PADANG, West Sumatra: A number of historical buildings, a legacy
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 Muaro in 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
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
Border posts to be built in Nunukan
BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan: Local administrations in both East Kalimantan and Sabah in Malaysia have agreed to build nine posts along their common border to prevent illegal crossings.
According to Adi Buchari, head of the province's Development Planning Board (Bappeda), the nine posts would be erected in Long Midang, Tau Lambui, Labang, Long Kayu, Long Apaoping, Long Nawang, La Sandrian, Simanggiris, and Sarodong subdistricts, all in Nunukan regency.
"At any post, we will assign officials from local immigration offices to monitor all residents who pass the border," Adi said on the sidelines of a meeting on socioeconomic affairs between the Indonesian and Malaysian government here on Thursday.
He added that local residents would only be required to show identity cards whenever they wanted to travel to Tawau in Sabah. The cross-border visit is limited to only one day and a radius of 20 kilometers. --Antara
Landslide buries two alive
SEMARANG, Central Java: Two children died in the Central Java town of Jepara on Thursday after they were buried alive under a plot of land where their playmate's father was preparing to build a septic tank.
Eta Rahmawati, 9, and her brother Aldi Romadlon, 8, died at the RA Kartini Hospital, while their friend, Rolis, 11, survived. The three fell into the excavation and were buried for over two hours until their neighbors recovered them.
The three were playing around the site at the backyard of the house of Rolis' father Sutomo when the accident occurred.
Kecapi village residents rushed to Sutomo's house after hearing Rolis shout for help. But it took them two hours to recover the children. --Antara