INDONESIA, PALESTINE AGREE TO INTENSIFY ECONOMIC COOPERATION, PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE CONTACT by Fardah

  Jakarta, Feb 28, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia, a staunch supporter of Palestine in its struggle for independence, has viewed the first visit of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to Jakarta as a momentum to reaffirm its commitment to assisting Palestine.     
    Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, who is on an official visit to Indonesia until March 2, held a tete-a-tete with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday afternoon (Feb. 28).

        "I believe that our friendship, cooperation and partnership will be improved in the future,"  Yudhoyono told his guest.

STRICT LAW ENFORCEMENT ORDERED AGAINST FOREST FIRE PERPETRATORS by Fardah

 Jakarta, Feb 28, 2014 (Antara) - As haze shrouded Sumatra's cities over the past two months, President Yudhoyono has ordered strict law enforcement to deal with forest fires mostly set deliberately and unlawfully to clear land for plantation and farming.

        To give deterrent effect especially on corporations, law enforcement must be carried out quickly and effectively from investigations to trial in court, the president was quoted by Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono in Jakarta on Feb. 27, 2014.

RIAU IN STATE OF EMERGENCY AS HAZE DISRUPTS HUMANS, ANIMALS by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb. 27, 2014 (Antara) - Haze from forest fires in the Riau province has forced people to flee to safer areas and caused Sumatran tigers to leave their habitat, 43,386 people to suffer from respiratory problems, and caused flight cancellations.

        Taking into consideration the huge impact it has caused, the Riau provincial administration has declared a state of emergency effective Feb. 25, 2014. It has categorized the forest, plantation, and peatland fires as an extraordinary event.

INDONESIA PRIORITIZES SAVING OF JAVAN, SUMATRAN RHINOS by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb 27, 2014 (Antara) - The population of one-horned Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) and two-horned Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) is believed to have increased quite encouragingly over the past few years.

         Last year's video camera monitoring in the Ujung Kulon national park (TNUK)  identified 58 individual Javan rhinos, an increase of seven from 51 in 2012, while a Sumatran rhino calf was recently born in the Way Kambas national park through a semi-captive breeding.

INDONESIA, JORDAN COMMITTED TO STRENGTHENING BILATERAL TIES by Fardah

   Jakarta, Feb 26, 2014 (Antara) - Visiting King of Jordan Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed to further strengthen bilateral ties between the two nations in various fields, including in defense, economic and investment.

         "Of course, we must strengthen further our bilateral relations.  I am also eager to hear directly from His Excellency on the latest situation in the Middle East," President Yudhoyono said when welcoming the King at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Wednesday (Feb. 26).      

PM Palestina lakukan kunjungan resmi ke Indonesia

Fardah Assegaf

Jakarta, 26/2/2014 (ANTARA News) - Perdana Menteri Palestina Dr. Rami Hamdallah dijadwalkan tiba di Jakarta, Jumat (28/2), untuk melakukan kunjungan resmi serta menghadiri Konferensi Ke-2 tentang Kerja Sama Negara-Negara Asia Timur untuk Pembangunan Palestina (CEAPAD II).

"Perdana Menteri akan solat Jumat di Mesjid Istiqlal, ziarah ke Taman Makam Pahlawan Kalibata. Setelah itu mengadakan pertemuan bilateral dengan Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), dan menghadiri jamuan makan malam yang diselenggarakan oleh Presiden Indonesia," kata Dubes Palestina untuk Indonesia Fariz Mehdawi kepada Antara di Jakarta, Rabu.

Palestinian PM To Make Official Visit to Indonesia and Participate in CEAPAD II

by Fardah
Jakarta, Feb 26, 2014 (Antara News) - Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah is scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Friday (Feb 28) for an official visit and to participate in the Second Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD II).

"On Friday, the Prime Minister will attend Friday prayers in Istiqlal Grand Mosque, pay homage to the Kalibata heroes cemetery, hold a bilateral meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and attend a state banquet to be hosted by the Indonesian president," Palestinian Ambassador to Indonesia Fariz Mehdawi told Antara at his office, Wednesday.

TOURISTS, LOCAL PEOPLE JOIN HANDS IN BOROBUDUR TEMPLE CLEANUP by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb 23, 2014 (Antara) -  When Mount Kelud erupted on February 13, it spewed millions of cubic meters of volcanic materials mainly gravels and ash later blown by the wind up to Borobudur temple, the world's largest Buddhist temple located in Central Java, which is around 280 km from the volcano.

         The ancient temple was fully covered by the volcanic ash, forcing the local authorities to close the temple from the public to enable the preservation measures and cleanup to be carried out, a day after the explosive eruption of Mount Kelud located in Kediri-Blitar districts, East Java province.

CEAPAD II TO FOCUS ON PALESTINE'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY BUILDING by Fardah

     Jakarta, Feb. 22, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia will host the Second Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) in Jakarta, on March 1, 2014, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah expected to give key speeches in the opening ceremony.    
    Established at the initiative of Japan to back the realization of peace through the "two-state solution," which is a core challenge in the Middle Eastern and North African regions, CEAPAD is an international conference for East Asian countries to discuss new ways of assistance to and cooperation with Palestine for its nation-building efforts.      

"HOUSE OF INDONESIAN PEARLS" TO LURE PEARL LOVERS by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb 20, 2014 (Antara) - Domestic as well as foreign pearl lovers will find a paradise in Central Lombok, Lombok Island, West  Nusa Tenggara (NTB), with the presence of new "House of Indonesian
Pearls" (RMI) offering a variety of good quality sea pearls.

        Indonesia is home to 53 percent of the pearl types in the world. The country, however, has so far used only 28.5 percent of its pearl cultivation potential in eastern Indonesian waters such as in West Nusa Tenggara, Maluku Islands, and Papua.

EAST JAVA AUTHORITIES BRACE FOR MOUNT KELUD'S RAIN-TRIGGERED LAHARS by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb 19, 2014 (Antara) - After an explosive eruption of Mount Kelud on February 13, 2014, the Kediri authorities and people are now bracing for rain-triggered lahars streaming from the 1,731-meter volcano.

        Mount Kelud, which is located in the border of Blitar and Kediri districts, East Java Province, spewed gravel and ash to the air at a height of 17 km, which later landed in a number of places, up to West Nusa Tenggara and West Java provinces, which are hundreds of kilometers away.

LAW ENFORCEMENT STRENGTHENED TO TACKLE SUMATRAN FOREST FIRES by Fardah

     Jakarta, Feb 15, 2014 (Antara)- Hotspots in forests, plantations and peatland fires, which came early on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands this year, have caused the Indonesian government to intensify law enforcement to deal with the problem.

         "Usually haze occurs in May or June. But, this year, the haze has happened in January and February in Riau and West Kalimantan," the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo stated in Jakarta, recently.

MOUNT KELUD ERUPTS, FORCING SCHOOL, AIRPORT CLOSURES by Fardah

     Jakarta, Feb 14 , 2014 (Antara) - The eruption of Mt Kelud on Thursday (Feb. 13), forced around 200 thousand people to flee, forcing closures of airports and schools in several cities in Indonesia's most densely populated island of Java.

         The major explosive eruption of the 1,731-meter volcano could be heard in Solo (Central Java) and Yogyakarta, which lie around 200 km away.  Mount Kelud, located at the border of Blitar and Kediri districts, East Java Province, erupted at 10.50 pm local time. It spewed gravel and ash reaching up to West Nusa Tenggara and West Java provinces, which are hundreds of kilometers away.

NAMING OF INDONESIAN NAVAL SHIP CAUSES POLEMIC AS SINGAPORE PROTESTS by Fardah

     Jakarta, Feb 12, 2014 (Antara) - The naming of a Naval ship after Usman Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun Said, two Indonesian marines executed in Singapore during the "confrontation" era, by Indonesian Defense Forces, has prompted strong protests from Singapore.

         Usman Haji Mohamed Ali and Harun Said had bombed the city state's main shopping district that left three people dead. The attack was part of an effort by the then Indonesian President Sukarno to stage an armed confrontation against the newly formed federation of Malaysia, which included Singapore.

HAZE OF FOREST FIRES BACK IN SUMATRA, HINDERING FLIGHTS by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb 11, 2014 (Antara)- Despite the government's target to reduce the number of hotspots this year, almost 300 hotspots were detected throughout Sumatra on February 11, indicating that forest and plantation fires have made a comeback on the island.

         Indonesia's forest area spans over 130 million hectares, which is the world's third-largest after Brazil and Congo. Every year, Indonesia is hit by forest, plantation, and peatland fires, particularly on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands.

REPAIR WORK ON FLOOD-DAMAGED ROADS TO BE ACCELERATED by Fardah

Jakarta, Feb 8 , 2014(Antara) - Floods and landslides that have struck Indonesia in the current rainy season have inflicted material losses, claimed several lives, and also damaged public facilities, such as roads.

         Hundreds of kilometers of Java highways were badly battered by rain triggered flooding in January, as thousands of dangerous potholes hampered traffic, causing long traffic jams along city roads and intercity highways.

FLOODS CRIPPLE JAKARTA FOLLOWING INCESSANT HEAVY RAINS By Fardah

Jakarta, Feb 5, 2014 (Antara) -  The floods in Jakarta, during the current peak rainy season, which started early in January 2014, have claimed 23 lives, displaced tens of thousands and caused losses amounting to around one trillion rupiah.

         Jakarta is notorious for its traffic jams, and the floods hitting the capital city during the current rainy season has worsened the congestion.

SINABUNG'S DEADLY CLOUDS CLAIM 15 LIVES IN A SINGLE DAY by Fardah

   Jakarta, Feb 3, 2014 (Antara) - Over 30 thousand people across 34 villages have been displaced since last September 2013, as a result of the sporadic eruptions arising from the 2,600-m Mount Sinabung located in the Karo District, North Sumatra Province.

         Life has been far from normal for the people displaced by the eruptions of the volcano, which had been inactive for the past 400 years, prior to it rumbling back to life in 2010 and claiming the lives of two persons.

        For the past five months, the refugees have been forced to live in 42 modest, but crowded refugee camps with limited access to clean water and sanitation facilities.  They have lost their homes, belongings, crops, jobs, and schools. Many of the refugees are reportedly suffering from stress. Around 16 refugees died of old age or illness while staying at the camps.