Burglar lynched in Bali
DENPASAR, Bali: An angry mob lynched to death a suspected burglar and severely wounded another in 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 mob of residents in Denpasar's western outskirts area of Kerobokan.
The incident took place on Tuesday night after the three criminals were spotted by security guards at Villa Surga that housed Valentine's home.
The security personnel later alerted surrounding neighbors, who only captured two of the crook and immediately dragged them to the street to beat and kick them.
When policemen arrived at the scene, one of the burglars had already died, while the other one was in critical condition with blood flowing out from his ears, eyes, nose and mouth.
Kuta Police chief Adj. Comr. M. Anwar said on Wednesday his personnel were identifying the criminals. --JP
West Java cheap rice for the poor frauded
BANDUNG: The distribution of cheap rice for the poor in West Java has allegedly been leaked by local officials, causing around Rp 5.9 billion in losses to the provincial administration, legislators say.
"We receive a report from people that they have each gotten less than 20 kilograms of cheap rice as 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 weight of cheap rice sold for Rp 1,000 per kilogram to the poor decreased by two percent per sack containing 20 kilograms.
The number of low-income people entitled to the cheap rice from the West Java Logistics Agency (Dolog) hit 1.1 million families.
If calculated with the number, the leakage steaming from the decrease in the weight of rice could worth around Rp 5.9 billion from January through May, 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 language.
The seminar, organized by Unsud's Student English Forum (SEF) and titled 'Indonesian Education: A present for Tomorrow', started on Tuesday and will conclude on June 1.
Participants were from 55 universities, including five foreign colleges from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei and Malaysia.
SEF 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 National Education Ministry and senior legislator Taufikurrahman Saleh.
"The seminar is aimed for self-introspection over the development of English language in Indonesia as an international language," Irawan said. --JP
N. Sumatra governor to form watchdog
MEDAN, North Sumatra: North Sumatra Governor T. Rizal Nurdin was planning to set up a honorary council to supervise the attitude of local high-ranking civil servants.
The new body will accommodate reports from community members who complain about the "morality and attitude" of second echelon 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 inactiveness 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 on the task of supervising local civil servants.
However, another legislator Robinson Sitepu said such a honorary council is fine as long as its existence would not recruit more officials and nor cost more funds. --JP