Grant projects ignore the public

Grant projects ignore the public

JP/4/scene

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said on
Thursday that the implementation of projects involving foreign
grants in the country still ignored public participation and
transparency.

Teten Masduki of ICW said foreign countries had indeed new
concepts that demanded that the government carry out grant
projects transparently, but they closed their eyes to the poor
project implementation.

"There is not much change from the way projects with foreign
grants were implemented in the New Order regime," he told The
Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a seminar on foreign grant
projects research.

"Local people must start to participate in any projects that
will affect them," he added.

He cited the Dombo-Sayung irrigation project in Lampung,
carried out during former President Soeharto tenure that has
continued up to now, which created prolonged conflict over land
in the area.

Juan Planas of the Delegation of the European Commission said
that the European Union (EU) required transparency in all grant
projects and monitoring of their implementation.-JP

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ANPAa..r..
Scene-NHK-dynamite
TV station cleared of allegations
JP/4/scene

TV station cleared of allegations

JAKARTA: Japanese television station NHK was cleared by the
Tokyo District Court of an allegation that it had staged illegal
dynamite fishing in South Sulawesi in 1997 for its television
news report.

A Japanese monthly magazine, Gendal, ran an article in October
2000 suggesting that former NHK Jakarta bureau chief Tsutomu
Sakamoto paid local fishermen in 1997 to detonate dynamite in the
sea.

The article was written based on testimony by a former NHK
staff member in Jakarta, Frans Padak Demon, who had also filed a
civil suit against the television station with the Central
Jakarta District Court.

Maintaining that the dynamite fishing scene was filmed
completely by chance, NHK headquarters in Tokyo filed a suit
against Gendal's publisher Kodansha Ltd for defamation. The Tokyo
district court cleared NHK of any wrongdoing and ordered Kodansha
Ltd. to pay compensation to NHK.

It is not year clear if the court ruling would prompt Frans,
whose employment with NHK ended in 1997, to drop his suit at the
Central Jakarta District Court. --JP

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ANPA..r..
Scene-ambassador-lineup
Envoys lineup may be reshuffled
JP/4/scen-28

Envoys lineup may be reshuffled

JAKARTA: Legislators will likely recommend that President
Megawati Soekarnoputri review the lineup of ambassadorial
candidates and their respective country of destination she had
submitted to the House of Representatives (DPR) for approval.

In the third day of the selection hearings on Thursday, some
legislators said the reshuffling would help each country get more
suitable envoys.

Five candidates grilled by the House's foreign affairs
commission were A. Nawawi Hasbi, Mochamad S. Hidayat, Faisal
Bafadal, Sudarso, and Susanto Pudjomartono.

"There is the possibility of shifting the ambassadorial
candidates. The more problematic places should be handled by
tougher ambassadors," legislator Imam Addaruqutni of the Reform
faction said.

Fellow legislator Permadi of the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction added the shift might be
taken to improve relations with foreign countries. - JP

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ANPA..r..
Scene-House-bill
Poor attendance delay bill talks
JP/4/scen-28

Poor attendance delays bill talks

JAKARTA: Initial discussion on the formation of a special
committee to deliberate the bill on direct presidential and vice
presidential elections was delayed on Thursday because of poor
attendance at the House's steering committee.

The delay is feared to be consuming valuable time allocated
for the bill deliberation, which in turn could affect the
preparations for the presidential and vice presidential elections
in 2004.

House Deputy Speaker Tosari Widjaja said he was unable to
continue the meeting because only 29 of the 76-member steering
committee showed up.

"This will be brought to a leadership meeting on Tuesday,"
Tosari said.

Thursday's meeting was supposed to discuss 11 topics which
included the special committee formation, a proposal to form a
disciplinary committee, and selection of candidates for Bank
Indonesia governor. -- JP

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Scene-Aussie-award
Scholars win Asia Award 2003
JP/4/SCENE

Scholars win Australia Asia Award

JAKARTA: An Islamic scholar and a former journalist have won
the Australia Asia Award 2003, which will enable them to pursue a
doctoral and master's degree respectively in Australia under a
full scholarship program.

Upon announcing the award winners on Wednesday, Australian
Ambassador David Ritchie said Suparto, a lecturer at Syarif
Hidayatullah State Islamic University, and Hendrarto Darudoyo, a
former lecturer at the University of Indonesia and a former
senior editor of Warta Ekonomi business magazine, would receive
scholarship valued at over Rp 1.2 billion (US$134,800) to study
in Australia.

The successful candidates were selected by a panel consisting
of representatives from the Directorate General of Higher
Education and the Foreign Cooperation Bureau at the Indonesian
Ministry of National Education, the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences and the Australian Department of Education, Science and
Training. A scholarship for a doctorate and two scholarships for
a master's degree are available every year. -- JP