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Village chiefs
fired for polygamy

PURBOLINGGO, East Java: Two village chiefs in Maron and Tiris
subdistricts have been sacked for polygamy.

Probolinggo Regent Pamoedji dismissed them in an effort to
improve the image of civil servants, the spokesman for the
Probolinggo administration, A. Wahab Bakrie, was quoted by Antara
as saying yesterday.

"As public figures, village chiefs are expected to be honest
and upright both in the office and at home," he said.

The authorities found out recently that the two village chiefs
were practicing polygamy without the consent of their first wives
following a report by a special team. The team has been set up to
investigate the married life of 330 village chiefs in the region.

According to the report, four other village chiefs had more
than one wife, but upon the consent of their earlier wives, which
is required by law.

The marriage law allows a Moslem to have more than one wife
only with the approval of his first wife. (sim)

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Australia deports 71 fishermen

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Australia deports
71 fishermen

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Australia deported 71 Indonesian
fishermen on Wednesday for unlawfully entering its territory.

Seventy of them were returned by their boats, while another
was deported by airplane, Lambertus Labi Dorok, an official of
the Provincial Office of Social Affairs said.

He said another 87 Indonesian fishermen were still stranded in
Australia. Thirty of them will be deported soon, Antara reported.

Australia had deported over 163 Indonesian fishermen during
the last two months. (sim)

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Artifact handed
over to museum

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Artifact handed
over to museum

BANDAR LAMPUNG, Southern Sumatra: A villager presented an
artifact found 30 years ago to the Ruwa Jurai State Museum
yesterday.

Halilul Bari, 40, said the oval stone, which bears ancient
Javanese and Malay inscriptions, was found by his neighbor when
he was cultivating his land in Wana village, Labuhan Maringgai
district, Central Lampung.

A number of faith healers had borrowed the artifact as they
believed it had magic healing power.

Two museum archeologists, Erna Febriani and Endjat
Djaenuderadjat, believe that the artifact dates back to the 14th
century. They said that Wana village was one of the areas which
are being studied for their rich historical and archeological
objects.

Weighing more than five kilograms, the black, reddish-brown
artifact bears pictures of a dragon, a man, a sun, a bird, a star
and a triangle. (sim)

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Generous robbers
are arrested

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Generous robbers
are arrested

BANDUNG, West Java: Four men who were popular in the
neighborhood for their generosity were arrested Wednesday on
robbery charges.

Priangan Police Chief Col. Sardja Suherman told reporters two
of them were caught red-handed by a security guard together with
local people, when they were trying to rob a local resident in
his house.

The robbery attempt involved a group of six men, but four of
them managed to escape. Police finally arrested two of he
robbers. The rest are still at large.

Suherman said that the six suspects, whose ages range between
21 and 29 years, were known as good people, because they were so
religious and generous.

Police said they admitted to having robbed three people in
Bandung, four others in Lembang and more than 10 elsewhere in
this province.

Police confiscated a number of sharp weapons and a minibus,
which were believed to have been used in the robberies. A fence
was arrested later. (sim)

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Mangrove forest in danger

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Mangrove forest
in danger

JAMBI: Governor Abdurrahman Sayoeti raised concerns yesterday
over the illegal felling of mangroves in the eastern coastal
areas of Jambi province.

He said this is jeopardizing the environment.

The illegal felling could affect marine resources and result
in serious intrusion of seawater into nearby rice fields and
coconut plantations, he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Local authorities are trying to save the environment by
planting new plants in a reforestation program. The governor
called upon government officials to work hand in hand to cope
with the problem, which has been lingering since a few years ago.

The mangrove forest covers 4,000 hectares of land in Jambi.
(sim)

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Dengue fever hits S.Sumatra

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Dengue fever hits
South Sumatra

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: Dengue fever has hit nine of 10
regencies in this province since the rainy season began recently.

An official of the provincial health office, Dr. Firdaus
Yusuf, told Antara yesterday that the situation was not yet
serious. He said that in Musi Banyuasin Regency only one of seven
people suffering from the disease has died this month.

The health office has sprayed the areas to curb further
infection. At the same time, it is calling on the public to keep
their environment clean and clear of standing water, which
provides breeding places for the mosquitoes that carry the
disease. (sim)