INDONESIA'S SECOND BATCH EXECUTIONS TRIGGER STRONG REACTIONS OVERSEAS by Fardah

   Jakarta, April 30, 2015 (Antara)- Despite pressures and appeals from various quarters at home as well as overseas, Indonesia went ahead and executed eight drug convicts on death row on April 29, 2015.

        Of the 10 convicts who were on the initial execution list, the authorities executed eight prisoners: Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan from Australia; Martin Anderson from Ghana; Zainal Abidin from Indonesia; Rodrigo Gularte from Brazil; and Raheem Agbajeand, Sylvester Obiekwe Nwolise, and Okwudili Oyatanze from Nigeria.

        Indonesia decided to hold the execution of Mary Jane (MJ) Fiesta Veloso, a Filipina migrant worker, following a request from the president of the Philippines.

        "The execution of MJ has been put on hold in view of a request from the president of the Philippines," spokesman for the Attorney General's Office (AGO) Tony Tribagus Spontana stated after the executions.

        A Filipina has surrendered in her country and has claimed responsibility for trapping MJ in a human trafficking racket. "MJ will be required to give more information," Spontana noted.

LANDSLIDES, NO. 1 KILLER IN INDONESIA IN 2014 by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 29, 2015 (Antara) -  Being located in the Pacific's ring of fire and comprising over 17 thousand islands, Indonesia is prone to natural disasters, particularly whirlwinds, floods and landslides.

        During 2014, some 1,525 disaster events occurred in the archipelagic country, killing 566 people, displacing 2.66 million others, and damaging over 51,000 homes and hundreds of public facilities, according to spokesman of the  National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Sutopo Purwo Nugroho earlier this year.

        Ninety-nine percent of the natural disasters hitting Indonesia in 2014 were hydro-meteorological in nature -- floods, landslides, and whirlwinds.

        The Agency released data showing that 496 instances of whirlwinds,  458 floods, and 413 landslides affected Indonesia last year.

        Landslides led to 338 deaths, displaced 79,341 residents, and damaged 5,814 houses in Indonesia last year, according to Nugroho.  

INDONESIA OFFERS US$1 MILLION IN AID, SEND RESCUE TEAM TO NEPAL by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 27, 2015 (Antara) - As a country prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes, Indonesia has also felt the suffering  of Nepalese whose country was devastated by a 7.9-magnitude earthquake on April 25, 2015.

        Soon after the news about the deadly quake reached Jakarta, the government expressed its deepest condolences over the heavy loss of lives, and offered US$ 1 million in humanitarian aid.

        Indonesia will also send a rescue team and extends moral support to the people of Nepal in facing the disaster, the government said in a press statement on April 26, 2015.     
   The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has coordinated with relevant agencies in its plan to send humanitarian aid that includes medical personnel, SAR assistance, instant food, blankets, emergency tents and medicines, to Nepal, the statement said.

INDONESIA LIKELY TO PROCEED WITH EXECUTIONS DESPITE PRESSURES by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 24, 2015 (Antara) - The Indonesian government is likely to soon proceed with the next batch of executions of death row convicts following postponement due to the Asian-African Conference's 60th commemoration in Jakarta and Bandung, on April 19-24, 2015.

        As the host of the Asian-African Conference, Indonesia welcomed over a dozen heads of state and government. It would be unethical to proceed with the executions prior to the commemoration, Indonesian Attorney General M. Prasetyo recently noted.

       Finally, on April 23, 2015, the attorney general's office issued the order to proceed with the preparations to execute the 11 death row convicts. 
  The order was issued for the prosecutors in charge of the executions, chief spokesman of the attorney general's office Tony Tribagus Spontana remarked in Jakarta, on April 24, 2015.  

INDONESIA AWAITS SAUDI TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY OF EMBASSY'S DESTRUCTION by Fardah

 Jakarta, April 23 (Antara) - Indonesia, a country not involved in the war in Yemen, expressed shock and strongly condemned the Saudi-led coalition's air strikes on April 20, 2015, in which its embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, was almost completely destroyed. 
   The bomb explosion left two Indonesian diplomats and one citizen injured, and over 80 percent of the embassy building was seriously damaged, besides destroying the embassy's vehicles that were parked at the spot.

        As per media reports, the total number of civilians killed in the Saudi-led air strikes on a missile depot in the Yemeni capital reached 38 and an additional 532 civilians were wounded, revealed the medics.

        "I wish to express that Indonesia strongly condemns the bomb attack that occurred in Sana'a at 10:45 a.m. local time," Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi informed the press at the Jakarta Convention Center on April 20.

FOREST PRESERVATION CRUCIAL FOR SURVIVAL OF ORANG RIMBA by Fardah

Jakarta, April 22 (Antara) - Forest and Sumatra's Orang Rimba tribe are inseparable, and they could not survive without each other.

         For the semi-nomadic tribal community living in Jambi's forest, losing forest means losing home, therefore Orang Jambi tribal members have the interest of preserving forest area.

         Recognizing the importance of both forest and Orang Rimba tribe, Norwegian Prime Minister  Erna Solberg was willing to walk far into a muddy tick forest to meet the tribal community in Senamat Ulu traditional forest area, Bungo District, Jambi Province, central Sumatra, on April 15, 2015.    
    The lady prime minister, who was accompanied by Indonesia's environmental affairs and forestry minister, Siti Nurbaya, had a dialog with some members of the tribes and listened attentively to what they said.

         During the dialog with Norwegian prime minister, members of the Orang Rimba tribe recalled the starvation they had suffered as they could not hunt or harvest forest products since most of the forest area within their range had vanished.

INDONESIA HOPING TO LURE INVESTORS DURING WEFEA by Fardah

   Jakarta, April 20, 2015 (Antara) - As the host of the 24th World Economic Forum on East Asia (WEFEA),  the Indonesian government is hoping to lure as many investors as possible during the event, to support its ambition to construct infrastructure projects throughout the country.

         "After looking at opportunities here for a week, please invest. If you have any problem, call me," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) told over 700 business, government and civil society leaders attending the WEFEA in Jakarta, on April 20, 2015.

        Indonesia must undergo crucial restructuring, Jokowi said in his opening remarks at the forum being held in Jakarta, April 19-21, 2015.

INDONESIA TO SHOWCASE MORAL SUPPORT FOR PALESTINE IN ASIA-AFRICA CONFERENCE by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 19, 2015 (Antara) - Indonesia, a staunch supporter of Palestine, will use the Asia-Africa Conference's 60th Commemoration, a major gathering of at least 32 leaders of Asian and African countries, to showcase its moral support for Palestinian people who are still under occupation.

         During the Asia-Africa Conference 2015 held in Jakarta and Bandung, April 19-24, 2015, Indonesia and other countries in the two continents will reiterate political solidarity and moral support for Palestine, according to Siti Nugraha Mauludiah, the Indonesian foreign affairs ministry's director for technical cooperation, recently.

         The solidarity and support are in accordance with the spirit of the Bandung Conference which is totally against any colonialism and occupation on Earth.

INDONESIA TO START IMPLEMENTATION OF ONE MILLION HOUSES PROGRAM by Fardah

  Jakarta, April 18, 2015 (Antara) - Providing adequate houses for Indonesia's population of over 250 million is certainly not easy, but the government is determined to realize the One Million Houses Program expected to be launched officially on April 30, 2015, by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.  
   Coinciding with the National Labor Day, the launch will be held in Ungaran, Semarang District, Central Java Province, which will be simultaneously followed by 17 provinces that are ready to support the program.

        President Jokowi has, in fact, set an ambitious target of building 10 million houses for low-income people by 2019, or two million houses annually.
    The government will start working on reducing a backlog of some 13.5 million housing units this year by implementing the program.    

RI STRIVING TO SUPPLY POTABLE WATER By Fa

     Jakarta, April 18, 2015 (Antara) - Of the over 250 million population of Indonesia, only 11 million households currently have access to piped water, which is mostly supplied by regional drinking water companies (PDAMs).

        The remainder of the population relies on wells, springs, and rainwater harvesting.

        Safe drinking water is crucial for health, therefore, the government hopes for most Indonesian people to have access to clean water.

         By the end of 2019, the country`s drinking water supply coverage is expected touch reach 60 percent of the population, while the remaining 40 percent will continue to rely on other sources.

         "At present, 11 million households in Indonesia have clean water pipeline connections. We aim to reach 27.6 million households by 2019," the Chairman of the Drinking Water Supply System Development Supporting Agency (BPPSPAM) Tamin M. Zakaria Amin said in a press statement on April 16, 2015.

INDONESIAN GOVT CALLS FOR DIALOG TO END VIOLENCE IN YEMEN by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 16, 2015 (Antara)  Indonesia and Yemen have a long and historically rich relationship, therefore the Indonesian government and people are very concerned over the prolonged violence going on in the Arab country.

        "Indonesia is very much concerned, and hopes the conflict in Yemen to be solved through dialogs and peaceful resolution," Indonesian Vice President M Jusuf Kalla told the press on April 15, 2015, as the tension has escalated in Yemen.        
   Therefore, the Indonesian government has proposed an establishment of a task force to facilitate dialog among parties involved in the Yemeni conflict.

        The task force proposal was conveyed to ambassadors of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries in a meeting with Kalla in Jakarta on April 15.  

POLICE, MILITARY GEAR UP FOR ASIA-AFRICA CONFERENCE by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 15, 2015 (Antara) - The Indonesian military and police are ready to safeguard the 60th Asia-Africa Conference (AAC) and the 10th New Asian-African Strategic Partnership in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java, from April 19 to 24, 2015.            
    Fifty-seven delegations, including heads of state/government, from Asian and African nations have confirmed their attendance at the AAC celebration.

        Events marking the AAC will include a senior officials' meeting on April 19, a ministerial-level meeting on April 20, the Asian-African Business Summit on April 21, and the Asian-African Summit in Jakarta on April 22 and 23.

MOUNT TAMBORA NATIONAL PARK TRANSFORMED INTO NEW ECOTOURISM DESTINATION by Fardah

     Jakarta, April 13, 2015 (Antara) - In 1816, Europe and North America experienced an unusual climatic phenomenon termed, "the year without a summer" due to Mount Tambora's massive eruption in 1815, although no one then suspected any connection to the eruption.

        The 1815 eruption of Tambora was one of the mightiest and deadliest ever recorded in history. On the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), Tambora rates a 7, one of only four in the last ten thousand eruptions to do so. In comparison, the famous Mount Krakatoa blast was recorded at VEI 6, and Mt. St. Helen's blast of May 1980 was VEI 5.

        Tambora's catastrophic eruption began on April 5, 1815, with small tremors and pyroclastic flows. A shattering blast blew the mountain apart on the evening of April 10.

PANELS VOW TO FUNCTION DEMOCRATICALLY IN TACKLING NEGATIVE WEBSITES by Fardah

  Jakarta, April 10, 2015 (Antara) - Four panels newly set up by the Communication and Informatics Ministry to handle websites allegedly containing negative content have promised to work democratically and transparently.   
   "We can no longer be like the New Order - closing down media, no, we cannot do it. We try not to show an authoritarian face," Tjipta Lesmana, a spokesman of a team of panels grouped under the Forum for Handling of Websites with Negative Contents (FPSIBN), stated in the first meeting of the panels on April 6, 2015.

          The forum comprises four panels, respectively Panel I on pornography, violence against children, and Internet security; Panel II on terrorism, racial, ethnicity, and religions (SARA), and hatred; Panel III on illegal investigation, fraud, gambling, drug, food, and narcotics, and Panel IV on intellectual property right.

CHILD PROTECTION COMMISSION APPRECIATES COURT VERDICTS ON JIS CASE by Fardah

    Jakarta, April 9, 2015 (Antara) - An Indonesian court recently found a Canadian educator and an Indonesian teaching assistant at Jakarta International School (JIS) guilty of sexually assaulting three kindergarten students and sentenced them to 10 years in prison.

        "The defendant is proven guilty of deliberate violence, deception, and lying," Chief Judge Nur Aslam Bustaman said while reading out the verdict for Neil Bantleman, a Canadian guidance counselor, in the South Jakarta District Court on April 2, 2015.

        The judges also imposed a fine of Rp100 million on Bantleman and if he fails to pay it, his sentence will be extended for six months.

        According to Bustaman, the defendant's complicated testimonies and denial of having committed the crime were factors that worked against him.

PANEL TO DEAL WITH RADICAL WEBSITES by Fardah

 Jakarta, April 3, 2015 (Antara) - The Ministry of Communication and Informatics has finally agreed to set up a panel to deal with websites allegedly promoting radicalism, pornography, and interfaith hatred, following a controversy over the blocking of radical websites.

        On March 29, 2015, the ministry blocked at least 19 websites, at the request of the National Counter-terrorism Agency (BNPT) in its letter number 149/K.BNPT/3/2015, stating that the online media sites promoted radical ideologies and were sympathizers of radicalism.

        "We asked Internet service providers to block the websites this morning at the request of the BNPT. The agency analyzed the sites and found them spreading radicalism. So, we blocked them after we were asked to," a spokesman for the ministry, Ismail Cawidu, said on March 30, 2015.

POSO TRANSFORMED INTO BATTLEFIELD AGAINST TERRORISTS by Fardah

 Jakarta, April 2, 2015 (Antara) - Parts of Poso are being transformed into a battlefield as some 3.2 thousand Indonesian military officers of the Swift Reaction Strike Unit (PPRC) are participating in a massive military exercise against terrorists, being held for two weeks, since March 31, 2015.

         TNI Commander General Moeldoko has said that the large-scale exercise is being held as a precaution in case of the emergence of radical groups in Indonesia.      
   "I suspect that the members of radical groups feel at ease in Poso. I am worried that those going to Iraq and Syria, following their return to Indonesia, will make Poso as their base," the general stated when officially launched the military drill in Poso, South Sulawesi, on March 31, 2015.

          The exercise is deliberately organized as part of precautionary measures being taken by the government against terrorism, following recent reports of a number of citizens joining the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).