UNRWA IMBAU INDONESIA TINGKATKAN BANTUAN UNTUK PALESTINA

oleh Fardah Assegaf Jakarta,  28/11 (Antara) -  Pejabat UNRWA, Badan PBB untuk urusan Pengungsi Palestina, mengimbau Indonesia untuk meningkatkan bantuan karena lembaga  ini kini sedang menghadapi kekurangan dana yang kritis sebesar AS$37 juta hingga akhir tahun ini.          "Apabila tidak ada tambahan dana, kami tidak akan mampu membayar gaji para guru, staf medis, pekerja sosial, dan staf lainnya pada bulan Desember depan.  Hal ini akan menyebabkan kegiatan program-program kami terhenti," kata Kepala Divisi Hubungan Donor UNRWA Esther Kuish Laroche mengatakan di Jakarta, Kamis, pada peringatan Hari Solidaritas Internasional Bagi Rakyat Palestina.

UNRWA URGES INDONESIA TO INCREASE ASSISTANCE FOR PALESTINIAN REFUGEES

   by Fardah Assegaf
   Jakarta, Nov 28, 2013 (Antara) - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has called on Indonesia to increase its contribution as the agency is facing a funding shortfall of US$37 million until the end of the year, an UNRWA spokesperson has said.

         "If funds are not forthcoming, we will not be able to pay the salaries of teachers, medical personnel, social workers and other staff in December, which will bring our operations to a standstill," Esther Kuish Laroche, the chief of UNRWA's Donor Relations Division, said in her keynote speech at the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, here on Thursday.

INDONESIA INVESTS IN TREE PLANTING PROGRAM FOR FUTURE GENERATION by Fardah

   Jakarta, Nov 27, 2013 (Antara) - To mark the Indonesia's Tree Planting Day and National Planting Month 2013, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono planted a Kalpataru tree (Hura crepitan) in Datah village of Karangasem district in the Bali Province on Monday.

        Thousands of trees were planted simultaneously at various locations in Indonesia on the same day during the tree planting day/month commemoration.

SPYING ROW AFFECTS INDONESIA'S HANDLING OF BOAT PEOPLE TO AUSTRALIA by Fardah

    Jakarta, Nov 23, 2013 (Antara) - Indonesia has been acting as "the fortress" for shielding Australia from thousands of boat people seeking to reach its country.

        For Asian immigrants seeking a better life, particularly those from Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Iraq, and Iran, Australia has become a favored destination.  
   As Australia and Indonesia share maritime borders, foreign immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, often referred to as boat people, have used Indonesia as a transit country as they travel to Australia.

ELECTION BODY WORKING TO END VOTERS' LIST PROBLEM by Fardah

         Jakarta, Nov 21, 2013 (Antara) - In making preparations for general elections, the registration process is one of the most difficult tasks, as data entry of eligible voters must be conducted transparently and accurately.
         Voters' lists are always a sensitive and crucial issue because if they are not accurate, they  trigger a suspicion of manipulation, or depriving a citizen of his constitutional rights if his or her name is not on the list.
         Indonesia plans to hold national and provincial legislative elections on April 9, 2014, which will be followed by the presidential election on July 9.

INDONESIA PROTESTS STRONGLY IN WAKE OF NEW SPYING REVELATIONS By Fardah

   Jakarta, Nov 19, 2013 (Antara) - The Indonesian government has decided to recall its ambassador to Australia as a strong protest over the illegal wiretapping conducted by Australian surveillance agencies that had targeted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the First Lady.

        Documents released by whistle blower Edward Snowden reveal that in 2009 Australia's Defence Signals Directorate wiretapped the personal mobile numbers of both Yudhoyono and his wife, Kristiani Herawati, as well as eight others in the President's inner circle, including Vice President Boediono.

INDONESIA SHOWS SOLIDARITY TOWARDS TYPHOON-HIT PHILIPPINES by Fardah

Jakarta, Nov 15, 2013 (Antara) - Indonesia, which is a disaster-prone country, has shown solidarity towards the Philippines, a fellow ASEAN member nation battered by super Typhoon Haiyan, by providing assistance worth US$2 million.       Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono made a symbolic presentation of the assistance to Filipino Ambassador to Indonesia Maria Rosario C. Aguinaldo in Jakarta on November 13.

JAKARTA TAKES MEASURES AGAINST FLOODS by Fardah

  Jakarta, Nov 15, 2013 (Antara) - Jakarta is bracing for floods as rains have begun inundating a number of areas in the city of some 10 million people.

        In every rainy season, Jakarta occasionally floods, despite efforts by authorities, such as constructing new canals to channel water out to the sea.

        In the beginning of this year's rainy season, tens of flood-prone Areas, particularly in East and South Jakarta municipalities, were inundated.

REALIZATION OF MP3EI PROJECTS MEETS GOVERNMENT'S EXPECTATION by Fardah

  Jakarta, Nov 9, 2013 (Antara) - In May 2011, the Indonesian government launched an ambitious program, called the Master Plan for Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia's Economic Development (MP3EI), which was designed as part of the agenda for "development for all".

         The program is considered a strategic breakthrough in narrowing the development gap in the regions, to reduce unemployment, and to boost the nation`s economic growth through innovation.

NEW POLICE CHIEF HAS CRUCIAL TASK IN GUARDING ELECTIONS 2014 by Fardah

    Jakarta (Antara News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, early this year, announced a plan to name a successor to the then-retiring police chief General Timur Pradopo prior to the general elections in 2014.

As Timur Pradopo was about to reach retirement age, his successor was to be named as soon as possible to give him ample time in his new post as national police chief since he would quickly be responsible for securing the general elections in 2014, the president said.

MOUNT SINABUNG ERUPTION FORCES EVACUATION OF THOUSANDS by Fardah

   Jakarta, Nov 5, 2013 (Antara) - Since September, volcanic activity at Mount Sinabung, which is located in Tanah Karo, North Sumatra, has been intermittent, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.

       In early September when Mount Sinabung erupted several times, some 15,000 people were evacuated, but by the end of the month they were allowed to return home when the volcano had calmed down.

       And now, in early November 2013, more than 1,680 people living in villages within a three kilometer radius of the volcano's crater, have to again be evacuated to safer places.