Serui lacks teaching staff

SERUI, Irian Jaya: At least five private and state-run senior high schools in Yapen Waropen regency, Irian Jaya, are short of teaching staff since many teachers have returned to their hometowns outside the province in connection with the increasing demands for the province's independence.

N. Samber, chief of the state-run senior high school in the town, confirmed on Monday that the shortage of teachers was due to the increasing outflow of non-Papuan teachers because of the tense political situation in the province.

"Many (senior high) schools here have lost their teaching staff in mathematics, biology and chemistry," he said.

Meanwhile, N. Tawani, head of an elementary school in Waropen Bawah Subdistrict, said the teaching staff crisis was also caused by the lack of serious attention from the local administration to develop the education sector in the regency.

"Besides, most parents bring their school-age children to the forests to hunt, instead of sending them to school," he said. --Antara

Medan bus burned in East Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: A passenger bus CV Pelangi traveling between Medan and Banda Aceh was set ablaze by unidentified gunmen in East Aceh on Sunday. No casualties were reported in the incident.

Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin, spokesman for the military operation in Aceh, confirmed the incident and accused the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) of being behind it while Amri Abdul Wahad, field commander of GAM, and Gam spokesman Ishak Daud, were not available for comment.

Zaenal said the incident occurred when a number of gunmen hijacked the bus in Pantee Panah, East Aceh, when it was on the way from Medan, North Sumatra, to Banda Aceh.

All passengers were forced to get out and then the bus was torched. A number of security personnel are still pursuing the gunmen who escaped to the forest after burning the bus.

"The incident is regrettable because the separatist movement has targeted civilians after failing to confront security personnel," he said.

He said rebels also shot to death 35-year-old Sulaiman in Kuala Simpang in the regency over the weekend and abducted Umar Abdul Rachman from his house in Busu Village, Pidie.

"We have no information yet about Abdul Rachman's whereabouts," he said. --Antara

Tengger people complain to Telkom

SURABAYA: The Tengger community living on Mount Bromo in Probolinggo, East Java, has complained about the state-owned telecommunications company PT Telkom's poor service due to the disconnection of telephone networks in the regency.

"We cannot do anything about Telkom's plan to raise the telephone tariff but prior to it, it should improve its service to the public," Antara quoted Seodja'i, an informal leader of the Tengger tribe, as saying here on Monday.

He said the government's plan to raise the telephone and electricity rates and fuel prices would bring more suffering to all people, including the Tengger tribe.

"Prior to the planned rate hike, Telkom, Pertamina and PLN should first give better service to the public," he said.

He added that the poor public services in the regency had contributed to the decreasing number of local and foreign tourists to the mountain. --Antara

Headless body found in North Barito

PURUK CAHU, Central Kalimantan: Residents of Malasan Village, North Barito, in Central Kalimantan were shocked by the discovery of a headless corpse in a forest area near the village on Sunday.

Murung Police subprecinct chief Second Insp. Indriyo confirmed the discovery on Monday and said the male corpse was covered with machete and spear wounds.

He said the body which was identified as Tatak was sent to the local hospital for an autopsy.

According to him, Tatak's body was discovered after villagers and his relatives reported that he had gone missing last Friday.

"We do not know the motive behind Tatak's murder," he said. --Antara

Aid for refugees in SE Sulawesi misappropriated

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: A fact-finding team set up by a number of non-governmental organizations in Southeast Sulawesi found that Rp 5.4 billion of Rp 28 billion in humanitarian aid for refugees in the province during the period of between October and December 2001 had been misappropriated.

"The siphoning off of aid was made possible by the manipulation of data on the number of refugees and the amount of rice and financial aid distributed to the refugees," Arief S., executive coordinator of Lopha Indonesia representing NGOs in the town, said here on Monday.

According to the finding, the local social affairs office had manipulated data on the number of refugees and reported more than 210,000 refugees in October 2001 from the previous 188,367.

According to our investigation, there have been no additional refugees arriving in the province during that period. According to the investigation, the local social affairs office had distributed less than the required 34 kilograms of rice per person, he said.

He said he had reported the alleged mismanagement to the provincial police for further investigation.

According to the central government's policy, each refugee is entitled to receive Rp 1,500 and 400 grams of rice per day. --Antara

Riau waters prone to piracy

TEMBILAN, Riau: Indragiri Hilir Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Edi Kustoro, conceded that the waters off the regency mainland were prone to attacks by pirates.

He said the police had received reports of a number of incidents of piracy on the waters bordering Kuala Tungkal in Jambi and Tanah Merah in Indragiri Hilir and pirates frequently used violence in their operations.

He said that two fishermen died after being thrown overboard after a number of pirates plundered two fishing vessels last Tuesday.

He said local police did not have a fast patrol boat to counter the rife piracy.

"We have set up a team consisting of police and fishermen who are equipped with communication radios to help the police combat piracy," he said. --Antara