Used cars attract tourists to Weh Island

Used cars attract tourists to Weh Island

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Used cars from Singapore, imported through
the Sabang free port, has resulted in tens of thousands of
Acehnese visiting Weh Island, some 18 miles from the provincial
capital of Banda Aceh.

At least 500 Acehnese visit the free port zone each day to
purchase and see the cars, said Adnan Hasyim, an informal leader
in Sabang, over the weekend.

"Based on Law No. 36/2000 on the Sabang free port, local
businessmen have imported thousands of used cars from Singapore.
Most visitors purchase the used cars to be sold in Banda Aceh and
Medan for higher prices."

He said many people had taken the opportunity to take their
families on holiday to Sabang Island and the beautiful Weh
Island, which, despite the ongoing civil war, attracts hundreds
of foreign tourists each year.

He said Sabang's economy was improving since the government
revived its status as free port and it had helped spur economic
growth in other parts of Aceh.

Prior to the law's enactment, most Sabang inhabitants lived
under the poverty line. -- Antara

New ship for Palembang-Makassar route

PALEMBANG, South Sumatra: State-owned ferry company PT Pelni
launched KM Ganda Dewata to link Sulawesi and Sumatra at a
ceremony in Palembang, South Sumatra on Saturday.

The ship, which can hold 700 passengers and 200 cars, will
travel between Makassar, Sulawesi and Palembang, via Jakarta.

Pelni's chief in Palembang, Lili, said the ship had economy,
business and executive classes with restaurant and telephone
facilities and three-star rooms.

"An economy class ticket costs Rp 178,000 while cars cost Rp
500,000," he said.

He said the ship was expected to develop trade between Sumatra
and Sulawesi, and reduce traffic on the Trans-Sumatra Highway. --
Antara

Two former E. Timor militiamen arrested

ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: The United Nations Peacekeeping
Force (UNPKF) has arrested two former pro-Jakarta East Timorese
militiamen in East Timor on Saturday.

"UNPKF personnel arrested the two on charges of involvement in
serious crimes in East Timor in the wake of the UN-administered
(independence) ballot in 1999," Belu military district chief Lt.
Col. Ganip Warsito said in the West Timor capital of Atambua on
Saturday.

Ludji, 40 and Aje Pareira 26, an alleged commander in the
feared Aitarak militia that terrorized the East Timor capital of
Dili after the East Timorese voted for Independence, were
arrested in the village of Batugade near Indonesia's border.

The two men were among a group of 51 people detained for visa
or passport offenses.

"The 51 consisted of two former East Timorese refugees and 49
Indonesians from Belu who were in Batugade to meet their brothers
and to trade," he said.

Traders, often without passports, regularly pass between the
two countries.

The remaining 49 Indonesians were released after talks between
UNPKF and military authorities in Belu. --Antara

Earthquake jolts Bengkulu

BENGKULU CITY, Bengkulu: No casualties or damage was reported
form an earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richer scale that shook
Bengkulu Province early Saturday.

The chief of the Bengkulu office of the Meteorology and
Geophysics Agency (BMG), Armien Paimin, said the tremor was
centered 91 kilometers southwest of Manna, South Bengkulu, in the
Indian Ocean.

He said that Bengkulu, on a fault line that runs through
Sumatra, has been rocked by 446 quakes in the last four months.

A powerful quake measuring 7.3 on the Richer scale hit the
province in June, 2000, leaving 94 people dead and causing
widespread damage.

He called on locals to be alert to the fact that earthquakes
can strike at anytime and to take the appropriate precautions. --
Antara

Riau has 44 HIV/AIDS cases

PEKANBARU, Riau: The Riau administration announced on Saturday
that 44 people in the province had been diagnosed as having
HIV/AIDS, the second highest incidence after Jakarta.

Local health office chief Dr. Ekmal Rusdy said anyone could
catch the disease.

He said those infected included eight sex workers, 15
businessmen, a student, a painter, a taxi driver, five factory
workers, one fisherman, two seafarers, five youths, four wives
and one five-year child.

"Twenty-two of the cases are in Batam, seven in Riau Islands
Regency, four in Pekanbaru, one in Siak and eight in Karimun," he
said. He was not asked about where the other two cases were.

He called on local authorities to intensify AIDS-awareness
campaigns in urban and rural areas and at campuses to help
minimize the disease's spread. -- Antara