ONE-PRICE FUEL PROGRAM FOR JUST, EQUITABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 16, 2017 (Antara) - The Joko Widodo (Jokowi) Administration has a strong political will to implement just and equitable economic development across Indonesia, including in remote and outermost regions.

        Development is not only for Java Island, or to cities, but to every region in the country, such as in the hinterland areas located in Indonesia's eastern most province of Papua.

        "I believe that only by implementing just and equitable economic development, we can increasingly become stronger to face global competition," the president said in his address to the annual session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Aug 16, one day prior to the 72nd anniversary of Indonesia's Independence.

           He hoped that by doing so, nobody will feel they are second-and third-class citizens. "We are all Indonesian citizens," he stated.

          All Indonesian citizens should receive equal benefits from developmental gains and be responsible to implement national development, he noted.

          The Head of State particularly wanted the prices of fuel oil and other essential goods in the mountains and border areas of Papua to be the same as in other regions of the country.  
    "We want the people in Papua's border area to be proud of their country as the border areas have been developed as a front verandah of the country," Jokowi remarked.

         In Oct last year, the president launched the program to set the fuel oil price in Papua to be the same as in the rest of the country. Previously, prices in Papua were much higher than in other regions of the country.    

INDONESIA FIGHTS CYBER-FRAUD SYNDICATE FROM CHINA by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 15, 2017 (Antara)- It seems that a cyber-fraud syndicate from China had found Indonesia as a heaven for their illegal operation and therefore they set up headquarters in several big cities in the country.

         More than hundred Chinese criminals, who included women, had lied as Chinese police or public prosecutors. They had connected Chinese victims and accused them of committing crimes. They had offered to cease legal process of their cases, if they transferred certain amount of money.

        Since they had operated in Indonesia in February 2017 (another report said since late 2016), they had collected at least Rp6 trillion (some US$455 million) from their victims.

         In simultaneous raids carried out on July 29, 2017, Indonesian police detained 149 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals operating their crimes in Jakarta, Surabaya (East Java), Bali, and Batam (Riau Islands).

         The raids were carried out with the cooperation of the Chinese Police, who had informed their Indonesian counterparts about the fraud targeting Chinese.

         The members of the syndicates had rented luxurious houses in elite areas in the Indonesian big cities. The Indonesian police also arrested five Indonesian believed to have helped their operation.

          In Surabaya, police had detained 93 suspects, comprising 81 Chinese citizens and 12 Taiwanese. Two Indonesian citizen were also arrested for being involved in providing means and facilities.

         "This evening, we raided four houses in Darmo Permai Golf or Graha Family in Surabaya that have been used for their operation," an officer of the special task force from the national headquarters dealing with the crime, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Susatyo Purnomo Condro, told newsmen following the raid on July 29.

          He admitted that the syndicate had been successfully uncovered thanks to cooperation from the Chinese police.

NORTH KALIMANTAN, YOUNGEST PROVINCE AIMING FOR INVESTMENT by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 10 , 2017(Antara) - North Kalimantan (Kaltara), the Indonesia's 34th province, is located in the northern part of Kalimantan Island and was separated from East Kalimantan Province in 2012.

        The country's youngest province shares its border with the Malaysian states of Sabah and Serawak in its north and west; the Makassar Strait and the Sulawesi Sea in the east; and East Kalimantan in the south.

         Thanks to its strategic location, North Kalimantan is expected to be  a gateway to Malaysia, the southern Philippines and Brunei Darussalam.

        In the past, it's remote villages located along the border were almost untouched by development because of the great distance from the center of the East Kalimantan provincial administration in Samarinda.

        At present, the development of projects has been accelerated in Kaltara to catch up with other provinces.

        To carry out development, the province needs foreign and domestic investment in the infrastructure sector, in particular.

        Some 14 foreign diplomats visited North Kalimantan recently at the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry's initiative to evaluate and obtain first-hand information on the tourism and economic potential of Indonesia's youngest province having abundant natural resources.

        Foreign envoys from Oman, Serbia, Egypt, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Croatia, Venezuela, Bosnia Herzegovina, Laos, Sweden, Romania, India, Nigeria, and Ukraine were personally received by  Kaltara Governor Irianto Lambrie, who first briefed them on the history of the province formed five years ago.

        The governor invited the foreign countries to invest in his region, which has been gearing up for massive development by constructing a nine thousand-megawatt hydropower plant in the Kayan River area, an industrial zone, and an international seaport in Bulungan District.

JUSTICE STILL ELUDES ANTI-CORRUPTION CHAMPION NOVEL BASWEDAN by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 5, 2017 (Antara) - Some people view Novel Baswedan, a senior investigator of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), as a hero for his fearless and ceaseless fight against corruption, one of the most pressing problems facing Indonesia.

        Baswedan, a 40-year-old retired police officer, had joined the anti-graft agency in 2007 and since then has been frequently terrorized and attacked.

          In 2012, his motorcycle was seriously damaged after being attacked by supporters of convicted Amran Batalipu, a former district head of Buol in Central Sulawesi Province.

         Since 2012, he had also been criminalized, and in 2015, he was named a suspect in a case of maltreatment that had occurred in Bengkulu in 2004, when his subordinates had arrested several swallow nest thieves. Baswedan was head of the Bengkulu Police's criminal investigation unit at that time.

         In 2016, Baswedan was hit by a car while driving a motorcycle on his way to the KPK building.

       A fatal attack against him took place on the morning of April 11, 2017, when he was heading home after performing Fajr, or the Dawn prayer, at a mosque nearby when two motorcyclists hurled acid on his face that injured his eyes, particularly the left eye.

        His attackers escaped and until now are still at large, while Baswedan is currently being treated in a Singapore hospital. He has lost his left eye and has to undergo a major surgery.

         Former chief of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Inspector General M. Iriawan had also investigated a possible link between the attack and the online hijab and Muslim dress business run by Baswedan's wife.

         Several parties, however, are certain that the attack is related to the corruption cases being handled by Baswedan.

INDONESIA, TELEGRAM SHARE COMMON CONCERN ABOUT TERRORISM by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 4, 2017 (Antara) - The Indonesian government and Russia-based Telegram have finally settled a misunderstanding between them and pledged to work together to solve existing problems as they share a common concern about terrorism.

           The understanding was reached during Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's visit to Jakarta on Aug 1 following a decision by Indonesia to partially block web-based Telegram application.

          Durov held a meeting with Communication and Informatics Minister Rudiantara to discuss a follow up on the mechanism to handle negative content, particularly when it concerns terrorism.

          At the meeting, both sides agreed to open a special communication channel for the ministry and Telegram in order to prevent the spread of negative content effectively and swiftly.

          Durov remarked that his company was concerned about the terrorism content and shared a similar commitment with Indonesia's Communication and Informatics Ministry concerning counterterrorism.

         He revealed that Telegram was committed to working faster to "shut down publicly available content related to ISIS and propaganda of terrorism."
   "Telegram is highly concerned about the global threat of terrorism, particularly in a country like Indonesia," he explained.

          Minister Rudiantara has expressed appreciation to Durov for his response and his visit to Jakarta to meet him and discus the problem.

          "I laud Telegram for being very responsive concerning this issue," Rudiantara stated.

           He promised to normalize Web-based application Telegram this week since its blocking since July 14, 2017.

BECOMING ONE WITH MOTHER NATURE by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug 3, 2017 (Antara) - The Indonesian Government observed National Environment Day in a function themed "Connecting People to Nature," held at the Environmental Affairs and Forestry Ministry office in Manggala Wanabakti complex in Jakarta on Aug 2 this year.

         The commemoration was aimed at increasing the people's awareness towards environmental problems such as deforestation, waste management, as well as air and water pollution.   
    Indonesia's forests, which are the third largest in the world after those in Brazil and Congo, hold some of the world's most diverse ecosystems, from endangered orangutans and rhinos to Rafflesias, the biggest flowers on earth.

         But, the country has lost a lot of its tropical rain forest due to illegal logging and rapid conversion of forests to plantations, despite the fact that since May 2011, the government has imposed moratorium on granting new licenses to clear forests in primary natural forest and peatland areas.

         Some companies appeared to have exploited protected national parks, for instance, to make way for plantations or have destroyed industrial parks, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) remarked while leading the function to observe National Environment Day 2017.

         The Head of State revealed that he will tighten requirements on the issuance of permits for the forest industry to protect natural resources and preserve the environment.

          "We should stop issuing any careless and irresponsible work permits to companies planning to operate in forest areas," Jokowi noted.

           The main objective of granting permits for industries in forest areas is to improve the welfare of the people.

            "The problem now is that most communities living near industrial forests are poor. Hence, we should rethink whether the teakwood plantations had contributed to the people's well-being" the president rhetorically told the audience.