Padang restores historical buildings
PADANG, West Sumatra: A number of historical buildings, a legacy of the Dutch colonial days and the Japanese occupation in the subdistrict of Pasa Padang, South Padang district, Padang, will be preserved to promote tourism.
Sources at the municipal office said on Thursday at least 67 old buildings located in Pasar Mudik, Pasar Gadang, Pasar Batiputih and their environs would be refurbished with World Bank aid worth Rp 1 billion.
Padang Mayor Zuiyen Rais said that the renovation was also expected to support historical records of this world heritage site in the city, which marks the entry of the Dutch East Indies Company (VOC) in 1666 and the first call of a Dutch vessel in Muaroin 1669. --Antara
Suicide on the rise in Gunungkidul
YOGYAKARTA: The regency of Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta, notorious for the prevalence of suicides by hanging, again reported two such cases that happened almost simultaneously earlier this month, local police said on Friday.
Gunungkidul Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ngudi Prayitno disclosed that two elderly housewives, Tayem, 67, in Sidoharjo village, Tepus district, and Kasmo, 55, in Semin village, Semin district, had hanged themselves for no apparent reason.
In the period from January to the beginning of June 2002, the regency registered six suicide cases by the same means, despite efforts by police, local religious and community leaders to provide information to discourage such desperate acts.
Meanwhile, villagers responded to the phenomenon by conducting a ritual and prayers to ward off what they believed were pulung gantung or evil spirits manifesting themselves in the form of red and yellow luminescent hanging ropes mostly appearing at night. --Antara
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Fishermen's catch in Luwu plummets
MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: Rampant dynamite fishing used by irresponsible people along the coastal waters of Luwu regency and North Luwu has not only drastically reduced the local fishermen's catch but also damaged the coral reefs in the area.
A local fisherman, Taufik Samad said on Friday many fishermen had been using dynamite to catch fish in Luwu in the last few years, causing a sharp drop in local fishermen's income.
Taufik revealed the rampant use of explosives had been reported to related authorities but so far there had been no response. He added that he believed that there was close cooperation between the officers and the perpetrators.
Taufik acknowledged that for the last three years their catch had dropped sharply since Bone Bay, which used to be a transit place for the schools of tunas and other kinds of fish, had lost a large part of its coral reefs.--Antara