Local official debunks warning by foreign seismologist Apriadi Gunawan and Sjofiardi Bachyul, The Jakarta Post, Medan/Padang North Sumatra residents were told not to panic in response to analysis from foreign seismologists that another monster earthquake would rock the province in the near future, a government official said on Thursday.

Official denies involvement in Rp 100b markup case Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post/Bandung A former West Java official denied on Friday that he had been involved in a markup scam worth Rp 100 billion (US$10.6 million) last year as has been reported by local antigraft activists. There were no irregularities in the purchase of heavy equipment worth Rp 100 billion, said Wahyu Kurnia, the former chief of the Equipment Bureau in the West Java provincial administration.

* Rights campaigners warn of abuses by regional spy agency Page 2 * Human trafficking center set up in Jakarta Page 4 * Golkar 'cowboy' heavily favored in Lampung election Page 5 * Traditional or alternative methods for our students?

Govt invites regions to take part in toll projects Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Following the Jakarta administration's request for the authority to build six inner-city toll roads, the central government on Friday announced a new policy of inviting regional administrations to take part in toll road projects.

Officials plan overseas trip as malnutrition widespread Jemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post/Kupang Kupang government officials have arranged a trip to Palmerston in the Northern Territory, Australia to learn from development programs in the state after recent reports of thousands of malnourished children in East Nusa Tenggara province.

Where to go in Jakarta: Saturday, June 11, 2005 Exhibitions * Fine Arts Black is Black by M. Faisal (Iconk) at Galeri Nasional Indonesia Jl. Medan Merdeka Timur No.14 Central Jakarta, until June 14 * Photo Images from the Heart by Arbain Rambey, Arun Taneja, Charlie Sianipar, Deniek G. Sukarya, Karin Sukarya, Keijo Fujii, etc., at Deniek G. Sukarya Gallery, Jl. Kemang Raya No. 15 South Jakarta, open daily Monday - Saturday 10 a.m.

RI maid jailed in KL: Reports MALAYSIA: An Indonesian housemaid has been arrested in Malaysia for allegedly serving her employer milk laced with pesticide after he scolded her for telephoning her boyfriend too often, newspapers reported on Friday. The woman's friend -- another Indonesian maid who allegedly came up with the idea -- also was detained, the reports said. Both women are being detained for two weeks while police investigate the case in the island state of Penang, they said.

Enchanting performance, courtesy NSO Armando Siahaan and Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Some might beg to differ, but judging from the audience's applause, the children's choir unwittingly outshone the symphony orchestra during a collaborative performance by the Nusantara Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and Indonesian Children's Youth Choir.

Bogor closes sand mining operation Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post/Bogor Bogor Public Order Agency closed a sand mining operation in Bukit Pasir Buncir, Kampung Lengkong, in Caringin district which is an key catchment area. The order to close the area was issued on Thursday to avoid flooding which usually affects downstream Jakarta and landslides, which have killed many of the sand miners. Head of the Bogor Mining Agency, Adjat Sudrajat, said that the area was officially closed in 1998.

YLKI blames malnutrition on slashed fuel price subsidy As malnutrition cases across the country hit the headlines, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) has drawn attention to the government's failure to disburse the fund for the poor generated by slashing the fuel subsidy. "For the last three months the people have had to live with the fuel price increase, which has caused the prices of basic necessities to increase, but people in hardship have been offered no financial help.

Guruh to donate Sukarno's books YOGYAKARTA: Guruh Soekarnoputra, the son of former Indonesian president Sukarno and younger brother of ex-president Megawati Soekarnoputri, is set to donate books his father wrote to the Gadjah Mada University (UGM) library this weekend. Guruh, who will visit the library together with other members of his extended family, is to donate a several copies of the book -- Di Bawah Bendera Revolusi (Under the revolutionary flag) -- by Sukarno.

Bappenas should be dissolved From Republika I would like to put a question to the President, who is also a populist economist: When will the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), which follows the New Order regime's top-down economic development pattern, be dissolved? The pattern has produced a handful of multinational corporations, while at the same time impoverishing urban and rural communities.

Family hit by poverty, child dies from malnutrition Jemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang Deby Henukh, 13, a junior high school student, finally died on Monday night due to malnutrition. She succumbed to the ailment after receiving intensive treatment for a month at the WZ Yohanis Hospital in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara. When she drew her last breath, she was extremely emaciated. Deby's death shocked her parents Hendrik Henukh, 60 and Tamar Henukh, 57.

1. DISCOURSE: 1 X 49 Turning pledges into reality the main obstacle in Aceh, Nias 2. UN: 3 X 22 Indonesia undecided on UN Security Council reform proposals 3. COASTAL: 2 X 24 Coastal development helps tsunami wreak havoc: Study 4. MICROSOFT: 3 X 13 Microsoft denies reports of amnesty for piracy in RI

Soothsayers in high demand ahead of N. Sumatra polls Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Medan Abdul Hafizron's office has smelled fragrant for a week. A large dish filled with jasmine flowers, roses, cananga and magnolias sits on the right side of his table. Four photographs of regental candidate pairs from a number of regencies in North Sumatra running for election on June 27 have been placed among the flowers.

Shares up on late buying in Medco, Telkom stake Dow Jones, Jakarta Indonesian shares ended marginally higher on Friday as late buying in oil and gas producer Medco Energi and a rebound in Telekomunikasi Indonesia erased earlier losses, dealers said. After staying in negative territory for most of the session, the Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite index ended up 2.74 points, or 0.3 percent at 1,096.93, up from an intraday low of 1,089.69.

Rupiah's decline only temporary, central bank says Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta The central bank has maintained an upbeat view on the rupiah, saying its recent decline against the U.S. dollar would only be temporary, and that the local currency would be able to improve by the year's end.

Man arrested for train cable theft JAKARTA: Residents of Kampung Daung, Pademangan, North Jakarta, attacked two men early on Thursday who allegedly attempted to steal the electrical cables from a train, KompasCyberMedia reported on Friday. Pademangan Police chief Comr. Budi Sa'arin said only one of the men, Marsel, 17, had been named a suspect in the attempted theft. "We have no evidence of the involvement of the other man," he said.

PKS asks for land regulation review JAKARTA: The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) demanded on Friday that the government revise a controversial presidential regulation on land, warning of possible social upheaval. Secretary of the party's faction at the House of Representatives Mahfudz Siddiq said public opposition to the regulation had been growing and House Commission II on domestic affairs had supported the demand for a revision to the regulation. "The government should revise the regulation.

'Lite-jazz' singer Andien at crossroads M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Being famous at the tender age of 20 is not easy, especially when the artist has, at an even younger age, sold multiplatinum records from singing jazz, a genre that draws relatively few devotees. It is hard to find the right balance between the artist's aspiration of wanting to mature musically alongside her coming-of-age and the urge from her record company to broaden her mass appeal.

Jakarta Great Sale 2005 to start Tuesday Jakarta shoppers, brace yourself for the month-long Jakarta Great Sale 2005 starting next week, which is part of the city's 478th anniversary celebrations. "Shopping malls, department stores, retailers, franchise outlets, hotels, spas and restaurants will take part in the program, which is meant to introduce Jakarta as a shopping and tourist-destination city," said the organizing committee in a statement on Friday.

3 x 19 National exams highlight RI's education gap JP/4/SKILL 2 x 24 Vocational students aim high in int'l event JP/4/edu 1 x 47 Pilot project to promote environmental education JP/4/IOM 1 x 32 Trafficking victims center set up

Microsoft denies reports of amnesty for piracy in RI Associated Press, Redmond, Washington Microsoft Corp. on Thursday denied reports in the Asian press that it has reached an agreement with Indonesia to offer amnesty for illegal copies of Windows on government computers. "The company does not have any amnesty-type government licensing programs in development or under consideration in Indonesia at this time," said Microsoft spokesperson Alexandra Mercer.

Malnutrition rampant in East Kalimantan Rusman and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Samarinda/Surakarta Although East Kalimantan is popularly known as natural resource- rich province, malnutrition is still rampant in the area. Government data reveals that 174 infants, out of total 360,298 infants in the province, are currently suffering from malnutrition.

Bali student jailed for insulting Susilo Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post/Denpasar In what prodemocracy activists are describing as a blow to freedom of expression, a court here jailed a university student on Friday for insulting President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. I Wayan "Gendo" Suardana, a law student at Udayana University in Denpasar, Bali, was sentenced to six months in prison, minus time already served.

Singapore, Qatar close to FTA deal SINGAPORE: Singapore and Qatar are close to signing a free trade agreement after ending their final round of negotiations on Friday, the city-state's trade ministry said. Following a week of talks, Singapores Trade and Industry Minister, Lim Hng Kiang, and Qatars Economy and Commerce Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Ahmed bin Jassim Al-Thani, signed a declaration stating that negotiations had "been substantially concluded".

Students earn good money during election campaign The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The first day of the gubernatorial election campaign in West Sumatra province has brought unexpected benefits to the university students of Padang city. For only pasting up posters of the candidates, they are paid Rp 60,000 (US$6.4) a day, and receive T-shirts bearing the likenesses of the candidates for whom they are working.

SP-SSM will boost South-South Trade: G-33 Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta The Group 33 of developing nations defended its proposal for special and differential treatments at the WTO on Friday, saying it was necessary to protect nations' staple farm products and would help boost South-South trade.

RI undecided on UN Security Council reform proposals Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta The Indonesian government is sitting on its decision on the proposed reform of the United Nations Security Council, saying that it does not want to get involved in a "head-long rush" to support any of the two models proposed by a UN panel.

Disabled persons fight hard to get decent jobs Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya Without hesitation, Sigit, whose legs have been paralyzed since he was small, immediately set about filling in the survey form to evaluate the status of disabled persons in Surabaya. He hopes that after filling out the form, he will be accorded the same rights as able-bodied persons in obtaining decent jobs.

Government hopes to end Cepu row Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta The government hopes to soon resolve a serious contract row over the Cepu oil block in Central Java between state oil and gas firm PT Pertamina and U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil. Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said on Friday at the State Palace that there was "progress in the negotiations" with the government offering ExxonMobil less than a 15 percent stake in the contractor allocation split.

Trafficking victims center set up The Jakarta Post, Jakarta The first free medical recovery center (PPM) designed for victims of human trafficking in Indonesia was officially opened on Friday at the Kramat Jati Police Hospital in Jakarta. The center was established in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Police, non-governmental organization Save the Children and the U.S. Embassy.

Teen train wreck Police revelations about the alarmingly high rate of suicide among Jakartans, particularly teenagers, most of whom apparently killed themselves due to financial considerations, has surely jolted many people. Within the first five months of this year, as many as 71 people, including teenagers, have taken their own lives. The number is much greater than the official figures a year ago, which was 28, while in all of 2003 the Jakarta Police recorded 62 suicides involving teenagers.