James P. Bean, Regional Autonomy Researcher, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Australia, jamesbean@mail.minihub.org Indonesia is in a bind, from which only expert maneuvering can enable its escape. Privatization is both a national policy, and a national dilemma -- a political football that threatens to become a political grenade unless concrete action is taken.

Govt dismisses customs's chief Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta President Megawati Soekarnoputri has named Eddy Abdurrachman as the new Director General of Customs and Excise, thus dismissing Permana Agung. Megawati issued a presidential decree on the appointment late last month, a day before she left for the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. A copy of the decree was obtained by The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. The copy of the decree did not bear Megawati's signature.

House endorses power bill after long delay A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta After one-and-a-half years of deliberation, the House of Representatives finally endorsed the electricity bill on Wednesday. The bill is expected to gradually liberalize the power sector and attract more investment. All nine factions in the House endorsed the bill during a plenary session, despite strong resistance from several members, including outspoken legislator Hartono Mardjono who lodged a protest.

Stock prices on The Jakarta Stock Exchange (in rupiah) on Sept. 4, 2002: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shares Close Change Trading Volume -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abdi Bangsa Tbk 270 0 0 Ades Alfindo Tbk 850 0 9,500 Adindo Foresta 40 0 0 AGIS Tbk 85 -5 277,500 Akbar Indo Makmur 295 -10 2,500 Alakasa Industrindo 190 0 0 Alfa Retailindo Tbk 800 25 723,500 Alter Abadi Tbk 10 0 0 Alumindo Light 400 0 0...

Indonesia Delays Coffee Retention, To Implement New Plans Dow Jones Jakarta Indonesia will hold off talks with Vietnam with regards to a previously proposed coffee retention plan, and will instead embark on new plans organized by the governments of both countries, a senior Indonesian official said Wednesday.

Wife of Pacitan regent detained JAKARTA: The Jakarta Provincial High Court has ordered the detention of Sri Hartati, the wife of the regent of Pacitan, East Java, for alleged fraud involving Rp 5.23 billion, high court President Muljohardjo said here on Wednesday.

Local animation alive and kicking Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Have you ever seen the Indonesian rock group Padi in their video clip Bayangkanlah (imagine)? The fully animated two- dimensional video clip was designed by Indonesia's own young animator, Wahyu Aditya. What about the TV commercial of toothpaste Smile Up?

TNI identifies Freeport attacker Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The Indonesian Military (TNI) has identified one of the attackers who killed three Freeport Indonesia employees on Saturday as a member of Free Papua Organization (OPM), an officer said on Wednesday. TNI spokesman Maj. Gen.

QSAR's collapse contains valuable lesson for media The Jakarta Post, Jakarta While some blame senior government officials for lending PT Qurnia Subur Alam Raya (QSAR) credibility through their high profile visits to the company before its downfall, experts said the media had not been exemplary either. Slack self-control and poor reporting by the media were partly to blame for QSAR's boom-to-bust story.

India, RI begin joint naval patrols Agencies, New Delhi/Jakarta India and Indonesia have begun joint naval patrols off the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal to check poaching, smuggling and drug trafficking, the defense ministry said here Wednesday. The first of the joint patrols commenced Monday under an agreement between the two navies signed in January last year, a statement said.

Seminar on Bahasa Indonesia BOGOR: A two-day seminar on Bahasa Indonesia and Malay language and literature is scheduled to take place in Bogor from Sept. 14, the chairman of the seminar organizing committee said here on Wednesday. Ade S.

Akbar gets three years for graft Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Notorious for their corrupt ways, the country's judiciary sprang another surprise on Wednesday when they sentenced House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung to three years in prison for corruption. But the judges seemed to be primarily concerned with restoring their tarnished image, as they did when they handed down a 15- year prison sentence to Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra for murder on July 26.

JP/7/JAMES Facing up to obligations Indonesia in denial James P. Bean Regional Autonomy Researcher Faculty of Law Monash University Australia jamesbean@mail.minihub.org Indonesia is in a bind, from which only expert maneuvering can enable its escape. Privatization is both a national policy, and a national dilemma -- a political football that threatens to become a political grenade unless concrete action is taken.

UI plans videoconferenced lectures JAKARTA: The University of Indonesia (UI) will launch in February next year a class using videoconferencing technology in its campus at Salemba, Central Jakarta and featuring subjects and teachers from all over the world, thanks to a World Bank grant. "The videoconferenced class could also be attended online by students in three of our centers in Pekanbaru, Riau; Denpasar, Bali and Makassar, South Sulawesi," said newly elected UI rector Usman Chatib Warsa.

Stop advertising condoms on TV From Pelita As a housewife, I do not agree with advertising condoms on television, particularly one commercial showing women in a red- light district as potential condom users. I wonder why condoms are being intensively advertised on TV. Condom producers obviously advertise to boost sales.

RI, Peru in cultural diplomacy I Kadek Suartaya, Contributor, Lima, Peru Through Bali and its culture, we get to know Indonesia (A Traves de Bali Se Illegal a Indonesia) was the theme of last month's Balinese cultural performance in Peru. Although Bali is an internationally acclaimed tourist paradise, little is known about it in Latin American countries, such as Peru.

TV Program: Thursday, September 5, 2002 TVRI 5:00 a.m. Religious Teachings 6:00 News 8:30 Health Program 9:00 Film 11:30 Music 12:00 p.m. News 1:00 Talk Show 2:00 News 3:30 Cartoon 4:00 TV Drama 5:00 The Brilliant 6:00 News 7:00 Talk Show 9:00 News 9:30 Music: Country Road 11:00 TV Drama 12:00 News TPI 5:30 a.m. Religious Teachings 6:00 News 7:00 Quiz 8:00 Music 9:00 Indian Film 12:00 p.m.

SingTel to link Asia, Mid-East, Europe SINGAPORE: Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) said Wednesday it had joined 12 other carriers to plan and initiate the construction of a new submarine cable linking Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe. The proposed network will provide much needed bandwidth as existing cables along the same route are becoming increasingly saturated, SingTel said in a statement.

Horrible 'enceng gondok' proves its usefulness Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Most people regard the water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), locally known as enceng gondok, as a horrible water plant that spreads throughout a lake, destroying its ecosystem. In skilled hands, however, this ugly plant can be used to create beautiful, artistic works. It could even possibly become a gold mine. Nowadays, enceng gondok handicraft can be found easily.