JP/5/AUSTRALIA Australia urges stability in Papua JAYAPURA, Papua: Australia has reiterated its stance that it wants stability in Papua.
The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, David Ritchie reportedly claimed that his government was supporting the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia as well as the special autonomy scheme that was currently being planned for Indonesia's easternmost province.
"As Indonesia's closest neighbor, Australia wants stability in Papua," Ritchie explained the Australian stance on Thursday during a gathering in Jayapura. The Ambassador visited the province from Tuesday to Thursday and during the visit, the Ambassador met prominent figures in the province such as Papua Governor Jaap Salossa and chief of Trikora military command Maj. Gen. Nurdin Zainal.
The visit was aimed at seeking first-hand information on current affairs in Papua. -- JP
;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Yogyakarta-DPRD-prosecutor
JP/5/FOCUS 17 councillors named suspects YOGYAKARTA: Yogyakarta prosecutors named on Friday 17 former city councillors as suspects in a corruption case. They will now be tried for receiving Rp 17 million (US$7,978) each in severance pay.
The severance pay was deemed illegal as there was no provision for it under the law.
Deputy chief of Yogyakarta Prosecutor's Office Godang Riyadi Siregar said on Friday that the prosecutor's office would summon the suspects soon for more interrogations.
Separately, one of the councillors, Nazaruddin complained that he was unfairly singled out.
"All the councillors in Yogyakarta province have received the severance pay, but why do the prosecutors only name us suspects?" he wondered. -- JP
;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Police-Riau-election
JP/5/FOCUS Campaign teams assure peaceful election
BATAM, Riau Islands: Riau Islands provincial police signed on Friday a peace agreement with the campaign managers for a group of governor candidates in the province as a direct election approaches.
Through the agreement, the campaign teams agreed that they would work to prevent any conflict ahead of the election. The agreement was signed by chief of Riau Islands province Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam and representatives of three campaign teams.
The fear of violent clashes between supporters of each candidate is very real. Just a few weeks ago, supporters of canditates Ismeth Abdullah and Nyat Kadir engaged in a violent brawl. -- JP
;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Demak-drought-farmers
JP/5/FOCUS Drought begins to affect C. Java DEMAK, Central Java: Drought-like conditions have been reported in Demak regency, Central Java in the past few weeks, sparking fear of an imminent harvest failure.
Sutikno, a farmer in Waru subdistrict here, said he had hoped to harvest his rice next month, but without rain, he would suffer harvest failure. While Sutikno was desperately waiting for rain, other farmers have already decided to replace their rice crops with secondary crops, normally planted during the dry season.
Chief of Central Java's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in Semarang, Widada Sulistya, said that drought-like conditions began in eastern parts of Central Java in April and it would begin to affect the entire province by June. -- JP