Archive for October, 2007
JAKARTA, Indonesia - Indonesia began its annual mass exodus Sunday when millions of people pour out of the major cities to return to their home villages to celebrate the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Thousands have started crowding bus and train stations in the capital, Jakarta six days before Eid al-Fitr to beat the mass exodus later in the week when buses, cars and motorcycles create massive traffic jams on roads across the world’s most populous Muslim nation.
Transport officials estimate that nearly 15 million people will head to their home villages - up six per cent from last year - for the two day celebration next weekend.
“The exodus through land transportation is expected to reach its peak three days before the Eid al-Fitr,” said senior transportation ministry official Iskandar Abubakar.
Every year, families form long lines at train and bus stations and tens of thousands wait for ferries at seaports around the country that is spread across more than 17,000 islands.
Nearly 90 per cent of Indonesia’s 235 million people are Muslims.
During the four weeks of Ramadan, Muslims are not supposed to eat, drink or have sex during daylight hours. On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, people flock to early morning prayers and families later gather to eat specially prepared snacks and offer them to friends and neighbours.
Source: http://canadianpress.google.com
October 8th, 2007
JAKARTA Indonesia will attempt to repair its reputation as one of the biggest contributors to deforestation by planting 79 million trees in one day next month.
The initiative is part of a global campaign to plant a billion trees and will precede a UN summit on climate change in Bali in December. “Everybody, residents and officials from the lowest unit of the Government to the President, will take part in this movement,” Ahmad Fauzi Masud, a spokesman for the Forestry Ministry, said. “It will be a national record and, possibly, a world record.” Indonesia had the fastest rate of deforestation in the world between 2000 and 2005, according to the environmental campaign group Greenpeace, which said that an area of woodland equivalent to 300 football pitches was destroyed every hour.
Delegates from 189 countries are expected to attend the summit to discuss a new agreement to fight global warming. The current agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, runs out in 2012. (Reuters)
Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk
October 5th, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Strong currents swept at least 50 endangered Hawksbill turtles from Indonesia to Malaysia after recent earthquakes, an official said Tuesday.
The turtles were found Saturday by local villagers in debris washed ashore on a beach in Kuala Tunjang, Kedah state official Sani Mohamad Isa told AFP.
“The turtles landed on a muddy beach along with rubbish such as bottles that bore Indonesian labels. We suspect they are from the Sumatra area,” Sani said.
“In the last few days, it has been windy and the sea was quite rough,” he added.
Sumatra, separated from Malaysia by the narrow Malacca Strait, has been hit by a series of earthquakes since last month.
Sani said villagers and officials released the turtles back into the sea except for two that had already died and another four that were injured.
The injured Hawksbills will be treated and released after they have recovered, he said.
Sani said although turtles have been sighted in northern Malaysian waters, they have never been seen at Kuala Tunjang as the beach is not sandy.
“In the last five to 10 years, we had sightings of only one or two and that was on Langkawi island, not in Kuala Tunjang. What we found on Saturday is very rare,” he said.
The World Conservation Union lists the Hawksbill turtle and Leatherback turtle as critically endangered.
Source: http://afp.google.com
October 5th, 2007
A catchy song in a Malaysian overseas tourism promotion campaign has hit the wrong note with neighbor Indonesia.
The Indonesians have accused the Malaysians of stealing the song — “Rasa Sayang”, or “Feeling of Love” — from them and are now considering suing.
Indonesian Tourism and Cultural Minister Jero Wacik said Wednesday he was investigating whether Indonesia could claim copyright and had scheduled a meeting with legislators, one of whom has called for legal action against Kuala Lumpur.
“Our two nations come from the same stock, so our songs are sung in Malaysia and the other way around, but for commercial use, ethically there should be a legal notice,” Wacik told reporters.
“In this case there was none because they (the Malaysians) said they have sung it for ages.”
The two countries share Islam as their main religion and have close cultural links with similar national languages. But they also have a history of testy relations that are regularly fanned by nationalist politicians in Indonesia, often for domestic political reasons.
Indonesian House of Representatives member Hakam Naja said Jakarta should consider action against Malaysia for using Rasa Sayang in a campaign to mark the country’s 50th anniversary currently running on radio, television and online.
“We want a proportional response,” said Hakam on Wednesday. “We ask the ministry to sue Malaysia, but only after checking the origin of the song. We should not let other countries misuse any of our national heritage.”
However, Malaysian Tourism Minister Adnan Mansor was quoted by The Star and New Straits Times Wednesday saying that the song had its origin in both countries.
“Indonesia cannot claim that the song is theirs,” Adnan said. “As far as I know, we have been singing the song for ages,” he said.
Adnan could not be immediately reached for comment. A Malaysia tourism ministry spokesman, who declined to be named citing protocol, confirmed Adnan’s comments but couldn’t give further details.
Hakam has also accused Malaysia of claiming ownership of traditional Indonesian heritage such as batik art using dye fabrics and the shadow puppet theater, the report added.
Malaysian Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Rais Yatim has rejected Hakam’s allegations and warned Indonesia that a law suit could hurt bilateral ties, the national Bernama news agency said.
“Indonesia or other parties will not be able to prove who was the composer of the song,” he said in the report. “If Indonesia wants to pursue the matter, it will face a dead end and will also affect Malaysia-Indonesia relations.”
Source: http://www.iht.com
October 4th, 2007
Indonesian aviation authorities have upgraded the safety rankings of three domestic airlines to its top category, where previously only flag carrier Garuda Indonesia sat, reports said Tuesday.
“The three airlines have gone up by one rank to the first category, joining Garuda Indonesia,” air transport director-general Muliawan Suyitno said, according to the Bisnis Indonesia newspaper.
The carriers are Mandala Airlines, Premi Air and Airfast Indonesia, he said.
He did not elaborate on how they had improved their safety measures.
Indonesia, an archipelago nation that relies heavily on air transport, has seen a string of fatal accidents in recent years and has one of the worst safety records in the world.
An Adam Air plane crashed into the sea off Indonesia’s Sulawesi island on New Year’s Day, leaving all 102 people on board dead, while in March, a Garuda plane crashed on landing in Central Java, killing 21 people.
In April the US aviation authorities declared Indonesia did not comply with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) safety standards, and in June the European Union banned all 51 Indonesian airlines from its airspace.
Indonesia signed a pact with ICAO in July vowing to improve the safety of its beleaguered industry.
Airlines here were deregulated in the 1990s, encouraging new operators to take to the skies amid massive passenger growth.
Source: http://www.theage.com.au
October 4th, 2007
Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse) - The number of foreign tourists to the country totaled 2.97 million in the first 8 months of this year up from 2.62 million in the same period last year.
The Central Bureau of Statistics described the increase as encouraging and contributing to the revival of the country’s tourism industry. In August the number of foreign tourists totaled 405,604, down from 423,490 in July, said an official of the culture and tourism ministry.
Director general of marketing Thamrin B. Bachri said Indonesia hopes to attract foreign tourists from non-traditional markets such as Russia.
Source: ANTARA News
October 3rd, 2007
Small towns in West Java suddenly have residents lining up wanting to become village head, because after autonomy was introduced, the top dog’s job started to look a little more attractive.
Prior to the region’s 2003 autonomy status, officials said people were reluctant to run the villages.
The line-up is thanks to a gradual improvement in the village head’s personal welfare, along with annual share in fund worth of between Rp 30 million and Rp 59 million, depending on village population.
The fund was developed to finance economic empowerment programs and to build infrastructure based on the needs of each village.
Village heads would also receive an additional Rp 5 million annually from West Java’s provincial budget, along with a motorcycle for transport.
Sumedang Regent Don Murdono said the program was devised to provide people with the right development programs for their villages.
The fund was also intended to empower individual villagers to actively participate in improving their own conditions.
“Regional autonomy is supposed to empower people,” said Don, who was elected regent in 2003 and will serve his term until 2008.
Apart from distributing the Village Development Fund (DPD), the program receives supporting funds and assistance from the District Development Program (PPK).
The program to develop villages has seen an increase in the number of villages across the regency.
Currently, the regency still has 26 districts but the number of villages has increased from 262 in 2003 to 270 villages today.
Don said the DPD program had helped stimulate participation and independence at the grass roots.
The administration has issued a regulation to supervise the funds and to prevent misappropriation by village officials.
Autonomy has also seen the development of various village organizations, including the Village Representative Body and the Village People’s Empowerment Council.
As part of the program, village officials are included in training days focused on administration, development and transparency.
Villagers are being taught how to better manage their land and their businesses, and they’re being taught about social welfare, education, healthcare and their rights as civilians.
The regency’s capital is Sumedang, some 45 km east of Bandung, and has more than 1 million residents.
It is the main town connecting northern coastal areas in Java with southern parts of West Java.
The town borders five other regencies including Indramayu, Garut, Bandung, Majalengka and Subang and is popular for its fried tofu and Cilembu sweet potato from Cilembu village.
Six tons of sweet potato are exported to Singapore, Japan and Taiwan every week.
Many Sumedang residents live in villages and the regency relies on natural resources.
It has a strong tourism arm and locals said they are proud of their traditional handicraft, forestry, farming and animal husbandry sectors.
Don said the regency’s village economy however relied heavily on agribusiness.
He said it has launched a modernization program for its administration and in 2003 implemented a financial transformation program for its regional accounting system.
“The implementation has gained recognition from the Home Affairs Ministry,” he said.
Sumedang is also considered to have one of the best financial accounting systems.
It regularly hosts officials conducting field study trips from other towns.
The regency has enforced efficient spending for government officials, focusing on finance and education.
Based on an autonomy study conducted by Yogyakarta State University recently, Sumedang has used around 50 percent of its General Allocation Fund (DAU) for its education sector.
The regency received Rp 551 million of the fund this year.
With various programs, the administration plans to improve the economy of its residents.
The regency now boasts economic growth of more than 4.5 percent annually, higher than 3.67 percent in 2003.
The completion of the town’s Jatigede dam construction — expected to water more than 100,000 hectares of rice fields threatened with failure during dry season — is much awaited.
And so too is the construction of the 52-km Cileunyi-Sumedang-Dawuan (Cisumdawu) turnpike, which was in 2003 approved by the government.
However to-date there have been no serious expressions of interest, but the turnpike is intended to ease transport access to an international airport planned for Majalengka.
Source: Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Sumedang
October 2nd, 2007
This year’s fasting month has seen a record number of weekend visitors use the recreational facilities at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) in East Jakarta.
“The second weekend of this month saw the number of visitors reach 40,000 — and we saw 20,000 during the week,” information manager Purnawidjaja Alibasa told Antara.
Purnawidjaja said he expected the peak traffic period would be on October 14, the second day of Idul Fitri holidays, which falls on a Sunday.
He said they would most likely experience another peak on October 21, the last day of school holidays.
“During the peak, the number of visitors can climb to 80,000 people in one day.
“Visitors not only come from Jakarta, but also Central Java, East Java and Lampung,” Purnawidjaja said.
Live music shows and various fun games for children were held this month to encourage families to visit the recreational complex, he said.
TMII staff member Yudi said last year they invited dangdut groups and singers from outside Jakarta.
“This year again our entertainment includes dangdut dancers who are finalists and winners of TPI’s dangdut talent scouting program, KDI,” he said.
Established in 1975, TMII occupies an area of 150 hectares and showcases Indonesia’s history and cultures including traditional houses from 27 provinces.
It has also several flora and fauna parks and a theater building. The complex is home to several museums featuring soldiers, telecommunications, transportation, sports and stamps.
Source: The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
October 2nd, 2007
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) had predicted that about 7.5 million foreign tourists would visit Indonesia in 2007.
“PATA has predicted that Indonesia will be visited by 7.5 million foreign tourists in 2007,” the minister said in his written address to a tourism meeting here over the weekend.
The PATA prediction is higher than the government`s target of six million arrivals during the year.
With regard to the target, the minister said that his ministry had predicted four scenarios, namely pessimistic scenario with 5,21 million foreign tourist arrivals, moderate scenario with 5.61 million, optimistic with 6.16 million and accelerated one with 7.016 million arrivals.
The minister said Indonesia also expected to earn US$3.76 billion in foreign exchange if it achieved its pessimistic scenario, US$4.71 billion (moderate one), US$5.46 billion (optimistic) and US$5.82 billion (accelerated scenario).
Wacik said he believed that the arrival of foreign tourists in Indonesia would continue to increase by one million people annually up to 2001.
“Thus, we hope that at the end of 2008 about seven million foreign tourists are expected to arrive in Indonesia and about 10 million at the end of 2011,” the minister added. (*)
Source: ANTARA News
October 1st, 2007
State Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik said Bali is the timber that can underpin bridges of harmony worldwide.
He was speaking Thursday night at the fourth annual Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) from the festival’s magnificent annual launching pad, Ubud Palace.
“People from 18 countries come here smiling and with love. This is harmony. If we can export this across Indonesia, think how harmonious Indonesia would be.
“And if we could export this (harmony) around the world there would be no more wars, because people the world over love each other,” said Wacik in his opening address to the crowd.
He stressed his belief that people can build bridges person to person, ethnicity to ethnicity and country to country.
“The biggest bridge of all is the bridge between countries. Malaysia and Indonesia, Belgium and Indonesia, Australia and Indonesia. Every day we see this bridge being built in Ubud. When I am no longer a minister I want to come to this festival and write and read,” said Wacik to thunderous applause.
Patron of the UWRF, Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa S. Sos of Ubud’s royal family spoke of the universal dream of world harmony, a dream that he believes is made real in some sense through the UWRF.
“The dream of Janet and her team has come true. I have a universal dream, we all search for harmony between human to human, human to nature and human to belief or God.
“What is harmony, I hope the UWRF can answer this question and how we can achieve this,” said Tjokorda Raka Kerthyasa as he wished the festival another successful year, that in some ways is also the end of an era.
Founder and director Janet De Neefe is stepping aside to take on the role of executive director for the festival.
“I will still be involved in the festival, working more on developing community relations,” said De Neefe who also plans to “take more time” for herself.
“I will be developing my own projects such as the recipe book I am working on. I suppose this is the end of an era with the festival manager and the sponsorship manager also stepping aside. It’s a bit like losing family,” said De Neefe of a festival she believes has matured since its inception in 2003.
“As the festival has matured, I feel so have I. I have come to understand more about what our role is and our identity. I feel the festival has a role to play in Bali addressing significant issues affecting Bali, Indonesia and the world. This is very much where the festival started after the Bali bombings in 2002.
“That and the central factor, which is to showcase Indonesian writers and give them a place on the world stage,” said De Neefe on the sidelines of the gala festival opening.
Security was tight for the event, with members of the elite antiterror squad on duty in the normally sleepy hillside village. The squad is backing up the community policing organization of pecalang and Ubud’s police force.
UWRF community development worker Kadek Purnami said the festival worked with local police and pecalang to ensure the event ran smoothly and traffic jams were kept to a minimum.
“Security is paramount because we do have some very high profile guests at the festival. Local police have the backup of Bali’s antiterror squad, who are staying in Ubud for the festival,” said Kadek. And while security may be tight, there is no sense of concern, with festival-goers clearly relaxed and ready to enjoy the event.
It is an event that Bali Tourism Board (BTB) Chairman Ngurah Wijaya says is set to become one of the most important in Bali in the years ahead.
“The festival is extremely important to Bali’s economy and we at the BTB believe the UWRF is going to become one of the most important festivals in Bali,” said Wijaya.
He points out Bali’s tourism has, this year, reached an all-time high with thousands of people arriving on the island daily, and many of these headed to Ubud for the festival.
He added that the festival’s value lies not only in its ability to generate revenue, but also in its ability to stimulate culture in Bali and Indonesia.
“Culture is not static. Culture is moving, is alive and it has to be fed. Bali’s culture can be dynamic and I feel the UWRF helps grow that dynamism by feeding the culture,”
The importance of the festival is not only being noticed in Bali, but also in the nation’s capital, said Wijaya, who expects to see some government funding for the festival in 2008 and 2009.
“The festival fits into the MICE (Meetings Incentive Conferences and Exhibitions) framework that highlights Bali and the festival certainly fits into that government initiative and I hope to see some funding available from the government in 2008 and 2009,” said Wijaya.
He points out that the government takes a hands-off approach during the formative years of community developments, such as the UWRF, because “these events need to come from the community themselves, otherwise they have no soul.”
And it is clear with a 30 percent jump in participant numbers for the festival that UWRF has got soul.
According to UWRF festival manager Finley Smith, the dramatic leap in numbers may be due to the overall rise in tourists again visiting Bali, but the festival’s growing reputation is also playing a role.
“This year we have the most participants ever. Numbers are up by 30 percent and I feel this is being driven by the fact tourism numbers in general have really picked up; I think that is partly responsible, partly that and partly our (UWRF) growing reputation.
“There are a lot of people coming from Jakarta and also internationally,” said Smith on the sidelines of the event’s Gala Opening last night last Wednesday.
Source: The Jakarta Post
October 1st, 2007
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