Fire leaves thousands homeless
PALANGKA RAYA, Central Kalimantan: About 2,400 people from more than 600 families from 11 neighborhood units were left homeless after fire swept through slums bordering Kahayan River in Pahandut district, Palangka Raya on Sunday night.
Crews from dozens of fire trucks were unable to contain the fire due to its location away from the main road. Strong winds fanned the fire.
"I didn't know where the fire came from but it was so quick and the smoke was so thick. I was busy saving my family, who were mostly already asleep," said Abdul Rahman, who lost his home.
On Monday morning, thousands of the victims -- mostly women and children and who could not be accommodated at temporary shelters -- set up tents in the provincial legislative council parking lot.
The cost of the damage and its cause are under investigation. -- Antara
Mataram mayor bans Siah teaching
MATARAM, West Nusa Tenggara: Mataram mayor HM Ruslan issued a letter Monday banning the spread of a religious sect in the city.
"Siah followers are allowed to reside in Mataram but they should not indoctrinate others to join their group. If they do, the mayor will take stern action," municipality spokesman Bondan Wisnujati said.
He said the ban was imposed to avoid a repeat of an incident in East Lombok and Sumbawa regencies where followers of the Ahmadiyah teaching were expelled and their houses burned after locals judged the teaching as straying from Islam. -- Antara
Tribal chief to receive award
PEKANBARU, Riau: Patih Laman, the chief of the Talang Mamak tribe from Indragiri Hulu regency, Riau, will receive the government's Kalpataru Award for his service towards preserving the environment.
The award will presented in Jakarta during National Environment Day on June 5.
Patih Laman will be the sixth Riau citizen to receive the award.
Regional Environmental Impact Management Agency head Ahmadsyah Harrofie said Laman had preserved 11,698 hectares of forest and ancestral land in Kelayang district. -- Antara
23 Chinese fishing vessels seized
GORONTALO: The Gorontalo provincial administration in northern Sulawesi has seized 23 Chinese fishing vessels and is interrogating 300 crew for allegedly entering Indonesian waters illegally.
Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad said the vessels could contribute to overfishing in Tomini Bay.
Stern action would be taken against any illegal fishing operations, he said.
In January, a Naval ship fired at a Chinese fishing boat, killing one of its crew members, and injured another. The Navy sank four other vessels from the Philippines in the Sulawesi Sea during the same month.
This year the Navy has caught more than 100 foreign vessels involved in poaching or transporting illegal logs in the waters of east Indonesia and Maluku.
Government data shows that every year some 3,200 vessesl flying the Indonesian flag enter the country's waters illegaly.
Indonesia loses about US$4 billion a year to illegal fishing, according to the government. -- Antara
Riau councillor dies in Jakarta
PEKANBARU, Riau: Riau Legislative Council deputy speaker Suratno died, apparently due to a heart attack, on Sunday night just as he arrived at the Soekarno-Hatta international airport for a meeting in Jakarta.
A councillor of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle faction, he left the provincial capital Pekanbaru on Sunday afternoon for a meeting with the House of Representatives' Commission VIII, said the Riau council secretariat in a statement on Monday.
Councillors who traveled with him said he looked fine when he left Pekanbaru.
They planned to meet House Commission VII to discuss the development of the Coastal Plains Pekanbaru (CPP) oil block.
Suratno was also an executive at the Riau-owned oil and gas company PT Bumi Siak Pusako which runs CPP. The oil block once belonged to the country's largest private oil company PT Caltex Pacific Indonesia. -- Antara