Indonesia is punishing more than 20 companies in an unprecedented move for starting deadly forest fires that killed 19 people (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)
Jakarta
(AFP) - Indonesia is punishing more than 20 companies in an unprecedented move
for starting deadly forest fires that killed 19 people, a government official
said Tuesday.
Three
companies have been shut down permanently after having their licences revoked
over their role in the blazes that choked vast expanses of southeast Asia with
acrid haze and cost Indonesia $16 billion.
It is the
first time the government has revoked company licences over forest fires, an
annual occurrence caused by slash-and-burn land clearance.
The
environment ministry also froze the operations of 14 companies and said they face
closure if they do not meet the government’s demands over fire prevention.
Several
other companies have been given a strong warning and will be put under close
supervision.
"We
have sanctioned 23 companies in total, ranging from administrative sanctions to
license revocation, while 33 others are still in the process, they could have
their licenses revoked too if they are found guilty," environment ministry
official Kemal Amas told AFP.
The
ministry has been investigating 276 companies in total since the fires broke
out in September.
Three
companies have been shut down permanently by Indonesia after having
their
licences revoked over their role in the blazes that choked vast expanses of
southeast Asia with acrid haze (AFP Photo/Adek Berry)
"We
need firmer law enforcement so that this catastrophe does not repeat itself,
it’s been going on for 18 years but nobody has learnt their lesson," Amas
said.
Amas said
the ministry was also working hard to restore the forests and farmland
destroyed in the fires.
Activists
welcomed the government’s new commitment to punish firms.
The
Indonesian Forum for Environment said it was unheard of for the government to
revoke licences, as many companies previously avoided facing trial.
"The
minister has the courage to not only freeze the companies' operation but also
chase the owners in a civil case, this is great and this must be guarded
carefully," Kurniawan told AFP.
"In
the past some people were named suspects, but for them to actually lose their
licenses, this is the first time," he said.
More than
half a million people suffered acute respiratory infections in Indonesia
because of the haze, while many in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia also
fell ill.
The yuan,
also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen
and
British pound in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an international
reserve asset (AFP Photo/Philippe Lopez)
Washington
(AFP) - The International Monetary Fund welcomed China's yuan into its elite
reserve currency basket on Monday, recognizing the ascendance of the Asian
power in the global economy.
The yuan,
also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and
British pound next year in the basket of currencies the IMF uses as an
international reserve asset.
IMF
Managing Director Christine Lagarde called the decision "an important
milestone in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial
system."
"It is
also a recognition of the progress that the Chinese authorities have made in
the past years in reforming China's monetary and financial systems."
The move by
the IMF executive board, representing the institution's 188 member nations,
solidifies China's ambition to see the government-controlled yuan achieve
global status as one of the world's top currencies alongside the United States,
Europe and Japan.
China, the
world's second-largest economy, asked last year for the yuan to be added to the
Fund's Special Drawing Rights basket.
But until
recently the currency was considered too tightly controlled to qualify. The
yuan already had met the IMF criteria for being widely used.
The board
approval had been widely expected after IMF staff experts earlier in November
said that Chinese authorities had taken the steps necessary for the yuan to be
called "freely usable", and Lagarde endorsed their recommendation.
International
Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde, said on
November 30, 2015
the yuan's inclusion in the elite reserve currency basket was
expected to help
China open up further to the world economy (AFP Photo/ Mandel Ngan)
Lagarde
said the yuan's inclusion in the basket was expected to help China open up
further to the world economy.
"The
continuation and deepening of these efforts will bring about a more robust
international monetary and financial system, which in turn will support the
growth and stability of China and the global economy," she said.
IMF members
can use the Special Drawing Rights basket to obtain currencies to meet
balance-of-payments needs. The Fund also issues its crisis loans -- crucial to
struggling economies like Greece -- valued in SDRs.
The yuan's
entry into the basket takes effect on October 1, 2016.
China's
central bank has taken steps to free up the movement of the yuan. The
unexpected devaluation of the yuan last August received good marks from the IMF
as it expanded the currency's movements based on market forces.
In
addition, Beijing last Wednesday announced that an initial group of foreign
central banks has been allowed to enter the Chinese currency market, which
likely will promote further internationalization of the yuan in global trading.
Chinese
challenges
But China
is expected to face challenges with the yuan included as an IMF reserve
currency.
It puts the
Bank of China under pressure to provide more transparency in line with its
peers, such as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
Lagarde,
speaking at a news conference, said the IMF had worked "very hard" in
the last few months in the process of making the decision.
She
emphasized that it is a work in progress, and that the IMF will continue to
monitor all criteria and compliance from all five authorities whose currencies
are represented in the basket.
The
composition and weightings of the SDRs basket are reviewed every five years.
The last time the currencies in the basket were changed was in 2000, when the
euro replaced the German deutschemark and the French franc.
The
inclusion of the yuan in the IMF basket came with the support of the United
States, the IMF's largest shareholder.
Until
recently Washington accused China of keeping the yuan artificially low to gain
a trade advantage. But in October the US Treasury Department softened its tone,
saying that after Beijing's moves to loosen controls, the yuan "remains
below its appropriate medium-term valuation."
Still, the
IMF decision risks angering some lawmakers in the US Congress amid fierce
maneuvering for the 2016 presidential election.
Congress,
for example, has repeatedly refused to ratify a 2010 IMF reform that would give
greater weight to China and the four other emerging-market powers in the
so-called BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa.
A poll of 1,500 respondents by Indonesia Corruption Watch found that an overwhelming 98 percent felt the KPK was necessary in Indonesia’s fight against graft. (Antara Photo/Ismar Patrizki)
Jakarta.
Most Indonesians feel the national antigraft commission is indispensable, in
the absence of strong and consistent law enforcement by police and prosecutors,
a survey has found.
The poll of
1,500 respondents by Indonesia Corruption Watch found that an overwhelming 98
percent felt the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was necessary in
Indonesia’s fight against graft.
Respondents
also rated the KPK higher than the National Police and the Attorney General’s
Office on a scale of 1 to 10 of how committed they were to tackling corruption.
“They gave
an average score of 5.3 for the police, 5.6 for the AGO, and 7.8 for the KPK,
meaning they believe the KPK can do a better job when it comes to handling
corruption cases compared to the other two,” Firdaus Ilyas, ICW’s research
coordinator, said at the release of the survey’s findings in Jakarta on
Thursday.
The poll
also found, unsurprisingly, that respondents considered the House of
Representatives the top priority for the KPK to tackle. Corruption perception
indexes have consistently ranked the House as being among the most graft-ridden
institutions in Indonesia.
“Thirty-four
percent of the respondents said the House should be the KPK’s first target,
followed by 22 percent for the police, 13 percent for the courts, 8 percent
each for ministries and political parties, 7 percent for the state-owned
companies, and 5 percent for the AGO,” Firdaus said.
The
findings from the survey chime with a similar poll released last month by Indo
Barometer, showing the KPK was by far the most trusted public institution in
Indonesia, well ahead of the AGO and the police force.
The Sustain Project, which will run until June 2019, aligns with the Supreme Court’s own roadmap for reform. (Antara Photo/M. Agung Rajasa)
Jakarta.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Hatta Ali has hailed a project being carried out
with the European Union and the United Nations that seeks to reform Indonesia’s
justice system.
The Sustain
Project, which will run until June 2019, aligns with the Supreme Court’s own
roadmap for reform, Hatta said in Jakarta on Tuesday, especially in the fields
of monitoring , training, human resource management, and case management.
“This
project, in cooperation with the EU and the UNDP, will create both long- and
short-term advantages for Indonesia [in terms of justice system reform],” he
said.
The Sustain
Project is also aimed at strengthening Indonesia’s special courts, such as
those for fisheries and for juveniles, including by certifying judges serving
in children’s courts.
While the
project is being implemented nationwide, it will pay particular focus on pilot
projects at courts in regions such as Ambon in Maluku province; Bandung and
Cibinong in West Java; Bitung and Manado (North Sulawesi); Jayapura and Sorong
(Papua); Kabanjahe and Medan (North Sumatra); Kupang (East Nusa Tenggara); and
Pontianak and Singkawang (West Kalimantan).
Christophe
Bahuet, the UNDP director for Indonesia, said “We are certain that the
cooperation with the Supreme Court, the EU and the UNDP will produce perfect
decisions [necessary] to improve the country’s justice system and the public
trust in it.”
Asean leaders joined China's Premier Li Keqiang at the summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (AFP Photo/Fred Dufour)
Kuala
Lumpur. Southeast Asian nations on Sunday established a formal community that
attempts to create freer movement of trade and capital in an area of 625
million people with a combined economic output of $2.6 trillion.
The
community declaration was signed by leaders of the 10- member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Kuala Lumpur, this year's host of the
group's annual summit.
Twelve
years in the making, the Asean community is a landmark in the 48-year history
of a group founded at the height of the Cold War as an anti-communist bulwark.
The Asean
Community includes a political, security and socio-cultural dimension in a
region with governments ranging from communist in Vietnam and quasi-military in
Myanmar to the kingdom of Brunei and the boisterous democracy of the
Philippines.
But it is
the economic community that offers the most concrete opportunities for
integration in a region whose combined gross domestic product (GDP) would make
it the world's seventh-largest economy.
In
practice, Asean has already virtually eliminated tariff barriers among the 10
countries, said Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, the summit host, at the
signing ceremony. "We now have to ensure that we create a truly single
market and production base, with freer movement of goods and services."
At the
closing news conference, however, he said Asean had no specific deadline for
achieving zero tariffs, but would aim for "meaningful deliverables that
can be done every year when we meet at the Asean summit."
The
combined GDP of the Asean economies is expected to grow from $2.6 trillion to
$4.7 trillion by 2020, Najib said, and could become the world's fourth-largest
economy as a bloc as early as 2030.
The
countries aim to harmonize economic strategies, recognize each other's
professional qualifications and consult more closely on macroeconomic and
financial policies.
They have
also agreed to enhance the connectivity of their transportation infrastructure
and communications, better facilitate electronic transactions, integrate
industries to promote regional sourcing, and enhance private-sector involvement
in the economy.
Eight
groups of professionals will be able to work more easily throughout the region:
engineers, architects, nurses, doctors, dentists, accountants, surveyors and
tourism professionals.
Asean
groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
South America is starting to consider the same thing. My partner was just there and I allowed him to see the energy of the potential future in that land.
I would like to paint history for you regarding South America. There was a time when every single country had a dictator. Less than 15 years ago, they had failing economies and currencies that were worthless. Trouble and strife and killings were the norm. Marauding drug lords openly killed in the streets and corruption was everywhere. Even the politicians created fear and many disappeared overnight, never to be seen again. Today it isn't that way. Today, there is an ongoing stability as one country after another brings a new, positive, stable energy to their cultures. So, without a concentrated effort by any kind of multi-national leadership or direction, how could this have changed in only 15 years?
Within the entire continent, there's only one dictator left. What's happening? If you think that's amazing, there is a move afoot that you're not going to hear about yet. But they're discussing it right now, so let me tell you what they're thinking. "What would happen if we took these countries and eliminated the borders?" Sound familiar? They're talking about it. In back rooms where nobody is reporting it, they're saying, "What about a plan of eventually having one currency from the top of Columbia to the bottom of Chile? And we would be strong and we would be unified." And dear ones, I'm here to tell you, that it's going to work, and it might not take 50 years. Soon the one dictator will be gone, and the unification can begin.
Luhut Pandjaitan, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday that President Joko Widodo would not authorize any more executions pending efforts to revive the economy, which is growing at its slowest pace in six years. (Reuters Photo/Darren Whiteside)
Jakarta.
The Indonesian government has announced a moratorium on carrying out the death
penalty in order to focus on improving a sputtering economy.
Luhut
Pandjaitan, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security
affairs, told reporters in Jakarta on Thursday that President Joko Widodo would
not authorize any more executions pending efforts to revive the economy, which
is growing at its slowest pace in six years.
“The
government needs to focus on Indonesia's economy first,” Luhut said, without
giving a time frame for the suspension of executions.
The Joko
administration has drawn widespread condemnation from the international
community for reviving the death penalty that the previous administration of
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had largely shelved.
Under Joko,
Indonesia has this year put to death 14 people convicted of drug offenses, 12
of them foreign nationals, including a mentally ill Brazilian and two
Australians who had reformed and were providing classes and ministry for fellow
prisoners.
The yuan
has rapidly grown in importance in recent years as China -- the world's
top
trading nation -- has used it to settle more of its commerce, and made it
directly convertable with more currencies (AFP Photo)
China on
Saturday welcomed backing from IMF experts that the yuan should be included in
its reserve currencies, saying the move would strengthen the world's financial
system.
Now the
world's second-largest economy, China asked last year for the yuan to be added
to the elite basket of SDR currencies, but until recently it was considered too
tightly controlled to qualify.
It now
looks likely the yuan will be formally admitted to the IMF's "special
drawing rights" currency basket at the end of the month, which would mark
a milestone in China's efforts to become a global economic power.
IMF chief
Christine Lagarde said the fund now deemed the yuan "meets the
requirements to be a 'freely usable' currency" -- a key hurdle to joining
the yen, dollar, pound and euro as a leading unit in international trade.
The yuan
hit headlines in August when China's central bank devalued the currency and
said it would use a more market-oriented system to calculate the point around
which the currency can trade each day.
International
Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde says the fund now deems
the yuan
"meets the requirements to be a 'freely usable' currency" -- a key
hurdle
to joining the yen, dollar, pound and euro as a leading unit in
international trade
(AFP Photo/Yasser al-Zayyat)
The move
sent markets into a tailspin as investors took it as a sign of slowing growth
in China, a key driver of the world economy, but the central bank on Saturday
said such reforms had taken it closer to joining the SDR basket.
"China
thinks that the inclusion of the RMB (yuan) into the SDR basket will strengthen
the representativeness and the attraction of the SDR (and) that it will improve
the existing international monetary system," the People's Bank of China
(PBoC) added.
"It
will have win-win benefits both for China and the world."
Yuan's
rapid rise
The yuan
has rapidly grown in importance in recent years as China -- the world's top
trading nation -- has used it to settle more of its commerce, and made it
directly convertable with more currencies.
Including
the Chinese currency in the SDR would likely boost demand for yuan-denominated
assets among central banks, and give it a sheen of respectability at a time
when many investors are questioning Beijing's ability to manage the slowing
economy.
Lagarde
said IMF experts ruled Beijing had addressed "all remaining operational
issues" required for SDR inclusion, which will be decided by the executive
board at a November 30 meeting.
Now the world's
second-largest economy, China asked last year for the yuan to
be added to the
elite basket of SDR currencies, but until recently it was considered
too
tightly controlled to qualify (AFP Photo/Wang Zhao)
"I
support the staff's findings," she said, adding to expectations that the
board will also back the yuan.
That would
mark an about turn from the beginning of August -- before the yuan devaluation
-- when the Fund said the currency was not freely usable enough to be included
in the basket.
Despite the
recent misgivings, there has been strong pressure for the IMF to act now as the
SDR basket is only reviewed every five years.
If a
decision to include the yuan is made this month, the actual inclusion could
take place as late as September 30, 2016, giving Beijing more time to prepare.
The
recommendation Friday was broadly backed by the United States, China's main
rival for world economic supremacy.
"We
intend to support the renminbi's inclusion in the Special Drawing Rights basket
provided the currency meets the International Monetary Fund's existing
criteria," the Treasury Department said, using another name for the yuan.
Yudhoyono, whose foreign policy mantra was 'A thousand friends, zero enemies,' has cautioned Joko to look at the geopolitical consequences of signing up to the TPP, which conspicuously leaves out China but includes US ally Japan. (Antara Photo/Prasetyo Utomo)
Jakarta.
Former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has cautioned his successor against
signing up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, insisting the justifications he
gave for refusing to join the trade pact while in office are still valid today.
In a series
of tweets sent on Friday, Yudhoyono said President Joko Widodo had every right
to commit Indonesia to the US-initiated pact, but warned that “If Indonesia is
not ready and is forced to enter the TPP, then our nation will suffer. Such is
the ‘law of globalization.’”
The essence
of the TPP, he wrote, “is trade and investment liberalization.”
“The TPP is
actually a good thing, if all the member states are ready, their interests are
accommodated and there are real benefits all parties,” he said.
“But if
we’re not ready for it, our market will be flooded with goods and services from
other countries, while our exports will fail to be competitive abroad.”
Yudhoyono
said his reasons for refusing to sign up to the TPP when he was in office
included the fact that Indonesia was preparing for a similar agreement on a
Southeast Asian scale: the Asean Economic Community, which comes into force at
the end of this year.
He added
that Indonesia also needed time to see the benefits from another trade pact,
the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement, which saw Jakarta’s trade deficit with
China doubling within a year of coming into full force in 2010.
Yudhoyono
also pointed out that the three other Asean countries that had signed up to the
TPP – Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam – had fundamentally different economic
models from Indonesia. “The economies of Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam […]
are ‘export-oriented.’ Indonesia is not. We have a large domestic market,” he
tweeted.
He said
that in order to protect its interests, Indonesia would have to be “tough” in
its negotiations – but that the current TPP members had concluded their
negotiations on Oct. 5.
Yudhoyono,
whose foreign policy mantra was “A thousand friends, zero enemies,” also
cautioned Joko to look at the geopolitical consequences of signing up to the
TPP, which conspicuously leaves out China but includes US ally Japan.
“Let us
ensure that we remain friendly with all our partners, including America, China
and Japan,” he wrote. “Let us maintain a free and active foreign policy […] an
all-directions foreign policy. Avoid allying with one country and distancing
others.
“Let us
also ensure that, whichever side we partner with, Indonesia’s national
interests will be prioritized above all else.”
He then
called on the Indonesian people to help Joko reach an “appropriate and clear
decision for the interests of the people and the nation.”
Pastikan Indonesia mendapatkan keuntungan nyata ~ dlm pertumbuhan ekonomi, lapangan kerja & pengurangan kemiskinan. *SBY*
Joko’s
announcement, following a visit to the White House on Monday, that he was
committed to signing Indonesia to the TPP has met with concern from the
business community and the political establishment alike.
Yudhoyono’s
own statements follow his Democratic Party’s warning that Indonesia is not yet ready to face the competition that joining the pact would entail, citing
inadequate infrastructure and low public awareness about the TPP and its costs
and benefits.
“Are
Indonesians and the national economy really ready for this?” asked Edhie
Baskoro Yudhoyono, the former president’s son and a senior member of the Democratic
Party.
“How about
our domestic infrastructure? Has the government asked for the public’s opinion,
especially those involved in the national economy, about the possible impact of
the TPP on Indonesia in the future?”
Wrong step
The Great
Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), chaired by Joko’s rival in last year’s
presidential election, Prabowo Subianto, has also criticized the president’s
stance on the TPP.
Fadli Zon,
a Gerindra deputy chairman and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives,
said the TPP would only benefit Indonesia “if we had competitive businesses.”
Without
adequate infrastructure and strong supporting education, welfare and legal
systems, he warned, Indonesia would only be a “passive player” in the trade
agreement.
“It would
be a wrong step to join the TPP,” Fadli said on Wednesday.
Economist
Lana Soelistianingsih of the University of Indonesia said separately that
“Countries with manufacturing-based exports will be able to perform better in
this partnership.”
“Our exports
are mainly raw materials like oil and gas. If we can we get our commodities
into a market like Chile” – which has signed up to the TPP – “can we compete
with Brazil, which is much closer to Chile than Indonesia is? That’s the
concern,” Lana said on Wednesday.
“How can we
improve our manufacturing sector without electricity? It’s not that we should
refrain from entering the partnership, but we need a clear blueprint on what
products we want to sell, which raw materials we need to manufacture the
products, and what kind of infrastructure we need,” she said.
The TPP,
forged by the United States and other 11 countries around the Pacific Rim,
including Australia and Canada, has a stated goal to “to promote economic
growth; support the creation and retention of jobs; enhance innovation,
productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our
countries; and promote transparency, good governance, and enhanced labor and
environmental protections.”
In
practice, the biggest impact will be the lowering of trade barriers, including
tariffs.
In
Indonesia today, only about 1 out of every 3 people are connected to the
Internet. And even though most of their connections are painfully slow, they’re
doing some pretty incredible things. Startups like motorcycle delivery service
Go-Jek are building impressive adaptations to Indonesia’s unique challenges,
while small businesses like fashionable hijab shop HiJup are using the web to
redefine marketplaces.
Still, a
majority of Indonesians don’t have access to the educational, cultural, and
economic opportunities of the Internet. That’s why we’re pleased to announce
that Indonesia’s top three mobile network operators—Indosat, Telkomsel, and XL
Axiata—have agreed to begin testing Project Loon balloon-powered Internet over
Indonesia in 2016. These tests represent an important step toward bringing all
of Indonesia online.
From left to right: Ririek Adriansyah, CEO of Telkomsel; Dian Siswarini, CEO of XL Axiata; Alexander Rusli, CEO of Indosat; Mike Cassidy, VP of Project Loon; Sergey Brin, President, Alphabet Inc
Loon
balloons act like floating mobile phone towers; flying on the stratospheric
winds at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, each balloon beams an
Internet connection down to the ground, and as one drifts out of range, another
moves in to take its place. Loon can help telecommunications companies extend
their networks; high in the sky, we can help overcome the difficulties of
spreading equipment across an archipelago of 17,000 islands of jungles and
mountains, providing connectivity to even the most remote islands.
Project
Loon balloons travel approximately 20 km above the Earth’s surface in
the
stratosphere. Winds in the stratosphere are stratified, and each layer of wind
varies in speed and direction. By moving with the wind, the balloons can be
arranged to form one large communications network
Over the
next few years, we’re hoping Loon can partner with local providers to put
high-speed LTE Internet connections within reach of more than 100 million
currently unconnected people—that’s enough speed to read websites, watch
videos, or make purchases. From Sabang all the way to Merauke, many of these
people live in areas without any existing Internet infrastructure, so we hope
balloon-powered Internet could someday help give them access to the information
and opportunity of the web.
But it’s
not the only step Google is taking toward making the Internet both accessible
and useful for people in Indonesia. Android One phones are helping to make
high-quality smartphones more accessible in a country where most people first
access the Internet on a mobile device. And along with that, we’re working to
ease the use of data with features sure as Search Lite, which streamlines
search so pages load more quickly, or by optimizing web pages so that they
require less data to load. Indonesia is also one of the first countries where
YouTube users can take videos offline to watch later during periods of low or
no Internet connectivity.
We’re also
doing what we can to ensure that language isn’t a barrier to the opportunities
of the web. Google Translate was introduced for Bahasa in 2008, and more
recently we’ve expanded it to Sundanese, a language that’s spoken by nearly 40
million people living on the island of Java.
Soon we
hope many more millions of people in Indonesia will be able to use the full
Internet to bring their culture and businesses online and explore the world
even without leaving home. And for those of you who’ve never been to this
country of rich culture and natural beauty, we invite you to head over to
Google Street View to explore the famous temples at Borobudur and Prambanan.
Posted by
Mike Cassidy, Vice President, Project Loon
President Joko Widodo inspects a firefighting operation on burning peat forest in Pulang Pisau district, Central Kalimantan, on Sept. 24. The president has cut short his inaugural visit to the United States to coordinate a response to the worsening forest fires. (AFP Photo/Romeo Gacad)
Jakarta.
President Joko Widodo has decided to cut short his first official visit to the
United States as a forest fire crisis blazes out of control back home.
“The
president has received recent updates from the minister for politics, legal and
security affairs minister regarding the haze that has affected more Indonesian
people,” Arrmanatha Nasir, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told the
Jakarta Globe late on Monday.
He said
Joko and part of his delegation would immediately return home on Tuesday after
attending scheduled events in Washington, D.C., where the president met with
President Barack Obama, congressmen and US executives on Monday.
Joko’s
return means he will not attend much-anticipated meetings with technology
executives from Apple, Google and Microsoft, among others. Representing him in
Silicon Valley instead, Arrmanatha said, will be the communications and trade
ministers, as well as the head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM).
Arrmanatha
said the president would fly to either South Sumatra or Central Kalimantan once
he arrives back in the country. Both provinces are among the hardest hit by
forest fires generating intense volumes of health-threatening haze.
Indonesia, where two-thirds of the adult male population smokes and two-fifths of boys aged 13 to 15 also puff, remains one of the few bright spots for international tobacco companies amid crackdowns by governments the world over. (EPA Photo/Stephen Morrison)
Jakarta.
Tobacco control activists have urged the Indonesian government to turn down a
$2 billion investment plan from one of the world’s biggest tobacco companies,
citing public health concerns.
President
Joko Widodo is scheduled to visit the United States next week where he will
sign several agreements with the US government and American businesses, among
them Philip Morris International, which has a 98 percent stake in H.M.
Sampoerna, Indonesia’s biggest cigarette maker.
The deal
with PMI will reportedly see the tobacco company invest $2 billion in
Indonesia.
There has
been no official word on what the money will go toward, but a confidential
letter from Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi to President Joko Widodo, obtained
by the Jakarta Globe, states that $500 million will be in the form of capital
expenditure for H.M. Sampoerna.
The
remaining $1.5 billion, the letter indicates, will apparently be raised through
a share divestment, with proceeds going to the Investment Coordinating Board
(BKPM) and the Health Ministry – the very same government institution tasked
with enforcing tobacco-control measures.
Health
Minister Nila F. Moeloek is known to be among the officials joining Joko when
he kicks off his US trip this Sunday.
Neither the
minister nor a spokesperson for the Health Ministry were immediately available
for comment on the reported funding from the tobacco company. The Globe was
unable to reach any PMI officials for comment.
‘Poisoning
Indonesians’
Kartono
Mohamad, the chairman of the government-funded National Commission on Tobacco
Control (NCTC), said any investment by PMI in Indonesia would do more harm than
good over the long term.
“Accepting
the investment offer from Philip Morris means the president is poisoning
Indonesians and selling out public health over mere investment,” he told the
Globe.
Indonesia,
where two-thirds of the adult male population smokes and two-fifths of boys
aged 13 to 15 also puff, remains one of the few bright spots for international
tobacco companies amid crackdowns by governments the world over. It is the only
country in the Asia-Pacific region that has yet to sign the World Health
Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
PMI’s
global net revenue in 2014 was $8.7 billion, down 16.9 percent from the
previous year, and with countries in the region, such as Australia and
Malaysia, tightening controls on tobacco sales and marketing, there is more of
an incentive than ever for big tobacco to invest in Indonesia, Kartono said.
“Once
Philip Morris has planted its $2 billion here, it will certainly look for a
profit, and so long it still sees the benefits, we won’t be able to oust it
from the country,” he said.
No
political will
The
government has shown little political will to act tough on cigarette sales and
advertising, including to children. Last month the House of Representatives
announced plans to recognize kretek, the traditional Indonesian clove-flavored
cigarette, as an item if cultural heritage – thereby making it harder for the
government to impose restrictions on kretek sales and advertising, and in fact
obliging the state to support the manufacture and promotion of the cancer
sticks.
Kartono
said any measure to support the tobacco industry would have a massive
public-health impact. The death toll from smoking-related illnesses in 2010,
the last time the Health Ministry carried out such a census, was 190,000, and a
surge in smoking-related ailments will stress an already overburdened public
health infrastructure, Kartono warned.
“When a
smoker gets sick, who will pay for the treatment? Certainly not Philip Morris,”
he said.
He argued
that most smokers would rely on the government’s BPJS Kesehatan health
insurance program, which is already Rp 5 trillion ($369 million) in deficit
despite only being launched earlier this year with Rp 21 trillion in state
funding.
Targeting
the young
“The
meeting with Philip Morris will not help develop the nation and its people, but
instead destroy the future of Indonesians,” said Hery Chariansyah, the
executive director of Lentera Anak Indonesia, an NGO that advocates for
child-friendly government policies.
He said
tobacco companies in general tended to target young people, and that in
Indonesia’s case this could have a devastating effect because the country’s
demographic skews under 30.
“Any
business-related agreement led by the government must prioritize the welfare of
the people and the nation. And the meeting with Philip Morris definitely
doesn’t do this,” Hery said.
He also
noted that in 2009, 2010 and 2011, PMI had lobbied the House to prioritize
deliberation of a contentious bill on the tobacco industry, on the pretext that
it was meant to protect the interests of tobacco farmers.
With the
planned signing of the $2 billion investment, and a trip to the United States
last month by Indonesian legislators during which House Speaker Setya Novanto
met with executives from PMI, Hery said it appeared almost certain that the
bill would finally go to the House floor this time around.
Workers at
risk
The tobacco
lobby in Indonesia has long thwarted any attempt to more stringently regulate
cigarette sales and advertising by claiming that those who would suffer the
most would be the tens of thousands of Indonesians employed in cigarette
factories.
The
reality, however, is that greater investment in factory automation – including
a transition from hand-rolled kretek production to a machine-rolled process at
an H.M. Sampoerna factory in Karawang, West Java – is having the same effect of
putting workers out of a job, Hery said.
According
to filings, PMI’s operating profit from Asia plunged 31 percent to $3.2 billion
in 2014 from the previous year, due to higher manufacturing costs, primarily in
Indonesia.
With half a
billion dollars in capital expenditure expected for H.M. Sampoerna, Hery warned
of “even more tobacco industry workers getting fired.”
‘Blinded by
cash’
Kartono of
the NCTC said he was optimistic that Joko would reject PMI’s investment offer,
but also warned that the president’s advisers could cloud his judgment.
“Hopefully
Jokowi will not be blinded by the amount of cash being offered and fall into
this investment trap set by Philip Morris,” he said.
A spokesman
for the president did not respond to requests for comment from the Globe.
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)
" ... The Shift in Human Nature
You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.
In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?
Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.
What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. ..."
