Four killed in further Aceh violence
BANDA ACEH, Aceh: At least four people, including one alleged Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebel, were killed in the latest round of violence in Aceh over the weekend, official and residents said on Monday.
Two male bodies bearing gunshot and cut wounds were found in Keude Trieng village of Jeumpa district in Bireun regency on Sunday. They were identified as Agus Yusuf, 23, and Junaidi Abdullah, 25. Locals said the two men had been missing for about one week.
Another victim died in a fierce armed clash with the military in Lancok Baroh of Pidie regency on Saturday, Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin said.
It was also reported that an employee of PT Aceh Asian Fertilizer (AAF), 32-year-old Zulkifli Ismail, was found dead with gunshot wounds in Uteun Kot village on the outskirts of the industrial town of Lhokeumawe in North Aceh on Saturday. -- JP
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Customs sued in Cirebon
CIREBON, West Java: The Cirebon branch of sea freight forwarder PT Djakarta Lloyd has recently sued a number of officials from the Customs and Excise Service, including its director Permana Agung, for allegedly inflicting material and non-material losses on the company, branch director Idris A.S. said on Monday.
Idris added that the company was also seriously considering launching a million-dollar lawsuit against the Customs and Excise Service in the Cirebon District Court.
He explained that earlier this year two of the company's containers, which carried two Mercedes Benzes, a Toyota Land Cruiser and a Jaguar, were forcibly opened by Customs and Excise officials without the necessary papers, thus causing material damage considering that the vehicles were brand new, imported luxury cars and were confiscated as evidence for further investigation.
"The non-material losses arise from the fact that our customers trust us less since the incident and, of course, the death of one of our company's best employees, Priyatmono, who was interrogated and questioned for hours by customs officials. Unfortunately, he could not take the pressure," Idris said.
"He was last questioned on Feb. 16 this year. Shortly after, he was admitted to the hospital and he passed away on March 1."
Idris said he was also going to file a defamation complaint against customs officials, whom he said had ruined his chances of being appointed a director of the company due to the incident. --Antara
Team to probe Kupang election
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: A team set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs will investigate allegations of money politics in the mayoral election in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, a local official said on Monday.
"The team will arrive in Kupang this week. The probe is being initiated at the request of locals, and will prove whether the mayoral election was flawed or not," said J.B. Kosapilawan, the spokesman for the provincial administration.
The Kupang district legislative council elected on March 23 Col. Samuel Kristian as the city's new mayor, and Daniel Adoe as his deputy.
The two, nominated by the Golkar and military/police factions in the council, defeated Albert Foenay and Nicolaus Fransiskus, the candidates of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
The election of Kristian and Adoe sparked a protest by PDI Perjuangan, which said that the election was tainted. They alleged that one of its legislators, Harry Teofilus, received a Rp 10 million bribe to vote for Golkar's candidates. --Antara
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Subsidy for essential supplies
PUNCAK JAYA, Papua:Residents of Mulia in the isolated Puncak Jaya regency in Papua are due to receive subsidies from the Puncak Jaya administration for the transportation of basic food supplies, a report said.
Puncak Jaya regency administration secretary Henok Ibo said on Sunday that the subsidies, allocated in the 2002 Puncak Jaya regency budget, had been authorized to prevent Puncak Jaya residents from having to pay too much for commodities like sugar, rice and instant noodles.
Puncak Jaya, located in the mountainous hinterland of Papua, is one of the most isolated places in Indonesia considering that there are absolutely no roads connecting it to the other regencies in Papua, so that it can only be reached by air.
The aircraft normally used to reach the area include small planes like Twin Otters, Pilatus Porters, Caravans and Cessnas.
Since all essential supplies from the Papuan capital Jayapura are transported to Puncak Jaya by air, prices are automatically much higher.
For example, sugar, which is sold in Jayapura at Rp 5,000 a kilogram, goes for Rp 20,000 a kilogram in Mulia, and rice, sold at Rp 3,000 a kilogram in Jayapura, fetches up to Rp 20,000 in Mulia. --Antara
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Thousands may lose jobs in N. Sumatra
MEDAN, North Sumatra: Some 12,000 cold storage workers in North Sumatra could lose their jobs because of a decree by the Ministry of Industry and Trade allowing the direct export of fresh shrimp, according to a local legislator.
"How can they not be laid off if fresh shrimp can be exported directly without being processed first?" Adil Sirait, a member of the provincial legislative council, said over the weekend.
He said the ruling, which was issued last year, violated a regional regulation on fresh shrimp exports, which requires exporters to follow certain procedures to obtain a health certificate from authorities.
"As a result of the decree, fresh shrimp is now flooding foreign markets, while at the same time the price of shrimp from the ponds of small farmers has plunged, leaving the shrimp farmers hopeless," Adil said.
He urged the North Sumatra administration to review the implementation of the decree, which he said had harmed the interests of shrimp farmers and the local economy. --Antara
Two alleged extortionists killed
PEKANBARU, Riau: At least two people accused of extorting money from transmigrants in the town of Rokan Hilir, Riau, were mobbed to death by local residents, officials said on Monday.
Four men arrived in Simpang Bunut village, Bagan Sinembah subdistrict, on Saturday and allegedly began extorting money from residents of the resettlement area. Word soon spread and local residents quickly had the alleged extortionists surrounded.
One of the men attempted to disperse the mob by firing a gun into the air. However, the mob closed in and beat one of the alleged criminals to death, while the other three managed to escape.
The next day, local residents seized another alleged extortionist, along with the men's car. The mob burned the man to death and torched the car.
Local police are investigating the incident. --Antara
Man gets four years in drug case
PALANGKARAYA, Central Kalimantan: A 40-year-old welder in the town of Sampit, Central Kalimantan, was sentenced on Monday to four years in prison for the possession of 10 ecstasy pills.
The panel of judges at the Palangkaraya District Court ruled that Tong Sak Khian, alias Arifin, was guilty of the possession of narcotics.
The court also fined the defendant Rp 150 million, or an additional month in jail.
The defendant was arrested at the Bintang Hotel in Palangkaraya on Dec. 9 last year. Arifin said he accepted the verdict and would not file an appeal. --Antara
'Surabaya Post' employees stage demo
SURABAYA: Dozens of journalists and workers from the closed Surabaya Post daily protested in front of the East Java legislative council on Monday, demanding that management hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting to decide their fate.
The protesters were received by the chairman of the council's Commission E, Harbiah Salahuddin, and other legislators.
Syaiful Irwan, the head of the newspaper's labor union, said Indra Jaya Aziz, one of the Surabaya Post's shareholders, failed to abide by an agreement made during a shareholders' meeting on May 29, in which the management was to pay workers their last month's salary on June 3.
It was also agreed at the meeting to allow the entry of new investors and that Indra Jaya would resign as president director of the publishing company.
Responding to the workers' complaints, Harbiah vowed to summon the shareholders of the Surabaya Post for a hearing with legislators on June 10.
The newspaper ceased publication on May 1 because of financial difficulties. --Antara
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Tax deduction for paying alms
BANDA ACEH, Aceh: A 1999 Indonesian law on setting off religious alms against income tax -- specifically in the case of individual taxpayers -- comes into effect in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province this June.
An official of the Aceh provincial agency for religious alms (Bazis), T. Chairul Anwar, said on Monday that Bazis had already sent out about 3,000 blank deposit receipts to several government and private institutions in Aceh.
"Once filled in, the receipts can be used as evidence of payment for setting off against income tax. This is not applicable, however, to businesses, companies or corporations," Chairul Anwar said citing Law No. 38/1999. -- Antara.