In a different light

The Jakarta Post, Antara, Fri, 05/07/2010 1:31 PM | National

Judge Muhtadi Asnun (center), who acquitted tax officer Gayus Tambunan from money laundering and embezzlement charges, arrives at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Friday to face his first questioning as a suspect for allegedly accepting gratuity. Antara/Yudhi Mahatma

Law talk

The Jakarta Post, Antara | Tue, 05/04/2010 1:38 PM

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (right) speaks with (from left) National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar and Supreme Court chief Harifin A. Tumpa after opening a consultation and coordination meeting on legal affairs at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday morning. Antara/Widodo S. Jusuf

The President should directly lead bureaucratic reform

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): Gorontalo's bureaucratic and administrative staff receive up to 400 percent of their basic salary in incentives -- as long as they meet or surpass performance targets, Governor Fadel Muhammad said.

While presenting Thursday his experiences around implementing good governance, Fadel said providing financial incentives had seen an increase in staff performance.

"In Gorontalo, we are now involving supervisors and colleagues (of individual civil servants) in setting out targets, so that we can control performance," he said.

Fadel, a businessman and Golkar Party executive and directly elected in 2006 as governor, was speaking at a seminar called "Reinventing Government in Asia".

The event is set to end Friday and was organized by various bodies, including the State Ministry for Administrative Reform, the Seoul-based United Nations Governance Center and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Fadel said in order to push bureaucratic reform, local authorities "needed direct supervision, at least from the Vice President ... or the president".

Without such supervision, he said bureaucratic reform "had not made any significant progress nationwide despite several sporadic achievement at the regional level".

He also said Indonesia needed to work harder to transform the "mindset" of its civil servants, in order to see them become more professional in delivering public services.

This was "the biggest challenge" in bureaucratic reform in the country, he said.

Fadel, who said direct supervision has been implemented in other Asian countries including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, also said measuring progress within three years was necessary.

Separately, the Director of the UN Governance Center Myung Soo Cho said given the diversity of Asian countries, each nation needed to create its own model of reform.

Cho said although leadership was the key, "making the public understand what their government was doing" and the expected results was also pivotal to realize reform in every country.

He said bureaucratic reform was often slow and frustrating and that dialog was important.

Fadel said local administrations should also pay attention to their financial transparency and encourage the use of information technology to improve a government's performance and to serve thepublic better.

"Financial reports should be transparent and published every six months, to inform the public of the real situation," Fadel said.

Professionals, instead of mayors or governors should be involved in handling the details, he said. (Agustina Wayansari)

SBY warns of climate change fallout

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday warned Indonesians to brace for the adverse impacts of global climate change.

Addressing the commemoration of World Meteorology Day here, Yudhoyono said signs of climate change were already upon the world, as indicated by the high incidence of major natural disasters -- 70 incidents between November 2004 and March 2007.

"I warn everyone to be on alert for the impacts of global climate change on life, security and welfare," the President said in his speech, adding that weather conditions and crop cycles would likely be effected.

Yudhoyono said Indonesians had the ability to live with recurrent disasters, given the country's geographical position.

"I am not trying to scare (Indonesians). But what we have to do is physically and mentally prepare for the threats," he said.

The President ordered the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) to study changes in environmental conditions and deliver accurate information to the public on possible disasters.

Indonesia has been the victim of a string of natural disasters, some of which have been said to be the result of climate change.

In January, Jakarta suffered from severe downpours and floods after a lengthy dry period in what should have been the rainy season.

Earlier this month, a landslide killed 43 people in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, traditionally known as a dry province.

Most scientists now agree average global temperatures will rise by between two and six degrees Celsius by the end of the century. It is believed this process is being driven by an atmospheric build up of greenhouse gases, which are commonly released in the burning of fossil fuels for power and transportation purposes.

With a mere rise of two degrees, scientists predict a massive upsurge in species extinction and extreme weather events such as storms, droughts and floods. This could potentially threaten hundreds of millions of lives around the world. Under forecasts, polar icecaps will melt, raising sea levels by several meters.

Chairwoman of BMG, Sri Woro Harijono, said Indonesians must understand that they live in a disaster zone.

"The people here should always be prepared to face all types of disasters, be they earthquakes, floods, volcanic activities or tsunamis," Sri Woro said.

During the ceremony, the President presented awards to local administrations and the media for their contribution to informing the public on the risks posed by climate change.

The provincial governments of Central Java, Gorontalo and West Sumatra, as well as Nabire regency, all received awards.

Award recipients from the media were private TV station Metro TV, state-run TV station TVRI, Kompas, Media Indonesia and private radio stations Elshinta and Trijaya FM.

President to promote national hybrid paddy

Gorontalo, Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was scheduled to promote the product of national hybrid paddy in Gorongtalo province on January 15, local administration spokesman Irwan Halid said here on Friday.

He said the president on the occasion would be accompanied by a number of ministers, among others Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyanto, Home Affairs Minister Muhammad Ma`ruf and Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad.

The president and his entourage would arrive in Gorontalo on January 15 after attending the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Mactan, Cebu province in the Central Philippines.

"After the ASEAN summit in the Philippines, President Yudhoyono will directly head for Gorontalo to propagandize 2 million tons of hybrid paddy product," Irwan said.

Since it would be a national event, Irwan added that it would also be attended by a number of agronomists from all over the country.

Gorontalo was chosen to be the location of national hybrid paddy because the province has for several times received awards in national food resillience.

"In the central government judgement, Gorontalo is one of the provinces in Indonesia that has been successful in food improvement program," Irwan said.

He added that various preparations had been and were being made for the working visit of President Yudhoyono in Gorontalo.

VP launches forest and land rehabilitation program

ANTARA News - 2006-12-28 14:30:03

Jakarta, December 28, 2006 (ANTARA News) - Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla is scheduled to launch a national forest and land rehabilitation program in a ceremony held at Empol village, Sekotong, West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) on Thursday.

Kalla during the ceremony is also expected to present awards to eight governors, 15 district heads and mayors as well as 12 farmers` groups for their achievement in conducting forest and land rehabilitation programs in their respective regions.

Information from the Vice President`s Secretariat office said here on Thursday that among those receiving the awards would include Gorontalo Governor Fadel Muhammad.

During his stay in NTB, Jusuf Kalla is accompanied by Deputy Chairman of the People`s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Aksa Mahmud, Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono, Research and Technology Minister Kusmayanto Kadiman, Environmental Affairs Minister Rachmad Witoelar, Golkar Party Secretary General Sumarsono, and two legislators, namely Enggartiasto Lukito an and Rully Chairul Azwar.

Meanwhile, Mme. Mufidah Kalla is scheduled to visit a seaweed and cashew nut processing factory, PT Phonix Mas Persada, at Abian Tubuh, and a Lombok Pottery industry at Cakra Negara, Mataram city.

The Vice President and his entourage left Jakarta on Thursday by The Indonesian Air Force`s Boeing 737 presidential plane from the Halim Perdana Kusuma air force base.

An official reported earlier that the deforestation rate in Indonesia reached two million hectares annually while its reforestation rate was only around 600,000 hectares per year.

The deforestation rate has tended to increase from year to year, Dr. Harri Santosa, secretary of the organizing committee of the National Forest and Land Rehabilitation Program, said in Mataram, NTB Province on Wednesday.

Santosa said the deforestation rate in Indonesia was around 900,000 hectares in 1990 and it increased to 1.8 million hectares in 2004.

In 2006, the deforestation rate was recorded at 2.8 million hectares, he said, adding that the rate was two million hectares per year on the average.

The country`s total deforested areas were about 60 million hectares, he added.

Three Indonesian provinces, namely East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Southeast Sulawesi and NTB, were currently being threatened by desertification, he added.

IAEA chief supports Indonesia's nuclear power plans

The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA (AP): The International Atomic Energy Agency will help Indonesia, the world's fourth largest country, develop safe atomic power plants, the head of the organization said Friday.

Indonesia, which hopes to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels yet has soaring energy needs, has set a deadline of 2010 to start construction of its first nuclear power plant.

Mohamed ElBaradei said the IAEA is "supporting Indonesia's preparations and plans on its nuclear power plant construction." ElBaradei was scheduled to meet Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other ministers during his two-day trip.

"We stand ready to assist you," ElBaradei said in a speech to government officials and energy experts in the country's capital, Jakarta.

"We are not giving any approval or disapproval, but IAEA gives assistance to make sure that plants are secure and safe," he said.

Indonesia signed a deal with South Korea earlier this week to jointly build nuclear power plants in the Southeast Asian nation and exchange fissile material and technology.

Electricity demand in Indonesia is growing by roughly 10 percent per year, and it is hoped the planned nuclear plant will contribute 4,000 megawatts to the national electricity grid by 2025, fulfilling a significant part of new demand.

Russia and Indonesia to cooperate in peaceful atom

RBC, 01.12.2006, Moscow 19:57:46.

Russian Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) chief Sergei Kiriyenko and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hasan Wirajuda signed an intergovernmental accord on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Moscow today, Rosatom's press office reported. The agreement was signed during the Russian-Indonesian summit.

Following talks between Russian and Indonesian Presidents, Kiriyenko told journalists that Russia would be ready to take part in a tender for the construction of a nuclear power plant in the archipelago state.

Russia has a wide range of competitive technologies that could interest Indonesia, such as floating nuclear power plants and seawater conversion technologies, Rosatom chief said.