Serui lacks teaching staff

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