Govt preparing compensation for poor affected by fuel price hike

Antara News, Sat, February 25 2012

 "It is not yet final and still has yet to be discussed with the DPR. But it is certain that the poor`s income must be raised. It would be a pity if it is not," Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri said.

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Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government will immediately discuss compensation for the poor who will be affected by the planned fuel price hike with the House of Representatives (DPR), Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri said.

"It is not yet final and still has yet to be discussed with the DPR. But it is certain that the poor`s income must be raised. It would be a pity if it is not," he said here on Friday.

He said the government still had time to discuss the matter before the revised budget is passed and subsidized fuel oil prices are adjusted.

"We will decide about it later. We still have time for it," he said.

He said the government has had an experience in providing compensations for the poor such as in the form of cash handout (BLT) when the fuel price was raised in 2005 and 2008.

He said the government so far has not yet made any decision regarding the amount of the BLT to be given like several years ago.

"It has not been decided. It may be higher or lower. It is not yet final," he said.

Salim said his office still has data of those eligible for the cash handout. "We have the data. It will be us who will distribute it perhaps with the help of PT POS, BRI and other banks," he said.

The minister of development planning, Armida S Alisjahbana, meanwhile said that the cash handout is a short-term policy. She said the government could also expand the hopeful family program to assure that poor families receive immunization and proper education.

"We wish the next generation will be healthier and more educated to cut cycle of poverty," she said.

Armida said the cash handout in a short term could help the poor meet their basic needs such as rice while the benefit of the hopeful family program is long-term.

"The BLT is an option because in Cluster One it no longer exists. We wish it is the hopeful family program that will be carried out so that they would not become poor. BLT is only for emergency so that people have money to buy rice," she said.

Editor: Heru

Boeing Finalizes $22.4b Deal With Lion Air for 230 Planes

Jakarta Globe, Royston Sim - Straits Times Indonesia, February 14, 2012

Boeing announced a $22.4 billion deal with Lion Air on Tuesday afternoon
for 230 airplane orders — the largest deal in its history in terms of dollar value
and total number of airplanes. (Antara Photo/Lucky)  

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Boeing announced a $22.4 billion deal with Lion Air on Tuesday afternoon for 230 airplane orders — the largest deal in its history in terms of dollar value and total number of airplanes.

This deal alone has exceeded the $10 billion of deals signed at the previous Airshow in 2010.

Jakarta-based Lion Air and Boeing finalized an order for 201 737 Maxs and 29 737-900 ERs.

Lion Air will also acquire rights to purchase another 150 airplanes.

The Singapore Airshow runs from Tuesday till Sunday at Changi Exhibition Centre

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Indonesia Wants to Change Drug Tests for Pilots

Jakarta Globe, February 13, 2012      

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Indonesian authorities want pilots to be tested for drugs just a few hours or days before they fly aircraft.

Lion Air (JG Photo/Afriadi Hikmal) 

Minister of Transportation Evert Ernest Mangindaan said the current routine of testing them every six months may not be effective. He said the time span would enable drug users to prepare themselves to pass examination.

The ministry is revising regulations for the airline industry.

Mangindaan was speaking Monday in Surabaya, where a pilot with private Lion Air was arrested this month by an anti-drug agency. Authorities said the pilot had a small amount of crystal methamphetamine.

Lion Air has signed the biggest order ever from Boeing — 230 planes with a list price of $21.7 billion last year.

Associated Press

Indonesian President’s New Plane ‘Will Benefit Future Leaders’

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita, February 10, 2012

Lambock Nahattands , a spokesman for the state secretary’s office,
shows off the new ‘Indonesian Air Force One’ plane, a Boeing 737-800
Business Jet, during a media conference in Jakarta on Thursday.
The amount of money spent on the plane has drawn criticism.
Antara Photo/Widodo S Jusuf 

     

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The spokesman for the state secretary’s office said on Thursday that the controversial $89 million purchase of a new presidential plane made sense because of the mileage future Indonesian presidents would get out of it.

“Don’t assume that the current president [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] is the only one who wants to use the plane,” said Lambock Nahattands, the state secretary office’s secretary.

The new plane, a 737-800 series Boeing Business Jet, is not scheduled to be ready for action until August 2013, while the president’s term ends in October 2014, Lambock said.

Lambock said the presidential palace would probably use the plane for 35 years, in keeping with a 2006 Ministry of Transportation regulation on aviation standards.

“So we can see who gets to enjoy the plane,” Lambock said. “The current president and vice president will only get to use it for a short time.”

Budget watchdog the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) has criticized the purchase, saying the plane is too lavish and unnecessary an expenditure for a country with so many millions of people mired in poverty.

Fitra also accused the palace of exceeding the $58 million budget approved by the House of Representatives, accusing the palace of failing to publicly mention another $31 million that had been earmarked to outfit the plane’s interior and pay for its security system.

Lambock said the extra spending was necessary.

“For the interior and security we will hold a tender and the price can still change,” he said, adding that the government had respectively earmarked $27 million and $4 million for the interior and security features.

Earlier reports have indicated that the plane’s onboard amenities would include a bedroom, bathroom and shower, as well as a dining area and conference room. Lambock said the government had been planning to purchase a presidential plane even before Yudhoyono became president in 2004.

Currently, the president uses a plane rented from flag carrier Garuda Indonesia. Lambock said the new arrangement would ultimately save money and add safety.

Indonesia also requested Boeing to install six more fuel tanks so the plane could do a 12 hour non-stop flight, just like Boeing’s biggest plane, the 747.

“We need a plane that can both land on small runways and do long flights, so we need a special configuration,” Lambock said.

In a nod to the plane used by the president of the United States, the new aircraft would be called “Indonesian Air Force One.”