Vatican ambassador visits Sikka

MAUMERE, East Nusa Tenggara: The people of predominantly Catholic Sikka, Flores Island, in East Nusa Tenggara rolled out the red carpet for Vatican Ambassador Mgr. Renzo Fratini along with 22 bishops as part of the inauguration of Rev. Fransiskus Kopong Kung as coadjutor bishop of Larantuka Diocese on Thursday.

The ambassador and his entourage was welcomed by a local traditional ceremony which was attended by local officials.

Besides decorating the Waioti airport and the cathedral in Larantuka, local people also cleaned the road connecting the airport and the cathedral and hung banners along the road to greet the ambassador and his entourage.

The local administration also deployed a special car to disseminate information on the bishop's arrival and Fransiskus' inauguration to people in the town of Maumere.

According to the steering committee, after the inauguration ceremony the ambassador and bishops are scheduled to return to Maumere to hold a post-Idul Fitri gathering with local Muslims and celebrate Christmas and New Year with local Christians. --Antara

Batam mayor wants more authority

BATAM, Riau: The Batam municipal administration is determined to take over the authority for handling agrarian affairs on the island from the Batam Development Industrial Authority (BIDA).

"The Batam administration is fighting to take over the authority for the agrarian sector from BIDA in line with the implementation of the 1999 regional autonomy law as Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir has spoken about to the public recently," Antara quoted a local official who asked for anonymity as saying here on Tuesday.

He said the presidential decree on BIDA would cease to be effective as soon as the government had implemented regional autonomy beginning on Jan. 1, 2001.

The municipal administration and BIDA have been in dispute over authority on the island following the implementation of regional autonomy.

Both local and foreign investors have said they don't mind which institution has full authority in Batam but that the law must be enforced to provide legal certainty.

Edy, president of timber company PT Barelang Wood Industry, a foreign investor, said local authorities should guarantee legal certainty and security to continue encouraging the island's economic growth.

"Investors have been confused by the continued rifts over who should govern the island," he said. --Antara

Jayawijaya takes over nursing school

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: The Jayawijaya regency administration has taken over a nursing school run by the Health Ministry.

Jayawijaya Regent David Agustien Hubi confirmed on Tuesday that he had appointed Saleh Seran as the new head of the nursing school to replace Marthen Sagrim, who was appointed by Minister of Health Achmad Suyudi last March.

W.E. Kalalo, chief of the local health office, admitted that the school had been taken over by force by the local administration for reasons that remained unclear.

The provincial administration has sent a team to Jayawijaya to investigate the case. --Antara

Riau governor urged to comply with law

JAKARTA: Yafiz, secretary of the Rokan Ilir regency administration who was fired for unclear reasons and transferred to the Riau provincial administration, called on Rokan Ilir Regent Thamrin Hasyim and Riau Governor Saleh Djasid to accept the ruling of the state administrative court, which recently annulled his dismissal.

He criticized the two senior Riau officials and said they should appeal to the Higher Administrative Court if they objected to the state administrative court's verdict.

"I will not leave my job because the state administrative court in Pekanbaru has annulled Rokan Ilir Regent Thamrin Hasyim's decision to fire me," he said here on Tuesday.

He said he had been dismissed and moved to the provincial administration for refusing to collude with the regent in marking up a number of infrastructure projects in the regency during 2001 that caused losses of more than Rp 12 billion to the state.

"I have reported the corruption cases to the central government but so far no action has been taken against the regent or governor," he said.

He said he had uncovered a number of other corrupt practices in the regency and would report on them to the central government. --Antara

Mardiyanto's golden songs sold for Rp 1.3b

SEMARANG: Recordings of Javanese campursari songs performed by Central Java Governor Mardiyanto raised Rp 1.3 billion at a Social Care Night attended by more than 100 businessmen and local officials in the city last Monday.

The funds will be distributed to orphanages, the disabled and talented students in the province.

A recording company in the city has collected Mardiyanto's songs on VCD and cassette to mark the third anniversary of his government and raise funds for the needy in the province.

Mardiyanto called on all parties to criticize his government and local officials in order to improve their services to the public and their awareness of the people's poor conditions. --Antara

Palm oil grower shot dead in N. Sumatra

MEDAN, North Sumatra: A group of unidentified gunmen shot to death Alwi, the owner of a palm oil plantation in Dolok Masihul, Deli Serdang, during a robbery near the plantation on Monday.

Sr. Comr. Iskandar Hasan, chief of the North Sumatra Provincial Police's detective unit, said on Tuesday that, according to witnesses, the victim was shot by the gunmen, who were riding in a green Rocky jeep, as he made his way home in Tebing Tinggi.

"After finding their victim was dead, the robbers escaped with an amount of money taken from the victim's wallet," he said, adding that police were still looking for the robbers.

Two rebels shot in Aceh

BANDA ACEH: A joint military force claims to have shot dead two rebels and injured 14 others in an exchange of gunfire in Seunagan subdistrict, West Aceh, on Monday.

Maj. Zaenal Mutaqin, spokesman for the military operation in Aceh, said the injured rebels had been detained in the West Aceh Police Precinct ahead of further investigations.

Those killed, identified as Anwar, 33, and Herman, 25 were handed over to locals for burial.

He said the joint force had also confiscated four guns, 370 rounds of ammunition and a truck from the rebels.

Zaenal said the incident had occurred as the joint force raided a stronghold of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in the subdistrict.

GAM officials were not available to provide confirmation of the incident on Tuesday. --Antara