Legislators vowed on Friday to reject any move to obligate

Legislators vowed on Friday to reject any move to obligate farmers to pay for irrigation water as stipulated in the water resources bill now being deliberated at the House of Representatives (DPR).

Erman Suparno of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Karimun Usman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said they would lobby other factions to reject the controversial plan, as it would only worsen farmers' already straitened circumstances.

"We will absolutely refuse the plan. We do not want to burden farmers with any water charges. This is a promise," Erman told The Jakarta Post.

According to Erman, asking farmers to pay for water from state-owned irrigation projects was inappropriate due to their low financial means.

"If the government prepares such an article in the draft government regulation, they must drop it," Erman said.

The draft regulation, which is to be issued after the water resource bill is endorsed, stipulates that water charges for farmland will be decided based on irrigation fees farmers paid to their associations.

Karimun concurred with Erman, and said that any plan to charge farmers for irrigation water would violate the amended 1945 Constitution.

"It is crazy if anyone intends to charge farmers for irrigation water. Most of our population are farmers, and a free water supply must be ensured for their farms," he said.

The draft confirmed earlier concerns voiced by non- governmental organizations (NGOs) and farmers associations, that the water resource bill would force farmers to pay for irrigation water, in keeping with the concept of full-cost recovery for any irrigation developments.

The government has repeatedly denied such allegations.

Their debate centers on Article 41.1 and 41.2. Article 41.1 stipulates that water for farmland managed by farmers associations would be given the right to use water without any charges; but Article 42.2 states that the farming business, including plantations, fish farms, fishery firms and animal husbandry outfits must pay water charges.

At present, farmers only pay an irrigation fee for infrastructure maintenance, but they do not pay water charges.

Of the country's 11 million hectares of total farmland, 7.1 million hectares are irrigated farmland.

2. (2x 24) Offices can be penalized of concealing information

The freedom of information bill currently in process of deliberation in the House of Representatives (DPR) will provide chance for the people to take legal measure should the public offices refuse to give information, a legislator says.

Tumbu Saraswati, a member of committee deliberating the bill, emphasized that the bill carries penalty between one to five years in jail to any violators.

"We adopt the spirit of transparency from other countries," Tumbu of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) said at an international seminar on freedom of information here on Friday.

She cited article 28 of the bill which says that information users can complain to the public offices should the offices cannot provide regular information, ignore people's request, take levies, or give insufficient information.

Based on the bill, all public offices have a mandatory to provide information to the public.

Mukelani Dimba of South Africa and Nakorn Serirak of Thailand who also spoke at the seminar meantime shared experiences of the implementation of the freedom of information law in their respective countries.

Dimba revealed that in South Africa the freedom of information law does not apply on some state offices, including the Cabinet and its committees, the judicial functions, and individual member of Parliament or of a provincial legislature.

The ruling party, the African National Congress, argued that Cabinet exclusion was an internationally accepted norm, said Dimba.

3. SCHOOL ( 1 x 45)

Schools reluctant to comply with education bill

Evi Mariani The Jakarta Post Jakarta

Although born to a Muslim family, Hari, 25, spent six years of his studying time at a Catholic school. His parents enrolled him and signed agreements with the school, accepting several conditions, including the requirement to attend Catholic religious instruction during his time there.

"My parents thought the school was the best in town," he says. "Unlike these days, Catholic schools did not have any competition from state or other private schools back then."

Hari is just one of perhaps thousands of Indonesian Muslims who studied at a Catholic school, which for many years had the highest reputation for a good education.

Catholic schools require students of other religions to attend classes on Catholic instruction only.

At Tarakanita Catholic school, for example, students have to attend Catholic lessons, pray before and after class, participate in school retreats and several other spiritual activities.

"I think every citizen has the right to choose where to study. So we do not restrict our schools to Catholic students only. However, as our schools are special, we provide only Catholic classes for religious instruction," Sarta Ketut, head of the education department of the Jakarta-based Tarakanita Foundation, told The Jakarta Post.

The Tarakanita Foundation manages several Catholic schools in seven regions in the country.

Islamic schools are also doing the same thing. The Al Azhar High School in South Jakarta, one of the best schools in town, requires non-Muslim students to attend Islamic lessons, including Koran recitals.

"At present, we don't have any non-Muslim students. But several years ago, we had two Christian students," Edy Junaedi, the principal of the school, said.

"Before they enrolled we explained that Al Azhar was a special school that did not provide lessons on any religion other than Islam. We asked them to sign an agreement, and they accepted it."

Such a practice, however, may soon come to an end. The House of Representatives is currently deliberating a national education bill that is expected to be endorsed in May. Article 13 of the bill stipulates that all students have the right to receive religious instruction according to their beliefs from teachers of the same faith.

As a consequence, all religion-based schools that open their classes to students of other faiths will have to provide additional teachers of religion.

But religion-based schools like Tarakanita and Al Azhar are reluctant to implement the stipulation, arguing the move would obscure the original mission of the schools.

"Tarakanita school accepts the government-prescribed national curriculum, but as a private school we have traditions and a uniqueness. So we modify it according to our traditions," Ketut said.

5. TNI (2 x 18)

Navy to purchase 22 new warships

Muninggar Sri Saraswati The Jakarta Post Jakarta

The Indonesian Navy will spend most of its budget this year on the purchase of 22 new warships in a bid to improve its defense capability, chief of staff Adm. Bernard K. Sondakh said on Friday.

Bernard said the purchase would be possible due to an increase in the Navy budget to Rp 700 billion, the lion's share of the state budget allocation to the Indonesian Military.

"The Navy will improve its performance in combating smuggling, poaching and piracy in Indonesian waters," Bernard said after swearing in Rear Adm. Mualimin Santoso as the new commander of the Navy's Western Fleet, replacing Rear Adm. Djoko Sumaryono.

Djoko will have a new job as assistant to the TNI chief for planning and budgetary affairs.

The warships on the shopping list include eight corvettes, two submarines, three landing tank ships and four patrol ships. Currently, the Navy has 117 ships, only 30 of which are operational.

Bernard said that the Navy had received tenders from warship- producing countries South Korea, the Netherlands and France.

"But the Navy will choose a foreign company that is willing to help us develop our shipbuilding industry as we intend to produce our own vessels in the future," he said.

5.aipo (2 X 27) AIPO moves to fight against illicit drugs, poverty

Sri Wahyuni The Jakarta Post Yogyakarta

The ASEAN Inter-Parliament Organization (AIPO) issued two resolutions recommending that ASEAN governments cooperate to combat illicit drugs and eradicate poverty in the region.

The resolutions on drugs and poverty were signed by all 10 delegations at the closing ceremony of a two-day AIPO meeting here on Friday.

The drug resolution recommended that all ASEAN governments set up a network for information exchange among its parliaments, authorities and non-governmental organizations in their regional cooperation to handle narcotics issues ranging from the spread of drug syndicates and traffickers to drug abuse prevention and the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

Surya Chandra Surapaty, chairman of the AIPO fact-finding committee handling the drug menace, said that all delegations agreed to harmonize legislation related to penalties for drug trafficking and money-laundering, including the forging of an ASEAN extradition treaty for drug offenses and money-laundering.

"We agree to harmonize our drug laws to impose harsher sanctions on drug syndicates, since we are of the same opinion that law enforcement is an effective way to help reduce drug trafficking and producing.

"And that is why all delegations agree to enhance cooperation in sea, land and air transportation and border security control to stop drug trafficking in the region," he said after the closing ceremony.

He added that the issuance of the drug resolution was part of ASEAN's commitment to making the region free of illicit drugs by 2015.

ASEAN comprises Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Brunei, Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia.

The poverty resolution recommends the establishment of a financial institution, instead of a bank, to provide financial assistance to the poor in the region.

Benny Pasaribu, chairman of the antipoverty committee at the AIPO meeting, said all delegations were of the opinion that poverty should be solved through regional and international cooperation.

6. Irigasi ( 2 x 20) EU supports Bali's irrigation project

Ambassador/Head of the Delegation of the European Commission Sabato Dela Monica and Bali Governor I Dewa Made Beratha inaugurated an irrigation project worth 6.625 million Euro (Rp 58 billion) in several impoverished villages in Buleleng, North Bali, and Karangasem in East Bali on Friday.

The project is the follow-up to the North Bali Ground Water Irrigation and Water Supply Scheme, which was completed in l999. It had to be redesigned, however, for a number of technical reasons.

The first phase of the project, 15 ground water irrigation systems, has already been completed and is now operational. For the remaining 15 locations, the survey, investigation and design (SID) stages have been completed and deep wells constructed.

The second-phase of the project will involve the construction of piped irrigation distribution networks and pumping systems to 15 existing sub-project areas, and the rehabilitation and upgrading of nine existing systems.

Governor Dewa Beratha expressed the hope that the projects would benefit local people who are now living in dry and infertile areas in northern and eastern parts of Bali.