INDONESIA A NEWS

Indonesian authorities have cancelled the licenses of 28 Indonesian agencies that specialized in recruiting Indonesian workers for jobs overseas, including Kuwait, accusing them of violating the Southeast Asian country's labor laws, according to an insider. The insider revealed that the Indonesian labor ministry had assessed over 387 recruitment agencies, stressing that the results showed that only 28 of these had been violating the law against sending workers to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Malaysia, which were blacklisted for Indonesian domestic workers to travel to for work. According to the Indonesian Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, Mohaymen Eskandar, the assessment report showed that these agencies had been forging documents on agency workers' age, training and medical records. In other news, the Iraqi parliament's White Bloc (WB) recently urged their country's envoy to the UN to demand that Iraq be exempted from the UN's Chapter Seven on t...

A large number of Indonesian nationals, including men, women and children, gathered outside their country’s consulate Saturday, demanding immediate repatriation from the Kingdom.  Security vehicles and officers were called to maintain order.Several women, including some elderly ones, were seen sitting on the curb near the building and by the mosque opposite the consulate.Jeddah police spokesman Brig. Misfer Al-Juaid confirmed the demonstration had taken place.“The people gathering in the area are overstayers, but we haven’t received any security concerns on the nature of their presence,” he said. Al-Juaid added they included Indonesians who had overstayed on Umrah visas as well as those who carried expired work visa permits.Less than a year ago, a similar situation occurred in front of the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah.In April, the Indonesian government sent a ship to Jeddah to take home more than 2,000 workers, mostly housemaids who were stranded in the Kingdom. ...

INDONESIA'S independent anti-corruption watchdog will not launch a probe into allegations in US diplomatic cables that the country's president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was implicated in corruption. The stance of the Corruption Eradication Commission was backed by the country's leading anti-graft non-government organisation, Indonesia Corruption Watch. The developments came as protesters held a demonstration at the US embassy, tearing up copies of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald demanding an apology. Another group called the Association of Advocates for People launched a legal action in a Central Jakarta court against the US government and both papers. They are seeking damages of $US1 billion. The cables, revealed in The Age after being obtained from WikiLeaks, detailed allegations that Dr Yudhoyono had spied on political rivals, quashed a corruption probe and received money from businessman Tomy Winata via a middleman. The President has denied the allegations a...

Gayus Tambunan, the tax official at the centre of a scandal that exposed a wide network of corruption among Indonesian law enforcers and bureaucrats, has been sentenced to seven years in prison. The sentence was far less than the 20 years being sought, but the panel of judges said it could act only on the limited indictment provided by prosecutors, which did not touch on scores of corrupt activities that Gayus confessed to. Before being taken to prison, Gayus told reporters yesterday he accepted the verdict but that he was a scapegoat. Investigators had failed to follow up his revelations about corruption by the director-general of taxation and senior prosecutors, he said. Gayus amassed $3 million despite being a mid-level official at the tax office. He gained notoriety not only for his sensational allegations of corruption, but also for bribing his way out of prison on 68 occasions while awaiting trial, including to travel overseas and to a tennis tournament in Bali. Not include...

A THREAT by Indonesia to curb BlackBerry smartphone services unless the company filters pornographic sites prompted a wave of angry protests online on Sunday.  The row is the latest in a series of controversies that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) has found itself in, as a number of governments have complained about difficulties monitoring communications via the smartphones.  Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring has given RIM a two-week deadline to block access or risk restrictions being imposed, according to local reports.  'We have repeatedly asked them to do it and we have given them some time,' Mr Sembiring was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe newspaper on Saturday.  'If they keep delaying, we will shut down their operation here because they fail to comply with our laws,' he added. Details of the extent of any curbs were unclear.  His statement had drawn protests on microblogging site Twitter on Sunday how...

It may seem a bit early given that elections are three years away, but Jakarta's political circles are beginning to buzz with reports that Kristiani Herawati, the wife of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, plans to run for president when his second term expires in 2014. The whole thing, pundits and insiders say, is about building a Yudhoyono dynasty. Mrs Yudhoyono, known universally as Ibu Ani, is the daughter and eldest child of the late Gen. Sarwo Edhie Wibowo, who played a key role in the events of 1965 in which the late strongman Suharto took advantage of a failed coup to elevate himself into power over founding president Sukarno. Initially a close ally of Suharto who also played a role in the bloody purge of Indonesian communists in 1965-66, Sarwo Edhie was said to have been pushed aside in 1970 after he reportedly complained about government corruption.   From that point on, he was given positions that largely kept him outside the political sphere of the central government...

No more Indomie noodles for us? Singapore's Agri Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said it is carrying out investigations to ensure that Indomie noodles available in Singapore are safe for consumption. This follows reports that Taiwan has banned Indomie's Mi Goreng. Taiwanese authorities said para hydroxy benzoic acid, a preservative meant for cosmetics, was found in the instant noodles. Singapore's AVA said para hydroxy benzoic acid is not allowed here in instant noodles. Tests have been carried out, but AVA is not initiating any recall at the moment. It said results should be completed soon. Indomie instant noodles are produced by Indonesia's publicly-listed food giant PT Indofood Sukses Makmur.   Source: CNA  

Indonesia is taking steps to block pornographic Web sites before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the country's information minister said Thursday, defying local criticism that the plan amounted to censorship and was unworkable.   "I've asked all Internet service providers to filter porn content by using anti-porn software," the information minister, Tifatul Sembiring, said in a text message.   Mr. Sembiring, of the conservative Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party said he made the request last week and expected Internet service providers to take one month to implement it before the start of Ramadan on Aug. 11 . He did not say how many sites would be blocked.   Free speech advocates have accused the authorities of arbitrarily enforcing the country's controversial 2008 anti-pornography law, which has been criticized as draconian and overly broad. Religious minorities in this Muslim-majority country have been among the most vocal critics. The gov...

Departing finance minister says goodbye to a nearly empty House of Representatives Sri Mulyani Indrawati, arguably Indonesia's most respected public figure internationally, was given a rude sendoff as Finance Minister Thursday by the House of Representatives, with most opposition legislators either being absent or boycotting her presentation of the 2011budget. Sri Mulyani is due to join the World Bank as a deputy director on June 1. The walkout by members of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which failed to appear in the House entirely, and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) was a piece of political theatre ostensibly connected to a House investigation into the former finance minister's role in bailing out the midsized Bank Century during the global financial crisis of 2008. But in fact, rather than driving Sri Mulyani out over corruption charges, most of the house seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief because President Susilo...

The Indonesian government plans to create a vast agricultural estate in the restive province of Papua, sparking fears of environmental destruction and a return of mass migration policies that have done much to antagonise the indigenous population. Launched last month and already piquing the interest of foreign investors, the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) will initially earmark 1.6 million hectares of land for development but could expand to 2.5 million hectares, or about half the area of Merauke district, in south-east Papua. The ambitious proposal marks a return to the huge agricultural developments promoted by the former dictator Suharto, some of which were spectacular failures, such as the 1 million hectare ''mega rice'' project in central Kalimantan that devastated peatland forests and did not produce a bushel of rice. But Indonesian officials insist the land around Merauke is suitable for agriculture and that the new estate will help the world...

INDONESIA, the world's most populous Muslim nation and the site of more Australian deaths at the hands of terrorists than any other country, will not be included in a list of 10 countries targeted for toughened visa screening rules aimed at thwarting terror attacks. As Kevin Rudd released his government's long-awaited counter-terrorism white paper yesterday, The Australian has learnt that Indonesia, Pakistan and India will not be among the 10 countries singled out for for toughened visa screening. This is despite those countries playing host to the overwhelming number of regional terror attacks.Yemen and Somalia -- identified in the white paper as the emerging epicentres of radical Islamic terrorism -- will be included.The white paper fingers home grown extremists -- as opposed to transnational groups such as al-Qa'ida -- as the main terror threat now confronting Australia.The Prime Minister said the threat of terrorism had become a "persistent and permanent feature...

Great! Great! News about the album SBY spread abroad, especially in countries Middle Eastern friends. If SBY sings in Arabic may be able to have a big market there, and with so much filthy lucre flowing petro dollars to strengthen reserves in the Republic of Indonesia. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, suffering from falling domestic popularity despite winning plaudits from investors, has found time to release his third album of pop songs in Jakarta. The president's album, entitled I'm Certain I'll Make It, comes as his government's popularity has declined over the expensive bailout of a local bank in 2008. "In my struggle to serve the country, sometimes during my leisure time, I express my feelings in the form of arts," yesterday's edition of an English-language newspaper, the Jakarta Post, quoted Yudhoyono as saying. Andi Mallarangeng, the Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs and a former presidential spokesman, said yesterday that the presi...

Praise poured in to honor Indonesia's fourth president, Abdurrahman Wahid, on his death last week at the age of 69. The richly deserved tributes recalled Wahid's wit, his leadership of the country's largest grassroots Muslim organization, and his commitment to pluralism. There's even talk of declaring Wahid, affectionately known as Gus Dur, a national hero. His usually reticent successor and some-time rival, Megawati Sukarnoputri, said, "Gus Dur meets the requirements, " and indicated that her political party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), had already endorsed his enshrinement. But the plaudits ignore the dark side of Wahid's 21-month presidential term, which marked the nation's definitive break with Suharto's New Order authoritarianism. The national mourning for Wahid failed to examine what has become of the reformasi (reform) movement that brought Wahid to power, the backlash against his presidency, and why Wahid was the l...

HERE'S a provocative thought: if it weren't for the 2004 tsunami, Western aid workers in Banda Aceh city would not be the target of politically motivated drive-by shootings, and women in West Aceh regency would be free to wear trousers. As of Friday, any Muslim woman in the regency will be forced to change into a government-supplied long skirt if she dares step outside in tight pants. And after she takes the trousers off - and dons a jilbab, or Muslim head scarf - they will be publicly shredded.The new laws will add to recently enacted provincial legislation prescribing stoning as punishment for adultery or homosexual relations. The laws have attracted scorn and support in equal measure in Indonesia, but even they are mere pointers to a climate of uncertainty far outweighing simple questions of how Aceh has gone about rebuilding since December 26, 2004, when 170,000 of the 230,000 lives lost in the tsunami were from Aceh.Billions of dollars in foreign aid were quickly pledged f...

About 200 mostly elderly Indonesian pilgrims passed away during their Haj pilgrimages, jolting the Indonesian officials once again to find out solution to an ever-increasing number of deaths reported every year especially among Indonesian pilgrims. The final death count has yet to be determined. The death toll is likely to increase once a final accounting has taken place. Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country, sent 208,000 Muslims to perform Haj this year. "The deaths were mainly related to heart disease, respiratory failures, liver failure, hypertension, heart attacks and suffocation because of crowds and congestion with most of the deaths (being persons) aged above 55 years old," said Budiarto Kurniawan, the spokesman of the Indonesian Embassy. In order to solve the problems of overcrowding and congestion, the Indonesian government has signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia to construct an apartment block near the Grand Mosque in Makkah for its p...

Indonesia has suddenly woken up to the fact that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, elected as a reformer in 2004, could be on his way to amassing a political coalition that could rival the stranglehold on power once enjoyed by former President Suharto before he was ousted from office in 1998. Yudhoyono, who will be sworn into office next week for his second term, has assembled his power through elections and coalition-building, not the application of raw force used by Suharto. But the results are impressive. His elevation to possible near-unanimous sway also conjures up a long Javanese tradition in which the people expect their leader to reign rather than rule. With his quiet ways and consensus-building Javanese style, Yudhoyono already reminds some observers of Suharto, who was often liked to a Javanese king for his combination of mysticism and ruthlessness. Both men were also army generals before rising to political power. All eyes are now on the jostling for cabinet posts. Yudhoyo...

Married Muslims in Indonesia's staunchly Islamic province of Aceh could be publicly stoned for committing adultery under a new piece of legislation that the autonomous province's legislature is scheduled to pass on Monday.With partial Shariah law already in place under the broad autonomy accorded to end almost three decades of violent separatist conflict, Aceh looks set to take a giant and controversial step with the law, which also mandates that single Muslims caught having premarital sex will get 100 lashes with a whip.The drastic punishments are part of a regional regulations bill on local customs (qanun) regarding Islamic crimes (jinayat) that the Aceh Provincial Legislature (DPRA) will endorse, Raihan Iskandar, deputy chairman of the body, told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday.Iskandar, a member of the conservative Islam-based Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said a special legislative committee had finished deliberating the bill after receiving input from various groups."...

Indonesia's 176m eligible voters face potential confusion in Wednesday's presidential election after a last-minute court decision to throw out the official voter roll because of complaints of missed or dead voters and double registrations.Officials said they would allow anyone with valid identity papers to cast ballots and cautioned that could cause some logistical problems as voters tried to figure out where to vote and what documents to present. Election authorities in the world's third largest democracy dismissed concerns about having insufficient ballot papers, as they were expecting turnout of about 75 per cent, down significantly from the last presidential poll in 2004.Some voters were ecstatic at Monday's ruling by the Constitutional Court, which threw out the official voter rolls after complaints that up to 45m people might have been disenfranchised by the General Election Commission's incomplete registration programme."I wasn't able to vote in the ...

Indonesia needs to bring inflation under tighter control and scrap policies that restrict spending in order to consolidate its nascent economic recovery, the International Monetary Fund has advised after its annual review of south-east Asia's largest economy. But the IMF praised the Indonesian government and central bank for their response to the global financial crisis and raised its estimate for economic growth this year to 3-4 per cent from 2.5 per cent. Thomas Rumbaugh, the IMF mission leader, told the Financial Times that sound policies and a stable political environment had helped Indonesia attract comparatively more foreign capital as the global risk appetite had picked up.However, he cautioned that the fortunate timing of April's five-yearly legislative elections also played a role in the country achieving 4.4 per cent growth, year on year, in the first quarter of 2009. He said the 1.6m candidates and 38 parties injected enormous sums into the economy at a time when the...