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

;JP;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. 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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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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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