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