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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)
;JP;ANT;SIM; ANPAa..r.. brief-across the archipelago 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)
;JP;ANT;SIM; ANPAa..r.. brief-across the archipelago 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)
;JP;ANT;SIM; ANPAa..r.. brief-across the archipelago 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)
;JP;ANT;SIM; ANPAa..r.. brief-across the archipelago 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)
;JP;SIM; ANPAa..r.. brief-across the archipelago 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)