House seeks input on freedom

House seeks input on freedom

JAKARTA: A House of Representatives (DPR) committee
deliberating the bill on freedom of information is inviting
feedback from officials and activists of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs).

Committee chairman Paulus Widiyanto said on Tuesday that he
hoped his committee would receive some input before going into
recess from March 7 to April 25.

NGOs had been urging legislators to speed up deliberations
because the government was also preparing a bill on state
secrecy.

Paulus pledged that his committee would prioritize the bill on
freedom of information.

"The bill on state secrecy will be reviewed for comparison,"
he told the press after an internal meeting.

Paulus said the committee was planning to visit Gorontalo
Mayoralty, the only area with a regional regulation on freedom of
information. -- JP

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Scene-Kwik-corruption
PDIP declares Kwik's case closed
JP/4/Scene

PDI-P declares Kwik's case closed

JAKARTA: Leaders of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) declared Kwik Kian Gie's case closed on
Tuesday after Kwik clarified his statement during the party's
weekly meeting.

PDI Perjuangan Secretary General Soetjipto said that Kwik, who
is also State Minister for National Development Planning/Bappenas
chairman, held no ill intentions against the party.

"This case is considered closed in the sense that the
(party's) central executive board members have already received a
clarification from Kwik," Soetjipto said.

Kwik said last week that PDI Perjuangan was the most corrupt
party in the country and was on the brink of collapse. The
statement did not only irk party leaders, but also undermined
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's campaign against corruption.

Soetjipto told Kwik not to disclose the party's affairs to the
public without a thorough internal investigation.

Meanwhile, Kwik said that he had made some adjustments to his
statement that PDI Perjuangan was the most corrupt political
party the country.

"I never apologized (for making the statement), but I have
made some corrections," he said, adding that he was not pressured
to do so. --JP

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Scene-Bengkulu-transmigrant
20,000 families to be relocated
JP/4/scene

20,000 families to be relocated

BENGKULU: The government is planning to transmigrate 20,000
families to several provinces in the country this year, a senior
government official said on Tuesday.

"We have allocated Rp 700 billion (US$85 million) in funds to
support various transmigration programs," said Resettlement
Director M. Arsyad Nurdin of the Ministry of Manpower.

He added that the transmigration programs would be implemented
under a scheme in which 50 percent of transmigrants would
comprise local people and the remainder, outsiders.

Arsyad said the programs would seek approval from local
governments on their needs in regards transmigration.

He also promised to select transmigration applicants through a
strict selection process to prevent any cases of transmigrants
selling and abandoning their lands after the period of government
assistance ends. -- Antara

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Scene-RI-water
RI lacks clean water: Expert
JP/4/Scene

RI lacks clean water: Expert

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: Chairman of the Indonesian
Association of Drinking Water Companies (Perpamsi) Ridwan
Syahputra said that only around 20 percent of the Indonesian
population had access to clean water produced by Local Drinking
Water Companies (PDAM).

Ridwan said that Indonesia fell far short of meeting the
national target on the availability of clean water, set at 80
percent of the total population.

He remarked that the prolonged economic crisis, the scarcity
of water sources in urban areas, and the debts afflicting a
number of local water companies had caused low access to drinking
water.

Recently, the association embarked on a campaign to improve
local companies' customer services.

He added that the rates paid by customers for water
consumption was still below the cost of production.

"The current rate is 50 percent below the actual cost of
drinking water production," he said. --Antara