Regent election may be repeated
SURABAYA: East Java Governor Imam Utomo has entrusted the prolonged dispute over the election of the Sampang regent in Madura to the local legislative council, who will decide whether or not to hold the elections again.
Imam said on Tuesday that the minister of home affairs had the authority to settle the debate over the validity of regent-elect Fadhilah Budiono.
"If the local legislative council plans to repeat the election process, just go ahead. It's the council itself which has the power to do it," the governor said.
Imam made the remarks in response to a demand by 300 Muslim ulemas from Sampang, who agreed with the idea of repeating the election process.
"The election should be held again to help end the dispute in Sampang, thereby preventing it from hindering development of the local social welfare programs," the ulemas said in a statement.
Fadhilah, who was elected Sampang regent last September, has yet to be inaugurated following protests from several factions at the local legislative council that the election result was not valid because two councillors who had resigned from the council had cast ballots. (nur)
;JP;32;02; ANPAa..r.. across-haze-veep Haze welcomes VP's visit JP/2/ACROSS
Haze welcomes Hamzah's visit
BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: Haze blanketing the South Kalimantan capital of Banjarmasin welcomed Vice President Hamzah Haz and his entourage when they arrived at Syamsuddin Noor airport on Wednesday.
The haze was thicker than in previous days despite recent rainfall.
"Indeed, the haze is thicker than in previous days," Nanang, a tower monitoring staff member at the Syamsuddin Noor Airport told The Jakarta Post.
Despite its density, however, the haze did not interfere with flight schedules to and from the airport, Nanang said.
Monitoring results showed that Wednesday's thick haze was a result of dried rice stalks being burned in northern, eastern and southern parts of Banjarmasin.
"The farmers burned the stalks to clean up the rice fields after the harvest season," he said.
During his visit to the province, Hamzah inaugurated an 18- kilometer road heading to Trisakti Seaport in Banjarmasin.
He met several religious figures and members of his United Development Party (PPP), and visited the grave of local religious figure Syekh Arsyad Al Banjary. (32/02)
;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. Across-Surabaya-robbery Marine deserter shot for robbery JP/2/ACROSS
Marine deserter shot for robbery
SURABAYA: The police have shot Mar San, a marine deserter, on Jl. Sumoharjo here for his alleged involvement in a major robbery in Bogor, West Java, East Java police chief Insp. Gen. Sutanto said.
Sutanto explained that with the capture of Mar San, believed to be the mastermind of the robbery, police have managed to arrest five of the 10 suspects.
"We are still hunting down five other suspects," he was quoted by Antara as saying on Wednesday.
Mar San and his accomplices managed steal Rp 1.8 billion (US$195,600) from employees of garment manufacturing company PT Great River Indonesia on Aug. 31.
The robbers were extremely vicious, killing a security guard and a police officer safeguarding the cash.
Mar San, who used to be a marine company commander, was shot on Tuesday in a joint operation between the East and West Java police, Sutanto said, adding that the suspect is now being treated at Bhayangkara Hospital in Surabaya.
;JP; ANPAa..r.. Across-teacher-backpay Teachers protest over back pay JP/2/ACROSS
Teachers protest over back pay
BANYUMAS, Central Java (JP): Teachers' protests continued on Wednesday, with some 700 teachers rallying at the Banyumas Regency Legislative Council to demand the disbursement of their back pay dating back to January 2001 and allowances.
"We want the local administration pay our back pay since January this year," the coordinator of the protesting teachers, Gandang Panilih, said.
"We also want the local administration to pay the same allowances as other school staff have received," he added.
He cited a Rp 180,000 (US$20) allowance received by a head of an administrative department of a school, saying teachers should be entitled to the same allowance from the government.
The teachers were eventually received by speaker of legislative council Tri Waluyo Basuki. The meeting is still in progress.
Previously, Banyumas Regent Aris Setiono told the teachers that their back pay would be disbursed in mid October.
"The administration has allocated Rp 32 billion for the back pay of some 7,000 teachers in Banyumas. (45)