East coast of the Bali island

Denpasar. Foreign tourists visiting the Island of God, Bali, had increased 12 percent to 1.3 million in June 2010, compared with the same period in 2009, said Bali Tourism Observer Dewa Nyoman Putrawan.

Most of the foreign tourists come to Bali to seek calmness which they can`t get in their own country, he said here Tuesday.

The condition is indicated by the number of the foreign tourists staying at hotels or villas on riversides or slope which are mostly found in the rural areas.

Dewa mentioned that the tourist`s behavior has been changed since the 1980s. Foreign tourists used to stay at the holiday inn near the beach like Kuta, Sanur and Nusa Dua.

Nowadays, they like to stay at the villas in the rural areas, which had changed the land function to the extent of 1,000 hectares every year.

I Wayan Munut is a pioneer of golf tour in Bali who built a hotel at Ayung River ravine in Kedewatan, 30 kilometers north of Denpasar and his idea is growing.

Many tourists, both local and foreign, like to stay at quiet and peaceful inns of ravines which had caused priced to soar, even more expensive than in urban areas.

Dewa, who is experienced in guiding foreign tourists, remembered that the price of land at a ravine in the 1980s reached Rp. 175,000, 00 per hectare, but now it reached hundred of millions of rupiah per hectare.

Therefore, it is not surprising that foreign businessmen bought land in valleys and ravines then built hotels not only for the local people but also for promotion overseas, he said.

Source: ANTARA News — 24 August 2010

Jakarta.President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the terrorism issue must never be brought into the political and religious domains.

“I have never taken the terrorism issue into the political arena because it is not a political issue and we also cannot associate terrorism with any religion because it is not a religious teaching,” he said at a cabinet meeting here on Tuesday.

Therefore, he said, he had always referred the need for action to fight and prevent terrorism to the law enforcing agencies, including the police, the prosecutor`s office, the courts.

“We must stick to this path. The terrorism issue must not be mixed up with politics or religion,” he said.

He further said terrorism was a sensitive issue. “We know, it is sensitive matter in our country because we often misunderstand what the law enforcers have done,” he said.

Therefore, he said, the threat of terrorism must be dealt with in a correct and professional way, and clarified to the public.

At the meeting President Yudhoyono asked National Police chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri to brief the cabinet on the most recent terrorism cases.

When he was about to visit Bandung, West Java, last weekend the President referred to certain elements in the Ciwidey region that intended to pull off something against him physically. But he also said terrorism would never prevail in Indonesia.

The police on Saturday arrested a number of terror suspects in several places in West Java including Bandung.

Early on Monday they also arrested Islamic cleric Abubakar Baasyir in Banjar, Ciamis, West Java, for alleged involvement in terrorism while he was on his way home to Solo after preaching in West Java.

Source : ANTARA News — 11 August 2010

The KFX fighter jet

Jakarta. Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said Wednesday that Indonesia and South Korea were ready to begin a joint project on jet fighter production in 2012.

Purnomo and his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-Young held a bilateral meeting in Jakarta earlier in the day.

Purnomo said that it was expected that the project would be able to build a jet figther prototype in 2020.

The planned cooperation for the project, dubbed the FSX project, was initiated in 2006.

The joint project is widely seen as a pilot project for Indonesian military in revitalizing defense industry.

Source: The Jakarta Post — 11 August 2010

The remark was disclosed by presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin when he was asked what was the response of the President on an incident of violence on members of HKBP church in Bekasi, West Java, on Sunday.

“There is room (for any violence under the name of religion) in this country. We are a law country. The freedom of religion is guaranteed by the law,” Julian said at the State Palace in Jakarta, quoting the President.

Yudhoyono, Julian said, has also demanded that harmony among followers of religions in this country be maintained properly. Any friction with followers of other religions should have been settled amicably, according to the kompas.com news portal.

Julian further said that Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto has also been instructed by the President to guarantee that such a violence incident will not happen again in the future.

Djoko has coordinated with his subordinates to respond to the President’s order, Julian added.

Source: The Jakarta Post — 10 August 2010

Mitigation involves reductions in the concentration of greenhouse gases, either by reducing its sources or by increasing their sinks -- such as mangrove forest.

Jakarta. Government plans to institute a financial institution involving national banks to particularly manage and accommodate climate mitigation budget from donor countries.

Coordinating Minister for the Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa confirmed that the institution will be established not later than October. Now, there are five candidates of national private banks to participate in management of the climate mitigation fund. Bank Mandiri will be joining the fund.

“For this time, I can not yet mention the private banks. Certainly, Bank Mandiri is the one,” he stated after chairing a coordination meeting at his office, today.

According to him, Finance Minister Agus D. W. Martowardojo is a member of the special team commissioned to establish the fund. The fund later on will manage the grant aids from Norwegian government aimed at reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) programs and other countries.

“Indonesia is considered to successfully reduce the forest degradation up to 75%. That’s why many countries in the world are eager to provide debt swap that should be managed properly,” he stated.

In the meantime, as Hatta added, government will re-engineer the domestic institutions, including by restructuring financial institutions and national action plans on climate change, which must be regulated by presidential decree.

Chairman of the Presidential Working Unit for Development Supervision and Control (UKP4) Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said the institution shall be established at least by October.

He sees the Coordinating Minister for the Economic Affairs to have an important role in establishing the institution, while UKP4 will provide certain inputs on the establishment process.

Source: Bisnis.com – 28 July 2010

Indonesia’s textile and garments continue to be amongst the commodities leading national non oil export

Jakarta. Indonesia booked an export jump by 31.04% in June 2010 compared to the same period last year.

Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recorded the export value in oil and gas sector as well as in non-oil and gas sector in June 2010 amounted US$12.29 billion.

Yet compared to May, Indonesia’s June export figure slightly declined 2.87% due to the biggest slump in oild and gas export value. On the other hand, non-oil and gas export climbed 1.02% in June.

“This was mainly caused by the slight decline in coal price,” said the Head of BPS Rusman Heriawan today.

The gain in non-oil and gas export were particularly driven by the export of aircraft engine and mechanics while the exports of iron ore, crust or metal suffered a decline.

“The industry starts to strengthen. We have also witnessed the textile industry, especially the clothes, not woven cloth, being one of the main contributors to the non-oil and gas export,” he added.

Meanwhile, Japan is still become the biggest export destination, followed by US and China.

Source: Bisnis.com – 2 August 2010
Photo: ANTARA News

He said he had repeated Indonesia’s condemnation of the sinking of a South Korean warship in March with the loss of 46 lives, without blaming North Korea as the US, South Korea and other countries have done. “Our emphasis is on the future in terms of wanting to ensure that the conditions conducive to the return to six-party talks are created,” Natalegawa said after meeting.

North Korea has offered to return to the stalled disarmament dialogue involving the two Koreas plus China, Japan, Russia and the US. The talks have been on ice since December 2008. In April last year the North announced it was quitting the forum before staging its second nuclear weapons test a month later.

The United States and South Korea have said that before negotiations can resume, Pyongyang must acknowledge its role in the sinking of the warship, sincerely commit to scrapping its atomic weapons and halt provocative actions.

“Sooner or later, all parties must return to the dialogue, to the negotiation process,” Natalegawa said. “In our view, in the Indonesian view, sooner is better than later because otherwise there is an inherent risk of events developing out of control and we may end up in a situation where we don’t want to be.”

The US and South Korea accuse the North of torpedoing the Cheonan near the disputed Yellow Sea border in March — a charge Pyongyang denies.

Source: The Independent Daily – 3 August 2010
Photo: Associated Free Press

National Education Ministry official Suharlan told kompas.com on Wednesday Manoel Manuputty won the gold, Alimatum Nashira took the silver and Stephen Haniel and Agung Hartoko earned a bronze each in the event, which concluded on Tuesday.

“This year Indonesia’s achievement in the chemistry Olympics has added the country’s superb performances in the international physics and biology competitions,” Suharlan said.

In the 21st International Biology Olympiad in Changwon, South Korea last week, Indonesian students won two gold and two bronze medals, while in the 41st International Physics Olympiad in Zagreb, Croatia, on Saturday, Indonesian students hauled four gold and a silver medals.

Source: The Jakarta Post – 28 July 2010

“The statement was issued last November 2009,” said Dr Taswanda Taryo, deputy head in charge of research and development result empowerment unit of the National Nuclear Power Agency (BATAN), at the Surabaya Institute of Technology (ITS) here, Wednesday.

Dr. Taryo gave the information when speaking in a seminar on “Technology and Safety of Nuclear Power Project”. Other speakers included Prof. Mukhtasor PhD from the National Energy Council (DEN) and Ian Love from the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).

The IAEA`s appraisal covered four readiness aspects, namely human resources, stakeholders, industry and regulations, he said.

“It`s because we have carried out a series of researches since 1980an,” he added.
Following the appraisal, Indonesia should enter the next concrete phase, namely the nuclear power project itself, he said.

“The Law No. 17/2007 has mandated the use of nuclear energy in Indonesia by 2015-2019, so at the latest we should have a nuclear power project by 2019,” he said.

Therefore, BATAN has formed a BATAN Incorporation which involves stakeholders such as BATAN, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, the Research and Technology Ministry, LIPI (Indonesian Institute of Sciences), state Power Utility (PLN), the Environmental Affairs Ministry, and the Industry Ministry.

They will decided the technicalities such as the industry as owner, technology, location, and licensing, he said.

The ownership will be established in 2011, but the form is not yet decided, whether it will be a state owned company or a totally private one.

“For sure, we have researched on the location since 1980an. The conclusion that it should be in the northern Javanese coastal area to avoid the Earth`s plaque,” he said.

BATAN has surveyed 70 locations, and selected into 14 locations, and now just four including Ujung Bumi (Jepara), Banten, and Bangka Belitung.

Prof Mukhtasor PhD, a member of the National Energy Council (DEN), said his agency has hold dialogs with those who are for or against the planned nuclear power project.

Those who are against it, always ask about the safety, he said, adding that he has explained that the nuclear technology is now very different from those used in Chernobyl.

Indonesia will have no longer coal by 2020, while the increasing number of the country`s population will need all kinds of energy from marine, solar, geothermal until nuclear, according to the professor.

Source: ANTARA News – 28 Juli 2010
Photo: The Telegraph