Cempaka Business and Economy

Indonesia's Culture of Corruption Exposed on Film

2012-01-27T19:51:00.003+07:00

Jakarta Globe, Lisa Siregar, January 27, 2012

‘Kita versus Korupsi’ features four short films about corruption in everyday
life. The film’s cast agreed to contribute their talents free of charge.
(Photo courtesy of Kita versus Korupsi)

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EveryIndonesian knows that corruption is common for smoothing every bureaucraticprocess. You got a speeding ticket? Pay the officer. You want to renew yourpassport? Pay the immigration staff. You want to score a meeting with a veryimportant person? Send the secretary a gift.

WhatIndonesians may not realize is that corruption is slowly becoming a culture.

“Today,people can no longer decide if a corrupt act is really corruption,” said AbduhAziz, the secretary general of the Jakarta Arts Council and a film producer.

Tohighlight this cultural shift and nationwide problem, a group of filmmakersbanded together to produce a collection of four short films running a total of75 minutes.

With thehelp of Transparency International, the Corruption Eradication Commission(KPK), Management Systems International and the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment, four directors give their take on graft. They hope theircollective endeavor will educate Indonesians on the harm that corruptioninflicts on a society.

Entitled“Kita versus Korupsi” (“Us Against Corruption”), the film explains howcorruption has rooted itself in everyday Indonesian life. The cast featurespopular actors and actresses, including Dominique Diyose, Tora Sudiro andRinggo Agus Rahman. Noted scriptwriter Prima Rusdi was also involved as theproject’s creative director.

“We hopethe film will be able to speak about honesty and integrity,” Abduh said.

The ideabehind the project came from Busyro Muqoddas. The former chief of the KPK knowsbetter than most that corruption is a very complex issue here.

Corruptdealings are a daily occurrence at nearly every level of government, and everycase has a different motive. An even more worrying problem is that a study bythe KPK has shown that more and more young officials are becoming corrupt.Busyro decided to launch a campaign to handle these problems after realizingthat law enforcement alone was not enough to win the war against corruption.

“A corruptperson is a morally disabled person, so what we really need to do is reform theculture,” he said.

Busyrohopes the film will touch people’s consciences. He hopes that after seeing thefilm, people will be inspired to start a social movement to fight corruption atthe grassroots level.

Filmdirector Lasja F. Susatyo said that endless news reports about corruption haddemoralized her. “We hear about corruption very often, but there’s nothing wecan do about it,” she said. “We just get angry on Facebook and Twitter.”

Lasja andher friends share the KPK’s concerns that the younger generation isincreasingly seeing corruption as normal and acceptable. Lasja, who alsoteaches at Paramadina University, once heard a student tell a friend that theyshould just accept corruption as a part of life.

“Maybebecause the media always have these stories in the news, people aredesensitized,” she said. “You don’t know what’s right and what’s wronganymore.”

Lasjadirected a 16-minute short called “Aku Padamu” (“I Am Into You”), which starsactors Nicholas Saputra and Revalina S. Temat. It follows the story of a couplewho run away to be with each other. The problem is, they can’t get marriedbecause they don’t have the necessary letters and documents. The groom wants tobribe the officials, but the bride refuses. After all, the very reason they ranaway is because her father is involved in a corruption case.

Each filmexamines a case of corruption in an everyday environment, such as in the familyor at school.

ChairunNissa’s 13-minute film is about a teacher and students and how they learn aboutgood values. Ine Febriyanti and Emil Heradi finish out the directorial roster.Ine gives her take about a career woman who tries to avoid paying a bribe,while Emil’s film portrays someone who feels guilty for being corrupt.

Becauseit’s a serious, deep-rooted issue, Abduh wanted to make sure the team took theright approach for the films.

“We didn’twant to tell a story about huge corruption cases, because we already hear aboutthese every day,” he said.

One goal isto educate Indonesian children, who often learn about corruption through familyand school.

Abduhpointed out how students were encouraged to buy schoolbooks through theirteachers. The teacher then earns a commission and gives the students betterscores in return.

And manyparents undoubtedly tell their teens to pay bribes to get identification cardsor driver’s licenses.

“We see howcorruption is being internalized by our children,” he said.

Abduh saidthe coalition received a lot of help in making the films, including from theactors, who did not receive payment for their contributions. The film crewsalso charged lower than normal rates and equipment was rented at discountedprices. Shooting took place over 14 days in November.

“Turns out,there are many people who want to speak about corruption,” Lasja said.

Every shortfilm in the collection was inspired by true events. For Lasja, the film shouldhighlight the underbelly of society. Everybody readily blames law enforcementin corruption cases, but nobody criticizes the values system, she said.

“Those whosuffer the injustice of corruption may themselves be corrupt,” she said.

“We havebecome so impatient that we don’t invest our time in doing the right thing.Everyone wants privilege and to be treated like a VIP, but they don’t want togo through the process.”

The filmpremiered in Jakarta on Thursday and will be screened in an additional 17cities. After each screening, Abduh plans to hold a discussion. Because thecreators want to have personalized screenings for the film, it won’tnecessarily be available in local cinemas.

Lasja saidthey hoped to work with local cinemas to provide free screenings, otherwisethey would also try to collaborate with cultural centers or secure rooms andprojectors where possible.

“We won’tsell tickets, so the film will be screened for free,” she said.

“Kitaversus Korupsi” will also be available on YouTube and DVD after all the initialscreenings are complete.

Garuda wins "Indonesian most admired company award"

2012-01-26T17:23:00.001+07:00

Antara News, Thu, January 26 2012

Surabaya, EJava (ANTARA News) - National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has won an"Indonesian Most Admired Company Award" from Fortune Indonesiamagazine for its success in implementing good corporate transformation program.

The awardwas an achievement the management of Garuda Indonesia could be proud of, Garudatechnical and management director Hadinoto Soedigno said here on Wednesday.

"Theachievement proves that all the efforts we have made to improve services and toconduct corporate transformation have given us good results, particularly thepublic`s positive perception and appreciation (of Garuda`s performance),"Hadinoto said in a press statement.

Themagazine`s appreciation for Garuda`s transformation program was based on theresults of a survey and research as well as on the public`s assessment ofcompanies in Indonesia, he said.

"Theassessment covered a number of aspects including leadership, management system,innovation, financial performance, corporate social responsibilities (CSR),human resources development, and development of managerial team," he said.

The awardalso went to other companies, including Unilever, Bank Mandiri, Telkom, Medco,BRI, Indosat, Aneka Tambang, and BCA.

Hadinotosaid last year Garuda also won a number of awards from both national andinternational organizations in recognition of its achievement.

The awardsincluded "Top Brand Award", "Indonesia Best Brand Award","Annual Report Award", and "Good Corporate Governance/GCGAwards` from national organizations.

Also lastyear, Garuda won "World`s Most Improved Airline" from Skytrax London,an independent global airline rating agency, and "Airline Turnaround ofthe Year" from the Center of Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

Editor: Heru

Davos Forum’s Global Elite Damaged by Year of Scandals

2012-01-25T06:13:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, Simon Kennedy, January 24, 2012

Employees install a sign for the World Economic Forum on the Congress
Center in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday. Some 1,600 economic and political
leaders, including 40 heads of states and governments, will converge at the chic
ski town for the 42nd edition of the five-day forum that opens today. (AFP Photo)

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Davos Manis approaching his annual Alpine get-together with humility after spending thepast year getting fired, arrested, belittled and occupied.

When theWorld Economic Forum’s conference gets under way in the Swiss ski resort today,several past stars will be missing from the swirl of policy debates andcocktail parties.

News Corp.chairman Rupert Murdoch is embroiled in a phone hacking scandal. Oswald Gruebelquit as chief executive officer of UBS after a $2.3 billion loss fromunauthorized trading. Philipp Hildebrand left the Swiss National Bank in afuror over his wife’s currency transactions. Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned asInternational Monetary Fund managing director after sexual-assault charges,later dropped, were filed against him.

As“OccupyWEF” protesters build igloos under the eye of Swiss security forces, theleaders of this year’s Davos may try to profit from the mistakes of theirpredecessors by embracing transparency and ethics.

CitigroupCEO Vikram Pandit, a co-chairman of the meeting, is calling for the financialindustry to be more open amid panel discussions with such titles as “Is20th-century capitalism failing 21st-century society?”

“Davos Manhas taken on the lessons of recent years and is asking how to do thingsdifferently,” said Richard Edelman, president and chief executive of publicrelations agency Edelman, who is attending the conference. Businesses andpolicy makers are having to “process accurately the vox populi.”

The needfor them to do so is demonstrated by Edelman’s annual poll on trust, releasedon Monday in conjunction with the Davos meeting. Trust in government fell arecord 9 percentage points to 43 percent, while faith in business slid to 53percent from 56 percent.

Thecredibility of CEOs slid 12 points to 38 percent, the largest drop in nineyears, and banks and financial services remained the two least trustedindustries. The online survey questioned a total of 30,600 people in at least25 countries from Oct. 10 to Nov. 30 last year.

“Davos Manis not this caricature of the rich and powerful person,” Klaus Schwab, founderof the forum, said on Monday.

“Davos Manis a person who, as I define it, should be concerned with the present state ofthe world and who should be ready to engage and contribute so that the state ofthe world is improved.”

The term“Davos Man” was created by the late Samuel Huntington, a professor at HarvardUniversity in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to describe those with internationalvisions who view governments’ only use as easing “the elite’s globaloperations.”

The 42ndannual meeting of the World Economic Forum embodies the “1 percent,” to use thephrase popularized by the young protesters who spent more than eight weeksoccupying New York’s Zuccotti Park last year.

Amongscheduled attendees are bank CEOs such as Pandit and Jamie Dimon of JPMorganChase and corporate chiefs Peter Voser of Royal Dutch Shell and Cisco Systems’John Chambers. At least 70 billionaires are to be present, including investorGeorge Soros and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They will join about 2,600 otherdelegates discussing the world outlook.

The imageof financial, corporate and governmental powers have taken a hit as the“occupy” protests, the Arab Spring uprisings and recent marches in Moscowhighlighted rising unemployment and income inequality, said Tina Fordham,senior global political analyst at Citigroup and a member of the forum’s GlobalAgenda Council. It helps shape the forum’s work.

There is “areduced willingness to tolerate the perceived excess of elites and the oldsocial order, and heightened potential for protests to cause disruption,violence and pressure to alter the legislative agenda,” she said.

Noteveryone has gotten the message. Three years after he used the Davos stage topledge Russia wouldn’t turn toward “isolationism and unbridled economic egoism”and as he seeks to return to the presidency, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin isfacing the biggest protests against his rule in 12 years. They were sparked byalleged fraud in the Dec. 4 parliamentary election, in which his United Russiaparty retained power.

In thefinancial world, Davos Man took a pay cut. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, whois scheduled to attend the forum, had his 2011 pay reduced by 25 percent from ayear earlier. Goldman Sachs cut average compensation and benefits expenses 21percent in the same period.

IanBremmer, president of Eurasia, a New York-based investment consultancy, detectsa generational transition. While Murdoch, 80, began posting on Twitter lastmonth, it’s executives less than half his age who will be more alert to the demandsof consumers and to accepting less privacy given the rise of social media, hesaid.

As youngerleaders “start taking a role and grow in influence and importance, then you’llsee a different sensibility in terms of how they interact with the globalpublic,” Bremmer said.

There willbe plenty of room for them.

Murdoch isabsent again. A year ago, he canceled his participation in a panel discussionat the forum as British police stepped up an investigation into phone-hackingallegations by News Corp. newspapers.

News Corp.spokesman Jack Horner said Murdoch was busy this year.

Gruebel,who two years ago was privately huddling in Davos with counterparts to discusshow to reassert their influence with regulators and governments, quit inSeptember after UBS fell victim to a rogue trader.

High-profilelocals are also missing from Davos this year. Hildebrand, who as a studentworked in the resort as a bell boy and limousine driver, is a no-show after heresigned as SNB president this month. His credibility was questioned followingthe disclosure his wife bought $504,000 in the days before the SNB imposed acurrency cap on the franc.

Two formerDavos stars have been incarcerated in the past year. Strauss-Kahn, who as IMFchief used a Davos debate four years ago to push governments to ease fiscalpolicy, is back in Paris after being arrested in New York and charged withattempted rape and sexual assault.

Saifal-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the former Libyan dictator, was named a YoungGlobal Leader at the forum in 2006. He was captured by rebels in November whiletrying to flee to Niger a month after his father was killed in Libya’soverthrow.

Some of thefalls from grace reflect the aftershocks of the recent credit crisis and theresulting pushes for greater income and democratic equality, said NarimanBehravesh, chief economist at Englewood, Colorado-based IHS and a Davosdelegate.

“Severeincome disparity” was cited as one of the greatest threats to global prosperityover the next decade in the forum’s annual review of risks published on Jan.11.

Organizershave made some nods to the emerging theme. The opening panel on capitalism inmodern times will involve Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan and Sharan Burrow,general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. Later in theweek, the role of business in society will be discussed, as will whether banksare a cure or curse for the world economy.

“The focuson ethics and responsibility and social justice will be much greater this timearound,” said Behravesh.

Bloomberg

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Special report: The missing BRIC in Indonesia's wall

2012-01-20T04:04:00.003+07:00

Reuters, byJaneman Latul and Neil Chatterjee, Tanjung Raja Giham, Indonesia, Thu Jan 19, 2012

A workeruses pliers at the construction site of the Rasuna Epicentrum

superblock inJakarta in this September 29, 2010 file photo. Indonesia is

getting majorcredit upgrades at a time when Western economies are\

getting downgrades.Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday returned the

country to investment-gradelevel for the first time since the Asian

financial crisis. (Credit:Reuters/Beawiharta/Files)

(Reuters) -The Dutch were the last to build a railway in Indonesia and that was beforeWorld War Two. Their soldiers marched people off their land at gunpoint. Thequestion of compensation did not arise.

Now, it'sthe Chinese that are coming to build a new railway in Indonesia. China RailwayGroup has been awarded a $4.8 billion contract to build and maintain the newline in southern Sumatra, which before Dutch colonial rule in the Indonesianarchipelago was the centre of a Southeast Asian maritime empire that hadthriving trade links with China, the Middle Kingdom.

The railwaywill run from the Tanjung Enim coal mine, the richest deposit in Indonesia, toa new port in the Sunda Strait, where what's left of the Krakatau volcano stillpuffs smoke after blowing its top in 1883.

From there,the coal will be shipped to the northern hemisphere to power China's industrialengine, part of a strategy of building infrastructure for resources thatBeijing has employed successfully elsewhere in the world.

The questis not as simple, or as brutal, as it was under colonial rule. Getting land,licenses and locals onboard requires a hearts-and-minds campaign andillustrates why, despite a return to investment grade, betting money onSoutheast Asia's biggest economy isn't for the fainthearted.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Indonesiainfrastructure video: link.reuters.com/ner95s

Graphic onIndonesia infrastructure projects: link.reuters.com/xuc26s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

INVESTMENTGRADE AGAIN

Ratingsagencies have been raising Indonesia's credit rating at a time when they havebeen downgrading Western economies. On Wednesday, Moody's Investors Servicereturned Indonesia to investment grade for the first time since the Asianfinancial crisis in 1997-98.

Indonesianeeded an International Monetary Fund bailout to recover from that crisis, butit avoided tumbling along with the world's largest economies and neighboringcountries into a global recession in 2008-2009.

Now, helpedby a global commodities boom, Indonesia is one of the fastest-growing countriesin the G20, and could join Brazil, Russia, India and China -- the BRICeconomies -- as the next emerging markets powerhouse. An estimated 35 millionof its population of 240 million are now considered middle class.

FitchRatings brought Indonesia back to investment grade last month after 14 years ofjunk ratings, citing President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's efforts to kick-startinfrastructure.

Along-awaited land acquisition law was passed on December 16, allowing Indonesiato accelerate road, port and airport projects, and could be a major turningpoint in the country's efforts to ignite an economic boom.

Investors,hungry to dig into the archipelago's vast deposits of oil, gas, and minerals,expect the land-acquisition law to spur government infrastructure projects. Butit will be no help for private projects such as the Sumatra railway.

PresidentYudhoyono has pledged to double spending on roads, seaports and airports to$150 billion to help deliver average growth of 6.6 percent over the remainderof his term ending in 2014. Poor infrastructure is the biggest impediment toforeign direct investment and Yudhoyono hopes foreigners will pony up much ofthe money to improve it.

ButIndonesia, which has had a feisty democracy since the fall of long-timeautocrat Suharto in 1998, remains a stubbornly difficult country in which to dobusiness, and Yudhoyono may find it easier to raise that kind of money than tospend it.

GREASINGTHE WHEELS

In acountry where property deeds can be as scarce as snow, getting land and localpermits is likely to remain the biggest impediment to investment.

A Reutersexamination of the railway project in Sumatra shows that investing in projectsin the provinces has become much harder than during the Suharto dictatorship,when Indonesia was last rated investment grade. Since then, Indonesia hasdecentralized much of its power. Now a myriad of local interests must beaccommodated, inevitably causing delays.

That hasbeen the case with the Sumatran railway, whose completion looks set to bepushed back at least three years to 2017, an executive at Indonesia's RajawaliGroup, which is the majority owner of the rail project, told Reuters.

Investorsin the project have had to pay off gangs, build swimming pools for thegovernment, step around delicate religious sensibilities and try to overcomeyears of mistrust from locals, such as Sigurung in the village of Tanjung RajaGiham.

Sigurung isa 70-year-old village elder. Like most Indonesians, he uses one name. Sigurungremembers how Dutch soldiers intimidated his grandparents, driving them offtheir land, halfway between the mine and port to build the old railway to thecoal mine back in 1914. They shot some residents before forcibly relocating therest.

Sigurung isfine with the latest rail project -- as long as he gets paid for the land andhis sons get jobs. Otherwise, there will be trouble, he vows.

"Therewill be no railway if you don't get permission from us. The Chinese can work inthis area as long as they're nice to us. But if you don't give us work we willbecome thugs," he said with a disarming smile.

Indonesialags its Southeast Asian neighbors in building highways, ports and powerplants. The World Bank ranks it 75th on its Logistics Performance Index, wellbehind peers Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia.

HISTORICALDISTRUST

The 307-km(186 miles) Transpacific Railway runs from the coal mine to a new port near theprovincial capital of Bandar Lampung on the Sunda Strait. The line would enablecoal firm PT Bukit Asam to triple the output of its vast open-pit mine, underwhich lies enough coal to fuel China's current imports for about 15 years.

Theproject, which took six years just to get off the ground, will likely bedelayed because of an issue with its coal license. This may worry stockinvestors who paid a big premium for shares in Bukit Asam, betting the railwaywill turn a medium-sized producer into a global heavyweight alongsideIndonesia's Bumi Resources.

Chineseinvestors face their own host of issues in increasing exposure to the railway.With its banks financing the project, and China Railway building it, Chineseindustry is expecting a huge bump in coal imports: as much as half theincreased coal output is slated to go to China.

The Chinesehave helped fund and build infrastructure projects in resource-rich countriesfrom Myanmar to Zambia. But Indonesia has nursed a deep distrust of communismsince a bloody, failed coup in 1965 by a pro-Beijing communist party, andpopulist resentment over local ethnic Chinese wealth.

"It'svery difficult for foreign investors, particularly from China, to get assets inIndonesia," said Rudiantara, the chief of the development firm running therailway project, Bukit Asam TransPacific.

But withdemand for investment growing, that may have begun to change. Indonesia isseeking $100 billion of private funding to overhaul its creaking transportnetwork. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, on a visit to Jakarta last April, pledged$19 billion of investment credit for Indonesia, including $9 billion of softand commercial loans for infrastructure development.

China DevelopmentBank will lead the financing of the railway project, with money also comingfrom the world's biggest and fourth biggest lenders, ICBC and Bank of China.

PAVING THEWAY

Despite thedelays, Rudiantara said the coal railway could become a blueprint for futureChinese investment and private infrastructure projects in Indonesia, theworld's largest exporter of thermal coal.

Scribblingcalculations and drawings on a giant whiteboard in the boardroom of his Jakartaoffice, he showed how the railway's route will shave hours off coal deliverytimes and drive a surge in the mine's output.

But he alsoacknowledged the challenges. "We call them the three Ls -- licenses, landand loans," Rudiantara said, adding he already had most of the licensesout of dozens needed from local and central government officials.

Indonesianbureaucracy has a reputation among foreign investors for being obstructive andcorrupt. Even having local partners has not stopped many from pulling out ofIndonesian projects to stem their losses.

"Theissue is getting the right local partner," Rudiantara said. "Chinafeels 'hey I have money, I have everything, you come to me, I'm not coming toyou' ... The relationship really matters when you're dealing with theChinese."

Getting themoney was the easy part for Rudiantara, who is teaching his daughter Mandarinand who has a dragon embossed on his business card. At a business lunch withChinese bank representatives he once got 10 basis points off the cost of a loanby agreeing to go to Beijing and sing karaoke songs in Mandarin, a formercolleague said.

LAND ROVING

Getting theland is the last and highest hurdle, Rudiantara said. Few people have landrights documents in an archipelago of 17,000 islands with hundreds of tribesand ethnic groups, and conflicting claims can turn violent.

In onecase, the landowner had been travelling for years and couldn't be reached, andfor religious reasons his wife wouldn't speak to men without the approval ofher husband. It took Rudiantara several months to resolve the issue throughnegotiation with her male relatives. In another, the chief of a Sumatrandistrict sold off a chunk of land that wasn't his to a rival firm, leading to adrawn-out court battle that Bukit Asam lost.

Once a developerfinds a landowner, negotiations over the acquisition price usually begin withonly a vague sense of market value.

Rudiantaraplans to swoop on the whole route at the same time with his team, to avoid thenegotiations driving land price speculation further down the track. Prices ofland along the route range from 100,000 rupiah per square meter to one millionrupiah ($10 to $100), residents said.

"Ifthere is not fair compensation there will be a riot and nobody will want togive up the land," said Sigurung's nephew Bumiputera, his commentsincongruous with his sleepy village of ramshackle houses and rutted lanes 200km (120 miles) from Bandar Lampung.

RajawaliGroup has consulted universities on how best to approach local people from anethno-cultural perspective. Its progress will be closely watched, given thatmany projects, such as another coal railway by Gulf-based investors MECHoldings on Borneo island, have been held up for years over land acquisition.Success could spur a project to build another proposed railway on Sumatra tothe north, which would take coal to India.

"Thisis a make-or-break infrastructure project for Indonesia," Rudiantara said.

SMOKINGCOAL

At BukitAsam's mine operations in Tanjung Enim, huge yellow dump-trucks trundle alonggiant open pits stretching to the horizon, where wild elephants and tigers roamin the island's remaining jungles. Coal is stockpiled in mounds, smoking inplaces because of the tropical heat, before being sorted for grade and sent onconveyor belts to the rail line.

From thissmoldering, grim place, Bukit Asam's former chief executive Sukrisno conducteda charm campaign with gift hampers of rice, sugar and cash for local residents.

Governmentofficials are more costly. Sukrisno says the company refuses to give cash, butinstead builds facilities, such as a 29 billion rupiah ($300,000) hospital andtennis courts used for the recent Southeast Asian Games in the provincialcapital of Palembang.

"Inthe past three years we spent 35 billion rupiah ($3.8 million) to build asports center in Muara Enim (town). Now they are asking for a swimming pool. Isay ok, we'll provide it. They are also asking us to build an educationcentre," he said.

Since localgovernments spend almost nothing on local infrastructure, officials stand tobenefit by taking advantage of "corporate social responsibility"(CSR) spending by companies such as Bukit Asam.

"Weask government officials how we can help via CSR in order to smoothen theprocess," said Sukrisno. "If CSR only builds facilities, like roads,the local people would not directly feel it, but if we give them packages thenthey're very happy."

BukitAsam's mine workers, most of them hired locally, are also part of the campaign.A short drive from the moonscape of the open pits is a different world, wherehundreds of whitewashed colonial houses with palm tree gardens provideaccommodation for senior staff. Workers have access to a swimming pool, abasketball court, a soccer pitch and a golf course. The housing development hasthe feel of a university campus during summer break.

To buildthe railway, Bukit Asam and Rudiantara will have to stretch that kind of lovealong another 300 km of track.

KNIVES AT THEREADY

The rustcolored train cars on the existing Dutch-built railway, their bellies full ofcoal, shunt slowly away from the mine into a region of forest, lazy rivers andagriculture. The proposed new railway will take a shorter and quicker route tocarry over twice as much coal, with capacity of 25 million tonnes a year.

The land isfertile. Cocoa and coffee grow in the thick, red, volcanic soil of thehighlands, while lush rice paddies carpet the lowlands. Cash crop plantationsproducing rubber, clove and palm oil crowd the landscape towards the southerntip of the province.

With suchabundance, it's easy to see why not everyone is so keen to give up their land.

"It'sbetter to forego a watch than a machete," as one local saying goes.Sigurung's nephew Bumiputera carries a dagger with him every day.

"Wewant the company who builds the railway to be open in their approach and giveus fair and honest explanations -- not sweet promises and then a stab in theback ... this will create danger," Bumiputera said.

Across thearchipelago in the past year, disputes over development of resources haveturned deadly. In northern Sumatra, a mob burned down the exploration camp ofan Australian gold miner. In central Sulawesi province, local residents pushingfor better public facilities attacked oil firms with Molotov cocktails, killingtwo and shutting a field's oil output for two weeks.

And ineastern Indonesia's Papua province, copper miner Freeport Indonesia'soperations were paralyzed by a three-month strike that led to blockades,shootings and sabotage, as tribesmen armed with bows and arrows joined irateminers.

"Ithink there's real concern from local communities -- I don't think they'reagainst development, but they want the development to be done in an equitableway," said Scott Poynton, chief executive of non-governmental organizationThe Forest Trust. Poynton suggested creating jobs and services, such ashospitals in remote communities, would help.

"There'sa risk that these spats will grow," he said, after completing aneight-year project to remove guns from Java's teak forests.

It'sdifficult to even get to Sigurung's village without danger. Gangs ofhandkerchief-veiled bandits collect "road taxes" at obstacles on thenarrow country roads.

A QUESTIONOF TRUST

BeforeRudiantara can speak to a villager about buying his land, he first has to getpermission from the provincial governor, then the district chief, beforetracking down the house of the village head and asking him to talk to a memberof his clan.

Graft,being endemic in Indonesia, is a problem not only for the buyer, but also forthe seller: corruption makes it difficult for residents to trust their leaders.

Residentsalong the rail route repeatedly told Reuters they suspect government officialsand hereditary village chiefs will try to hoodwink them over land acquisitiondeals.

"Wedon't want any village head to become the point person on land talk. Thatshouldn't be done," said Bumiputera. "All of us should know theprocess and the pricing of any deal. They say they want to eradicatecorruption, but here there's a lot of petty corruption."

In a signof the likely disputes to come, Husni Thamrin, a fourth-generation head ofseveral villages on the rail route, said that kind of individual deal-makingcould create a lot of local resentment, and that firms should go through thechiefs.

Either way,keeping the locals happy, from village communities to senior governmentmandarins, will be critical to the success of Indonesia's drive to overhaul itsinfrastructure.

"Don'tthink that just because we're poor and you're wealthy, that we're uneducatedand you're well-educated, you can play with us," the village elderSigurung said.

(Additionalreporting by Mas Alina Arifin, Fathiya Dahrul and Dwi Prasetyo Budi Santosa;Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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Indonesia Draws Record $19.3 Billion in Investments

Moody’s Salutes Bank Indonesia’s New Credit Card Restrictions

2012-01-18T21:14:00.002+07:00

Jakarta Globe, DionBisara, January 18, 2012

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Internationalratings agency Moody’s Investors Service says the central bank’s new rules oncredit cards are positive for Indonesian banks and will help improve theirunderwriting standards and eventually the quality of the lenders’ assets.

BankIndonesia issued new regulations on credit cards on Jan. 6. The new rules setthe minimum monthly income for cardholders at Rp 3 million ($330) and themaximum credit limit at three times monthly income.

Anyone whomake less than Rp 10 million a month is now only allowed to receive creditcards from two issuers. People who make more must be individually assessed bybanks.

In a bid toavoid situations where cardholders are trapped in mounting debt, Bank Indonesiabanned the use of credit cards to purchase items bought through loans, such ascars or houses.

Moody’sapplauded the central bank’s move, saying the new rules would help manage riskin the fast-growing sector.

The newregulations, it said, will reduce lenders’ risk of giving credit card loans tolow-income customers, allowing banks to improve the quality of the loans intheir “credit card portfolios.”

“Among ourrated Indonesian banks, those most affected are those most active in creditcards,” Moody’s said in a statement released on Monday.

These banksincluded Bank Mandiri, the country’s largest by assets, Bank Central Asia, BankNegara Indonesia, CIMB Niaga and Bank Permata.

“We expectthat these policies will help eventually lower the level of bad debt that thecredit card segment currently carries, as well as the threat of future loanloss from lax underwriting practices,” Moody’s said.

Despitecredit card lending making up less than 2 percent of the total loans made bythe nation’s lenders, the ratings agency said, reliance on plastic has“increased sharply in recent years.”

It said thefast-rising figure reflected Indonesia’s growing middle-income population aswell as “banks’ aggressive marketing campaigns.”

The use ofcredit cards by Indonesians has increased in the past two years. At the end of2009 there were only 12 million credit cards in circulation; that was 13.6million and 14.6 million at the end of 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Thecirculation numbers equate to an average of 100,000 new cards issued per monthin 2011, doubling the average of 50,000 in 2009.

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Indonesia’s Debt Rating Raised to Investment Level by Moody’s

Moratorium Demanded on All DPR Construction Projects

2012-01-16T04:47:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, RizkyAmelia, January 16, 2012

Indonesia Corruption Watch displays a toilet during a press conference on
Sunday to demand a moratorium on construction works in the House of
Representatives, including the planned Rp 2 billion renovation of lavatories
in one of its buildings. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal).

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The falloutfrom a $2.2 million meeting room renovation project at the House ofRepresentatives continued on Sunday as antigraft groups demanded it put downthe hammers and open the books.

TheAnti-Budget Mafia Coalition, which includes Indonesia Corruption Watch, saidthe construction projects taking place at the House of Representatives were notas open and transparent as they should be.

It demandeda moratorium on all construction and renovation work and an audit into theprojects that had already taken place.

ApungWidadi, from the ICW, said with no one watching over the House on theseprojects, corruption was more likely. He said the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK)needed to take a close look at all the construction projects undertaken orplanned for the House.

The groupalso called on the House Secretariat General and the Household AffairsCommittee (BURT) to focus on building a transparent evaluation system for allprojects at the legislature.

“While theBURT and the Secretariat General improve their performance, all projects at theDPR should be temporarily frozen, a moratorium imposed,” Apung said.

Coming onthe heels of criticism over a Rp 2 billion ($220,000) plan to renovate thetoilets at one of the buildings used by lawmakers, the House was found to havespent Rp 20 billion to renovated a relatively small meeting room to be used bythe House Budget Committee. The House has already canceled a plan in the faceof mounting public criticism to build a luxurious 36-story tower to houselawmakers’ offices.

The towerwas originally expected to cost taxpayers Rp 1.8 trillion, but the price wentdown to Rp 700 billion before the plan was scrapped.

Apung saidthe coalition had asked the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) toinvestigate suspicions of graft in some of the House projects.

IndonesiaBudget Center researcher Roy Salam did not mince words in talking about themeeting room project.

“Thisrenovation stinks of corruption,” he said.

The tenderselection, he said, was held twice, with 13 companies originally eligible tocomplete but later only state-owned Pembangunan Perumahan deemed eligible.

A secondtender yielded three companies, including Pembangunan Perumahan, but the twoother firms were dropped due to what were called “incomplete administrativedocuments.”

Roy saidthe all the paperwork should have been checked before the tender, not after.

Apung saidthe leadership of the House was to blame for failing to properly supervise allthe institutions within the House, including the secretariat and the BURT.

He saidthis lack of supervision from the leadership, combined with the lack oftransparency at the secretariat, created an atmosphere where corruption couldthrive.

Roy addedthat the secretariat was obliged to publish tender documents. Failure to do sobreaks several laws, including the Public Information Openness Law, the Law onState Finance and the Law on the State Treasury.

He said hisinstitution would demand that the contract documents for the latest renovationproject be made public.

“This willshow just how much the state lost,” he said.

Apung saidthe Rp 20 billion price tag was too high. “Our estimate is that it should haveonly cost Rp 500 million,” he said.

TaslimChaniago, a member of the House Budget Committee from the National MandateParty (PAN), said on Friday that he was resigning from the committee in protestover the project.

A glimpse of the renovated House of Representatives Budget Committee
meeting room in Jakarta on Wednesday. The renovation cost Rp 20 billion
($2.2 million) and has been criticized as a lavish expenditure. It comes on
the heels of a House plan for new toilet facilities that would have cost taxpayers
Rp 2 billion. (Antara Photo/Yudhi Mahatma)

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Ratings agencies should not serve as crisis amplifier: China

2012-01-15T06:40:00.001+07:00

English.news.cn, by Wang Fan, 2012-01-14

BEIJING,Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- France was stripped of its triple-A credit rating on Fridayin a swathe of downgrades in the eurozone, which dealt a blow to the eurozonemembers faltering in the debt crisis.

TheStandard and Poor's (S&P) downgrade move, though containing some legitimateconcerns, also raised fresh doubts over the credibility of ratings agencies.

France hasbeen struggling to secure its top-notch rating for months. After several roundsof austerity packages and a massive economic overhaul, its overstretched publicfinances showed no clear signs of easing up.

From thisperspective, S&P's downgrade is legitimate in some sense, but the timing isdubious.

Just oneday ago, European shares and the euro rose on positive comments on the region'soutlook from the European Central Bank and the news of a successful Spain'sbond auction.

Meanwhile,ten-year bond spread of debt-ridden countries over that of German has alsonarrowed overtime, a key measure of investors confidence.

Spain,Italy and some peripheral countries have waken up to the severity of theirstructural flaws and introduced a flurry of financial measures to boost theirproductivity.

As crisisis showing tentative signs of receding, the S&P's overwhelming downgradehas once again weighed on the market and dented investors' confidence.

Having anestimated 95 percent of the global market for credit rating, the three ratingsagencies - Moody's, S&P and Fitch Rating, played a pivot part in providingassessment of the ability of countries and companies to pay their debts.

For thisreason, it is of great importance for them to be objective and professional inanalyzing the market situation. Otherwise, their incorrect information on thecredit risk will inflict catastrophic consequences on the global market.

The 2008financial crisis has provided such a cautionary tale. It is the failure ofratings agencies to assess some risky financial products that contributed tothe spread of the toxic assets and fuelled the global crisis.

Meanwhile,investors and markets should wane their over-reliance on assessment of thecredit ratings agencies and make their own judgements about the marketsituation.

With greatpower comes with great responsibility. In this connection, the ratings agenciesshould use their power with caution to avoid becoming an ominous amplifier ofthe ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

As globalinvestors should be warned about the major risks of the European debt mess,ratings agencies should also do their honest job and not repeat their pastmistakes to win back the trust of global investors.

Editor: Fang Yang

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The Large Families that rule the world

Nike agrees to just pay it in Indonesian workers' compensation deal

2012-01-12T20:15:00.000+07:00

Deutsche Welle, 12 January 2012

The workers will receive around $1 million

US sportsapparel giant Nike has agreed a compensation deal with workers at a subsidiaryfactory in Indonesia for over half a million hours in unpaid overtime. Theworkers' union says the fight has "only just begun."

Asubsidiary of sportswear maker Nike has agreed to pay compensation to around 4,500factory workers in Indonesia for over half a million hours in unpaid overtime.

AnIndonesian trade union representing the employees from the PT Nikomas shoeplant in Banten province said Nike had agreed to pay $1 million following 11months of negotiations.

The moneywill be distributed to the workers by early next month.

"Thedecisive actions taken by PT Nikomas Gemilang IY plant clearly demonstrate howseriously they are taking the allegations of workplace misconduct," Nikesaid in a statement. "Nike commends the factory on their action plan andefforts to correct inadequacies in current policies designed to protect therights of workers."

Unionchairman Bambang Wirahyoso said he hoped the case would set a precedent in acountry where factory employees often work seven day weeks without overtime orproper benefits.

"Thishas the potential to send shockwaves through the Indonesian labormovement," Wirahyoso said in a statement, adding that his union wasgearing up to fight for other workers. "We have only justbegun."

Author: Darren Mara

Editor: Anne Thomas

Rp 20b Room Upgrade for House

2012-01-12T06:49:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Agus Triyono, January 12, 2012

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The Houseof Representatives and its general secretariat are pointing fingers at eachother after a Rp 20 billion ($2.2 million) upgrade to a meeting room for itsBudget Committee, came under public scrutiny.

In the latestcontroversy to dog the legislature, the House is said to have moved the meetingspace of the Budget Committee to a larger room and renovated it at a cost of Rp20 billion.

Therevelation came just days after the House was attacked for a plan to renovatetoilets in its complex at a cost of Rp 2 billion.

TjahjoKumolo, the head of the House faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party ofStruggle (PDI-P), said the decision maker on the new meeting room was thesecretariat general, with the plan then approved by the Household AffairsCommittee (BURT).

“Thematters of constructing a building, renovating toilets and parking areas, thosedo not fall under the authority of the [House],” he said, adding that he neverreceived a report on the project.

Tjahjoadded that such controversy was “very damaging” to the House.

TamsilLinrung, the deputy chairman of the Budget Committee, admitted that hiscommittee had demanded a larger meeting room, but knew nothing of the detailsbeyond that, including the renovation’s Rp 20 billion tab.

“We did askto move so that there is a bigger Budget Committee room, with a meeting roomand a secretariat, as this year there will be additional experts from thesecretariat general,” Tamsil said.

However,Nining Indra Saleh, the House secretary general, said that its budget planswere always communicated to the House’s BURT.

“Allpolicies are discussed, we are only implementing what has been decided by the[House], in this case the BURT,” Nining said.

The budgetallotment is also decided in a House plenary session, she added.

Nining saidthe process for the project was announced on the official Web site of the Houseand the budget published on the Web site of the Finance Ministry’s directorategeneral for budgeting.

She saidthat the renovation was necessary because the old room suffered from poorlighting, bad acoustics, worn flooring and carpeting, and an inadequate soundsystem.

Tenders,she said, involved a Rp 566 million design project awarded to Gubah Laras, a Rp234 million contract for supervision won by Jagat Rona Semesta and a Rp 20billion construction project to state-run Pembangunan Perumahan .

Therenovation work involved a change of equipment, furniture, sound system,acoustics, flooring, ceiling, and additional information technology equipment.

She alsosaid that the old room had only a 50-person capacity, while the BudgetCommittee currently has 85 members.

Journalistscatching a glimpse of the new room said that work appeared to be 90 percentcomplete and that the new meeting room was equipped with three largeflat-screen televisions and a door with an electronic lock.

Uchok SkyKhadafi, a coordinator of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra),said that the room was not really needed, “as Budget Committee members preferto conduct their meetings in luxury hotels [rather] than in their own meetingroom.”

He calledon the House to drop the plan to move the committee’s meeting room, “or thepeople will have their sense of budget justice disturbed.”

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Indonesian tycoon donates $30 million to NUS

2012-01-12T04:11:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Tan Dawn Wei (The Sunday Times), The Asia News Network, Singapore, Sun,01/01/2012

Mr Tahir,ST Photo: Desmond Foo

It is thelargest gift the National University of Singapore (NUS) has received from aninternational alumnus, but Indonesian tycoon Tahir is reluctant to talk aboutthe $30 million he has just pledged.

The59-year-old chairman and chief executive of Indonesian conglomerate MayapadaGroup, and one of the country's wealthiest men, prefers to talk about hisphilosophy of philanthropy.

“There arelots of people richer than me,” he said, with a wave of his hand. “It's notabout how many cars you have, how rich you are. That's disgusting.”

A bigsupporter of education, the Indonesian-born Singapore permanent resident isdonating the $30 million to the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine to advanceresearch and education. As a result of his gift, the total sum received by NUS,including a government matching grant, is expected to be around $75 million.

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Indonesian Politician Hands Over $267,000 During Questioning

2012-01-10T15:52:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, January 10, 2012

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BandungMayor Mayor Dada Rosada made an unique opening statement as he was questionedfor the first time in relation to a major corruption scandal involving Rp 80billion ($8.72 million) — he returned some the money.

“The mayorof Bandung returned Rp 2.45 billion,” West Java prosecutor Fadil Zumhanna wasquoted by Detik.com as saying on Tuesday.

“The moneyis still far from the losses [allegedly] suffered by the state, not even onetenth of it,” Fadil said. “But we respect it.”

Dada, apolitician from the Golkar Party, was being questioned as a witness in relationto corruption surrounding the 2009-10 local budget.

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Bandung Mayor Hands Over Cash to Prosecutors

Protestersoutside the Corruption Eradication Commission

in Jakarta last week calling forBandung Mayor Dada Rosada to

be investigated on graft charges. On Tuesday, themayor brought

Rp 2.45 billion ($267,000) to the West Java Prosecutor’s Office

in compensation. (Antara Photo)

Three Indonesian Officials Heading to Prison for Corruption

2012-01-06T22:49:00.003+07:00

Jakarta Globe, January 06, 2012

Judges in Bandung’s Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Sunaryo, left,
the deputy mayor of Cirebon, to one year’s jail on Friday. (Antara Photo)

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Adding tothe already long list of officials convicted for corruption, courts have sent aformer West Sumatra mayor and two senior figures in Cirebon, West Java, to jailfor graft.

TheAnti-Corruption Court in Padang, West Sumatra, sentenced Djufri, the formermayor of nearby Bukittinggi, to four years in prison and fined him Rp 200million ($22,000) for marking up costs for the purchase of several land plotsfor projects in the city in 2007.

If Djufricould not pay the fine, the judges ruled, he would face an additional sixmonths behind bars.

“Allelements of the primary charges were met, so the remaining charges do not needto be proved,” said Asmuddin, who led the panel of judges.

Djufri’smisdeeds caused losses to the state of Rp 704 million, according toprosecutors.

The formermayor said he needed time to discuss with his lawyer, Tumbur Simanjuntak,whether to appeal. Tumbur said he thought Djurfi should appeal and wouldrecommend that he did.

Meanwhile,judges in Bandung’s Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Sunaryo, the deputy mayorof Cirebon, and Suryana, a former Cirebon speaker, to one year’s jail each andfined them each Rp 50 million. Should the convicts not pay the fine, the judgeadded, they would each be jailed for an additional six months.

“We declarethat the first defendant [Sunaryo] and the second defendant [Suryana] have beenlegally and convincingly found to have engaged in corruption,” said Eka SahartaWinata, who headed the panel of judges.

The twowere accused of embezzling Rp 4.9 billion from the city budget in 2004 throughmarkups and fictitious costs in the budget allotment for the operations of theCirebon city legislative council.

Theprosecutors, who had sought a three-year jail term for each of the defendants,demanded time to choose whether to appeal. The judges gave them seven days todecide.

Sunaryodeclined to comment to journalists after the verdict, instead referring queriesto his legal team.

“Just askmy lawyers,” he said.

Suryana wasnot present at the reading of the verdict after his lawyer handed the judges aletter from his doctor saying he was ill and unable to attend the trial.

EkoSupijandi, Suryana’s lawyer, said his client had sought to have Thursday’strial postponed for health reasons, but the request was refused by the judges. Ekodeclined to say what Suryana was suffering from.

Indonesia's new symbol for injustice: Sandals

2012-01-04T06:49:00.001+07:00

nzherald.co.nz, Jan 4, 2012

Thousands of Indonesians have dumped old sandals at police stations
and prosecutor offices to help protest for a 15-year-old boy being
prosecuted for lifting an old pair of sandals in Central
Sulawesi province. Photo / AP

Indonesianshave found a new symbol for their growing frustration at uneven justice intheir young, democratic nation: cheap, worn-out flip-flops.

They havebeen dropping them off at police stations all over the sprawling archipelago toexpress outrage over the arrest and trial of a 15-year-old boy for lifting anold pair of white sandals from outside a boarding house used by police innorthern Indonesia.

"Thisis insane," said Titis Anissa, a high school teacher in the capital,Jakarta, noting that government officials found guilty of plundering statecoffers get off with a slap on the wrist. "And a young, poor boy takes apair of $3 sandals? Enough already!"

The boysnatched the shoes while he and several friends headed home from school inPalu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province, in November 2010.

He waslater interrogated and badly beaten by three officers, and faces up to fiveyears in prison if found guilty - the same sentence given to many terrorists,drug pushers and rapists.

He willappear Wednesday before the court in Palu for the second hearing of his trial,which opened last month.

Indonesiahas made tremendous strides since the ouster of longtime dictator Suharto justover a decade ago, implementing sweeping reforms that have freed up the media,scrapped oppressive laws and given citizens the right to directly pick theirleaders for the first time.

But thejudicial system remains a weak point. The flip-flop case has captured headlinessince the trial began and is one of the most popular trends on socialnetworking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Thousandshave joined in the sandal donation protest.

A batch of1,000 flip-flops will be given to Sgt. Ahmad Rusdi Harahap, owner of the stolenshoes, as "compensation," said campaign organizer Budhi Kurniawan.

The boy,not identified by name because of his age, said he found the dirty oldflip-flops near a garbage bin outside the boarding house. Six months later, hewas summoned by Harahap, who accused him of theft.

"Atfirst, I didn't understand what he was talking about," he told TheAssociated Press. "I'd forgotten all about those sandals."

"Hecalled a few of his colleagues and they started beating me up, hitting me witha piece of wood," he said. "I fell into a steep trench. My legs werebleeding."

The boysaid the officers made him promise to give each a new pair of sandals, but hisfather, after seeing the cuts and bruises on his son's body, decided to reportthe men to their superiors.

Harahap,who along with the other two officers is facing charges of violating policeethics, responded by taking the teenager to criminal court.

It was amove Andreas Harsono, of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said wasobviously "excessive" and vindictive.

Ayu Laksmi,a Balinese artist, brought 10 pairs of sandals to the National Commission forChild Protection on Tuesday to show her displeasure.

"Thisjust goes to show, once again, that our laws discriminate," she said."It's tough on the poor and weak when it comes to those with money orpower."

Theteenager is not the first minor to face trial over a small criminal offence.

Last year,a 14-year-old boy was brought to court after spending three weeks in a Jakartaprison for allegedly stealing a $1.15 cellphone voucher.

Judgesfinally dropped the charges, arguing the investigation of the case was"defective."

- AP

First Brig.Ahmad Rusdi Harahap, left, was given 21 days

in detention by a police tribunalon Thursday for abusing a

teenager accused of stealing a pair of sandals in2010.

(Antara Photo)

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President: RI`s 4th quarter growth the highest in ASEAN

2012-01-03T21:05:00.002+07:00

Antara News, Tue, January 3 2012

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. ( ANTARA)

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2011 records conducive macro economic conditions

Jakarta(ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday Indonesia`seconomy grew 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 making it the countrywith the highest growth rate in the Southeast Asian region.

"Theeconomic growth of 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 was the highestamong the ASEAN member states," Yudhoyono said at a plenary cabinetmeeting at the Presidential Office here.

Indonesia`sinflation rate at 3.79 percent in 2011 was also the lowest in the Asia Pacificregion, he said.

"Ourinflation rate once reached an all time low of 2.78 percent in 2009," hesaid.

Anotherpiece of good news was that Indonesia`s exports hit a record high of US$200billion last year, he said.

"Theseachievements give us a spiritual impetus not only to maintain the growth levelwe have attained but also to increase it this year," he said.

Earlier,the President in his address marking New Year`s Eve on Saturday (Dec 31)expressed hope that synergy among the executive, legislative and judicialbodies at central and regional levels would be enhanced in 2012.

He askedthe government`s rank and file to remain in the forefront of efforts to makehigher achievements in 2012.

Alsopresent at the plenary cabinet session were Vice President Boediono and membersof the Presidential Advisory Council.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

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A New Global Economic Restructuring (Video)

2012-01-03T04:56:00.001+07:00

YouTube, Jan 1, 2012

JamesMartinez reads a statement from representatives of a new global currency thatis being announced and slowly integrated into our consciousness as a way to endthe tyranny of the current banking systems.

A NewGlobal Economic Restructuring:

ConsciousMedia Network has been approached by a representative of global leaders andfinanciers from 130 nations to broadcast a statement about a new globaleconomic restructuring arising in 2012.

Thestatement will be delivered via a video-taped interview with a layperson onbehalf of the consortium that has been working behind the scenes, on theproblem of the unsustainable global economy for the past 8 years. The party whodrafted this statement has stated, in response to conspiracy concerns, that"The usual suspects are not the suspects" and that the Global Elite alsounderstand that the unsecured, digital money system has failed us all,including themselves.

Thisannouncement is to serve as the introduction of a New Global Economic Structurethat will begin surfacing in 2012. Those involved in this plan are calling itthe "greatest humanitarian effort" in modern history. It will be foreach of us to determine over time if this is a truthful statement.

CMN isserving as a neutral party for this broadcast and its claims as the economicconsortium does not wish to break this news through mainstream media at thistime. Please give this your serious attention, as it may be heralding a new wayof conducting commerce on the planet that will effect us all well into ourfuture.

A portionof this plan does include a dissolution of debt in a carefully considered andplanned way. The plan itself is paradigm shattering, and only hinted at in thevideo-taped statement.

Pleasedistribute this far and wide.

http://www.cmn.tv/news/new-world-currency/

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(Subjects: The Humanization of God, Re-calibration, Shift of Human Consciousness, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), (Old) Souls, 21-12-2012, Gaia, Hawaii (Lemuria), All Dictators to fall, Old Politics, Old and New energy, Higher self, 1 - No fear, 2 - Compassion, 3 - Change Attitude (Expect positive outcome), 4 - Believe the Truth of DNA/Akashic records, 11:11, Master Christ, Reincarnation, Global Unity,..... etc.) - New !

Ex-PLN Chief Sentenced to Five Years

2011-12-21T17:44:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, RonnaNirmala, December 21, 2011

Eddie Widiono at the Anti-Corruption Court on Wednesday. He was
sentenced to serve five years in prison. (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal)

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Formerdirector of state power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara, Eddie Widiono, wassentenced to serve five years in prison by the Anti-Corruption Court onWednesday.

Eddie wasfound guilty for his role in price fixing and corruption related to the projectfor Customer Information System – Master Plan of Information System (CIS-RISI)at the PLN Disjaya office in Tangerang.

He orderedthe PLN General Manager to directly appoint Netway, without a tender, to handlethe outsourcing project of CIS-RISI between 2004 and 2006.

Theprosecutor had demanded a sentence of seven years.

Presidingjudge Cokorda said Eddie was not acting professionally by approving the projectin this manner. The court found that Eddie never used a traveler’s check worthRp 850 million ($92,650) as accused.

The judgealso ordered him to pay a Rp 500 million fine.

ASEAN-Latin American Business Forum to be held next February

2011-12-20T03:23:00.001+07:00

Antara News, Mon, December 19 2011

RelatedNews

Jakarta(ANTARA News) - The Third ASEAN-Latin American Business Forum 2012 will be heldin Jakarta, February 23-24, 2012, the ASEAN Foundation said in a pressstatement here, Monday.

ASEAN Foundation Executive
Director Dr. Makarim Wibisono

ASEANFoundation Executive Director Dr. Makarim Wibisono discussed about thepreparations for the Forum when receiving a visit from Brazilian Ambassador toIndonesia Paulo Alberto Da Silveira Soares at the ASEAN Foundation recently.

In themeeting, Ambassador Soares said that the Forum were expected to help flourishASEAN and Latin American business activities, especially on trade andinvestment.

He hoped tosee seminars, workshops and activities between ASEAN and Latin Americanbusiness stakeholders to happen in 2012 in areas not only in the businesssector but also transfer of knowledge on issues on environment, food safety andrenewable resources.

Dr. MakarimWibisono concurred to the idea of realizing the commitments that will transpireduring the Forum into concrete actions to develop trade and business in ASEANand Latin America as well as activities that will help solve global problemsfor both regions.

Hereiterated ASEAN Foundation`s commitment to support ASEAN community building bypromoting greater awareness of ASEAN, people-to-people interaction, and closecollaboration among the business sector, civil society, academia and otherstakeholders on ASEAN.

Both Dr.Makarim Wibisono and Ambassador Soares believed that the Forum will pave theway for a more promising and outward looking partnership between ASEAN andLatin America.

The Forumis the last leg of a three-part project of the ASEAN Foundation partnering withthe Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) which was officiated in 2009.

The projectis intended to promote the transfer of knowledge between Southeast Asia andLatin American countries on trade and investment and enhance collaborationbetween the two regions through inter-regional partnership and linkages.

Itspecifically aims to raise awareness on trade and investment potentials throughexchange of knowledge and to encourage resource mobilization to support newinitiatives addressing critical needs in enhancing economic ties between thetwo regions.

The firstworkshop on Prospects of Economic Relations between Southeast Asia and LatinAmerica was held on 12 October 2009 in Jakarta, and the second workshop hasbeen modified and expanded into a bigger conference entitled ASEAN-LatinBusiness Forum 2010, held on 18 November 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Indonesia Passes Land Acquisition Bill

2011-12-16T16:13:00.000+07:00

Jakarta Globe, December 16, 2011

Indonesian members of parliament approved the final draft of a long-awaited
land bill on Wednesday that investors hope will speed up land acquisition for
government infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.
(Antara Photo)

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Jakarta.Indonesia’s House of Representatives on Friday approved a long-awaited landacquisition bill investors hope will give a big boost to governmentinfrastructure projects in Southeast Asia’s top economy.

The bill isan attempt to break the bottleneck in infrastructure development that has longbeen seen as holding back growth in Southeast Asia’s top economy.

It alsopresents major investment opportunities in a country where roads, ports andairports are overloaded.

The House,also known as the DPR, on Wednesday signaled it would pass the bill.

A daylater, Fitch Ratings gave Indonesia an investment grade rating, which could actas a spur to much-needed investment.

Fitch hadcited weak infrastructure as one reason why it had delayed the upgrade.

Thecontroversial bill was passed despite a barrage of interruptions from membersof the 560-strong parliament.

Shares inIndonesian construction, property and toll road firms have rallied this week onhopes the bill would be passed.

Bankers saythe delay in passing the bill has been holding up the dispersal of loans tocompanies for infrastructure development this year.

The maintoll road operator, Jasa Marga had described the impact of the delay on itsbusiness as like a race car waiting for a track.

Sucorinvestsees the bill as positive for firms such as PT Wijaya Karya, PT Citra MargaNusaphala Persada and PT Adhi Karya.

Though thebill only applies to government projects, it is likely to benefit privatelyoperated projects on government-bought land.

Thegovernment is relying on about $150 billion of private investment between 2010and 2014 to overhaul its roads, railways and ports.

Withoutbetter infrastructure, analysts say the country’s growth may start to slowbecause of capacity constraints.

Humanrights groups say the bill disregards traditional land rights and could lead tomore conflict over land and forced expropriation of property.

Reuters

Indonesia Legislators Give Green Light to Land Bill

Reuters

Fitch Upgrades Indonesia's Rating to Investment Grade

2011-12-15T20:01:00.004+07:00

Jakarta Globe | December 15, 2011

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Indonesia’ssovereign debt rating was raised to investment grade by Fitch Ratings onThursday, citing the country’s strong and resilient economy.

The ratingassessor said it raised Indonesia’s long-term and local currency debt rating toBBB- from BB+, putting the country into investment grade after 14 years. Theoutlook of both ratings is stable, Fitch said.

“Theupgrades reflect the country’s strong and resilient economic growth, low anddeclining public debt ratios, strengthened external liquidity and a prudentoverall macro policy framework,” said Philip McNicholas, director of Fitch’sAsia-Pacific Sovereign Ratings group in a statement sent to the Jakarta Globe.

Indonesialost its investment grade rating in December 1997, at the onset of the Asianfinancial crisis, which saw almost all of the country’s banking systemcollapse. Indonesia spent more than Rp 450 trillion to bail out lenders then.

FitchRatings also forecast Indonesia’s $700 billion economy to grow to an average ofmore than 6.0 percent per year through 2013, despite a less conducive globaleconomic climate.

“Indonesia’sdomestically-oriented economy and success in delivering relatively strongeconomic growth without the creation of external imbalances, or a reliance onshort-term external financing suggests economic growth prospects should proveresilient to external shocks, as was the case in 2008,” Fitch said.

“Low publicdebt and positive real interest rates give the authorities policy flexibilityto respond to any slowdown,” the ratings agency said.

Analystsand economists in Jakarta said other ratings agencies such as Moody’s InvestorsService and Standard & Poors, which raised the country’s sovereign debtrating to one level below investment early this year, may soon join Fitch inupgrading the country’s rating next year.

Moody’sInvestors Service raised the nation’s rating in January to Ba1 while Standard& Poor’s increased Indonesia’s long-term foreign-currency rating one levelto BB+ from BB in April, with a positive outlook. The rating is one level belowinvestment grade.

“We welcomethis long awaited positive news. Technically, it should open up the restrictionon a universe of domestic investments which foreign funds are allowed to invest,” said Jeffrosenberg Tan, headof research at Sinarmas Sekuritas in Jakarta.

“Theinvestment grade does not mean a lot nowadays. Our rating should be a lotbetter than highly indebted developed countries. Judging from the relativestrength of our sovereign balance sheet compared to developed counterparts,Indonesia should have been awarded a lot sooner then now,” Jeffrosenberg said.

Fitch alsosaid that a strong foreign exchange reserve by Indonesia has put the country ina strong position to shield it from being hit by the impact of the Eurozonedebt crisis.

“Thestrengthening of external finances through substantial reserve accumulation hasinsulated domestic economic and financial stability during recent periods ofintensified portfolio capital flow volatility,” Fitch said.

Indonesia’sforeign exchange reserve stood at $113.9 billion as of the end of November ofthis year, compared with $95 billion early this year, according to data fromBank Indonesia.

The rupiah,which has been under selling pressure in recent weeks, traded at 9,135 againstthe dollar on Thursday, falling 0.5 percent from Wednesday's close at 9,090.Bank Indonesia officials have said that they will continue to intervene in themarket to support the rupiah.

ICW to Report Freeport to US Department of Justice

2011-12-15T18:46:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, December 15, 2011

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Anti-graftorganization Indonesian Corruption Watch will report the subsidiary of USmining giant Freeport-McMoRan to the US Department of Justice next month forinvolvement in a bribery case.

“We’redrafting the report and we will send it in one or two months,” deputy chairmanof ICW Adnan Topan Husodo said during a national seminar on corruption onThursday.

He saidthat US law does not allow US companies operating in other countries to takepart in bribery.

Humanrights group Imparsial revealed that police received $64 million from Freeportbetween 1995 and 2004. National Police spokesman Gen. Timur Pradopo verifiedthe payments, calling them “lunch money.” Timur promised an audit.

“Eventhough it is being called a grant from Freeport, it was not supposed to begiven to the National Police,” Adnan said. “The security budget should be givento the state budget because the National Police are a government institutionfunded by the state budget, instead of by a private company.”

Adnan saidreceiving money outside of the state budget equaled bribery.

“Lettingthe police receive ‘security payments’ from private institutions will disruptpolice independence,” he said.

Antara

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US charges eight in Siemens foreign bribery case

WB clamps down on Vietnamese, Indonesian firms

2011-12-15T17:46:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Viet Nam News, The Asia News Network, Thu, 12/15/2011

The WorldBank announced on Tuesday its debarment of three companies and one individualfor punishable practices under WB-financed water supply projects in Vietnam andIndonesia.

Thecompanies include Vietnamese Social and Environmental Development JSC (SECO),Australian Kellogg Brown&Root Pty Ltd (KBR Pty) and Indonesian PT AmythasExperts and Associates. The World Bank also debarred Nguyen Xuan Doan, ManagingDirector of SECO, who was found to be involved in the same sector in Vietnam.

"Thissettlement shows the Bank’s work on integrity is resilient while we supportcompanies to clean up their operations and therefore enforcing internationalcompliance standards," said Leonard McCarthy, integrity vice president atthe World Bank.

Accordingto allegations, SECO engaged in a scheme to defraud World Bank clients and hasbeen declared ineligible to participate in Bank Group-financed projects for thenext five years.

KBR Pty, anAustralian subsidiary of KBR Inc, was debarred for a period of two years withconditional release following an investigation by the Bank’s Integrity VicePresidency (INT) into violations of the Consultant’s Guidelines under a localBank-financed water supply project. KBR Pty misrepresented the availability ofkey consultants during contract negotiation and execution, which resulted inthe company being awarded the contract and delays in execution.

Followingthe terms of the agreement KBR Inc will also implement remedial measures to itscorporate compliance program to comply with the World Bank Compliancestandards.

The WorldBank also debarred Indonesian PT Amythas Experts and Associates for a period ofthree years for fraudulent practices in relation to a World Bank-financedcommunity development and poverty alleviation project.

"Wehave to act with ever more vigilance when it comes to rooting out fraud andcorruption," said McCarthy.

AmythasExperts will be required to implement a corporate compliance program in linewith World Bank standards and meet other conditions as part of the settlementunder the debarment that became effective on December 7. The period ofdebarment could be shortened if the company meets additional conditions ofrestitution and disclosure.

The threecompanies cannot be awarded a contract, or otherwise participate in newactivities under World Bank Group-financed or executed projects during thedebarment period.

They areeligible for cross debarment under the April 2010 Agreement for MutualEnforcement of Debarment Decisions entered into by the African Development BankGroup, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment, the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development BankGroup.

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Bizarre Claim for $1 Trillion

2011-12-15T05:51:00.001+07:00

Courthousenews, By DAN MCCUE, Monday, December 05, 2011

MANHATTAN (CN) - An American expatriate inBulgaria claims the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the Office ofInternational Treasury Control and the Italian government conspired with a hostof others to steal more than $1.1 trillion in financial instruments intended tosupport humanitarian purposes

The 111-page federal complaint involves arange of entities common to conspiracy theorists, including the VaticanIlluminati, the Masons, the "Trilateral Trillenium Tripartite GoldCommission," and the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Plaintiff Neil Keenan claims he wasentrusted in 2009 with the financial instruments - which included U.S. FederalReserve notes worth $124.5 billion, two Japanese government bonds with acombined face value of $19 billion, and one U.S. "Kennedy" bond witha face value of $1 billion - by an entity called the Dragon Family, which is agroup of several wealthy and secretive Asian families.

"The Dragon family abstains from public view and knowledge, but, upon information and belief, acts for the good and better benefit of the world in constant coordination with higher levels of global financial organizations, in particular, the Federal Reserve System," Keenan claims.

"During the course of its existence over the last century, the Dragon family has accumulated great wealth by having provided the Federal Reserve Bank and the United States Government with asset assignments of gold and silver via certain accounts held in Switzerland, for which it has received consideration in the form of a variety of Notes, Bonds and Certificates such as those described ... that are an obligation of the Federal Reserve System."

Keenan says that with accrued interest the instruments are now worth more than $1 trillion. He says the family designated him as its principal in an effort to select certain registered and authorized Private Placement Investment Programs (PPPs) for the benefit of unspecified global humanitarian efforts.

In his remarkable complaint, Keenan claims that the U.S. government enormous amounts of money - delivered in gold and other precious metals - from the Dragon Family many years ago, and that the money was placed into the Federal Reserve System for the benefit and underwriting support of the dollar, "which was to become and currently remains the global reserve currency".

Keenan claims the conspiracy began with the illegal detention of two Japanese citizens, Akihiko Yamaguchi and Mitsuyoshi Watanabe, and the seizure of $134.5 billion in bonds they were holding in Italy, in June 2009.

Photoreleased by the Italian media after these bonds

were first seized (June 2009)

Yamaguchi can best be described asKeenan's predecessor in trying to place Dragon Family instruments in legitimatePPPs to advance the group's humanitarian aims, according to the complaint.

Keenan says he came to know both Yamaguchiand the Dragon Family through the Japanese man's efforts on the group's behalf,and that he introduced them to a bank in Cyprus with which they could dobusiness.

Keenan says that in gratitude, Yamaguchisought and was granted approval to execute a special power of attorney, wherebyKeenan would also act on behalf of the Dragon Family to place their assets inPPPs.

It was then, he says, that he tookpossession of the instruments that are the heart of the lawsuit. For hisassistance, Keenan says, he was to receive a profit share amounting to 30percent of any particular PPP he arranged.

A month after the Japanese men weredetained, an man named Leo Zagami, "a self-described 33rd degree FreeMason, who, as of April 2008, had reportedly claimed to be the leader of abreakaway faction of the Knights of Templar and high-level Freemasons centeredaround the elite of the Masons P2 (propaganda Due) Lodge in Monte Carlo,"arrived on the scene, according to the complaint. (Parentheses in complaint.)

Zagami claimed to be a representative ofthe Vatican Illuminati and other European sect societies and "had beenlooking to make contact with certain Asian Secret Societies," thecomplaint states.

During a meeting in Japan, he says, hetold a contact that Yamaguchi and Watanabe had been "set up" and thathe had inside information about the seized instruments.

Subsequently, he introduced his contact inJapan to defendant Daniele Dal Bosco, a Vatican banker and associate of the P2Masonic Lodge, who "would be able to 'cash the bonds seized by the ItalianTreasury Police,'" according to the complaint.

The complaint alleges a complicatedhistory with many moving parts and scores of internationally known and unknowncharacters, the sum of which is that Keenan claims he was entrusted withbillions of dollars in bonds by the Dragon Family.

He claims that soon, he and Dal Bosco werein daily contact via Skype and they arranged to meet in Italy. During theseconversations, Dal Bosco represented that he was not only financial advisor toZagami, but also to the Vatican, Vatican City, Rome, and the treasurer for theP2 Masonic Lodge.

As a result, Keenan said, although hetried keep personal possession of the financial instruments with which he wasentrusted, he nevertheless came to trust Dal Bosco, and turned the bonds overto him for "temporary safekeeping and custodianship".

Dal Bosco absconded with the bonds andsought assistance in selling the instruments "in the global marketplacethrough stealth, conversion and bribery," Keenan claims.

He claims that as the conspiracy continuedto unfold, various high level officials repeatedly offered him a bribe of $100million to "release" the instruments without disclosing their theftto the Dragon family, and to allow the instruments to be converted to aso-called UN "Sovereign Program" wholly under the auspices,protection and umbrella of the sovereign immunity enjoyed by the defendants.

Other defendants include UN GeneralSecretary Ban Ki-Moon, Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi,Giancarlo Bruno, who is identified as head of the banking industry for theWorld Economic Forum, Italy's ambassador to the UN Cesare Maria Ragaflini, RayC. Dam, president of the Office of International Treasury Control, and David A.Sale, the deputy chief of the council for the cabinet of the OITC.

Keenan seeks the return of the stoleninstruments, punitive damages and court costs on multiple claims of fraud,breach of contract and violation of international law.

He is represented by William H. MulliganJr., with Bleakley, Platt & Schmidt of White Plains, N.Y.

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CONFIRMED: The Trillion-Dollar Lawsuit That Could End Financial Tyranny

Civil Action #8500, United States District Court for Southern District of New York, Nov 23, 2011

Silvio Berlusconi vows not to run for new term in 2013

Graft news report allegedly leads to death of journalist’s baby

2011-12-14T17:10:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 12/14/2011

A journalisthas alleged that a village head sent a mob to attack his home, leading to thedeath of his one-month-old baby, in retribution for a news report he made aboutalleged graft in his village.

Rote NdaoNews journalist Dance Henukh said Wednesday he reported allegations ofcorruption surrounding the allocation of village funds (ADD) and resettlementand transmigration program funds totaling Rp 3.1 billion (US$341,000),implicating Kuli village head Yunus O Dillak in East Nusa Tenggara.

“Justicemust be served so that there will be no threats against journalists in thefuture,” Dance, who lives in the same village, Rote Ndao regency, told TheJakarta Post over the phone.

“A numberof people came to my house on Saturday at around 4 a.m. local time [2 a.m.Jakarta time] and threatened me,” he said. “They said that they would kill meand set my house on fire.”

Dance saidhe immediately informed the Rote Ndao Police about the threat.

However,the police disregarded his complaint because they said they did not have enoughevidence to arrest those who threatened him because the people had already leftwhen the police arrived on the scene, he said.

Dance saidthat the mob attacked his house on Sunday at around at 1 a.m., with stones andpieces of wood that damaged parts of the house.

“My babydied at around 3 a.m.,” Dance said.

Accordingto Yemris Fointuna, the head of the Kupang chapter of the IndependentJournalists Association (AJI), Dance’s baby died of shock and seizures and wasburied on Sunday afternoon.

He said themob returned on Tuesday and set his house on fire at 1:45 a.m., when he and hisfamily were sleeping.

“I didn’trealize that my house was on fire until the roof collapsed and woke me from mysleep,” Dance told the Post.

He said heand his family immediately fled the house to save themselves and had no time tosave their valuables. (drs)

EU warns Britain: financial rules apply to you too

2011-12-13T07:06:00.001+07:00

CommissionerOlli Rehn says City of London will still be subject to regulation from Brussels

guardian.co.uk,Ian Traynor, Monday 12 December 2011

Olli Rehn: 'The UK’s excessive deficit and debt will be the subject of
surveillance like other [EU] member states.' Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

TheEuropean commission on Monday underlined the negative impact of David Cameron'ssummit gambit by pledging that the City's financial institutions would besubject to new regulations hatched in Brussels.

Emphasisingthe EU's determination to dismiss Cameron's abortive attempt to secure exemptions for the City, Olli Rehn, the commission vice-president in charge ofeconomic and monetary affairs, was scathing about the prime minister'scampaign. This was rejected by the Brussels summit on Friday, triggering aBritish veto of German plans to anchor a new eurozone fiscal union in arenegotiated Lisbon treaty.

Cameron'smove isolated Britain in Europe as seldom before, producing weekend headlinesand comment across Europe that the UK was on the way out of the EU.

"Wewant a strong and constructive Britain in Europe, and we want Britain to be atthe centre of Europe, and not on the sidelines," said Rehn, sounding moresorrowful than angry at what is seen in Brussels as Cameron's self-inflictedwound. "If [Cameron's] move was intended to prevent bankers and financialcorporations in the [City of London] from being regulated, that is not going tohappen. We must all draw lessons from the financial crisis, and that goes forthe financial sector as well."

Launching anew set of economic convergence policies – known as the "six-pack"and which come into force on Tuesday – Rehn admitted that Britain's blocking ofattempts to reopen the Lisbon treaty could create problems for the EU.Potentially, the move makes it legally more difficult to establish theeurozone's "fiscal compact" – the main result of last Friday's summit– by March.

Because ofthe British block, at least 23 and possibly 26 of the 27 EU states are now toagree a new international treaty among themselves as the answer to the eurozonedebt crisis. The aim is for all eurozone countries to enact laws settingbinding debt ceilings and with quasi-automatic penalties and fines for thosecountries breaking the rules. Germany, the architect of the new regime, wantsto strengthen the key European institutions – the European commission and theEuropean court of justice – giving them formidable powers of intervention inenforcing the new regime.

But on thecentral innovation – automatic fines for deficit sinners – Rehn conceded thatit could be difficult to give the new regime as much clout as Berlin wouldlike. The Germans want the commission to enforce the regime independently byrecommending punishments for eurozone countries running excessive budgetdeficits. The penalty would be triggered automatically unless a qualifiedmajority of eurozone governments then voted to overturn it. Rehn said theLisbon treaty would need to be changed for this to happen – but it cannot bechanged because of the British veto on Friday.

Whileeurosceptic Tory backbenchers may be pleased by the potential legal stalemate,the Cameron veto may be generating more unintended consequences. For months ithas been British government policy to back EU efforts to stabilise the eurothrough an effective fiscal union. Cameron and the chancellor, George Osborne,have been stressing the "relentless logic" of fiscal union,supporting it strongly provided that Britain is not involved. Britain's vetoand its resistance to having EU bodies involved in policing the fiscal compactcould leave the new regime weaker, setting back attempts to stabilise the euro,which Britain says is also crucial for the UK economy.

"Iregret very much that the UK was not willing to join the new fiscal compact, asmuch for the sake of Europe and its crisis response as for the sake of Britishcitizens and their perspectives," said Rehn. "I would also like toremind you that the UK government has also supported and approved the six-packof new rules tightening fiscal and economic surveillance, which enters intoforce tomorrow.

"TheUK's excessive deficit and debt will be the subject of surveillance like othermember states, even if the enforcement mechanism mostly applies to the euroarea member states."

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Ex-Officials Fingered in Bogor Villa Spat

2011-12-10T19:04:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, VentoSaudale, December 10, 2011

Former Home Affairs Minister Hari Sabarno during his ongoing trial
in the Anti-Corruption Court in Jakarta on Friday. (JG Photo)

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Bogor.Influential homeowners in Bogor are reportedly preventing the city’sadministration from acting against 250 dwellings in the Puncak area that werebuilt in breach of spatial planning rules, along with 12 buildings constructedwithout building licenses in a protected forest.

The Bogordistrict head, Rahmat Yasin, did not deny that the buildings were improperlysited.

“Therecertainly are those buildings, and they’re still there even though we have beentrying to have them removed,” he said on Friday. “We will involve relevantparties soon.”

Thedistrict head agreed that the area was a vital rainwater infiltration area forBogor as well as Jakarta, farther downstream.

“There hasbeen a lot of research that demonstrates the decline of the Puncak area’scapacity as a rainwater infiltration area,” Rahmat said. “The area has beenpinpointed as providing rapid runoff, which leads to flooding downstream.”

AlthoughRahmat did not want to reply with specific details when asked about influentialhomeowners who live in the area, his deputy, Karyawan Faturah, was more open.

“If we wantto clean up this problem then we are going to need the assistance of thecentral government, because a large number of these dwellings belong to ‘peopleof influence’ in Jakarta,” he said.

In a 2009survey, the spatial planning department of the Bogor district administrationdiscovered 112 unauthorized holiday villas. In 2010 it identified another 163of them, bringing the total to 275. The villas were built on land plots rangingfrom 0.1 hectares to two hectares.

The numberof unauthorized villas was reduced to about 250 in late 2010, after a number ofthem were demolished in accordance with government orders.

There havebeen no demolitions in 2011, but Yani Hasann, head of the local spatialplanning office, says he wants to recommence the demolitions in 2012.

“We arerechecking our data to determine which villas we need to demolish,” he said.“We will form a team to handle the demolitions, which will involve relatedagencies such as the forestry department.”

Anadditional 12 houses have been constructed in the Gede Pangrango protected forestarea, and some of them belong to former government officials, according to theBogor administration.

Theseformer officials reportedly include Hari Sabarno, a former home affairsminister who is now on trial for corruption; Sutiyoso, a former governor ofJakarta; Jaja Suparna, a former military reserve commander; and HBL Mantiri, aformer head of the Udayana Military Command.

Most of theunauthorized villas were built after the government passed the 2007 SpatialPlanning Law, a 2008 presidential decree on spatial planning and 2008 Bogorbylaw on spatial planning. These laws all aim to prevent unauthorizeddevelopment in Jakarta’s upstream catchment area because it aggravates floodingin the capital.

Newt Gingrich's gay sister backs Obama for 2012

2011-12-10T06:44:00.001+07:00

CandaceGingrich-Jones says she disagrees with her brother on gay rights issues

guardian.co.uk,Reuters, Thursday 8 December 2011

Gingrich opposes gay marriage and did not attend his half-sister's
wedding. Photograph: Andrew Burton/Reuters

The gayhalf-sister of Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has criticised hisposition on gay rights, saying she will support Barack Obama in the 2012election.

CandaceGingrich-Jones, a gay rights activist, said in an interview with MSNBC that sheand her older half-brother, the former speaker of the House of Representatives,were "mutually respectful" but disagree on gay rights.

"He isdefinitely on the wrong side of history when it comes to those issues,"Gingrich-Jones said.

She saidshe would "work really, really hard to make sure that President Obama isre-elected next year no matter who the Republican candidate is".

Gingrich'scampaign nearly sputtered to a halt last summer, but he has recently risen to the top of the polls in the Republican contest to choose a nominee to faceObama in the 2012 election.

Gingrich isknown for his socially conservative views and has said he opposes gay marriage.Gingrich-Jones, a director at the Human Rights Campaign, a gay advocacy group,said he did not attend her wedding.

A spokesmanfor Gingrich was not immediately available for comment.

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Who Controls America? Who Controls Wall Street? (72% are Jews)

Summary:

Of thefifty-one (51) senior executives of the major Wall Street banks, tradeexchanges, and regulatory agencies, thirty-seven (37) are Jews or have Jewishspouses. This is a numerical representation of 72%. Jews are approximately 2%of the U.S. population.* Therefore Jews are over-represented among the seniorexecutives of the major Wall Street banks, trade exchanges, and regulatoryagencies by a factor of 36 times(3,600 percent).

Gingrich calls Palestinians an "invented" people

"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."

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About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.”

"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version) New !

The Time for Talk Is Over, SBY Says on Anti-Graft Day

2011-12-10T01:07:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, HanggaBrata & Ezra Sihite | December 10, 2011

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In his InternationalAnti-Corruption Day speech on Friday,President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the government would engage more withantigraft activists to plot the best way to rid the country of corruption.

“I will notgive any more speeches. What I said at the Anti-Corruption Day celebration wasenough,” Yudhoyono said at a ceremony in Semarang, which was attended by topantigraft activists. “Now, I want input from all of you so that efforts toprevent and eradicate corruption become more successful.”

Among thoseat the ceremony were Indonesia Corruption Watch chairman Danang Widoyoko,Transparency International Indonesia secretary general Teten Masduki andAlexander Lay of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable.

Yudhoyonosaid the government was also pushing for more bilateral agreements to allow thecountry to extradite corruption suspects and reclaim stolen assets stashedoverseas.

“Indonesiadoes not want countries to become safe havens for corrupt Indonesians,” hesaid.

JusticeMinister Amir Syamsuddin said that after the 2004 presidential instruction onthe acceleration of corruption eradication was issued, Indonesia had enjoyedsteady success in ridding the country of graft.

Since 2005,he said, the National Police have handled 1,961 corruption cases, saving morethan Rp 679 billion ($75.4 million) in state losses.

Theminister also applauded the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) forsuccessfully prosecuting 196 cases since its establishment in 2003.

More thanRp 800 billion in compensation and fines was gained from cases prosecuted bythe KPK, as well as another Rp 151 trillion from the organization’s graftprevention efforts, according to Amir.

Noteverything, however, was so rosy. Amir said more than 1,000 corruption caseshad been dropped by the Attorney General’s Office in the past seven years.Since 2004, he said, the AGO has handled 8,394 cases, but only 6,831 have madeit to prosecution.

Althoughthe AGO managed to save more than Rp 13 trillion in stolen state assets since2004, he said, that figure would have been higher if it took more cases tocourt and won.

Yudhoyonosaid Indonesia’s anticorruption efforts had helped lift the country’s economy,which has grown from Rp 500 trillion in 2004 to Rp 1,200 trillion in 2011.

While theall the figures offered by Amir and Yudhoyono make it sound like the country ismaking real headway in fighting corruption, not all of the numbers could beimmediately verified.

Yudhoyono’sspeech came after Transparency International Indonesia on Thursday criticizedthe government for failing to fight corruption.

In thegroup’s latest Corruption Perception Index, Indonesia improved slightly from2.8 to 3.0, with 10 being the least corrupt. TI

Indonesia’spresident, Natalia Soebagjo, dismissed the improvement as “insignificant.”

Indonesiaaims to get at least a 5.0 in the 2014 Transparency survey, but IndonesianInstitute of Sciences researcher Syamsuddin Haris said it should lower itsgoal.

Syamsuddinsaid the House of Representatives’ decision to select a relatively unknownlawyer, Abraham Samad, to chair the KPK was a political one.

“[Samad’sappointment] is a product of political compromise,” he said. “I suspect he waschosen because he is easier to tame than the other candidates.”

ICW deputychairman Adnan Topan Husodo also criticized Abraham’s pledge to settle within ayear cases left unfinished by the previous KPK leadership.

“This istoo big of a promise,” he said. “Cases like Century and Nazaruddin will not beresolved in one year. The House is naive if it believes this because the KPKleadership is collective, so he has to deal with other KPK commissioners insetting KPK policy.”

In Malang,East Java, hundreds of students from Brawijaya University were collecting coinsfor Abraham, who promised to quit the KPK if he failed to keep his promise toresolve the cases.

“Thesecoins will be his pocket money … if inone year he is not able to live up to his promise,” said the university’sstudent body president, Arief Budi Laksono.

Additional reporting by

Rizky Amelia,Rangga Prakoso, Rahmat & Antara

Demonstratorsprotesting against the tax mafia during a protest to mark

Anti-Corruption Dayin from of the Corruption Eradication Commission in Jakarta

on Friday. (AFPPhoto)

Govt gears up for World Anticorruption Day

2011-12-05T17:08:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 12/05/2011

PresidentSusilo Bambang Yudhoyono says that World Anticorruption Day on Dec. 9 will bemore than just a commemoration of the government’s stance against graft.

“As you allknow, it will not just be a commemoration event but will be about what we havedone up to this day in our efforts to prevent and eradicate corruption,” hesaid in a speech at his office on Monday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He saidthat on World Anticorruption Day he and his Cabinet would evaluate theiranticorruption work, looking at the things that they have achieved and whatthey would need to work on in the future.

Thecommemoration, he said, would be held in Semarang, Central Java, where he feltwould be conducive to the day’s agenda.

“I want usto have a hard and sharp discussion and reflect on our situation, which willhelp us determine our moves for the future,” he said.

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RI ranks 100th in 2011 Corruption Perception Index

RI ranks 100th in 2011 Corruption Perception Index

2011-12-02T02:15:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Thu, 12/01/2011

Indonesiareceived another low score in this year’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI),carried out by Transparency International.

Indonesiascored 3.0 in this year’s CPI, which was announced on Thursday by theIndonesian chapter of Transparency International. The result places Indonesiain 100th position out of 183 countries measured.

It is aslight increase on last year’s score of 2.8, where a score of 10 indicates ahighly “clean” country and zero indicates a high level of corruption. Indonesiaranked 110 out of 178 countries in 2010, and 111th out of 180 countries in2009.

“This showsno significant change in Indonesia’s corruption eradication efforts,” secretarygeneral of Transparency International Indonesia Teten Masduki said in a pressrelease made available to The Jakarta Post by e-mail.

The releaseadded that, witnessing the sluggish progress of Indonesia’s corruptioneradication efforts, the government’s target of a 5.0 score in the 2014 CPI wastoo ambitious.

TransparencyInternational suggested the government undertake thorough and comprehensivebureaucracy reforms as well as reforming law enforcement institutions such asthe police, the Attorney General’s Office and the courts.

Corruption Perceptions index 2011

RI will lead SE Asian economic growth in next five years: OECD

2011-11-30T15:44:00.001+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/30/2011

With itslarge domestic market, Indonesia is expected to lead economic growth in sixSoutheast Asian countries over the next five years despite the slowdown in theglobal economy, the OECD says.

TheOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates in itsSoutheast Asian Economic Outlook that Indonesia’s economic growth will move upan average of 6.6 percent between 2012 and 2016 from 6.3 percent in 2011 and6.1 percent in 2010.

Indonesia’saverage GDP during the five-year period will be the highest in the six majorSoutheast Asian countries, followed by Malaysia with an average of 6.3 percent,Vietnam with 5.3 percent, the Philippines with 4.9 percent, Singapore with 4.6percent and Thailand with 4.5 percent, the organization estimates.

Theorganization also estimates that Indonesia’s GDP will grow at 6.3 percent in2011, also the highest among the six countries followed by Vietnam at 5.9percent, Singapore at 5.6 percent, Malaysia at 4.6 percent and the Philippinesat 4.5 percent.

“Amid theglobal economic crisis, growth for the six Southeast Asian countries willmoderate towards the first quarter of 2012 but remain robust through 2016,”OECD Development Center director Mario Pezzini told a press conference onTuesday in Jakarta after the launching of OECD report on the Southeast AsianEconomic Outlook 2011/2012.

He saidthat Indonesia would lead the region’s growth and keep its strong momentumthanks to its buoyant domestic demand. Underpinned by relatively stronginvestment, growth prospects in Malaysia will also remain robust in the mediumterm, though slower than the pre-2008 level, the report said. The Philippineeconomy also shows resilience owing to domestic demand and workers remittance.Singapore’s growth rate is expected to moderate to a level below the 2003-07rate, due largely to weaker global trade flows.

“Theunprecedented scale of floods has added to downside risks to the near-termprospect of Thailand,” the report said, adding that the near-term growthprospect of Vietnam would be affected by the tightening of monetary policies.

Meanwhile,Bank Indonesia’s director for economic and monetary policy research PerryWarjiyo saw “downside risks” to its 6.5 percent economic growth forecast nextyear due to the global economic slowdown. He called for a fiscal stimulus boostto reduce the impact of the global slowdown.

“At the endof the day, how big the impact of global downturn is on Indonesia heavilydepends on how much the fiscal stimulus will be,” he said.

The AsianDevelopment Bank (ADB) and other financial institutions have expressed similarconcerns, citing government spending as the source of growth that needs beboosted next year to spur the economic growth. (fem)

EstherSamboh contributed to this story

S&P downgrades top US banks' credit ratings

2011-11-30T06:20:00.001+07:00

Associated Press,Nov 29, 2011

Latest News

NEW YORK(AP) -- Standard & Poors Ratings Services is adjusting the ratings on 37 ofthe world's largest financial institutions, including downgrading the biggestbanks in the U.S.

Bank ofAmerica Corp. and its main subsidiaries were among those cut at least one notchon Tuesday, along with Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase& Co., Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co.

S&Psays the changes reflect its new ratings criteria for banks, which incorporateshifts in the worldwide financial industry and macroeconomic trends, includingthe role of governments and central banks in industry funding.

Top U.K.downgrades include Barclays, HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group and The RoyalBank of Scotland.

Ratings forseveral big European banks, including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, ING andSociete Generale are unchanged.

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Fed secretly handed out $8 trillion

BofA, Goldman, Citi Credit Ratings Reduced by S&P (Bloomberg)

Downgraded:

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.

Bank of America Corp.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

Barclays Plc

Citigroup Inc.

Rabobank Nederland

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

HSBC Holdings Plc

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Loyds Banking Group Plc

Morgan Stanley

Royal Bank of Scotland Plc

UBS AG

Wells Fargo & Co.

Upgraded:

Bank of China Ltd.

China Construction Bank Corp.

BI to encourage wider public access to financial institutions

2011-11-29T03:18:00.001+07:00

Antara News, Tue, November 29 2011

RelatedNews

Jakarta(ANTARA News) - Bank Indonesia (BI or the central bank) plans to issueinclusive financial regulations aimed at increasing the public`s access tofinancial institutions, the bank`s deputy governor, Muliaman D. Hadad, saidhere Monday.

Muliamansaid as the country`s monetary authority, BI was mulling the issuance ofregulations to encourage wider inclusion of the public in access to financialservices, including the possibility of moving this access from one place toanother with the help of technology and regulations.

Low publicaccess to financial institutions was caused by various factors such asdistance, knowledge and collateral.

AsIndonesian banks were playing a role in controlling about 80 percent of thefinancial industry in the country they were expected to build financialservices that can be enjoyed by wider segments of society, he said.

BI wasprompted to try to increase the public`s access to financial services after aBI survey on households in 2010 had shown that 62 percent of Indonesianhouseholds had no savings at all.

Currently,there are five inclusive financial activities pillars and five major productsthat will be the object of inclusive financial activities, he said.

The fivemain activities were financial education, financial information mapping,intermediary facilities, distribution channels and regulatory support.

Muliamanalso said to the "inclusion" of more people in access to financialinstitutions, was not only the task of the banking community but also of thegovernment in build public attitudes and the banking system`s capacity orcabilities.

InclusiveFinance is a comprehensive activity that aims to eliminate all forms ofbarriers to public access in the use of financial services, supported by avariety of infrastructure, he said.

Editor: Suryanto

Bakrie ‘Biggest Loser,’ Despite Indonesia’s Rich Getting Richer

2011-11-24T16:52:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, November 24, 2011

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Controversialbusinessman and politician Aburizal Bakrie and his family is “the biggestloser” in this year’s list of Indonesia’s richest people published by Forbesmagazine.

The Bakriefamily’s wealth dropped an estimated 57 percent, or $1.2 billion, despite thefortunes of Indonesia’s 40 most wealthy individuals or families increasing 19percent.

Themagazine said the growth in wealth, up to $85.1 billion, was due in part to thegrowth of Indonesia’s gross domestic product and the rising stock market.

The topthree were named as:

1) R. Budi& Michael Hartono, the owners of Djarum Group, with a net worth of $14billion

2) SusiloWonowidjojo, president of Gudang Garam, with a net worth of $10 billion

3) EkaTjipta Widjaja, the patriarch of the Sinar Mas Group, with a net worth of $8billion

Forbesnoted that the top three added $7.5 billion to their combined wealth and werenow worth “a staggering $32.5 billion, representing 38 percent of the list’stotal wealth.”

Roundingout the list were:

4) Low TuckKwong, owner of Bayan Resources, with a net worth of $3.7 billion

5) AnthoniSalim, Indofood’s president director and chief executive office, with a networth of $3.6 billion

6) SukantoTanoto, diversified, with a net worth of $2.8 billion

7) MartuaSitorus, chief operating officer of Wilmar International Ltd., the world’sbiggest palm-oil trader, with a net worth $2.7 billion

8) PeterSondakh, investment, with a net worth of $2.6 billion

9) PuteraSampoerna, head of the Sampoerna family, with a net worth of $2.4 billion

10) Achmad“Met” Hamami, who owns Indonesia’s Caterpillar distributor, with a net worth of$2.2 billion

Themagazine said five coal tycoons associated with Adaro Energy, including Bakrie,slipped in the rankings. “The person who effectively bailed them out, SaminTan, is one of five

newcomers.”

Also gonewere “Arifin and Hilmi Panigoro, who lost nearly half their fortune as sharesof their MedcoEnergi fell.”

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RI, US agree on $600 mln cooperation project

2011-11-18T23:10:00.001+07:00

Antara News, Fri,November 18 2011

USPresident Barack Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang

Yudhoyonoshaking hands following statements to the press after their

meeting on thesidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)

and East Asiasummits in Nusa Dua on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Friday.

(AFPPhoto)

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonoand US President Barack Obama announced the agreement in a joint statement tothe press following their bilateral meeting at the Bali Nusa Dua ConventionCenter (BNDCC).

RelatedNews

Nusa Dua,Bali (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and the United States have agreed on a US$600million cooperation project under a so-called "Millennium ChallengeCorporation Compact" in support of environmentally friendly andsustainable development in the former.

IndonesianPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and US President Barack Obama announced theagreement in a joint statement to the press following their bilateral meetingat the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center (BNDCC) here on Friday.

"Indonesiais thankful to the US for the Millennium Comprehensive Partnership worth US$600million to support environmentally friendly development," PresidentYudhoyono said.

Thecooperation was designed to assist Indonesia in developing clean energy, foodand public health programs as well as in modernizing goods and serviceprocurement process.

PresidentYudhoyono said the Indonesia-US relations had been improving since the twonations signed a comprehensive partnership agreement a few years ago.

In thepolitical, legal and security fields both nations had been engaged in variousactivities such as dialogs, military education and training including the USgrant of F-16s to Indonesia, he said.

Bothnations also had signed a trade and investment agreement to increase investmentand trade ties between the two nations, he said.

PresidentYudhoyono also expressed Indonesia`s wish to become a US strategic partner inbuilding democratic cooperation which pays respect for human rights.

Meanwhile,President Obama said his visit to Bali for the 6th East Asia Summit was aconcrete example of the US focus on the Asia-Pacific region to get betterinvolved in the regional organization.

He sharedYudhoyono`s view that relations between the two countries had been improvingsince the signing of the comprehensive partnership agreement.

He said thesigning of a commercial agreement between Boeing and Lion Air at Grand HyattHotel in Bali earlier in the day was an example of the ever increasingly closercooperation between the two nations in the economic field.

Under theagreement, Lion Air is planning to buy 200 Boeing planes for at least US$2billion.

Editor: Heru

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China Pledges $10b Loan for Asean Neighbors

2011-11-18T19:11:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, November 18, 2011

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Nusa Dua,Bali. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Friday Beijing would offer its SoutheastAsian neighbors $10 billion in infrastructure loans, as he sought to deepentrade ties in the region.

He made theannouncement in a speech at China’s meeting with the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (Asean) leaders on the Indonesian island of Bali, after Beijingin 2009 announced a similar $15 billion loan to the region.

The earlierloan “has supported more than 50 infrastructure development projects, involvingalmost all Asean countries,” said Wen, according to a copy of his speechreleased by China’s state news agency Xinhua.

He saidChina and the 10-member regional bloc should enhance financial cooperation,including “local currency swap and encourage the quoting of China’s yuan andAsean currencies in each other’s inter-bank foreign exchange.”

China hasan ambitious goal to turn the yuan, also known as the renminbi, into a globalcurrency rivalling the dollar.

“China-Aseanrelationship is solidly based and has great potential and a promising future,”said Wen, promising China would “forever be a good neighbor, good friend andgood partner” of Asean

“We willwork closely with you to implement all the agreements we have reached to bringmore benefit to our people and make greater contribution to peace andprosperity in our region,” he said.

Wenannounced the establishment of a 3.0 billion yuan ($470 million) fund to stepup maritime cooperation with ASEAN states that covers marine research,navigation safety, combating transnational crimes, among others.

Agence France-Presse

ChinesePremier Wen Jiabao attends the 14th Association of

Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) Plus Three Summit in Bali,

Indonesia, Nov. 18, 2011. (Xinhua/XieHuanchi)

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Rothschild Calls for Clean-Up at Bakrie’s Bumi Resources

2011-11-10T16:06:00.001+07:00

Jakarta Globe, November 10, 2011

British financier Nathaniel Rothschild, left, has criticized the
management and corporate governance at Bumi Resources,
the Indonesian coal company he is trying to transform into a
top-tier global miner, the Financial Times reported on
Thursday. (Antara Photo/File)

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Britishfinancier Nathaniel Rothschild has criticized the management and corporategovernance at Bumi Resources, the Indonesian coal company he is trying totransform into a top-tier global miner, the Financial Times reported onThursday.

Thenewspaper said it has seen a letter written by Rothschild calling for a“radical cleaning up” of Bumi, the Jakarta-based affiliate of London-listedBumi Plc.

Rothschildis co-chairman of the London-listed firm, his joint venture with Indonesia’spolitically connected Bakrie family that holds a 29 percent stake in BumiResources.

AburizalBakrie is the chairman of the Golkar Party.

“Bothmyself and the Bakries need an immediate transformation of the way you arechoosing to manage PT Bumi Resources,” Rothschild wrote in his letter to AriHudaya, a long-time Bakrie family lieutenant who is chief executive of both PTBumi Resources and Bumi.

It was thefirst public sign of strains in the relationship between the two businessdynasties, who investors applauded a year ago for creating the world’s biggestthermal coal company.

In aninterview with the FT, Rothschild said his relationship with the Bakries, majorshareholders of Bumi, “is just fine,” adding that they would be “thrilled whenthey read a copy of this letter.”

Chris Fong,a spokesman for the Bakrie family, whose financial difficulties forced them tosell half of their Bumi stake this month, said the letter had taken them bysurprise.

“NatRothschild hasn’t addressed these issues with us,” Fong said, referring to apassage in the letter in which Rothschild said that the Bakries wanted atransformation in Bumi Resources.

“If hewants to raise any issues, as a shareholder and board member, we would expecthim to follow accepted corporate governance procedures and raise concerns atthe board level and at the appropriate time.”

Accordingto two sources close to the group, the letter was the result of a boardroombattle between the Bakries and Rothschild, in which Rothschild had demanded AriHudaya’s replacement as CEO.

Reuters wasunable to contact Rothschild to seek comment.

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Bakrie Coal Mining Partnership Turns Sour

Police to let KPK probe funds received from Freeport

2011-11-06T17:44:00.003+07:00

The Jakarta Post, Sun, 11/06/2011

TheNational Police said Sunday it will allow the Corruption Eradication Commission(KPK) to scrutinize police officers regarding funds they may have received frommining firm PT Freeport Indonesia to guard the company area in Papua.

NationalPolice Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said he supported any actions to help policeuphold their public accountability and the truth in the Freeport fund case,tribunnews.com reported.

NationalPolice spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar recently said police received US$14million from Freeport to guard the firm area in Papua.

Among thebeneficiaries are 365 police officers who each received Rp 1.25 million(US$130) per month from Freeport.

Theagreement was made between Freeport and the Papua Police in 2004.

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Religious Affairs Ministry Staff Arrested for Hajj Fraud

2011-11-05T23:10:00.001+07:00

Antara News, November 05, 2011

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Police inBanten have arrested three officials from the Ministry of Religious Affairs whoallegedly took money from Muslims hoping to perform the hajj pilgrimage thisyear.

RangkasBitung Police Chief Adj. Comr. Mohamad Mujib told Antara on Saturday that dozensof people had paid the officials as much as Rp 50 million ($5,600) each.

When theoutraged victims failed to depart Indonesia as promised on Oct. 28, theycontacted police.

Mujibidentified one of the officials as Isep Saepudin, who along with his twocolleagues, were based in Lebak district.

The triohad admitted to their crimes and faced a maximum of four years in jail forfraud and theft, he said.

Mujibappealed for other potential victims to come forward so the case could beprocessed quickly.

The head ofhajj affairs at the Lebak offices of the religious ministry said he knewnothing about the fraud.

Antara

Indonesia ranks 124th in 2011 Human Development Index

2011-11-02T21:19:00.001+07:00

ErwidaMaulia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/02/2011

The UnitedNations Development Program (UNDP) launched the 2011 Human Development Index(HDI) on Wednesday. The index again places Indonesia at 124th out of 187countries surveyed.

Inaddition, Indonesia again ranks lower than five of its ASEAN counterparts, withSingapore leading in 26th place, followed by Brunei (33rd), Malaysia (61st),Thailand (103rd) and the Philippines (112nd).

Indonesia's2011 HDI placing, which scores 0.617, is still higher than that of Vietnam (128th),Laos (138th), Cambodia (139th) and Myanmar (149th).

The 2011list again puts Norway top of the index, with an HDI of 0.943, followed byAustralia, the Netherlands, the United States and New Zealand, respectively.

“But whenthe index is adjusted for internal inequalities in health, education andincome, some of the wealthiest nations drop out of the HDI's top 20. The USfalls from #4 to #23, the Republic of Korea from #15 to #32, and Israel from#17 to #25,” the UNDP said in its 2011 Human Development Report.

“Other topnational achievers rise in the IHDI [Inequality-adjusted HDI] due to greaterrelative internal equalities in health, education and income. Sweden jumps from#10 to #5, Denmark climbs from #16 to #12, and Slovenia rises from #21 to #14,”it adds.

The UNDPsays HDI rankings are recalculated annually using the latest internationallycomparable data for health, education and income. The IHDI was introduced inlast year’s Human Development Report along with the Gender Inequality Index andMultidimensional Poverty Index in order to complement the original HDI, whichas a composite measure of national averages does not reflect internalinequalities.

The 2011HDI rankings placed Burundi (185th), Niger (186th) and Congo (187th) at thebottom.

Russia and China come bottom of bribe-paying survey

2011-11-02T07:21:00.001+07:00

BBC News, 2November 2011

Transparency International wants more action
to outlaw bribery

Companiesfrom Russia and China are most likely to pay bribes when doing business abroad,a new survey suggests.The two scored worst out of 28 countries in a poll of3,000 business executives conducted by anti-corruption group TransparencyInternational (TI).

TheNetherlands and Switzerland came top, while the UK ranked eighth, just ahead ofthe US and France.

Bribery wasreportedly most common to win public sector works and construction contracts.

'Nointegrity'

"It isof particular concern that China and Russia are at the bottom of theindex," said TI in its report.

"Giventhe increasing global presence of businesses from the countries, bribery andcorruption are likely to have a substantial impact on societies in which theyoperate and on the ability of companies to compete fairly in thesemarkets."

Other majordeveloping economies came much higher up the rankings. India was 19th, whileBrazil, in 14th place, was one spot ahead of Italy.

The reportcalled for more international action to outlaw companies from paying bribes inforeign countries.

BribeRankings - worst offenders last

1.Netherlands, Switzerland
3. Belgium
4. Germany,Japan
6.Australia, Canada
8.Singapore, UK
10. US
11. France,Spain
13. SouthKorea
14. Brazil
15. HongKong, Italy, Malaysia, South Africa
19. India, Turkey
22. Saudi Arabia
23. Argentina,UAE
25.Indonesia
26. Mexico
27. China
28. Russia

"G20governments must tackle foreign bribery as a matter of urgency," saidHuguette Labelle, chair of TI, who said that more resources must be dedicatedto investigations and prosecutions.

Russia,which came bottom of the league, was seen by TI as a particularly challengingcase.

"Unfortunately...there are no islands of integrity in Russian public and business life,"said TI Russian director, Elena Panfilova.

'Cheatingtaxpayers'

Surveyrespondents were asked to say how likely companies from each of the foreigncountries were to offer back-handers.

Bribe-payingwas seen as much more common by businessmen from countries whose governmentswere also considered to have the least integrity, according to a separate"corruption perceptions" survey carried out by TI last year.

The sectormost affected by bribery was public procurement - where companies compete towin contracts from governments for everything from waste collection to roadbuilding.

TI notedthat the nature of public sector contracts - which are usually large, complexand involve many sub-contractors - makes it much easier to inflate costs andhide inappropriate payments.

However, TIsaid that paying bribes to win major infrastructure and housing projects"effectively cheats taxpayers out of their money" and can underminesafety standards.

The surveyindicated that companies paid bribes almost as routinely to other businesses asthey do to government officials.

The miningand the oil and gas sectors - in which Russia and China are most active - alsoscored low in the poll.

Agriculturewas considered the least bribe-prone, while banking ranked the fourthleast-corrupt out of 19 industries.

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against corruption inBrazilian politics. Photograph: Rex Features

Govt urged to audit Freeport Indonesia

2011-10-31T23:03:00.003+07:00

Antara News, Mon, October 31 2011

He said not only Freeport workers but alsolocal community members especially the six tribes living in the Timika regionhad experienced injustices and not enjoyed any welfare.

RelatedNews

Freeport ready to settle its labor dispute in court

Jakarta(ANTARA News) - A non-governmental organization (NGO) here has urged thegovernment to conduct an audit on PT Freeport Indonesia`s finances inconnection with the company`s failure to care for the welfare of its employeesand local community members.

"Irecommend an immediate audit of PT Freeport Indonesia by a presidential team ora team from the House of Representatives (DPR) as this problem is very seriousin view of the number of employees that reaches 22,000 excluding their familymembers that reach tens of thousands. My proposal is to set up a specialcommittee to ensure the serious handling of the problem," the coordinatorof the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), HarizAzhar, said here on Monday.

He said notonly Freeport workers but also local community members especially the sixtribes living in the Timika region had experienced injustices and not enjoyedany welfare.

Therefore,he said an "extraordinary" team needed to be set up to evaluate andfind out why PT Freeport Indonesia had failed to improve its workers welfareand to meet its social corporate responsibility obligations.

He said theteam was also expected to be able to determine why security authorities hadfailed to unveil the many shooting incidents that had happened in the regionand caused insecurity among the local people as well as Freeport workers.

The teamshould also be able to ascertain whether Freeport had paid been paying itstaxes properly considering that convicted tax man Gayus Tambunan had mentionedthe company`s name in his case.

"Thatmust be uncovered and the investigation must be continued," he said.

TheFreeport case has happened many times raising a question if the governmentreally wants to settle it, he said.

"Seeingthe sheer number of its workers and their family members this is a nationalproblem, a patriotism problem. So if the government wants to prove itsnationalism, support the workers," he said.

He said ifit is PT Freeport that the government supports it will be the government thatis anti-nationalist," he said.

Kontrasalong with TLBHI and the Cooperation Forum of Papua Non-GovernmentalOrganizations had earlier condemned PT Freeport for having used the police as ashield against its own workers.

It alsocriticized the company for refusing to sign a new collective labor agreementwith the workers and also ridiculed the police for giving an ultimatum to theworkers to stop their strike.

He said thestrike was called because the workers wished to improve their welfare bychanging provisions in the collective labor agreement including raising theirwages, YLBHI deputy chairman Alvon Kurnia Palma said.

Based onLaw Number 21 of 2000 labor unions have the right to conclude collective laboragreements with employers and Article 27 states labor unions are obliged toprotect and defend their members from human rights violations and fight intheir interest and the welfare of their members and families.

Alvon saidthe profits made by the company had been very huge while only a small part ofit had been given to the workers. In view of that it was logical that theworkers had asked for a raise.

The Mimikapolice chief, Deny Edward Siregar, had ordered the Freeport workers to stoptheir strike at Check Point I at Mile 28, Mile 27 and Gorong-gorong in Timikaand open access so far blocked by the workers.

Editor: Heru

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