Car smuggling attempt foiled

Car smuggling attempt foiled

BATAM: The local customs office in Batam foiled the attempted
smuggling of 12 luxurious cars from Singapore to Jakarta and
arrested the alleged owner of the vehicles.

Local councillors who inspected the crime scene said that the
owner of the cars claimed he was a brother of Vice President
Hamzah Haz.

"There are reports from the custom office saying that the
owner claimed himself to be the vice president's brother,"
councillor Fransiscus Simbolon said on Saturday.

The illegal cars were held in a warehouse at the Batam
seaport, pending the customs office's investigation.

Batam has been a regular transit area for car smugglers. In
2002, the customs office confiscated 45 illegal vehicles imported
to country, but the results of the investigation into the case
remains unclear. -- Antara

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Across-tourists-Bali
German tourist drown in Bali
JP/5/ACROSS

German tourist drowns in Bali

DENPASAR: German holidaymaker Jurger Nuchael Kramer, 63,
drowned in the waters off Mandira Beach, Karangasem, a popular
tourist spot in Bali.

"The victim drowned on Thursday, and his body remains at the
morgue of the General Hospital in Denpasar," international
services bureau chief Gus Sumastra said on Saturday.

He said that the German Embassy was still trying to contact
the victim's family in Germany in regards the incident, but so
far there had been no response whether to cremate the body or
send it back to his home country.

Gus said that Jurger was the seventh holidaymaker to have died
in Bali this year, and that most victims had died from drowning.
-- Antara

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Across-councillors-unpaid
Kampar councillors not paid for 3 months
JP/5/ACROSS

Kampar councillors not paid for 3 months

PEKANBARU: Councillors in Riau regency of Kampar have not
received their paychecks for the last three months, as regent
Jefri Noer refused to release funds for their salaries.

His refusal came as the latest development in the long-
standing dispute between the councillors and Jefri, who was
impeached by the regental legislature several months ago for
incompetence.

Jefri insisted that due to his dismissal, he was unable to
release any funds from the regency's budget, even to pay for the
councillors' salaries.

The councillors had sent a letter signed by deputy chief
legislator Imron Joni to the Ministry of Home Affairs in regards
their concerns, as they had not received their salaries since
January.

Meanwhile, home affairs minister Hari Sabarno has disregarded
the regent's impeachment, saying that the president was the only
one with the authority to dismiss a government official. --
Antara

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Across-database-population
Population database to start soon
JP/5/ACROSS

Population database to start soon

MAKASSAR: The province is slated to begin its one-month
registration program on April 1 to update the province's
demographic data.

Chief of the local office of the Central Bureau of Statistics
(BPS), Anwar Haris, said on Saturday that the data would be
necessary to determine the number of seats to be allotted the
province in the legislative bodies and for the 2004 elections.

BPS will assign 1,229 officials to conduct the registration
program, with each official expected to contact around 300
families.

In order to register the homeless, officials would also
conduct the registration at night throughout the province, said
Anwar. -- Antara.