[Kabar-Irian] Irian News - 1/23/06 (Part 3 of 3)
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- Papua gubernatorial election to cost Rp 70 billion
- Papua Protestors Occupy Legislative Building
- Protesters storm Parliament in Papua
- Calm restored after protest in capital of Indonesia's Papua
- Papua council questions public on W. Irian Jaya
- FBI agents secretly quiz suspect: Lawyer
- Indonesian police detain eight Papuans over Freeport murders
- STF Demands for Freedom of Eight Suspects of Timika Shooting
- Mining Company Notes U.S. Review of Payments to Indonesian Military
- Rais Demands Closure Of Freeport
- Indonesia To Up Tangguh LNG Price To Fujian To +$25/Bbl
- Illegal miners arrested in Papua
- RI Suffers Loss of U$1 Billion Due to Animal Trafficking
- Obsession with caged birds kills off wild white starling
*****************************
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 21, 2006
Papua gubernatorial election to cost Rp 70 billion
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
The Papua gubernatorial election on Feb. 16 will cost at least Rp 70
billion (US$7 million), which will pay for all of the election materials
as well as the salaries of poll workers, an officials says.
Papua General Elections Commission (KPUD) head Ferry Kareth said the money
would come from the 2005 provincial budget. He said 28.5 percent of the
money, or around Rp 20 billion, had already been disbursed, and the
remaining Rp 50 billion would be distributed to commission offices in
regencies and mayoralties throughout Papua next week.
Kareth was speaking during a meeting between officials of the provincial
KPUD and the heads of commission offices in regencies and mayoralties, as
well as regents and mayors from the province, led by the caretaker
governor, Sonjuangan Situmorang, who took over after governor J.P. Salossa
died in office last year.
The regents and mayors who attended the meeting said preparations for the
Feb. 16 election were moving forward, with the only problem being funding
shortages.
Much of the money allotted for the election will be used to transport
election materials to polling stations around the province, many of which
are difficult to reach. Yahukimo regency, for example, is accessible only
by air.
"Well, our biggest obstacle is transportation, but we hope the head of the
Papua KPUD and the governor can ask airlines serving Papua to prioritize
the distribution of election materials. If not, I'm afraid we will be
unable to hold the election on Feb. 16," said Yahukimo Regent Ones
Pahabol.
Kareth promised the officials that election funds would soon be
transferred to commission offices in regencies and mayoralties.
"Don't worry, we'll distribute the money soon. We put a temporary hold on
the funds due to the absence of a definite election schedule," he said.
Kareth said the Papua KPUD would send letters to airlines asking them to
place a priority on transporting election materials. "Everyone should
support this election, because a delayed election would mean a delay in
regional development," he said.
The election will involve 1,429,646 registered voters in 20 regencies and
mayoralties and 188 districts, and 2,455 polling stations.
Kareth said ballots and lists of candidates had already been sent to the
Papua KPUD and were waiting to be distributed.
He also reminded all of the heads of commission offices that the election
funds would be audited after the election was completed.
Candidates in the election are currently on the campaign trail, with
campaigning to end Jan. 30.
There are five pairs of candidates: Constant Karma and Donatus Mote; Dick
Henk Wabiser and SP Inaury; Lukas Enembe and Ahmad Arobi Aituarauw;
Barnabas Suebu and Alex Hessegem; and John Ibo and Pascalis Kossy.
Election materials are scheduled to arrive in the regencies and
mayoralties on Jan. 25, and in districts three days before election day.
Yahukimo Regent Pahabol said he did not foresee any problems organizing
the election in the regency, as long as the materials arrived on time.
"If we can use planes, it will take two weeks to distribute the materials
from the regency capital to all of the districts. Without planes, workers
will have to deliver the materials by foot, which would mean a weeklong
walk in some cases," Pahabol said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antara
Jan 23 15:08
Papua Protestors Occupy Legislative Building
Jayapura, Papua (Antara News) - At least 200 demonstrators in the
Indonesian easternmost province of Papua forced themselves into the local
legislative building here on Monday to protest Friday’s shooting in Paniai
district.
A high school student was killed and two men were injured after security
forces opened fire into a crowd during a clash with residents in Waghete
in the central Papua district of Paniai.
The clash allegedly erupted after three people were told to stop taking
donations of up to U$10 from residents while repairing roads in the area.
The fatality in the shooting was identified as Moses Douw who died at
Enarotali public hospital in Paniai while the injured victims were known
as Yulieke Kotoki and Petrus Pekey.
According to Google website, concerns were being raised that the shooting
was linked to the arrival in Australia earlier this week of 43 asylum
seekers from Papua.
Australian opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said he was
concerned the arrival of the group may be linked to the shooting of three
people in Paniai on Friday.
"It’s important for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as a matter of
absolute priority to establish who precisely has been killed and were
there any connections between these individuals and those who have sought
asylum on Cape York," he said.
However, a human rights activist in Papua said there was no connection
between a fatal shooting and the arrival of Papuan asylum seekers in
Australia.
Denni Yomaki from the Institute for the Study and Advocacy of Human Rights
in West Papua said he believed the events were unrelated, and it was not
clear what caused the shooting.
"I don’t see any connections with the arrival of the 43 asylum seekers in
Australia," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Protesters storm Parliament in Papua
January 23, 2006, 2:48 PM EST
The Associated Press
Jakarta, Indonesia -- About 200 protesters stormed Parliament in
Indonesia's restive Papua province on Monday to demand the withdrawal of
troops from the region, witnesses said. Calm was restored by nightfall.
Two policemen were injured in the melee in the provincial capital,
Jayapura, state news agency Antara reported. Authorities in Jayapura were
not available for comment.
Tensions have been high in the province since Friday when security forces
opened fire on a group of protesters outside a central Papua police
station, killing one person and injuring two.
Witnesses said the demonstrators barged past police guarding the
Parliament building, shouting, "Indonesian troops get out of West Papua!"
The protesters left after meeting legislators, and the town was calm by
nightfall, witnesses said.
Remote Papua province is on the western part of an island just north of
Australia and independence activists normally refer to it as West Papua,
the term first adopted by the nationalist movement there. The eastern part
forms the country of Papua New Guinea.
Papua was integrated into Indonesia in 1969 after a referendum, since
dismissed as a sham.
Local and international rights groups have repeatedly accused police and
soldiers of abuses in the oil- and gas-rich province in Indonesia's far
east.
Last week, 43 asylum seekers from Papua, including independence advocates
and their families, arrived in nearby northeastern Australia in a
traditional outrigger boat and accused Indonesia of genocide.
Unlike Indonesia's mainly ethnic Malay inhabitants, Papuans are ethnic
Melanesians. Most Indonesians are Muslims, but Papuans are Christians or
animists.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Radio New Zealand International
Calm restored after protest in capital of Indonesia's Papua
Posted at 10:30am on 24 Jan 2006
Calm has been restored in the regional capital of Papua in Indonesia after
about 200 protesters stormed the parliament building in Jayapura.
The Associated Press news agency reports witnesses as saying the
demonstrators barged past police officers guarding the building, shouting
the slogan "Indonesian troops get out of West Papua!"
The state news agency Antara reports two policemen were injured in the melee.
Authorities in Jayapura were not available for comment.
Security forces have been blamed for opening fire on a group of protesters
outside a police station in Paniai in the central Highlands of Papua last
week.
The incident came soon after Australia flew 43 Papuans to its territory of
Christmas Island, after they arrived in Queensland following a six-day
canoe voyage from Merauke.
-- Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand International
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 23, 2006
Papua council questions public on W. Irian Jaya
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura
The Papua People's Council (MRP) has formed four teams to gauge public
opinion in West Irian Jaya about the controversial proposal to form the
area into a separate province.
MRP head Agus Alue Alua said in Jayapura the teams would work from Jan. 19
to Jan. 31, and share their results with bureaucrats, political and public
figures, non-governmental organizations and elected councillors from the
West Irian Jaya legislature.
Agus said one team would speak to people in Manokwari municipality,
encompassing the areas of Manokwari, Bintuni and Teluk Wondama; the second
team would work in Sorong, South Sorong and Raja Ampat regencies, and
Sorong municipality; and a third team would be sent to Fakfak municipality
and Fakfak and Kaimana regencies. A fourth team will meet with West Irian
Jaya councillors in Manokwari.
Agus said each team would reach out to different segments of the
population, including women, traditional and religious groups, NGOs
involved in social welfare and human rights, and political parties.
"The teams will speak with people and organizations to gauge public
opinion on the issue of autonomy," Agus said.
Agus said so far the only ones discussing the issue of dividing West Irian
Jaya off from the rest of Papua were elected West Irian Jaya councillors,
and other segments of the population had to be heard from.
"We will send the results of the survey to Jakarta," he said.
The survey results will also be taken into consideration by the MRP as it
decides whether to approve or reject West Irian Jaya's petition for
autonomy.
This kind of public consensus, Agus said, was in line with Law No. 21/2001
on regional autonomy.
Agus explained that an agreement was reached during a meeting with Vice
President Jusuf Kalla in Jakarta on Jan. 9, that the governor of Papua,
the Papua legislature and the MRP should resolve the issue of autonomy for
West Irian Jaya in the timeframe between Feb. 15 and the middle of May.
The governor should already have submitted a proposal on the creation of
West Irian Jaya province to the Papua legislature for deliberation, and
then presented the proposal to the MRP to be studied and approved or
rejected within the agreed to timeframe.
The MRP would then have the chance to determine public opinion of the
proposal during the process, Agus said.
Agus urged every segment of the population, including the central
government, to follow the law on regional autonomy, especially the
paragraph that states the creation of a new province should be proposed at
the grassroots level up, not from the central government down.
"This is what has happened in West Irian Jaya, when the central
government, in favor of autonomy, urged the MRP to approve (the new
province)," he said.
Agus also expressed regret over the central government's decision to begin
the process of strengthening the bureaucracy in West Irian Jaya while the
issue of autonomy had yet to be resolved.
West Irian Jaya caretaker governor Timbul Pudjianto has already appointed
Abdul Gani Yudean to head the justice and human rights office in the
proposed province.
"The central government should not appoint officials to strategic posts
before autonomy is granted," said Agus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 20, 2006
FBI agents secretly quiz suspect: Lawyer
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A lawyer for the eight suspects detained in Jakarta for the 2002 shootings
in Timika, Papua, claimed Thursday that two FBI agents secretly
interrogated one of his clients.
Johnson Panjaitan said the agents went to the detention room Wednesday
night shortly after he left and interrogated Agus Anggaibak, who was ill.
"I object to that tactic. They don't have the right to do that," said
Johnson told The Jakarta Post.
Indonesian authorities have said the FBI's role was confined to providing
and gathering information and that agents were not involved in questioning
suspects.
However, FBI agents were directly involved in the arrest of 12 Papuans,
four of which were later released.
The eight suspects allegedly shot and killed one Indonesian and two
American teachers traveling in a convoy near the town of Timika, injuring
12 others including small children. The teachers were working for U.S.
mining giant PT Freeport.
Johnson said Agus was interrogated from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. "I wonder how
they got involved. They weren't respecting our legal procedures."
Zainul Sarif, the head of the Indonesian investigative team, said he was
unaware of Johnson's allegation.
"I don't know, maybe their presence had something to do with the
cooperation between (the FBI) and police on technology upgrades," he told
the Post.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam also said he knew
nothing of the interrogation.
"The investigation is our authority. There shouldn't have been any
intervention," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WSWS
Indonesian police detain eight Papuans over Freeport murders
By John Roberts
20 January 2006
Indonesian police, in collaboration with the American FBI, detained 12
people on January 11 in the province of Papua over the murder of two
Americans and an Indonesian in August 2002. Four of the arrested Papuans
were later released.
Those murdered, three teachers at an international school run by the giant
US-operated Freeport gold and copper mine, died when a bus in which they
were travelling was ambushed by armed gunmen. Twelve others were injured
in the attack.
>From the outset, the murders have been surrounded by controversy. The
Indonesian government and armed forces (TNI) insisted that separatist
fighters from the Free Papua Movement (OPM) were to blame. The OPM,
however, denied any involvement. Moreover, evidence emerged indicating the
involvement of the TNI, which has a history of running protection rackets
and other illegal activities in Papua and other parts of Indonesia.
The ambush, which lasted an estimated 45 minutes, took place within
earshot of a TNI checkpoint. Yet even though over 200 rounds were fired,
soldiers failed to come to the assistance of the teachers. Shortly after
the attack the TNI claimed to have shot dead a Papuan, Danianus Walker,
who was involved in the attack. An autopsy revealed, however, that Walker
had died at least 24 hours before the ambush took place. Articles in the
Washington Post and Sydney Morning Herald citing US and Australian
intelligence sources pointed to the high-level involvement of the
Indonesian military.
The ambush threatened to derail the Bush administration’s efforts to
reestablish close military ties with Indonesia, severed completely in 1999
after the TNI-backed militia violence against independence supporters in
East Timor. The US Congress stipulated that Indonesia cooperate with the
FBI in solving the murders before funding for military cooperation was
approved.
In June 2004, US Attorney General John Ashcroft indicted alleged OPM rebel
Anthonius Wamang for the murders, without however answering any of the
outstanding questions surrounding the incident. The OPM issued a statement
denying any role in the ambush and pointing out that Wamang had worked
closely with the TNI over the previous four years, both in the sandalwood
business and as part of a pro-Indonesian militia.
By blaming the attack on Papuan separatists, Ashcroft paved the way for
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to readmit Indonesia to Pentagon’s
IMET military training program last November.
The latest arrests, which included Wamang, have simply raised more doubts
about the case. Through his lawyer, Wamang provided more details pointing
to the involvement of the TNI. Lawyer Albert Rumbekwan told the New York
Times last Friday that, while admitting his involvement in the ambush,
Wamang claimed that three men in Indonesian military uniforms were also
firing at the vehicles. He repeated a previous claim that Wamang had
received ammunition from a senior TNI officer.
Tim Riser, spokesman for US Senator Patrick Leahy, praised the arrests as
a development in the case. But he added: “There are so many unanswered
questions in this case, including who these people are and what role they
may have had in these crimes.” Leahy sponsored the Congressional
restrictions on US-Indonesia military ties.
The detentions have provoked considerable public anger in Papua. Lawyers
and human rights activists have accused the FBI of entrapment. Lawyer Anum
Siregar said the men had been lured to the Amole II Hotel in Timika to
meet FBI agents. They were told that they were going to the US to be
interviewed. “They were promised that once in US custody they could speak
freely and that their safety would be guaranteed,” he said. Instead the
FBI bundled them into a vehicle and turned them over to the police.
“We believed we were going to America,” Viktus Wanmang told the New York
Times. The men were given 650,000 rupiah or about $US70 for the trip and
came to the hotel with their bags packed to leave. “The car was driven at
high speeds. When we stopped, when the car door opened, there was a group
of police waiting,” Wanmang said. He and three others were later released.
Police spokesman Brigadier General Anton Bachrul Alam denied that the FBI
tricked the men. He claimed that the police learned that the suspects had
all gathered at the hotel and swooped.
Those detained include Agustinus Anggaibak, 14, and Yohanes Kasamol, 15,
also known as Joni. The two boys were only 9 and 10, respectively, at the
time of the attack. Yet they were flown to Jakarta for further
interrogation and trial, along with Anthonius Wamang and five others.
Last Saturday hundreds of Papuan protesters in the provincial capital of
Jayapura blocked the road to the airport, forcing police to transfer the
eight by military helicopter. The protest was organised by the United
Front for the Struggle of the West Papuan People, who are demanding that
those detained be questioned and tried in the province, rather than
Jakarta.
At a press conference in Jakarta, Indonesian Police chief Sutanto told
reporters not to “spread rumours” about TNI involvement in the 2002
murders. He claimed that forensic and other evidence as well as
confessions proved that the separatist rebels were responsible and no TNI
personnel were involved.
However, a lawyer for the arrested men, Aloysius Renwarin, declared: “They
are being sacrificed for the relationship between the US and Indonesia.”
Certainly the Indonesian government and military would like to see the
case buried in order to strengthen closer ties with Washington.
Conveniently the latest arrests, aided by the FBI, have provided the means
to do that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antara
Jan 23 14:58
STF Demands for Freedom of Eight Suspects of Timika Shooting
Jakarta (Antara News) - A Papuan group called Freeport Tragedy Solidarity
(STF) has demanded that eight suspects of the 2002 Timika shooting be
freed because there is no proof supporting the accusation.
"The eight suspects must be freed immediately unconditionally, because
there is no proof of their involvement in the shooting," STF spokesperson
Arkilaus Baho told ANTARA News here Monday.
The Freeport Tragedy Solidarity staged a long march demonstration from the
square Hotel Indonesia square to the State Palace and ended in front of
the US Embassy on Monday morning.
The protestors believed that the eight suspects were innocent in the
bloody incident which killed two US citizens and one Indonesian national,
and injured 12 others. The victims were US mining company PT Freeport
employees and their relatives who were traveling in a convoy of five buses
for a picnic, when gunmen ambushed them in an area between Timika and
Tembagapura in August 2002.
"We suspect that there is a vested interest of certain party related to PT
Freeport Indonesia in the investigation of the shooting incident. We also
suspect and the shooting itself happened because there was a clash of
interest over PT Freeport," Baho said.
Baho and his colleagues believed that the eight Papuans, who were recently
arrested in Papua and brought to Jakarta for further investigation, are
not guilty in the shooting which killed Ted Bargons and Ricky Spier,
American teachers, and SS Bambang Riwanto, an Indonesian.
The eight suspects, who were nabbed by the Indonesian police in
cooperation with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), are Hardi
Tsugumol, Agustinus Anggaibak, Markus Kalabetme, Yohanes Kasemol, Yulianus
Deikme, Jerius Kiwak, Isak Onawame and Anthonius Wamang.
The long march participated in by around 50 people including those wearing
Papuan traditional dresses, brought posters which among other things
demanded a closure of PT Freeport Indonesia.
Papua, Indonesia’s most eastern province, is very rich in natural
resources such as gold mining and forest, but has been troubled by a
separatist movement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
New York Times
Mining Company Notes U.S. Review of Payments to Indonesian Military
By Katharine Q. Seelye
Published: January 19, 2006
Executives of Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold have acknowledged that the
mining company is under scrutiny by the federal government regarding
payments it made to the Indonesian military.
The information was made public on Tuesday during a conference call with
investors. In a subsequent filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, the company said that it had "received informal inquiries from
governmental agencies" in the United States related to its support of
Indonesian security institutions. The company also said it was "fully
cooperating" with those inquiries.
Freeport shares fell more than 2 percent, to $60.26, yesterday after news
of the inquiry, despite an announcement by the company, which is based in
New Orleans, that its fourth-quarter profits had more than doubled as gold
prices surged to $540 an ounce.
The disclosure by Freeport followed a report by The New York Times last
month that from 1998 through 2004, Freeport paid individual military and
police officers and military units nearly $20 million to secure its
operations in the Indonesian province of Papua, where it runs the world's
largest gold mine.
In the past, Freeport has refused requests by the New York City Pension
Fund, a shareholder, to review its policy on paying the police and
military. The fund argues that the payments may violate the Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids American companies to bribe foreign
officials. Freeport says its payments are within American and Indonesian
laws.
In response to the article, Freeport posted on its Web site a letter sent
to editors at The Times saying the Dec. 27 article and a subsequent
editorial contained "disturbing and provocative misstatements" about its
Papua operations and that the article had "ignored the practicalities of
conducting business in a remote area."
Stanley S. Arkin, a lawyer for the company, declined to elaborate. In the
Indonesian capital, Jakarta, the vice chairman of Indonesia's
anticorruption commission said yesterday that if Freeport had made
payments to individual officers, "that's corruption."
Company documents obtained by The Times show that Freeport made monthly
payments to more than a score of individual officers from 1998 through
2004. The company publicly reported paying military units in 2001 and
2002, but has not acknowledged that the money went to individual officers
over seven years.
The Indonesian anticorruption official, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, said
that his agency would support any American agency that started an
investigation into the payments.
-- Jane Perlez and Raymond Bonner contributed reporting from Jakarta,
Indonesia, for this article.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paras Indonesia (formerly Laksamana)
Rais Demands Closure Of Freeport
Posted by: Roy Tupai on 01, 20 2006 @ 09:49 pm
Former People’s Consultative Assembly speaker Amien Rais has called on the
government to shut down gold and copper mining giant PT Freeport
Indonesia, accusing the country’s top corporate taxpayer of environmental
crimes at its Grasberg mine in Papua province.
Rais, who quit politics after his poor performance in the 2004
presidential election, on Thursday (19/1/06) told a seminar in Jakarta
that US-based Freeport could no longer defend its environmental record.
"All of its arguments cannot be accepted, PT Freeport has to be closed.
It’s no more a violation, but a crime," he was quoted as saying Thursday
(19/1/06) by state news agency Antara.
Rais said Freeport’s operations had caused a mountain to vanish and be
replaced by a lake, while snow on the peak of Mount Jayawijaya had melted.
He also said about 230 square kilometers of once fertile land around the
mining site had been transformed into a desert.
The company’s policy of dumping vast amounts of waste in a river and the
sea had negatively impacted the lives of local residents, he added.
Rais further claimed Freeport was guilty of tax fraud, possibly amounting
to hundreds of trillions of rupiah, although he gave no data to support
his allegation. He also complained of unbalanced profit sharing between
the company and the central government.
He said Freeport chairman James Robert ‘Jim Bob’ Moffett should be held
accountable for the environmental damage and the “plundering” of
Indonesia’s mineral assets.
The founder and former chairman of the National Mandate Party urged the
government to pay serious attention to the matter by taking firm action
against Freeport. "If they fail in this, I doubt whether the government is
really serious in fighting corruption," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
Rais’ criticism of Freeport is nothing new. Back in 1997 he was forced out
of the Suharto-backed Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals after
he criticized the government for allowing Freeport to take the lion’s
share of the wealth from the Grasberg mine.
Freeport has come under increasingly harsh criticism after the New York
Times last month accused the company of paying about $20 million to senior
Indonesian security officials and military units between 1998 and 2004. It
also said Freeport produces 700,000 tons of waste from the Grasberg mine
every day.
In response to the report, Freeport admitted it had spent about $6 million
to $7 million annually to the guard the mine, but denied violating
environmental legislation, insisting that all of its practices conformed
to US and Indonesian laws. The company’s chief executive Richard Adkerson
this week said Freeport had paid Indonesia a total of about $1 billion in
royalties and other fees since 2004.
Rais said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf
Kalla must follow up calls from non-government organizations and
parliament to investigate allegations that Freeport bribed top officials
to overlook alleged transgressions at the mining site. "This means the
ball is now in the hands of SBY-Kalla. If the government is hesitant or
ignores the matter, then I think we will experience a minor doomsday," he
was quoted as saying by detikcom online news portal.
He said that if Freeport Indonesia was shut down and then wanted to resume
operations, it should first have to “restore the vanished mountain” and
rejuvenate 230 square kilometers of damaged land.
Corruption Claim
Rais last week alleged that corruption in the mining sector had inflicted
losses of hundreds of trillions of rupiah on the state.
He said financial losses in cases being pursued by the Corruption
Eradication Commission were peanuts in comparison to losses caused by
graft in the mining sector.
Legislators responded to the claim by advising Rais to drop his rhetoric
and provide hard evidence of the alleged graft so that parliament could
investigate his claim.
Analysts say the government and security forces are to blame if foreign
mining firms operating in Indonesia are required to pay bribes to get past
red tape and security issues.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Indonesia To Up Tangguh LNG Price To Fujian To +$25/Bbl
January 20, 2006 04:39 ET (09:39 GMT)
By Deden Sudrajat; Dow Jones Newswires
Jakarta -(Dow Jones)- Indonesia will adjust its price for liquefied
natural gas to be sold to China's Fujian province from BP PLC's (BP)
Tangguh project to above $25 a barrel from the current $23/bbl, a senior
government official said Friday.
"Fujian has agreed to the adjustment in the ceiling price from Tangguh,"
Kardaya Warnika, chairman of BP Migas Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory
Agency, told reporters, without elaborating.
Indonesia, the world's sixth largest natural gas producer, in July 2004
signed an agreement to sell 2.6 million metric tons of LNG annually from
2008 to Fujian province for 15 years from the Tangguh project, located in
Indonesia's West Papua province.
Analysts say Indonesia is trying to increase its sales of gas and gas
products due to perceptions that recent contracts don't provide adequate
revenues to support the development of various projects.
Indonesia is also trying to sell its LNG to new markets, including the
U.S. West Coast and Mexico.
-- Edited by George Bernard
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jakarta Post.com
National News
January 21, 2006
Illegal miners arrested in Papua
Jayapura, Papua: The provincial police have arrested three people for
their alleged involvement in illegal quarrying activities in the West
Batanta conservation forest in Sorong regency, an officer said Friday.
Papua police chief, Insp. Gen. Tomy Tider Jacobus told reporters in
Jayapura that the police also seized 14 heavy machinery units at the
location.
The three, still being held at the Papua police headquarters, were
identified as managing director of PT Tiberias Mulia Abadi in Sorong,
Hengky Patawala, and two other directors of the company, Yohanis Candra
and Anggara Gunawan, Tomy said.
Tomy said that the arrest was made based on a report from the Nature and
Biological Conservation Agency on the presence of a company operating in
the area without a permit.
Sand and rock materials, intended for industrial purposes, were sent from
the site to nearby plants, he said, adding that the suspects faced a
maximum of 10 years in prison as stipulated in Law No. 5/1990 on
biological and ecosystem resource conservation.
Head of the Irian Jaya Nature Resource Conservation group in Sorong, Frans
Moga, told The Jakarta Post that the company had been reprimanded but
still continued with its activities.
-- JP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Antara
Jan 19 17:33
RI Suffers Loss of U$1 Billion Due to Animal Trafficking
Jakarta (Antara News) - Indonesia has suffered a loss of about US$1
billion per year due to rampant wild animal trafficking, The Gibbon
Foundation director Willie Smits said on Thursday.
"Among the wild animals often be smuggled abroad are birds of paradise,
cockatoos, parrots, orang utans, lizards and snakes," he said.
Some 50,000 birds of paradise were smuggled from Jayapura, the capital of
Indonesia s easternmost province of Papua, to foreign states every year,
he said adding that such Indonesian big cities as Jakarta, Surabaya and
Medan have been used as gates to smuggle the animals.
"Bali has even become the gate for the trafficking which used baggage to
smuggle the animals," he said.
Smits said the animals were smuggled to Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and Hong
Kong as well as Middle Eastern and European states.
He also said the animals were traded at around US$50,000 each in European
countries although they were bought at Rp 150,000 (US$15.78) to Rp 250,000
back home.
Most of the animals were smuggled from Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua.
The rampant smuggling has turned Indonesia into the largest source of
animal trafficking, he said adding that loose baggage check at the airport
has led to the rampant animal trafficking.
Smits also said many Indonesian officials brought wild animals as a gift
after they finished their duty outside Java island.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Times Online (UK)
January 20, 2006
Obsession with caged birds kills off wild white starling
>From Nick Meo in Jakarta
For several decades they have been among the world’s rarest birds, with
tens of thousands of pounds spent on breeding programmes and
round-the-clock guarding in a protected zone.
But the snowy white Bali Starling is such a popular aviary bird that
hunters are believed to have taken every one and conservationists believe
the bird is now extinct in the wild. The Indonesian Government insists
that there are still two flying free in Bali Barat National Park, but even
if they have escaped the poachers’ nets, they have probably been released
from captive breeding programmes.
Sukianto Lusli, Executive Director of BirdLife Indonesia, said: “This is
such a beautiful bird. Its charm made it extinct. Everybody wants one in
his cage at home.”
The starling was once abundant on Bali. but trapping for the caged bird
market caused the population to decline until there were only 14 wild
birds by 1991.
Birds are a national obsession in Indonesia and no home is complete
without a caged song bird. Bird catchers trawl the islands of the
archipelago snaring finches, larks and warblers to be sold in sprawling
bird markets. Migrating waterbirds are trapped in the marshes of Java to
be fried and sold as roadside snacks.
Conservationists say that trapping wild birds for sale is a bigger threat
than habitat loss to Indonesia’s 1,539 species — 17 per cent of all the
birds recorded on the planet. The business generates millions of dollars a
uear. rivalling even illegal logging for profitability.
Rare parrots, hornbills and cockatoos are especially sought after as pets,
both in Jakarta and abroad, and many die struggling in nets or in transit
to markets. Bali starlings are bought for several thousand pounds each by
Indonesians who are not deterred by the unlikely possibility of a
five-year prison sentence for owning one.
BirdLife International believes that it may be possible to restock the
island through a controversial breeding programme. But to stop them being
poached it would also be necessary to reduce their rarity value by
flooding markets with captive-bred Bali starlings.
Mr Lusli said that corruption would also have to be countered. In the
Indonesian part of New Guinea, the military is said to be heavily
involved. Mr Lusli said: “When a navy ship comes back from Papua with an
army detachment it is full of birds and animals, like a floating zoo. We
have to stop that kind of thing.”
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