Residents reject council's bonus request

Residents reject council's bonus request

SEMARANG: Residents of Sragen regency, Central Java, gathered
here on Monday to oppose a request by local councillors for
bonuses of Rp 50 million each when they end their five-year term
next year.

The demonstrators from the Sragen Community Forum rallied at
the Central Java governor's office in Semarang, the provincial
capital.

They voiced their opposition to the request by the members of
the Sragen legislative council for the bonuses.

Mukafi Fadli, the leader of the community forum, which
comprises several non-governmental organizations, said an opinion
poll conducted by his group found that about 89.38 percent of
respondents were against the bonuses.

Most of the respondents suggested that the money be used
instead to provide scholarships for students from poor families
in Sragen, he said.

"We are asking the Central Java governor to join us in
rejecting these bonuses," Fadli said.

He recalled when the government rejected a request by the
Karanganyar legislative council for health funds from the regency
budget.

"He (the governor) should do the same thing in the Sragen
case," Fadli said. -- JP
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Across-suicide-policemen
Officer 'commits' suicide over affair
JP/5/acros16

Officer 'commits' suicide over affair

PALU, Central Sulawesi: A police officer in Central Sulawesi,
Brig. Max Purnomo, allegedly committed suicide early on Monday
after he was caught having an affair with a friend's wife.

Max, a police detective, died at the Woodward Hospital in the
provincial capital of Palu, of a gunshot wound.

Palu Police deputy chief Sr. Comr. Sambas Kurniawan said Max's
friend, Djaelani, discovered the affair when he arrived home at
about 1 a.m. on Monday.

Djaelani apparently became suspicious when it took his wife a
long time to answer the door, and when she did answer she
appeared frightened. Djaelani searched his house and found Max
hiding in the bathroom.

The husband snatched up a pair of scissors and attacked Max,
who pulled out his gun and fired two shots at Djaelani. Max
reportedly then pointed the gun at his own head and pulled the
trigger, killing himself.

Djaelani was injured in the incident and is being treated at
the hospital.

Sambas said officers were investigating the matter. --Antara

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Across-rhinos-Sumatra
JP/5/acros16

Sumatran rhino on brink of extinction

BENGKULU, Bengkulu: An environmentalist warned on Monday that
unless adequate measures were taken, the Sumatran rhino, which
live in protected forests in Bengkulu province, would soon become
extinct.

The head of the Bengkulu provincial office of the Natural
Resources Conservation Board, Agus Priambudi, estimated the
number of Sumatran rhinos (dicerorhinus sumatrensis) living in
Bengkulu's protected forests at just 10 animals.

"Illegal hunting is considered to be one of the reasons for
the continued decline in the population of the Sumatran rhino,"
he said.

He further noted that only 50 Sumatran tigers (phantera tigris
sumatrae) continued to survive in Bengkulu's protected forests.

He said wealthy people frequently went to Bengkulu to hunt the
rhinos and tigers.

"They usually pay the locals a large sum of money to hunt
these beasts," Agus said.

To prevent poaching, he said, his office had intensified
efforts to patrol the habitat of the rhinos and tigers in
national parks in Semidang Bukit Kaba, southern Bengkulu, and
Kerinci Seblat and Bukit Barisan, both in Rejang Lebong district.
--Antara

Children make up 30% of Batam sex workers

BATAM, Riau: Some 30 percent of about 15,000 sex workers in
Batam and Riau islands are children, according to the coordinator
of the Health and Humanitarian Foundation, Lola Wagner.

"Based on our studies in Batam and Riau, some 30 percent of
sex workers are children. The syndicate involved in trafficking
women often forge their ages (on their ID cards)," Lola said here
on Sunday.

The syndicate prepares fake ID cards and fake birth
certificates for the children to be employed as sex workers on
the island.

She said Batam and Riau drew traffickers because of the high
demand for prostitutes. --Antara