1. Visa -- 48pt Bodoni Bold 5/1 (1x24)
1. Visa -- 48pt Bodoni Bold 5/1 (1x24)
Visa policy granted grace period
Sari P. Setiogi The Jakarta Post Jakarta
The government is not postponing the new visa policy but is merely implementing a six-month transition period instead, spokesman Ade E. Dahlan for the Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights said on Monday.
"Actually, the transition period has been in effect since late March, so it is not an extended delay," he told The Jakarta Post.
The controversial decree on the new visa policy was signed on March 31 and will be implemented in September.
The new visa policy will scrap the 60-day visa-free policy because the facility had been abused by several foreign nationals. The new policy will require visitors to Indonesia to apply for the appropriate visa at Indonesian embassies or consulates in their respective countries.
Alternatively, they can also apply for a visa on arrival, which will charge visitors US$45 per person for each visit.
"Which countries will be given this visa-on-arrival privilege will be determined later.
"In the meantime, we're also waiting for technical guidelines from the ministry, which are now ready. Reassessment (of the guidelines) involving relevant parties will be conducted later," Ade said.
The technical guidelines include regulations on those countries eligible for the visa-on-arrival facility and the reciprocal visa, and will also outline the economic benefits of the new policy.
2. didik -- 28pt Bodoni Bold 2/2 (2x24) Legislators told to delay education bill endorsement Kurniawan Hari The Jakarta Post Jakarta
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar urged fellow lawmakers on Monday to resolve all of the contentious issues in the national education bill before bringing it to a House plenary meeting for endorsement.
Legislators deliberating the bill have yet to resolve three issues -- the introduction that serves as the basis of the bill, the function and role of national education, and the recognition of five religions in the country.
House Commission VI for education affairs agreed earlier to settle the issues through a vote should lawmakers fail to reach a consensus.
However, Muhaimin said legislators should avoid voting on these issues because that would have a serious impact on the entire nation.
"Legislators must not insist on endorsing the bill if they cannot accommodate the people's aspirations. We can vote on the presidential elections bill, but we cannot do that on the education bill," Muhaimin said during a meeting with a delegation from Makassar, South Sulawesi, and councillors from Nias, North Sumatra.
Muhaimin said a hasty endorsement of the education bill would create disharmony among the people.
Commission VI members and Minister of National Education Abdul Malik Fadjar are negotiating to settle the three issues before the bill's scheduled endorsement on June 10.
Muhaimin of the National Awakening Party (PKB) emphasized that the bill should accommodate the aspirations of the people.
At least two parties, PKB and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), have called for a delay in the bill's endorsement.
During the meeting with Muhaimin, the delegations from Makassar and Nias demanded that the House not endorse the bill, some of whose articles they said were not in line with the 1945 Constitution.
3. ILC -- 32pt Bodoni Bold 5/1 (1x45) Manpower minister leads RI delegation to ILC The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nuwa Wea is leading Indonesia's tripartite delegation to the 91st International Labor Conference (ILC) taking place in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 3 to June 17.
The conference is being held to discuss labor issues such as poverty alleviation, workplace safety and security, and the elimination of discrimination in the workplace.
An adviser to the minister on institutional and international relations, Edison Situmorang, is already in Geneva to lead the delegation during the ILC's preliminary meetings, which will last until June 7.
A number of other top officials from the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration have left for Geneva to represent the government at the conference.
Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) chairman Hasanuddin Rachman and several other Apindo executives will represent employers, investors and state-owned Pertamina at the conference, while a number of labor activists will represent workers.
Only five of Indonesia's 68 labor unions are sending representatives to the two-week meeting. The five are the Confederation of All-Indonesian Workers Union (KSPSI), the Federation of Trade Unions for Justice, Welfare and Unity (SPKP), the Federation of Indonesian Unions (SPI), the Indonesian Prosperity Trade Union (SBSI) and the Telcom Sector Union (SP Telkom).
According to a press release from the International Labor Organization (ILO) office in Jakarta on Monday, all of the delegations to the conference are expected to discuss a road map for fighting poverty, enhancing safety and security in the workplace, and eliminating labor discrimination.
The ILC is also slated to review ILO Seafarers' Identity Document Convention No. 108/1958 and to discuss a new international standard on human resource development, to replace ILO Human Resource Development Recommendation No. 150/1975.
South African President Thabo Mbeki is scheduled to deliver an address to the conference on June 11, while Jordan's King Abdullah II is scheduled to address the meeting on June 12.
4. RUU -- 36pt Bodoni Bold 3/2 (2x24) Only candidates may protest election results
Kurniawan Hari The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Only presidential candidates and their running mates, not political parties, will be allowed to submit objections to the Constitutional Court should they find any fraud in the final results of presidential elections, according to the special committee currently deliberating the presidential election bill.
The complaint must be submitted within three days of the announcement by the General Elections Commission of the results of the presidential election to avoid any prolonged unproductive disputes that may disturb the state administration.
"It is only the presidential candidates and their running mates that can submit complaints. If all people and parties are allowed to do so, it will create many more problems," Chozin Chumaidy, deputy chairman of the special committee, said here on Monday.
Chozin, also a legislator of the United Development Party (PPP), said that all nine factions in the special committee had agreed to the stipulation.
Yet, several factions were divided over the time period for presidential candidates to submit any objections or complaints.
"We are still discussing that," he added.
Besides, KPU should listen to complaints submitted by independent organizations before it announces the presidential election results.
Firman Jaya Daeli of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Hafiz Zawawi of Golkar, and Patrialis Akbar of the Reform faction concurred, saying KPU was supposed to validate the final election's result before announcing it to the public and that only major cases were expected to be brought to court.
Chozin said that only the court had the authority to decide whether to process the complaints or not.
The stipulation won support from all factions.
The bill drafted by the home ministry did not specifically any regulations on that matter but only stated that the KPU must validate the election result before it is approved by the President.
Hafiz Zawawi meanwhile emphasized that the election results could be brought to the Constitutional Court only if the there were nationwide objections.
"All disputes at a regional level will be settled by the local chapter of the KPU and the Election Supervisory Committee," Hafiz added.
With such a problem-solving mechanism at the regional level, there will no major disputes nor a total rejection of the presidential election results at the national level, he said.
The bill is expected to be endorsed by the House by the end of this month.
5. HUTAN -- 32pt Bodoni Bold 7/1 (1x58) Linggasana gives rise to new forest management concept
Moch. N. Kurniawan The Jakarta Post Kuningan, West Java
When a mudslide at a hotspring resort in Pacet, East Java killed at least 26 visitors last December, state forestry firm Perhutani could no longer hide its poor management of Javanese state forests.
Families of the victims sued the firm, which oversees the tourist area, for negligence. Rampant illegal logging in the area above the hotspring had helped trigger the mudslide. The local government was also sued, but the court rejected the lawsuits.
Critics said Perhutani had not only had failed to curb illegal logging, but had encouraged the illegal practice by planting commercial trees on land that was designed to protect the soil of water catchment areas. Perhutani had also not involved local people in managing the forest.
In certain areas such as the Kuningan regency in West Java, the illegal logging of state forests no longer has the chance to increase as Perhutani has begun managing the forest with the help of the local people and government.
The new concept is known as community based forest management. The success of the concept can be seen in Linggasana village in Kuningan, where at least 100 poor farmers have been able to plant fruit and other trees alongside pines and other harvested trees since last year.
Said, a 60-year-old farmer, who manages 0.3 hectares of land in the state forest, said he benefited a lot from the change in state forest management.
"Before 2002, I was afraid of entering the state forest as the rangers were always suspicious of us. The forest management also used to force us to grow certain fruits that we could harvest in two years," he told reporters over the weekend.
"But now I can grow trees like banana, durian, avocado and jackfruit to fulfill my own needs and patchouli that can be sold to businessmen for the cosmetics industry," he added.
Farmers in Linggasana and Perhutani will soon sign a profit sharing agreement for the crops of supporting trees.
In other villages, 75 to 80 percent of the profit goes to farmers and the rest to Perhutani.
A Kuningan businessman has also established a simple patchouli oil refinery capable of processing 200 kilograms per day.
The businessman exports the oil to partners in France and the United States.
Wawan, a man who runs the refinery, said the refinery employs three local people and earn profits of Rp 3 to 4 million a month.
Besides benefiting from planting supporting trees in the state forest, farmers in Linggasana will also receive a share of revenue from the harvesting of pine and the sale of latex for 30 years.
In this field, 75 to 80 percent of the profit goes to Perhutani, while the rest to farmers.
The success of community-based forest management in Linggasana has attracted the attention of foreigners.
S.P. Sasmita, head of the Forum of Community-based Forest Management in Linggasana said the visitors came from Canada, Laos and other countries.
Sanusi Wijaya K, Chairman of Kuningan-based Institute of Community Based Forestry Implementation Service (LPI) said people in Kuningan and the local government had responded well to the community based forest management scheme.
In 2001, Perhutani and the Kuningan administration signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to implement the community- based forest management to replace the centralized forest management run by Perhutani.
Perhutani and other forestry villages later signed similar MOUs.
At the end of 2002, at least 23 of 141 forestry villages in Kuningan signed MOUs with Perhutani to manage state forests together, ranging from planting supporting trees in the state forests to forestry based tourism.
In the same year, the Kuningan administration also agreed to allocate funds for the community-based forest management.
Noor Rochman, Perhutani official in charge of environment supervision in West Java, said the scheme helped Perhutani minimize conflict with local people in Kuningan at an early stage and foster cooperation with local people and the Kuningan administration in managing state forests.
6. Proper -- 28pt Bodoni Bold 2/2 (2x24) House urges govt to name environmental violators Moch. N. Kurniawan The Jakarta Post Jakarta
The House of Representatives called on the government to announce immediately the final report on an audit (PROPER) of companies which are allegedly polluting the environment to help uphold the law on the environment and avoid raising any suspicions of collusion among the public.
Irwan Prayitno, chairman of Commission VIII on oil, gas, mining and the environment, said any delay in the announcement of the audit's results would raise questions among the public.
"If PROPER's results are final, the government should announce it to the public. It will be very good for public to know which companies comply with the law on the environment and those polluting the environment," said Irwan when asked on Monday to comment on the government's delay in announcing the result.
State Minister for the Environment Nabiel Makarim disclosed to the commission last week that the environmental audit was finished but he declined to identify the polluting companies.
PROPER is conducted annually to encourage companies, especially the ones using pollutants in their raw materials, to help preserve the environment. The government has also conducted a clean river program (Prokasih) to discourage companies from dumping toxic waste into the rivers.
Non-governmental organizations and environmentalists have urged the public not to buy products produced by polluting companies.
Nabiel also expressed disappointment over the findings, saying many companies had poor management of waste water for numerous reasons.
Based on the PROPER's result, the government will rank the companies, depending on their performance in managing their waste. Companies complying with the law in managing their waste will be awarded gold and green environment labels while companies polluting the environment will be given red and black labels.
Nabiel said there had been a growing trend since the 1998 economic crisis for companies to pay less attention to protecting the environment.
Nabiel said that many factories in Java no longer complied with the law on the environment in managing their waste due to increased overall costs.
Julius Bobo, member of Commission VIII, said the government should start imposing sanctions on polluting companies to encourage other companies to comply with the law.
"There is no reason for the government to delay the announcement of the list of polluting companies for another two months as the result is final," he said.
The government faces a dilemma in identifying the polluting companies because the audit was conducted randomly and the government had run short of equipment to examine the serious impacts of polluting companies' waste water on the environment.
Many companies declared as polluters, are expected to object to the environmental audit, since not all companies were examined thoroughly.
The government examined only 85 of thousands of companies across the country
Hermien Roosita, an assistant to the environment minister on environmental conservation, conceded that her office had carried out a limited examination of certain companies.
"We just want PROPER's results to be perfect," she said.