Unicef pledges US$1.5 million for Papua

Unicef pledges US$1.5 million for Papua

MANOKWARI, Papua: The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef)
pledged on Saturday some US$1.5 million in financial assistance
for Papua province in the 2003 fiscal year.

"The fund will support the provincial administration's
programs on health, education, and the protection of mothers and
children," Antara quoted Unicef staffer Jeanne Rini P as saying
in Manokwari, Papua, on Saturday.

According to Jeanne, the funds would be used to continue
humanitarian activities in the districts of Sorong, Manokwari,
Biak Numfor and Jayawijaya, which are intended to cover 45
percent of 170,000 Papuan children aged 17 years and below.

The programs include seminars and training courses for medical
staff in hospitals, health centers and village health posts, as
well as training courses on AIDS prevention for teachers in the
province, she said. --Antara

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Navy nab ship carrying illegal logs
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Navy arrests ships carrying illegal logs

PEKANBARU, Riau: A Navy patrol arrested on Thursday two ships
suspected of carrying 100 tons of illegal logs in Dumai, Riau
province, Antara reported on Saturday.

It was not immediately clear if the ships, which were not
identified, were trying to smuggle the logs out of the country.

Navy personnel arrested the ships after their crews failed to
produce the necessary documents for the logs. The ships were then
brought to Bengkalis port in Dumai, Riau province, where they are
being held for further investigation.

Commenting on the arrests, Dumai Naval Base commander Lt. Col.
Daniel Majid said on Saturday that the Navy would continue
safeguarding the country's natural resources even though there
were those who were intent on smuggling them out the country.
--Antara

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2,500 residents plant trees on Merapi volcano
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2,500 people plant trees on Merapi slopes

YOGYAKARTA: About 2,500 civil servants, military and police
personnel, party activists, members of charitable organizations,
and local residents of Sleman regency, Yogyakarta, planted a wide
variety of trees on the southern slopes of Mt. Merapi on
Saturday.

The reforestation campaign was focused on the so-called third
square slope -- the highest in the Turgo mountain range -- which
is now completely deforested due to fires during last year's dry
season.

The trees planted on Saturday included mahogany, acacia,
damar, suren, and salam trees, which were provided by the Sleman
regental administration.

Sleman regent Ibnu Subiyanto, who led the reforestation drive,
said the move was part of efforts to save the Merapi area, which
had suffered severe deforestation due to fires and landslides.

He also said that the mountains in the area had been neglected
over the past six years.

"For the past six years, no attempts have been made to plant
trees on the mountains. So, it is not at all surprising that the
area has been completely deforested," Ibnu was quoted by Antara
as saying on Saturday. --Antara

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Children of fishermen want scholarship
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Children count on Thai boats for schooling

BANDA ACEH: Thousands of children of traditional fishermen in
Aceh are counting on scholarships to enable them to continue
their schooling.

Aceh Cultural and Marine Law Council secretary Adli Abdullah
said on Saturday that the children were promised scholarships to
be paid for out of the proceeds raised by the auctioning of Thai
fishing boats confiscated in Aceh waters earlier.

Adli, however, said his council was able to provide
scholarships to only 535 students due to the limited funds
available.

The Aceh administration earned a total of Rp 11. 5 billion
from the auctioning off 35 Thai boats confiscated for poaching in
Indonesian waters.

Most of the funds, however, went into the coffers of the
provincial administration.

"If all the proceeds of the sale of the Thai boats were
allotted for sending the children of traditional fishermen to
school, it would help thousands of children from poor,
traditional fishing families," Adli explained.

He said each child would receive between Rp 40,000 and Rp
100,000 a month, depending on the educational level concerned.

An elementary school student would receive Rp 40,000 a month,
junior high school student Rp 55,000, senior high school student
Rp 70,000 and a university or other high learning institute
student Rp 100,000. -- Antara

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Across-petra-Australia
Petra opens Australian study center
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Petra opens Australian study center

SURABAYA: The English department of the Petra Christian
University's (UKP) faculty of letters in Surabaya, East Java, is
planning to open an Australian Study Center, an academician said
Saturday.

The Australian Study Center will be launched during "Aussie
Week" from Feb. 25 through Feb. 28, said Aylanda Nugroho of the
UKP's faculty of letters.

"The embryo of the Australian Study Center actually came into
existence in 1999 as part of a subject in the university's
English department," Nugroho said.

He said the Australian Study Center would be launched by the
university's rector Paul Nugraha, and would be attended by
Beverly Mercer, cultural counselor at the Australian embassy in
Jakarta.

According to Nugroho, Aussie Week would begin with seminars on
East Java's "competitiveness" in Indonesian-Australian bilateral
relations, and a lecture on Australian study to be delivered by
Australian journalist Duncan Graham.

Other events to mark Aussie Week are a public speaking contest
on "How to Improve Indonesian-Australian Relations", an education
fair and a food festival. --Antara