Alleged burglars mobbed in Bali

DENPASAR, Bali: Residents mobbed to death a suspected burglar and severely wounded another on the resort island of Bali after they broke into the house of an Italian citizen, Audrito Valentine.

A third burglar, however, managed to escape the angry residents of Kerobokan, which is in the western outskirts of Denpasar.

The incident took place on Tuesday night after the three intruders were spotted by security guards at Villa Surga, where Valentine's home is located.

The security personnel alerted neighbors, who captured two men and immediately dragged them into the street, beating and kicking them.

When policemen arrived on the scene, one man was dead, and the other was in critical condition with blood coming out of his ears, eyes, nose and mouth.

Kuta Police chief Adj. Comr. M. Anwar said on Wednesday that his personnel were trying to identify the suspected burglars. --JP

Poor cheated out of subsidized rice

BANDUNG: Corruption has played a part in the distribution of subsidized rice for the poor in West Java, causing an estimated Rp 5.9 billion in losses to the provincial administration, legislators said.

"We received a report from people that they each received less than the 20 kilograms they were promised," Yomanius Untung, a member of the West Java legislative council, said on Wednesday.

He said the council later verified the report and found that the 20 kg sacks of subsidized rice selling for Rp 1,000 per kilogram, weighed about 4 kg less.

Low-income families entitled to subsidized rice from the West Java Logistics Agency (Dolog) total 1.1 million.

The cost of the lost rice from January through May could run as high as Rp 5.9 billion, Untung said. --JP

Unsud hosts int'l seminar on English

PURWOKERTO, Central Java: The Jendral Sudirman University (Unsud) based in Purwokerto, Central Java, is hosting a five-day international seminar on English.

The seminar, organized by Unsud's Student English Forum is titled Indonesian Education: A Present for Tomorrow. It started on Tuesday and will finish June 1.

Participants were from 55 universities, including five foreign colleges in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia.

Forum chairman Irawan said the speakers featured in the seminar included Suwarsih Madya of the National Education Reform Committee, Stephen Hill of Unesco, Sudharmadi of the Ministry of Education and senior legislator Taufikurrahman Saleh.

"The seminar is aimed at providing an introspection of the development of English in Indonesia as an international language," Irawan said. --JP

N. Sumatra governor to form watchdog

MEDAN, North Sumatra: North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin is planning to set up an honorary council to regulate the conduct of local high-ranking civil servants.

The new body will hear complaints from community members who may object to the "morality and attitude" of officials in the province, Rizal said.

The plan, however, drew mixed reactions on Wednesday from members of the province's legislative council.

Rijal Sirait, a senior local legislator, said the move would be an attempt by the provincial administration to conceal its inactivity in improving the moral credibility and integrity of local officials.

It would only waste time, energy and money, he said, adding that the governor should carry out the task of supervising local civil servants.

However, another legislator, Robinson Sitepu, said an honorary council was fine as long as it did not recruit more officials or take up more funding. --JP

;JP;RMS; ANPAa..r.. Border-East Timor No way to Oecusi through West Timor: Moesanip JP/5/Across

No way to Oecusi through West Timor: Moesanip

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Col. Moeswarno Moesanip, chief of the Wirasakti Military District supervising security in East Nusa Tenggara, turned down East Timor's request for the province to allow overland public transportation from Dili to proceed its enclave Oecusi through Atambua for security reasons.

"I have been contacted several times, asking the local military to allow East Timorese vehicles to go to the enclave via Belu Regency. But I refused to meet the request as there will be no security guarantees from the Indonesian authorities for buses that would serve the ply," he said at his office here on Thursday.

He explained that should the request be met, the bus route from Atambua to Oecusi would be prone to attack as there were around 20,000 former pro-Jakarta militiamen living in the regency.

Deputy Governor Johanis Pake Pani concurred and said it was in line with the agreement reached during a recent meeting in Bali.

"It looks like it is impossible for the East Timorese administration to use the land route through West Timor to Oecusi for security reasons," he said. -- JP