Many families still poor in Riau

Many families still poor in Riau

PEKANBARU, Riau: Poverty remains a cause for concern in Riau
province. A senior official at the provincial administration
revealed on Thursday that 435,531 families in Riau province, or
some 40 percent of total families in the province, were still
listed as poor in 2002.

Head of the Family Planning Agency's Riau office Narlis
Alamsyah said that those categorized as poor families had meals
only once a day and lived in dwellings with a dirt floor. -- JP

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Across-Medan-electricity
UK investor to build power plant in Medan
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UK investor to build power plant in Medan

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Medan municipal government announced on
Thursday that a Britain investor, along with its Indonesian
counterpart, would jointly invest Rp 730 billion (US$ 76.8
million) on the construction of a power plant in the province.
The coal-fired plant would be built in Belawan, close to Medan.

The construction will start in August and will be completed
next year, according to Medan Development and Planning Agency
head Harmes Joni.

The plant will generate more than 105 megawatts of power,
which will help meet electricity demand in the province. -- JP

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Across-Samarinda-migrant
Rp 7b earmarked for repatriations
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Rp 7b earmarked for repatriations

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: East Kalimantan provincial government
will earmark Rp 7 billion (US$ 736,842) to handle the imminent
repatriation of Indonesian migrant workers from Malaysia.

Hundreds of thousands of Indonesian migrant workers will be
deported soon from Malaysia for entering the neighboring country
illegally. The provincial government also poured in a similar
amount of money when it handled the repatriation of hundreds of
thousands of Indonesian migrant workers in 2002, according to
provincial government secretary Syaiful Teteng. -- JP

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Across-Kupang-journalist
Lawsuit filed against councillor
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Lawsuit filed against councillor

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: Beni Jahang, a journalist who was
recently intimidated and assaulted by a local councillor, filed
suit with the police on Thursday against the councillor.

In the lawsuit, JO, a councillor from the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was accused of having
assaulted Beni, a journalist from Pos Kupang.

JO grabbed Beni by the neck on the sidelines of a meeting at
East Nusa Tenggara provincial council, after JO accused the
journalist of writing a story that tarnished the councillor's
image. -- JP

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Across-Amami-Kendari
Kendari SAR team finds 3 more victims
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Kendari SAR team finds 3 more victims

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: A search-and-rescue (SAR) team
discovered on Thursday three more victims from a ship that sunk
in the Banda Sea, who had been missing since the incident
occurred on Friday last week. They were Aris Triono, the captain
of the Amami cargo ship, Yakub, a crewman, and Suharto, a
passenger.

They were found on Thursday floating in waters close to Menui
Island, Central Sulawesi province. The province is adjacent to
Southeast Sulawesi province, within whose territory lies the
Banda Sea. Two other victims were earlier saved by the SAR team
in the Banda Sea on Saturday last week, only a day after the ship
sank due to bad weather.

The SAR team is still searching for 10 crew members and a
passenger still missing from the incident, said Rocky Asikin, the
head of Kendari SAR team. -- JP