1. party -- 2 columns, 4 lines, 15
1. party -- 2 columns, 4 lines, 15
29 political parties fail to qualify for 2004 poll
Twenty-nine political parties have failed to pass the
government's preliminary screening to contest the 2004 general
election.
The 29 parties represent about a quarter of the total 112
parties that registered at the Ministry of Justice and Human
Rights. The registration closed on Monday.
An official at the Ministry said on Tuesday that the 29
parties had failed to meet some basic requirements, that include
provisions such as the need for a party to have a permanent
headquarters, equipment to support the work of the headquarters
as well as a complete organizational structure, Wicipto Setiadi
said.
Nine out of the remaining 83 parties have been given the green
light to. They are. the Justice and Prosperity Party (PK
Sejahtera); Democratic Catholic Party (PKD), Indonesian Union
Party (PSI), Justice and Unity Party of Indonesia (PKP
Indonesia), Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Crescent Party of
Reform (PBR), the Love the Nation Democratic Party (PDKB), the
National Concern Party (PKPB) and the Love the Nation Peace
Promoter Party (PPDKB). These parties need only one more step to
be eligible for the election.
An announcement will be made by the Ministry today (Wednesday)
whether or not nine other parties will passed the final screening
stage, Wicipto said.
The remaining 65 political parties will be screened from Sept.
1 to Sept. 27 which is the third batch of screening held by the
Ministry.
The Ministry screened nine political parties in the first
batch of party verifications that started in June, and nine
others in the second batch.
Among things to verify included whether or not a party has
sufficient branches and chapters nationwide. A party is required
to have chapters in more than half of the total 32 provinces
throughout the country.
The Ministry is to complete its screening by early October, as
party registration for the election will be closed on Oct. 9.
Registration with the General Election Commission (KPU) is the
final step for a party to contest the election, set to be held in
April next year.
2. first aid -- 5 columns, 1 line, 30
Govt to teach first aid skills in case of emergency
In anticipation of emergencies -- such as fires, flood and bomb
attacks -- the government will provide basic first aid training
within communities, says a minister.
"All communities should know what to do when they are faced
with natural disasters. In an attempt to minimize victims and
losses, firstly, they have to be able to identify what kind of
disaster they are facing," Minister of Health Achmad Suyudi said
on Tuesday.
According to the minister, many people panic and do not know
what to do in emergency situations.
Training to face such conditions is much needed to help the
people living in both in rural and urban areas, he said, adding
that this will be conducted by government institutions.
"There are three important steps that must be taken in dealing
with emergencies: First, revive or keeping the victim alive;
second, review, identifying the injuries; and third, taking the
victims to hospital for medical treatment," said Suyudi.
"Reviewing is done by medical practitioners because this
usually requires further skills. But, ordinary people could do
the first step at least," he said.
Aside from establishing communities proficient in first aid,
the minister also said that communities should build networks,
including with hospitals, ambulance services and the nearest
police office.
"In Jakarta, there has been a memorandum of understanding
(MOU) between the Ministry of Health, Jakarta city administration
and hospitals on handling natural disasters or other
emergencies," said the minister.
He cited the case of the JW Marriot Hotel bombing, saying that
ambulances arrived just three minutes after the blast on Aug. 5.
"Fortunately, the hospital is quite close to the hotel and the
traffic was not so bad, so the ambulances got there quickly," he
said.
He only regretted that ambulances attending the victims of the
Bali blasts took 42 minutes to arrive at the scene.
Dr. Kuning Atmajaya who was involved in treating the blast
victims at the Sanglah Hospital, Denpasar, said the crowded
location and congested traffic caused the delay.
Tri Wahyu Murni, a surgeon from the Hasan Sadikin General
Hospital in Bandung -- and also the spokesperson for the recent
10th International Symposium on Shock and Critical Care -- said
the ideal number of ambulances is one per 5,000 citizens.
"For Indonesia, one ambulance per every 10,000 citizens would
be good enough. In Bandung, with a total citizenship of 4.9
million there are only 28 ambulances, all owned by hospitals. In
Jakarta, with about 10 million people, there are only about 400
ambulances," she said, concluding that the number of ambulances
is not proportional with the population here.
According to her, those in the public service, such as
policemen, security officers, and firefighters should also be
skilled in first aid.
"In most cases they are the first people to arrive at the
location and they might be able to save the victims' life, or at
least alleviate their sufferings," she said.
3. logging -- 4 columns, 2 lines, 25
Ministry wants taxpayer money
given to loggers unable to log
The Ministry of Forestry is demanding financial compensation from
the government for state-owned forestry firm Perhutani to stop
cutting down Javanese forests to mitigate ever-worsening weather
extremes, including the severe drought across Java at present.
The ministry's spokesman Tachrir Fathoni said on Tuesday that
compensation for carbon absorption and fees from forest-
exploiting companies that used its land, such as tap water firms
and power plants, would facilitate Perhutani in focusing on its
non-logging business activities, including ecotourism, medicinal
plants and beekeeping.
"We think banning Perhutani from its logging activities should
be thoroughly calculated economically, socially, and
environmentally," Tachrir told The Jakarta Post Tuesday.
He also emphasized that the demand for logs and the derivative
products on Java was still high, while many home-based industries
relied on local wood.
"If Java tries to import logs from other countries to meet
local demand, it will be too expensive," he said.
Besides, the government, particularly the office of State
Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN) should stop demanding
that Perhutani generate more profit and instead consider
environmental preservation as one of the company's achievements,
Tachrir said.
Separately, Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) said on Tuesday that
the government had to enforce its decision to ban all logging on
Java, but also should provide financial incentives for Perhutani
to save Java's forests.
"The logging ban for Java is correct, but it is also fair for
Perhutani to receive incentives from the government in order to
shift its business to something other than chopping down what
remains of the forests," FWI executive director Togu Manurung
told the Post on Tuesday.
Manurung said the government could provide incentives to
Perhutani by allocating reforestation funds and special
allocation funds to the company.
Tachrir and Manurung were commenting on the announcement by
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla on Monday
that the government had decided to ban logging activities on Java
due to the present drought and water crisis that is starting to
affect more and more of the 128 million people who call the
island home.
Javanese forests now account for a mere 5 percent of total
land, far below what 30 percent level that many consider the
minimum for maintaining ecological balance, according to data
from the Ministry of Forestry.
Perhutani controls all commercial plantations and logging
activities on Java. In addition, it also is involved in
ecotourism, beekeeping and medicinal plants.
The Ministry of Forestry had earlier given Perhutani
permission to process 931,000 cubic meters of natural forest wood
this year, down from 1.46 million in 2002.
In addition to the logging ban, the government also urged
people to reduce farming on Java and for farmers to do more on
other islands in the country.
Manurung went on to say that Perhutani should comply with the
government's decision even if demand for wood and its derivatives
remained high.
"We know that local demand for wood is still high. The
government can import logs to meet the demand, but of course that
would be far more expensive, or allow some of the companies that
rely on wood to close down," he added.
4. jibril -- 3 columns, 1 line, 20
RI police to grill Iqbal over terror attacks
Indonesia hopes to clarify details surrounding the possible
deportation of a man from Malaysia, and question him over
possible top-level links to regional terror network Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI).
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said Tuesday that
the government was waiting for details regarding the deportation
of Mohammad Iqbal Abdul Rahman, alias Abu Jibril.
"... and Iqbal will be asked to clarify his possible
involvement with several militant groups here."
He said Indonesia wished to question Iqbal in relation to a
number of terror attacks carried out in Indonesia and his links
to militant organizations and JI.
Hassan dismissed earlier reports that Iqbal had been sent to
Jakarta.
"They (Malaysian authorities) have yet to decide when and
where the process will be conducted."
Iqbal was arrested under Malaysia's Internal Security Act in
June 2001 and is expected to be deported when the maximum
allowable detention period expires.
Though Iqbal was detained along with 90 other people on
suspicion of belonging to JI, he has never been charged with any
crime.
Both Iqbal and the alleged leader of JI, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir,
fled Indonesia for Malaysia together in 1985 to escape former
president Soeharto's repressive regime.
Ba'asyir is currently being tried in connection with plotting
to kill President Megawati Soekarnoputri when she was vice
president, and a series of bombings in Indonesia.
Iqbal is the brother of Irfan S. Awwas, a senior leader of the
Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI), which is chaired by Ba'asyir.
Separately, Iqbal's wife, Fatimah Zahrah Abdul Aziz, who still
lives in Malaysia, said she met her husband at the immigration
detention center in the capital Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
"He is in good health. We are appealing to the government not
to deport him," she told AFP.
"My husband said he is not involved in any militant activities
nor linked to Jamaah Islamiyah. My husband is just a simple
religious preacher," he said.
Fatimah, an Indonesian who like her husband holds permanent
resident status in Malaysia, said "no date has been fixed when
the government will deport him."
Malaysian terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna, however, told AFP
on Tuesday that Iqbal was "a very significant figure" in JI.
"After Ba'asyir, he is the senior ideological leader in the
organization. He is a very important man, comparable to Hambali,
but he is ideological, less operational," he said.
5. flood -- 4 columns, 1 line, 25
Denuded forests, worse weather
The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) has warned of
possible floods and landslides in the rainy season that is
expected to start in October.
"Let's not forget about landslides and floods as we have been
focusing more on how to overcome the current drought," BMG
forecast division head Ahmad Zakir said in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Flash floods and landslides are expected to hit provinces
south of the equator, most of which are now suffering from
drought.
The equator runs from west to east, crossing Sumatra just
north of the town of Payakumbuh, to Pontianak in Kalimantan and
on to a point just to the north of Manokwari, Papua.
Java, Bali, the Nusa Tenggara islands and parts of Sumatra,
Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua all lie to the south of the
equator.
"The rainy season will start first in the western part of West
Java in October or early November," he said.
The dry season normally runs from April to October, while the
rainy season is from November to March.
Western and southern parts of West Java, western parts of
Central Java, southern parts of East Java, the Nusa Tenggara
islands, western and southern parts of South Sulawesi and South
Sulawesi will get more rainfall than other areas, or more than
400 millimeters.
As most of the provinces are among the areas hardest hit by
the drought, combined with the fact the provinces have
insufficient forests as water catchment areas, it is predicted
that those areas are prone to floods and landslides.
"Local administrations must be cautious over the issue.
Residents deserve to get early warnings so they can be prepared
prior to the floods," Zakir said.
Early this year, local administrations failed to act to lessen
the impact of floods and landslides in parts of the country
despite repeated warnings from as early as November last year
from the BMG, the State Ministry for the Environment and other
institutions.
Dozens of people died.
While local administrations continue their reforestation
programs, Zakir advised them to make comprehensive plans on how
to anticipate floods and landslides in a bid to prevent further
loss of life and property.
"Do not wait until the rainy season comes as extreme natural
phenomenon may happen anytime."
Zakir also urged people to be cautious over possible floods
and landslides in their areas and asked them to get accurate
weather information from BMG offices across the country.