Party screening to resume

Party screening to resume

JAKARTA: The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights will soon
conduct the second screening for political parties to determine
whether or not they meet the stipulated requirements.

Ramly Hutabarat, the ministry's director of state
administrative affairs, said on Wednesday that nine political
parties had so far registered for screening and invited others to
register by July 4 at the latest if they wanted to join the
second screening.

Only four parties met the requirements in the first round of
screening.

"The screening will take place from July 15 to July 30," Ramly
said.

Nearly 240 parties have registered with the ministry but they
have to reregister in order to determined whether or not they
meet requirements as political parties.

Certification is mandatory for political parties before they
undergo another round of verification by the General Elections
Commission (KPU) to determine whether or not a political party is
eligible to contest in 2004 elections.

The screening will last until the end of September. --JP

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ANPAa..r..
Scene-Hazardous-waste-import
More hazardous waste enters RI
JP/4/hazard

More hazardous waste enters RI

JAKARTA: Indonesia has been accepting more and more hazardous
waste illegally imported from other countries after the economic
crisis hit the country in 1997, a senior government official
says.

Masnellyarti Hilman, deputy state minister for technical
supervision of environmental management at the Office of State
Minister for the Environment, said on Tuesday she had uncovered
five cases of imported hazardous waste in the country between
1999 and 2000, while there were only four cases from 1989 through
1995.

"Our country has indeed become a target for hazardous waste
disposal from companies in other countries as we have become poor
and have a weak security system after the crisis," she said.

Nelly said many regional administrations had also been offered
contracts to accept hazardous waste from other countries, and are
offered a payment of about US$4 per cubic meter.

"Just two weeks ago, Banten was offered such a deal," she said

The import of hazardous waste is prohibited under Law No.
23/1997 on environmental management. -- JP

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Scene-Biodiversity-book
Biodiversity book out for sale
JP/4/scene

Biodiversity book out for sale

JAKARTA: The Biodiversity Foundation (Yayasan Kehati) and Coca
Cola Foundation Indonesia (CCFI) launched on Wednesday three
books on Indonesian biodiversity aimed at educating children on
the country's rich biodiversity.

Ismid Hadad, executive director of Yayasan Kehati, said
9,000 books consisting of 3,000 books titled Mengenal
Keanekaragaman Hayati (Introduction to Indonesian Biodiversity),
3,000 books titled Ekosistem Hutan dan Agro (Forestry and
Agricultural Ecosystem), and 3,000 books titled Ekosistem
Perairan (Water Ecosystem) were printed.

"We want Indonesian children to be just as familiar with Java
rhinos and orangutans, as they are with zebras and giraffes,"
Ismid said.

He said 6,000 books would be distributed to CCFI learning
centers and public and elementary school libraries across the
country.

The remaining 3,000 books would be sold at Rp 40,000 per book
at the Yayasan Kehati office, where people would be required to
buy a set of three books. -- JP

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Scene-Indonesia-drugs
'3m Indonesians are drug users'
JP/INDONESIA

'3m Indonesians are drug users'

JAKARTA: Police estimate that Indonesia has around three
million drug users among a population of 212 million, an officer
said on Wednesday.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Sigit Sudarmanto, police chief for Sleman
district in Central Java, said the figure comes from the latest
police report on drug abuse.

Sudarmanto, quoted by Antara, said 1.3 million of the total
residents of Jakarta and its immediate surroundings were drug
users. --AFP