Inside Indonesia 51 - Newsbriefs

no. 51 July- September 1997		Newsbriefs Summary reports on current affairs
		PULP FRICTION Environmental organisations are protesting plans to start up Southeast Asia's biggest paper pulp plant. The Tanjung Enim Lestari plant in South Sumatra, owned largely by Prajogo Pangestu and presidential daughter mbak Tutut, will initially produce half a million tons of pulp a year, more than twice Indorayon's Porsea plant and set to double later. The venture works together with Dutch, Japanese, Australian and other foreign companies. Sumatra does not have enough plantation timber to support the plant, leading to fears of land and forest grabs against local people. If the plant uses chlorine, the impact on rivers will be serious. Down to Earth February 1997; Jakarta Post 15 March 1997. CAPITAL QUAKE Thousands of panic-stricken office workers and hotel residents in Jakarta and Bandung fled down emergency stairs into the streets below their high rise buildings after an earthquake struck. Measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale, the quake originated in the Indian Ocean and was felt throughout West Java and southern Sumatra. One worker said her computer on the 36th floor of a bank slid nearly a metre. It was the biggest shock on record to hit Jakarta. Pikiran Rakyat 18 March 1997. PRESS AWARDS Harvard University's Nieman Foundation gave its award for Conscience and Integrity in Journalism this year to Goenawan Mohamad, former editor of the banned news weekly Tempo. The foundation praised Goenawan for continuing to campaign for press freedoms and inspiring other journalists. He has launched several independent press organisations which continue to criticise the government's strict control of the news media. The International Press Institute gave Indonesia's Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) its Free Media Pioneer '97 award at a ceremony attended by King Juan Carlos in Spain. AJI secretary-general Satrio Arismunandar accepted the award. UPI 23 April 1997; AP 2 April 1997. PIRATES AHOY Pirates using speedboats and handguns are holding up more small and medium ships in the South China Sea than ever before. Big tankers are too fast for them. Most of the world's 224 incidents in 1996 took place here. Many pirates are Indonesian, but after dumping the crew overboard they usually take their prey to small ports in southern China, where officials are in on the racket. The cargo is sold, the ship is repainted in garish colours with a new name, and the pirates are allowed to go home. New York Times 20 April 1997. BIGGEST BRIDGE A new twin suspension bridge across the mouth of the Barito River in South Kalimantan is the longest cable bridge in Asia. It has two spans of 249m each, and cost Rp98 billion (AU$55 million). President Suharto refused to have it named after him, saying he did not want to foster a 'personality cult'. The bridge forms an important link in a road being built right around Borneo. Banjarmasin Post 31 March 1997; Republika 24 April 1997. TIMOR RESOLUTION The United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) meeting in Geneva passed a resolution by 20 votes to 14 (with 18 abstentions and one non-participant) expressing serious concerns about the human rights situation in East Timor. Lobbying by Nobel prize winner Jose Ramos Horta was held responsible for the resolution, which was stronger than last year's chairman's statement. Jakarta sharply rejected a call in the resolution for a permanent UNHRC human rights monitor for East Timor. Reuter 21 April 1997; Kompas 25 April 1997. VIRAL WARFARE Portuguese hackers in a group called Toxyn repeatedly replaced the homepages of the Indonesian Armed Forces (Abri) and of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Department with East Timor Campaign messages. They included a famous photo of Ali Alatas giving German demonstrators the one finger salute. They did the same to several other government home pages, which are not well protected. Apparently at a loss, Abri officers offered to pay Indonesian volunteers to strike back, which they did by sending mail bombs to a Portuguese address. Bergerak! 4 April 1997; Republika 27 April 1997. BIKES GO BUST Indonesian bicycle exports to Europe have plummeted since the EU applied punitive fees and taxes, saying Indonesia was 'dumping' the bikes there. Before the anti-dumping ruling in 1994, Indonesian companies were selling 23 million units a year at about US$72 a piece. That has now declined to less than a quarter. Manufacturers say the dumping accusation is unfair, as the bikes sell domestically for the same price. They now hope to increase sales to Japan and the USA. Local markets are also still wide open. Indonesians only have one bicycle for every 12 people, compared with one for 3.4 in China, and one for one in Holland. Kontan 25 April 1997; Republika 30 April 1997. MARTIAL ARTS Indonesian athletes won 11 gold medals, 2 silver and 6 bronze at the world martial arts championships in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, making Indonesia the best nation in the world in this sport. Twenty two countries competed in the tournament, seen as preparation for the Southeast Asia Games in October. Republika 1 May 1997. THE NEXT BUSANG Now that the fabulous gold deposit in Busang, Kalimantan, has been shown up as a Canadian scam, attention is shifting to Batu Hijau, Indonesia's largest gold deposit after Freeport, located in West Sumbawa. US-based Newmont plans to dump 120,000 tons of tailings into the Indian Ocean every day when it starts production in 2000. But the environmental aspect received less press coverage than its ownership. In the national interest, the government is again pressing the foreign owner to give a larger share to several wealthy Indonesians. Kontan 3 February & 9 May 1997. HELPING TOMMY Fifteen state and private banks were told by the Bank of Indonesia to put up a loan of US$1.3 billion to allow presidential son Tommy Suharto to build an Indonesian plant for his 'national car', the Timor, presently produced wholly in Korea. Though very cheap, the car is not popular with consumers, and even government departments are resisting pressure to buy it. The loan demand is larger than the projected cost of the plant, yet is not accompanied by a feasibility study, and is moreover interest-free. 'We are getting ready to write it off', said one banker. Some analysts suspect the real source of the money is not the banks but 'non-budgetary' funds stashed away in various government departments. Kontan 2 & 9 May 1997. CONSCIENCE PRISONERS National Commission of Human Rights member Marzuki Darusman said it was 'unjust' to sentence PRD leader Budiman Sudjatmiko to 13 years gaol for subversion. Other PRD leaders got sentences of 12, 9 and 8 years. Budiman became a folk hero during the trial. Outspoken parliamentarian Sri Bintang formally became a prisoner in Cipinang Gaol after the High Court rejected his appeal against a 2 year 10 month sentence for insulting the president. Sukatno, one of five political prisoners remaining on death row in Cipinang for alleged involvement in the 30 September 1965 coup attempt, died in hospital aged 67. Imprisoned since 1968, he was suffering from a prostate disorder. The constant possibility he could be executed burdened him mentally. Kompas 30 April 1997; Media Indonesia 6 May 1997; Tapol 11 May 1997.