Officers' detention extended
JAKARTA: Army's Special Force (Kopassus) Commander Maj. Gen. Amirul Isnaini has approved the 30-day extension of detention of three officers alleged to have killed Papuan proindependence leader Theys Hiyo Eluay.
The officers, who comprise a lieutenant colonel, a major and a captain, have been in the custody of the Military Police since April 10. They face a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment.
Amirul was responding to a request by National Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Sulaiman AB, who said the extension was demanded for investigation purpose. The extension became valid as of Monday.
As a result of the extension, the Military Police rejected a formal request by a team of lawyers for the Kopassus members, who demanded that their clients have their detention suspended.
"It must be clarified whether the detention of these three Kopassus officers was ordered by their superior, who is the Kopassus chief. Under military law, the investigators have no right to place the suspects in jail," lawyer Ruhut Sitompul said earlier. -- JP
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Govt promotes low-cost apartments
SURABAYA: Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno called on developers on Tuesday to build more low-cost apartments for the poor.
In his address to participants of East Java's Real Estate Developers Association (REI) congress, Soenarno said the time was ripe for the nation to start living in apartments due to the limited supply of land and lack of order in land administration.
"We hope REI will adopt an appropriate approach to promote the construction of apartments for people in the middle- and lower- income categories," Soenarno said, adding that the demand for new houses was on the rise.
He stressed that 40 million poor people remained in need of housing.
In this fiscal year, the government has allocated Rp 256 billion as a subsidy for the development of 130,000 dwellings suitable for people in the lower-income bracket.
Soenarno said 11 banks had already pledged their commitment to participate in the project, -- Antara
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U.S. forestry experts visit Jambi
JAMBI, Jambi: Two experts from the United States Agriculture and Forestry Department are currently visiting Jambi province to discuss with local officials efforts to tackle forest fires.
The visit of Denne Shulman and Dale K. Dague to the nucleus estate of Wira Karya Sakti (WKS) company here reflects international confidence in the company, WKS manager Edi Mahmud said.
WKS, he said, has prioritized ways to tackle forest fires which occur in Jambi during the dry spell.
The ongoing meeting to discuss forest fires was organized by the U.S. Agriculture and Forestry Department, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat, Jambi's provincial administration, and several local private plantation and forestry companies.
Jambi experienced its worst forest fires in 1998 which not only disturbed flights in several parts of the country but those in neighboring countries as well. -- Antara