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

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Across-Medan-electricity UK investor to build power plant in Medan JP/5/FOCUS

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

;JP:ASA; ANPAa..r.. Across-Samarinda-migrant Rp 7b earmarked for repatriations JP/5/FOCUS

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

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Across-Kupang-journalist Lawsuit filed against councillor JP/5/FOCUS

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

;JP;ASA; ANPAa..r.. Across-Amami-Kendari Kendari SAR team finds 3 more victims JP/5/FOCUS

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