Rise in Central Java’s Economy

Tuesday, 17 February, 2009 | 12:34 WIB 

TEMPO Interactive, Semarang:Based on the cumulative gross regional domestic growth (PDRB) from the first until the fourth quarter, economic growth in Central Java in 2008 increased by 5.5 percent compared to the previous year. 

The growth was based on prices during 2008, which topped Rp362.9 trillion, while they only reached Rp312.4 trillion in 2007. 

“In 2009, it is estimated that economic growth in Central Java will be 4.3 percent,” said Indrarto Hadijanto, Chairman of the Central Java Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), yesterday (16/2). 

This decrease would be due to the impact of the global financial crisis. 

In 2008, he said, all economic sectors forming the PDRB increased. 

The highest growth occurred in the financial, rental, and company services sectors, that value of which reached 7.8 percent. 

Meanwhile, growth in the services sector was 7.7 percent; transportation and communication 7.5 percent; construction 6.5 percent; trade, hotel, and restaurant 5,1 percent; agriculture 5.1 percent; electricity, gas, and water 4.8 percent; processing 4.5 percent; and mining 3.8 percent. 

SOHIRIN

Indonesia has lost its best son: president

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia had lost its best son with the demise of former president Soeharto, and called on the people to honestly appreciate his services to the state and nation.

"We have just lost our best son, a stalwart freedom fighter, a true soldier and a highly respected statesman," the president said at the former strongman`s funeral at the Astana Giribangun graveyard, Karanganyar district, Central Java, on Monday.

He said Indonesian people who had a clear heart and mind had to acknowledge that the Late Soeharto had contributed much to the state and nation.

The president said the Indonesian people should also be aware of the fact that as a human being and as leader of a nation, Soeharto was not free from mistakes and shortcomings.

"Nobody in this world is perfect. On this important occasion, I would like to appeal to all Indonesian people to pray for Soeharto so that his soul will rest in peace and be accepted at Allah`s side in accordance with his good deeds, dedication, struggle and sacrifices," he said.

Yudhoyono said that during his life, Soeharto had built up long careers in the military, in politics and the overnment.

When he was till young during the 1945-1959 physical struggle for independence, Soeharto consistently fought the colonial forces in defense of the state and nation`s sovereignty.

History had also recorded a number of monumental struggles he had waged together with other freedom fighters such as the General Attack of March 1, 1949 in which colonial troops were driven out of Yogyakarta city.

"This important event added enormous weight to Indonesia`s diplomacy to uphold its sovereignty," he said.

After the revolutionary period, the Late Soeharto was in 1962 assigned as commander of the `Mandala" Military Command to liberate West Irian through military operations, the president said.

He said, when Indonesia was paralyzed by a communist coup attempt in 1965, Soeharto once again stepped forward to safeguard the state and nation`s integrity, and restored order and security.

Yudhoyono also said that since he was installed as Indonesian president on March 27, 1968, Soeharto had consistently implemented national development on the basis of a trilogy - stability, growth and equitable distribution of the fruits of development.

Soeharto died on Sunday of multi-organ failure at Pertamina Hospital in South Jakarta at the age of 86 after being medically treated for 24 days. He was admitted to the hospital with anemia and severe edema.

Japan's royalty to visit RI, celebrations

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post) : Japan's Prince Akishino and Princess Kawashimo Kiko are scheduled to visit Indonesia from Jan. 18 to 24 to attend celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Indonesia and Japan's diplomatic relations.

"The Japanese prince and princess will arrive here on the evening of January 18 to start their activities the next day," Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told Antara on Thursday.

The peak of celebrations for the anniversary will be held at the Indonesia-in-Miniature Park (TMII) on Jan. 20 in the presence of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Dino said.

Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko would represent Japanese Emperor Akihito.

Akishino, the second son of Akihito, was married to Princess Kiko in 1990.

To honor their 50th anniversary of bilateral relations, the two governments would hold a number joint activities in the economic, social, cultural and sports fields, Dino said.

Besides attending the peak event, the Japanese prince and princess are also scheduled to visit Prambanan and Borobudur temples in Central Java, Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

More regions cut bureaucratic lines

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

The move by Sragen regent to cut red tape in pursuit of good governance in the Central Java regency has inspired other regions to follow, including Bali's Denpasar mayoralty.

"At first we established integrated service units in each government agency, but then we realized that it was not enough to really reform the bureaucracy," Denpasar Deputy Mayor Rai Dharmawijaya told reporters Tuesday after an international seminar on fighting bribery in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Sragen is the pioneer regency in the country to introduce one-stop licensing services through an online system that connects all of its district offices.

Rai said the Denpasar administration decided to also impose a one-stop service office.

"We now have the licensing agency to handle the issuance of all kinds of licenses," he said.

The new agency was established on October 29 and would be inaugurated Thursday by Denpasar Mayor Aan Puspayoga.

"Through this agency, we want to really reform the bureaucracy here," Aan said.

"So if you go to the agency's office, forget the old image of a government's office."

Indonesian government offices have long been known for their complicated and long process of bureaucracy -- a reputation alleged to have made them prone to corruption.

Rai said they had been trying to change the working attitude of officials throughout the Denpasar administration by introducing a philosophy called Sewaka Dharma in Sanskrit -- service is part of religious devotion.

"We have also made the whole licensing process transparent through our online system," he said.

He said the electronic system had been established since August 2006, thanks to assistance from the Indonesian Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Rai said prior to establishing the online system, they had first made a visit to Sragen regency, which had pioneered the system.

He said people could see all the procedures and the requirements needed for securing a license through http://upt.denpasarkota.go.id.

Currently, there were 49 licensing and 16 non-licensing documents, including ID cards and family cards, that could be processed online.

Through the website, people can download application forms and complete various documents before submitting them to the licensing agency.

"People can check the status of their application anytime by logging in their registration number," Rai said.

He said they were also helping local micro- and smaller entrepreneurs to market their products electronically.

"We have familiarized this program since February 2006, and dozens of micro- and small entrepreneurs have been able to trade abroad themselves," Rai said.

Besides Sragen and Denpasar, East Kalimantan and Gorontalo provinces, Solok regency in West Sumatra and Surabaya municipality in East Java had established integrated services for the public.

Most of the regions said they had successfully cut the time needed for license processing from several months to less-than 10 days.

Related Articles:

President Asked to Terminate Scrutiny Permit to Simplify Corruption Cases
ADB Hosts International Seminar on Fighting Bribery in Public Procurement

Market launched to improve farmers' lives

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): Don't know where to go on weekends other than the shopping malls?

You can perhaps pay a visit to Indonesia's first-of-its-kind farmer market, officially launched here Saturday by the Agriculture Ministry and due to run every weekend afterwards.

Located at the clean, neat National Monument (Monas)'s IRTI parking area on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta, the market offers various kinds of farming products: fruits and vegetables, processed products, and ornamental plants.

And they are all fresh bought and sold by the traders themselves.

These farmers come from areas in Jakarta and the neighboring Banten and West Java provinces.

"We wish to bring the farmers to meet face-to-face with customers, so that they can earn more from their farming products," said Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyono at the launch.

He said that farmers had all these times been a marginalized group, as they could only earn a little from their farming products that were usually traded to customers via middlemen, who took the most benefit from the mediated trading system.

"Based on a research, farmers can earn an added value up to 23 percent of overall agribusiness activities with the direct marketing system," added Anton, taking as example the success of farmer markets in Malaysia, Britain and some other countries.

At the same occasion, the Agriculture Ministry's director general for processing and marketing of agricultural products, Djoko Said Damardjati, said that Jakarta was the first province in Indonesia organizing such a market.

"We'll have this farmer market in two or three provinces in total by the end of the year," said Djoko, adding that the other provinces might include Yogyakarta, Bandung in West Java, or Semarang in Central Java.

According to Djoko, the ministry has set aside a fund of around Rp 400 million (approximately US$43,716) for the program this year.

Overall, a total of 34 cities and municipalities in 17 provinces of Indonesia will host the farmer markets in the next few years.

The ministry will provide all farmer participants with kiosks for free.

Regent gets five years for corruption

JAKARTA (JP): The Anti-Corruption Court on Tuesday sentenced a non-active regent from Central Java to five years in prison for corruption.

Presiding judge Gus Rizal said Hendy Boedoro, the Kendal regent, was guilty of corruption that inflicted Rp 16.7 billion (US$1.8 million) in losses on the state.

He was also fined a total of Rp 3.6 billion.

Both the prosecutor and Hendy said they would appeal the verdict.

The prosecution had been seeking a 10-year sentence, while Hendy insisted he was innocent.

West Sumba teacher takes home Kalpataru award

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Like Sysiphus of Greek mythology, who relentlessly carries a rock uphill, West Sumba native Elan Wukak Victor has for years carried out a similarly endless task, growing trees on rocks.

The 63-year-old English teacher started by encouraging his pupils to grow trees in their schoolyard, an idea he took from school to school.

And after 30 years, Elan has planted 400,000 trees, distributed 100,000 seeds to 23 green community groups he helped set up as well as built 81 water reservoirs across Waikabubak, a barren, hilly village in West Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara.

Elan's hard work paid off on Wednesday, when he, along with 11 other environmental activists, was awarded a Kalpataru, the highest award for environmentalists in Indonesia.

Elan won in environmental conservation pioneer category, together with Amandus Kaize from Merauke, Papua, and village head Slamet Tugiyanto from Magelang, Central Java.

Kaize was honored for his efforts to grow a rare variety of plants in a protected forest controlled by his tribal community, while Slamet won for promoting multiple crops among local farmers.

One notable figure who also won the award was former West Java governor Solichin Gautama Purwanegara, for his campaign against illegal logging and on the regreening of community-controlled forests in nine regencies in West Java.

Apart from the Kalpataru awards given to environmental activists, the government has handed out Adipura awards to cities that strive to promote cleanliness.

This year, the government gave the awards to 84 cities throughout the country. More than 300 cities were nominated for the Adipura awards this year.

All five municipalities in Jakarta won Kalpatarus in the category of metropolitan city. Other cities in the category which won Kalpataru are Palembang in South Sumatra and Surabaya in East Java.

Jakarta's gain, however, was at the loss of other cities in the greater Jakarta area such as Bekasi, Bogor and Tangerang. None of these cities won Adipura in this year's contest.

Other cities which also won Adipura include Padang (West Sumatra), Yogyakarta, Denpasar (Bali), Malang (East Java) and Pekanbaru (Riau).

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in his speech before presenting the two awards that the Indonesian people did not have to wait for people in other countries to save the environment.

"Let us save the earth together with other people in this world," Yudhoyono said.

The President also called on local governments to take environmental protection into account when making policy.

He also reiterated his statement about the need to prepare for global warming's fallout.

Yudhoyono said that global warming would have a disastrous impact on Indonesia as an archipelagic country, as the rising of sea levels would drown many of the country's small islands.

"The time is high for us to find a breakthrough and brace for global warming," he said.

Nuclear plant received coldly

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Salatiga

The government's plan to build a nuclear power plant was put under the microscope again as experts said the plan was criminal, would put thousands at risk and did not make any sense.

Philosophy lecturer Franz Magnis-Suseno SJ said the plan was criminal because it could cause a disaster of huge proportions.

"Why does such a risky power plant have to be built in Indonesia?" Franz said during a seminar focused on analyzing critically nuclear power plant construction in Indonesia.

"If it's being built on the north of Mount Muria in Jepara (Central Java), how will residents suffer when there's a nuclear disaster like Chernobyl?

"If this kind of disaster takes place in Muria, the nuclear radiation might reach Semarang.

"So I doubt residents can be persuaded by the government to take the risks," he said from the Salatiga-based seminar in Central Java.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year announced plans to start building a nuclear power plant in 2010 to become operational by 2016.

The power plant would be the first of its kind to provide energy to the Indonesian public and industrial sectors.

It is expected to meet four percent of the total power demand in Java, Madura and Bali -- an energy demand expected to reach 175 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2015.

Nuclear energy was essential for the country's development given Indonesia would need an additional 1,500 to 2,000 megawatts (MW) annually after 2016, the government said.

However, Franz said he feared widespread corruption practices for most projects, including the government's.

He said lowering the quality of building materials was just one way the project would suffer corruption.

Franz asked the seminar to consider the busway road construction project as an example and said many roads in this project were already damaged because of corruption and poor building materials, just six months after operations had commenced.

"So nuclear power plant construction should not start until Indonesia successfully fights corruption," Franz said.

Coordinator of Working Group on Power Sector Restructuring Fabby Tumiwa said during his seminar presentation the government had conducted no social study on the plan and had not sought approval from the public.

"The big risk of a nuclear power plant is that it will get a lot of attention," he said.

Fabby referred to a document from the International Atomic Energy Agency and reminded the audience that, "nuclear energy poses special risks to the health safety of persons and to the environment: risks that must be carefully managed".

Indonesia has over 18 million micro-business

Manado, North Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has 18,933,701 micro businesses accounting for 83.2 percent of the total number of enterprises which was recorded at 27,737,314, an economic census conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) in 2006 showed.

The number of small-scale businesses was 3,594,254 or 15.8 percent, medium-scale businesses 152,789 or 0.7 percent, large businesses 44,038 or 0.2 percent and unclassified businesses 2,532 or 0.1 percent, Nursinah Amal Urai, a BPS director, told a seminar on the economic census 2006 here Friday.

The census also showed 10,297,908 or 46.3 percent of the total number of enterprises were engaged in wholesale and retail trading, 3,220,156 or 14.2 percent in processing industries, 3,015,208 or 13.3 percent in transportation and warehouse services and 2,702,574 or 13.3 percent in the communication sector.

Quoting the data, Nursinah said the business sector in Java accounted for 60.13 percent of national economic activities.

Three provinces which made the largest contributions to the national economy were Jakarta (17.48 percent), East Java (15.18 percent) and West Java (14.55 percent).

Other provinces whose contribution to the national economy reached more than 1 percent were Central Java (8.47 percent), Banten (3.44 percent) and Yogyakarta (1 percent).

The significant contribution from provinces in Java to the national economy could not be separated from the processing industries whose percentage stood at 80.

The data also showed the contribution of Java to the national economy had continued to grow in the past five years, Nursinah said.

Java`s contribution to the national economy was recorded at an average of 59.32 percent in 2000-2005 and it increased to 60.13 percent in late 2005.

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.

Govt easing procedures of doing business in densely-industrialized areas

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is trying to loosen six procedures for doing businesses in the country`s eight densely-industrialized regions to raise its investment privilege rating to 75th in 2008 from 135th in 2006, an official said.

"We will launch the project in eight densely-industrialized regions first," Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Mohammad Lufti said following a limited coordination meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Office of the Administrative Reforms Minister here on Friday.

The meeting also agreed on the formation of a small team with Administrative Reforms Minister Taufiq Effendy as its chief and the BKPM chief Mohammad Lufti as executive chief to relax the procedures for doing businesses in the regions.

The eight regions are Jakarta, Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi.

The six procedures cover exports and imports, enforcing contracts, paying taxes, applying for building permits, and starting a business.

"Under the current circumstances, we will be able to improve our rating to 56th from 135th on condition that other countries do nothing to improve their investment privileges," Lufti said.

Under the present procedure, a foreign investor needed 97 days to start a business in the country and the government had been trying to reduce the period to 23 days, he said.

"God willing, a foreign investor can start doing business within 23 days," he said.

SBY tells local leaders not to scare off investment

Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has promised to further ease licensing procedures to ensure that businesses will be able to obtain permits within 50 working days.

"Business licensing is still a complicated issue. Previously, it took 151 days, but then we cut it to 97 days. Now, it needs to be reduced to a maximum of 50 days in all local government areas. Don't complicate things unnecessarily," Yudhoyono said when opening the national congress of the Young Indonesian Business Association (HIPMI) in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday evening.

During the event, which was also attended by House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono, and Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Mohammad S. Hidayat, the President also urged regional administrations to refrain from issuing regulations that could stymie investment.

"The government has thus far annulled 750 ordinances as they conflicted with central government policies," Yudhoyono said.

The President urged local authorities to provide tax incentives to attract investors to the regions, and thereby create more jobs, increase local revenues and alleviate poverty.

He also urged businesspeople to put their money in prospective sectors, such as energy, transportation, property, infrastructure, telecommunications, banking and manufacturing.

For example, he pointed out that the food processing industry offered enormous prospects given Indonesia's large market of 220 million people.

He added that steadily increasing purchasing power made food processing even more attractive.

The President concluded by saying that he had asked the central bank to further cut its key interest rate and to keep the lid on inflation at around 6.6 percent.

Renewable energy to power Indonesian villages

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia aims to have 2,000 energy self-sufficient villages powered by hydro, solar or bio-fuel resources by 2009, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.

The country currently has 140 villages capable of meeting all their own energy needs, the official Antara news agency quoted him as saying late Wednesday after a cabinet meeting.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wants the number of energy-self-sufficient villages ... 140 increased to 200 this year and to 2,000 by the end of the present cabinet's tenure in 2009," Yusgiantoro said.

The villages have developed micro-hydropower plants or solar, bio-gas and bio-fuel energy schemes which also create jobs and reduce reliance on fossil fuel reserves to help meet growing energy demands in Southeast Asia's largest economy.

Yudhoyono has asked the relevant ministries to arrange to disburse the necessary funds to the villages involved in the scheme, Antara said.

Yusgiantoro said the villages were eventually expected to produce an energy surplus which they could then sell.

The scheme was hoped to reduce the number of unemployed by one million by 2009, the minister said, adding that 45 percent of Indonesia's 70,000 villages were underdeveloped.

Around a third of Indonesians have no access to electricity, the World Bank says.

One pioneer village, Tanjung Harjo in Central Java, was already using vegetable energy resources to meet all its needs and was selling its surplus power to a nearby sugar factory, the agency said.

German Aid of Rp20 Billion for Solo

Thursday, 08 February, 2007 | 17:09 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Solo: The municipal government of Solo, Central Java, is to receive aid amounting to Rp20 billion from the Germany Institute.

This organization of German donor representatives for Indonesia will provide equipment and machinery for the Solo Techno Park that is currently being prepared by the municipal government.

“The grant will be handed over in two stages. This year, equipment and machinery for automotives and garments will be provided. The remainder will be given next year,” said Masrinhadi, the Solo City Head of the Industry, Trade and Investment Service, this afternoon (8/2).

The 28-hectare Solo Techno Park is an integrated area for industrial, trade and service activities, and also contains educational facilities.

Solo Techno Park is designed to produce around 2,000 automotive experts and 15,000 garment graduates who will be ready to work.

Even though it has not yet been realized, the Solo Municipal Government is generating cooperation with many parties, such as automotive entrepreneurs and the Indonesian Textile Association (API).

The Indonesian Oil and Gas Association is even interested to train experts in drilling.

Imron Rosyid

Developers blamed for fatal Jakarta floods

Stephen Fitzpatrick, Jakarta correspondent

The Australian, February 05, 2007

UNCHECKED urban development since the post-1998 economic crisis has been blamed for devastating floods in Jakarta that have killed at least nine people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

Residents of the Indonesian capital began returning to their badly damaged houses yesterday as the polluted brown waters that had engulfed most of the city began receding in a few areas.

Parts of Jakarta, built on low-lying swampland by Dutch colonists, had been under three metres of water for days after sustained downpours. Meteorologists warned that further heavy rains in the coming week could make the situation worse.

The city's 10 million residents, already facing water shortages from the unusually long dry season, will now have to cope with an unusable groundwater supply due to contamination with household pollutants.

Many Jakarta areas -- including upmarket residential districts -- take their water supplies directly from wells, now rendered unusable by inadequate household sewage disposal mixed with the floodwater influx.

The weather bureau registered 235mm of rain daily at its central Jakarta office since the middle of last week. During the last major flooding in 2002, the agency said, daily rainfall peaked at 109mm.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso has been criticised for declaring the current crisis not as bad as that in 2002, when more than 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes, tens of thousands were affected by a diarrhoea epidemic and the repair bill was estimated at $57 million.

Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar blamed excessive construction on flood-prone natural drainage areas for the disaster. In particular, Mr Witoelar said, there were too many shopping malls in the city.

Data to determine government's gas policy to be issued soon

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Long-awaited projections of the country's long-term gas supply and needs will be issued later this month, providing the government with reliable figures on whether or not it should go ahead with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) export policy and interisland gas pipeline projects.

"I hope the preparation of the gas supply and needs projections will be completed this month," the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's director general of oil and gas, Luluk Sumiarso, told the Suara Pembaruan daily Wednesday.

He said that the gas projections would provide information on proven gas reserves and potential demand in nine gas-producing provinces, including Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Jambi, West Java, Central Java, East Java, East Kalimantan and Papua.

"The data will be used as the basis for deciding whether or not we will go ahead with the plan to build a gas pipeline linking East Kalimantan and Central Java, and to determine our future export policy," he said.

PT Bakrie & Brothers won tenders from the downstream oil and gas industry regulator, BPH Migas, in July to build and operate the 1,115-km pipeline linking East Kalimantan and Central Java.

However, the construction of the $1.26 billion pipeline project has been delayed due to a lack of gas supplies.

Current gas production in East Kalimantan is only enough to supply the PT Badak NGL liquefied natural gas plant, the country's largest LNG producer.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro had said that the fate of the pipeline project would be determined after the issuance of the gas supply projections.

Purnomo said that the government might also choose to use LNG tankers, instead of building pipelines, to overcome gas shortages in Java.

Due to the decline in gas production, the government had planned to cut LNG exports by 19 percent to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan this year.

Indonesia may ship 19.4 million metric tons of LNG this year, less than the contracted 24 million tons. Pertamina is also negotiating the postponement or replacement by other producers of 36 cargoes from the Badak plant and 22 from Aceh-based LNG producer PT Arun NGL.

Luluk said the government was still committed to exporting LNG based on existing contracts, even if there was a shortage of gas supplies at home.

The gas supply projections will only affect future export policy, he said.

According to figures issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Indonesia's total gas reserves stood at 187.1 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) last year, up from 185.8 TSCF in 2005.

Last year, Indonesia produced a total of 8.10 billion standard cubic feet per day. About 54 percent of the total gas production was exported, mostly in the form of LNG. The remaining 46 percent was sold on the domestic market.

Germany swaps $24m debt for education in Yogyakarta

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The German government has provided a 20-million-euro (US$24-million) debt swap to Indonesia to support the rehabilitation of schools in Yogyakarta and Central Java that were devastated by an earthquake earlier this year.

Germany has also provided another 6 million euros in additional grants, bringing the total amount of money involved to 26 million euros, for post-tsunami housing reconstruction in Aceh and Nias.

The agreement on the debt swap and grant was signed Monday between the Finance Ministry's director general for debt management, Rahmat Waluyanto, and German Development Bank (KfW) vice president for Asia Pacific, Hans-Peter Mssig.

The debt swap is the fourth and last tranche of earlier schemes that Germany provided to Indonesia, worth some 93.6 million euros so far.

In 2004, Germany provided 25 million euro in a debt swap for nature scheme to enhance the environmental awareness of SMEs and the protection of natural parks, following a debt swap worth 23 million euros earlier the same year for improving junior high school education in eastern Indonesia, and 25.6 million euros in 2002 for elementary education.

Under the latest debt swap scheme, Germany will cancel up to 20 million euros of debt after Indonesia sets aside half of the amount for rebuilding 213 primary and junior high schools in Yogyakarta and Central Java.

Indonesia's total debt to Germany stands at some 1.1 billion euros. Current project loans include 443.5 million euros for transportation, health, education, the environment and telecommunications.

Germany's grants for the post-tsunami reconstruction work in Aceh and Nias, meanwhile, totaled 250 million euros.

Rahmat welcomed the debt swap schemes, saying they were a mutually beneficial solution to the debt problem. The government will remain prudent in managing the country's debt, he said, and will only accept other debt swap schemes whose terms and conditions are feasible.

Mssig said that although the latest debt swap scheme was the last in the series, Germany might consider future ones following an assessment of their benefits to the welfare-improvement effort in Indonesia.

Other creditor countries have also been considering debt swap schemes for Indonesia, although no progress on these has been made to date.

Madrasah Education Development Project

Asian Development Bank, November 2006

The Project supports the Government’s efforts to improve madrasah education so it meets national education standards, within the Government’s broader education policy and strategic framework. The Project will cover primary, junior, and senior secondary private and public madrasahs in 27 poor districts of Central Java, East Java, and South Sulawesi provinces.

The Project will benefit 120,000 students in 500 madrasahs.

The Project will support a mixture of demand- and supply-side interventions to enable project madrasahs to (i) improve teacher professionalism; (ii) upgrade teaching–learning resources and facilities; (ii) increase their internal efficiency; and (iii) strengthen their governance, management, and sustainability.

The Project will help madrasahs meet national education standards according to the needs identified in madrasah development plans, through a range of interventions, including teacher qualification upgrading and professional certification, provision of substitute teachers, and teaching skills development; upgrading or expansion of facilities (classrooms, libraries, and laboratories); and provision of teaching–learning materials. These interventions will be selected by individual madrasahs according to their development needs.

The Project will enhance the internal efficiency of project madrasahs by increasing enrollment, decreasing dropout and repetition rates, and increasing completion rates at all levels through remedial and scholarship programs, particularly for poor and female students.

Governance, management, and financial sustainability of project madrasahs will be improved through training and performance-based madrasah development planning and management, and advocacy programs to enhance the perception of madrasah education quality and encourage stakeholder participation to ensure better resource mobilization and transparency.

Read More : Madrasah Education Development Project (Indonesia) [PDF]

Government Gives Incentives for Infrastructure Project

Friday, 01 December, 2006 | 16:47 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Public Works Department has prepared a Rp2 trillion fund as an incentive for infrastructure projects such as roads, drinking water and housing, until 2009. This year, a Rp600 billion fund has been prepared for the drinking water projects which was offered in the Infrastructure Summit II early in November.

“The fund is prioritized for land acquisition so that we can anticipate investors' claims,” said Secretary General of the Public Works Department Roestam Sjarief at his office yesterday (30/11).

Eleven drinking water projects which were offered in the Infrastructure Summit II include three projects that are tender-ready: drinking water management installation project (IPA) Surakarta; IPA Sepatan, Tangerang and IPA Benda, Tangerang. The remaining—IPA Umbulan, Pondok Gede; Cikarang; Menganti; Semarang; Karawang; Dumau and Tangerang (Cikupa, Balaraja and Jayanti)--are still in preparation.

The fund, according to Roestam, is for accelerating the land acquisition process. First the government acquires land, then the investors repay it. In this way, there is a certainty of the land investment value. “Land acquisition will later be carried out by the regional governments, then be reported to Public Works General Service Agency,” he aid.

To accelerate infrastructure development, Roestam said he has founded the Indonesia Infrastructure Fund. The government will give between 5 and 10 percent seed capital. “The remaining 90 percent is the investors' responsibility,” he said.

Anton Aprianto