Indonesian Fighters Intercept Cessna With Off-Duty US Navy Pilot

Jakarta Globe, November 09, 2015

The pilot, center, was identified as James Patrick Murphy, an off-duty
lieutenant-colonel in the US Navy. (Antara Photo/Fadlansyah)

Jakarta. Two Sukhoi fighter jets from the Indonesian Air Force on Monday afternoon forced a single-engine Cessna flown by an off-duty US Navy pilot to land in North Kalimantan as it had illegally entered Indonesian airspace, local media reported.

The American pilot, who was identified as Lt. Col. James Patrick Murphy, was told to land his plane at Juwata International Airport in Tarakan.

The area is close to Indonesia's borders with Malaysia and the Philippines.

It was reported that the American claimed that he had been on a trip from Hawaii to Singapore via the Philippines, and that he had not been aware that he had entered Indonesian airspace.

The incident happened at around 2.30 p.m. local time.

Reports also said that military officials who were holding Murphy were waiting for instructions from the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jakarta whether or not to release him.

The intercepted plane at Tarakan's Juwata International Airport in North Kalimantan,
while a Sukhoi from the Indonesian Air Force flies by. (Antara Photo/Fadlanshay)

EU takes Philippine airlines off safety blacklist

Philippine planes are to be allowed back into Europe, the European Union announced on Thursday. The EU transport commissioner said that Philippine airlines will be removed from its safety blacklist.

Deutsche Welle, 25 June 2015

"After 5 years of hard work we are finally able to clear the airlines certified in the Philippines from the European Air Safety List," EU transport commissioner Violeta Bulc said in a statement.

"The Philippines is an important country with a sizeable and rapidly growing aviation sector," she added. "Today's result can serve as an example for other countries which have difficulty to match their safety oversight capabilities with the growth of their industry."

Philippine airlines were blacklisted by the EU in 2010 after the United Nations and US aviation authorities found "serious safety deficiencies."

The EU had already lifted the safety ban on flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) in July 2013, and last year also released Cebu Pacific, the country's largest airline.

"This is truly breaking news since it is the first time that the entire aviation sector of one country is removed from the European Air Safety List," said Lubomir Frebort, the EU charge d'affaires in the Philippines.

While the seven carriers mostly serve routes inside Asia, Eric Apolonio, a spokesman for the Philippine civil aviation authority said the EU decision would still benefit them, since it would give them the option of flying to Europe.

Previously, European insurance companies would not cover people who flew on airlines on the EU Air Safety List.

"European tourists will be encouraged to use low-cost carriers in the Philippines now," boosting the number of visitors who will want to fly around the archipelago, Apolonio told news agency AFP.

Francis thrills in Philippines with 'jeepney' popemobile

Yahoo – AFP, 18 Jan 2015

Pope Francis waves to people as he leaves in his "popemobile" after attending

a mass at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Giuseppe Cacace)

Manila (AFP) - Pope Francis made a triumphant entrance for a mass with millions in the Philippines on Sunday aboard a "popemobile" styled after the nation's iconic, flamboyant and much-loved "jeepney" minibus.

The pontiff, standing in the elevated open body of the uniquely Filipino version of his popemobile, travelled through the streets of the capital Manila for the main event of his five-day visit.

Wearing a thick plastic yellow poncho over his vestments, the 78-year-old pontiff smiled and waved to hundreds of thousands who had lined the route to the venue for the mass.

The rectangular vehicle with a distinctive giant grille repeatedly stopped so he could reach into the cheering masses and pick up babies to kiss and bless them.

The pope rode the jeepney popemobile to Rizal Park where millions had gathered to hear him celebrate mass, in one of the world's biggest papal gatherings.

The jeepneys are regarded by many Filipinos as a symbol of national ingenuity. Locals created them from surplus US military jeeps after American forces left at the end of World War II.

The bodies of the jeeps were extended, seats were added and a fixed roof put in place. The vehicles were then painted with colourful and Catholic designs.

They proved to be strong vehicles with decades-long lifespans, and can be seen ferrying people through city streets and animals on mountain roads.

However the diesel-powered vehicles are also one the nation's chief air pollution culprits.

Francis's jeepney was an all-white popemobile. It had no doors, after the pope told local organisers he did not want a bulletproof vehicle so he could reach out and touch his followers.

Pope Francis (top L) kisses a child as he arrives to celebrate a mass

at a park in Manila on January 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Ted Aljibe)

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Pope Francis, wearing a plastic raincoat, waves to well-wishers after

a mass in Tacloban, on January 17, 2015 (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

Tropical Storm Leaves 54 Dead as It Exits Philippines

Jakarta Globe – AFP,  Jan 01, 2015

Philippine Airlines (PAL) planes are seen parked on tarmac in Manila International
Airport in Pasay city, metro Manila Sep. 9, 2014. (Reuters Photo/Romeo Ranoco)

Manila. Tropical storm Jiangmi exited the Philippines Thursday, leaving at least 54 dead and 13 missing from floods and landslides as officials admitted that more extensive warnings could have saved more lives.

The storm’s death toll was nearly triple that of the last major storm — Super Typhoon Hagupit, which hit the Philippines last month and wreaked less havoc than expected thanks to timely precautionary measures.

Jiangmi, which at one point packed winds of 80 kilometres per hour, weakened into a low pressure area as it moved west into the Sulu Sea with winds of about 30 kilometres per hour, the government weather station said.

Civil defence chief Alexander Pama admitted Thursday that more frequent warnings could have been aired in broadcast media.

“Probably we did not put [enough warnings] out in the media,” he told DZMM radio.

He said some people had ignored the warnings and refused to evacuate or went out to sea despite the storm.

“Maybe this will drive home the point to our countrymen that things are different now. Maybe now, when people are asked to evacuate, they will not resist,” he said.

Jiangmi hit the southern and central Philippines earlier this week, affecting areas that were once untouched by the frequent weather disturbances that batter the country.

The storm affected more than 120,000 people, more than 80,000 of whom were evacuated.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 storms every year, many of them deadly.

Last year Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest ever to hit the country, left 7,350 people dead or missing in central regions as it stirred up tsunami-like waves, wiping out entire towns.

Agence France-Presse

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"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

British Columbia salmon return one of largest seen in region (Sep 2013)

Pink salmon, shown in a file photograph, 

have a lifespan of two years

Uber-Heated Battle as Mobile Apps Rattle Southeast Asia’s Taxis

Jakarta Globe, Bhavan Jaipragas, Oct 13, 2014

A smartphone displaying the Uber app of the timing and availability of taxis within
the area at Raffles place financial district in Singapore. (AFP Photo/Roslan Rahman)

Singapore. Southeast Asia’s notorious taxi market is undergoing a shakeout as Uber and homegrown mobile booking applications gain popularity in a region that has long endured inefficient cartels and price-gouging drivers.

San Francisco-based Uber, which allows customers to hail taxis or private vehicles via smartphones and pay with a credit card, is expanding rapidly in the region while fending off legal and regulatory challenges in various markets across the world.

Founded in 2009 and backed by Google Ventures, the investment arm of the Internet giant, Uber now operates in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam after first entering Southeast Asia in Singapore last year.

The firm, whose valuation was placed at $18.2 billion after an investment drive in June, employs smartphone and satellite technology to match taxi supply and demand.

A list of the world’s 10 worst cities to hail a taxi compiled by industry website tourism-review.com in March included Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Phnom Penh and Bangkok.

In Singapore, locals grumbled in pre-Uber days about vanishing taxis during peak periods, with cabbies refusing to pick up roadside passengers while waiting to earn extra fees from reservations made via antiquated phone-in booking systems.

In some cities, it was not uncommon for cabbies to demand exorbitant fares before taking passengers at peak periods, during heavy rain and floods, or at times of day when taxis are scarce.

Regulatory tangles

Uber executives say they welcome competition and are more than ready to go head to head with the likes of Malaysia-based GrabTaxi, Indonesia’s Blue Bird, and Easy Taxi, a regional player backed by German startup incubator Rocket Internet.

“As long as people are giving people options, that’s a good thing,” Michael Brown, Uber’s Southeast Asia general manager, told AFP in an interview.

“What makes Uber bristle is when special interests try to protect monopolies and keep new entrants and new competitors out,” said Brown, who is based in Singapore.

Despite threats to have it banned in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, Uber continues to operate there.

The firm is also facing legal threats in San Francisco and other major cities including New York and Frankfurt.

It is has also run into opposition in Seoul, where officials believe it should follow South Korean laws regulating taxi or rental car companies.

“Uber insists that it is acting as an online broker connecting drivers and customers rather than acting as a rental car company,” a Seoul city official told AFP.

“We do not agree with their characterization of their business.”

Authorities in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta also say its car-hailing service makes use of private vehicles that do not comply with strict regulations that traditional taxi operators come under.

Uber has vehemently denied the accusations.

The firm does not own its own limousine or taxi fleet. Instead, its app allows customers to summon cars in its network, usually from a private car company.

It takes a cut of the total fare from the driver, which is paid electronically. Other taxi app players allow their members to take cash.

“Up to this day our principle remains that this taxi service is illegal,” Muhammad Akbar, head of Jakarta’s transport authority, told AFP.

In Malaysia, authorities say they began a crackdown on private cars using Uber on Oct. 1, fining drivers up to 10,000 ringgit ($3,070).

Giving people options

Commuters and market analysts say unyielding bureaucrats are not seeing how taxi apps like Uber have the potential to significantly improve the standard of living of city dwellers.

Jakarta resident Winda Rezita said the arrival of Uber in the Indonesian capital was a relief.

“When I am too lazy to drive in Jakarta’s heavy traffic jams or when there’s a long taxi queue at the mall, I just switch on the app,” the e-commerce business founder told AFP. “It’s so much better than waiting outside a building or standing in a long queue.”

Daphne Kasriel-Alexander, a consumer trends consultant at research firm Euromonitor International, said “inadequate and overburdened public transport systems” coupled with the emergence of more middle-class consumers have boosted the usage of taxi-hailing apps in Southeast Asia.

Expansion plans

GrabTaxi, which first launched in Malaysia in 2012 and has since expanded to Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand, is aiming for further growth.

Unlike Uber, the firm, backed by Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings, has so far avoided regulatory difficulties.

Its app mainly matches customers with registered taxis. A recently launched function called GrabCar allows for booking of private vehicles just like Uber, but so far it has not been flagged by authorities.

“We’re the leading taxi booking app in Southeast Asia including Singapore, and we are well-positioned to extend our lead,” Lim Kell Jay, GrabTaxi’s general manager in Singapore, told AFP.

The firm says it gets one taxi booking every two seconds in the whole region, with more than 300,000 people using it at least once a month.

Taxi drivers say they hope the intense rivalry between the apps will continue.

A Singaporean taxi driver who only wanted to be known as Tan said his revenue has increased by 20 to 30 percent since he signed up with UberTaxi last month.

The service connects Uber users to registered taxis, just like rival GrabTaxi.

“With the apps like Uber, it’s like a win-win. You (passengers) wait around less, and we drivers don’t have to roam around hunting for passengers, saving time and petrol,” he told AFP.

Agence France Presse

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Baguio tests ‘water car’ in fight to erase most polluted tag

Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 21st, 2014

IRKED that Baguio was “mistagged” as the most polluted in the country
in May, Mayor Mauricio Domogan allowed a Baguio-based inventor and
 businessman to test a “water reactor” on one of the city government’s vehicles.
Vincent Cabreza/Inquirer North Luzon

BAGUIO CITY—Angry that the summer capital’s air quality had been mislabeled as the poorest among cities in the country, officials of Baguio City are gambling on untested technology that supposedly breaks down water into fuel.

On Monday, Mayor Mauricio Domogan, the city council and the police watched businessman Mario de Quinqua operate a government vehicle which he configured to run using 70 percent gasoline, and 30 percent water that is broken down into combustible hydrogen and oxygen gas by a device that he invented.

The system helps a vehicle burn all of its fuel, so it does not expel carbon monoxide, “which would improve the city’s air quality,” De Quinqua told the officials.

“De Quinqua” is a pseudonym which the inventor, a garments manufacturer, uses to protect himself from “big economic interests.”

He asked the Inquirer to conceal his real surname.

A month since reports named Baguio as the most polluted city, citing the World Health Organization’s 2014 Global Air Quality Report, Domogan said the undeserved tag continues to haunt the city.

He said reporters had assumed that a high level of air pollution detected on lower Session Road represented air quality in the entire city.

Bonifacio Magtibay, WHO country director in the Philippines, had disowned TV, radio and newspaper reports in a May 13 letter, saying they did not conclude that Baguio was the most polluted city in the Philippines.

Domogan said he wants to accelerate programs that would clean Baguio air and its reputation.

Addressing Senior Supt. Rolando Miranda, Baguio police director, Domogan said he wants to test the technology on a police vehicle to make it the first water-hybrid police car in the country.

De Quinqua said he donated his technology to the city government and has piloted his “water reactor” using a vehicle of the city general services office and driven by its chief, Romeo Concio.

De Quinqua had promised to design and manufacture another device for the Baguio police.

If it is successful, Concio said the city government may outfit the fleet of Baguio vehicles with the device that would cost about P30,000 each.

But De Quinqua provided little details about his work, except to stress that he has been working on this invention since the 1960s.

“I did consider developing an electronic car, but I figured it would only make the public reliant on companies that produce electricity. I wanted to give the public more freedom,” he said.

“For communities near water, all drivers need to do is fetch water from a creek or collected water from the rain and their cars will run efficiently and environmentally friendly. How can they tax rain?” he said.

A group promoting sustainable transport, however, is arranging for a test drive in Baguio of an electronic jeepney, as another way of reducing air pollution.

Curbing air pollution, one bamboo bike at a time

Manila is known more for its gridlocked traffic jams and air pollution than for green spaces or pedestrianized walkways. Bamboo bikes could change that by curbing emissions and helping pave the way to go green.

Deutsche Welle, 18 June 2014

.

Visitors on bikes cycle past Manila's historical area of Intramuros - from the secret gardens scattered between Fort Santiago to lookout points to hear tales of pirates and revolutions. For the next two and a half hours, people ride on bikes made from bamboo.

Bryan McClelland, a 29-year-old Filipino-American, is the man behind the concept of Bambikes, the company that creates bikes made from bamboo in the Philippines. He founded Bambikes in 2010, but has just recently launched his bamboo bike tours in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

"There's a growing global trend of biking. A lot of different cities now have bike tours because it's a great way to interact with the environment and city," McClelland explained. "Intramuros seemed like the natural place in Manila to start the tours. It is the oldest part of the city has some cultural heritage and is a preserved environment".

Bambikes cater to a growing number
 of people wanting to use sustainable
transport

His bikes are made out of cut and dried bamboo lumber wrapped in Manila hemp fibers. According to McClelland, bamboo is one of the strongest materials in the world and has the same tensile strength as metal. Each bike is made by laborers in the provincial town of Victoria, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Metro Manila, the Philippines' National Capital Region.

"The bamboo bike tours help people see a different side of the city by making exploration in Intramuros accessible and fun," said Julia Nebrija, a Manila resident who recently went on a Bambike tour. "I think its greatest contribution is showing people how bikeable Intramuros is. Once you've done it, you'll be inspired to get a bike and see what other areas of Manila can be explored by bike."

Working towards a cleaner city

In addition to providing tourists and locals with an alternative way to see Manila's sights, these tours are also meant as the beginning of a wider project to promote a more pedestrianized city. McClelland is in talks with the Intramuros administration about developing a strategy to promote more pedestrian-based tourism and create a more walkable and bikeable city.

"Right now there are no dedicated bike lanes. Sidewalks exist in a lot of places but they can be intermittent and there are a lot of cars, so you're always worried about traffic," McClelland said.

Manila's 'jeepeys' are among the main polluting offenders

"A lot of Filipinos don't know how to ride bicycles - perhaps in part because they grew up in the city and it's really not a safe place to learn, so they're discouraged," he added. He says he plans to teach adults how to bike "in a closed environment so they'll feel comfortable."

Curbing air pollution

Metro Manila ranks high among the major cities of Asia that are suffering from air pollution. Manila's level of suspended particulate matter (SPM) is more than double the acceptable standard set by the World Health Organization. According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, 70 percent of air pollution in Metro Manila is from motor vehicles, highlighting the need for a cleaner mode of transport.

"A city like Manila would benefit a lot from investing more in sustainable transport especially in two areas - public transport and the creation of livable spaces for pedestrians and cyclists," said Ko Sakamoto, Transport Economist with the Sustainable Infrastructure Division at the Asian Development Bank.

Bambike tours take visitors through
 Manila's historical quarters

He says a main challenge is the explosion in motorized transport. "As with any government in Asia and the Pacific, they are really racing against time. In a typical Asian country you have a doubling of the vehicle fleet every four to seven years," he said.

"Imagine how many cars are coming onto the road every day. It's really how we make our cities friendlier towards public transport, pedestrians and cyclists at a faster rate than which the cars are coming on the road," he added.

Introducing cleaner modes of transport

In response, the government has launched a series of projects aimed at developing more eco-friendly forms of transport. One part of the strategy is the introduction of more hybrid buses, which combines a diesel engine and an electric motor. These buses would emit 30 percent less CO2 and use 30 percent less fuel. There are currently 249 hybrid buses in service, with 300 expected to be on the roads by the end of the year.

The iconic jeepneys (a hybrid of a bus and a jeep) are the most popular form of public transport in Manila - but they are also one of the biggest polluters. There has been a move to replace these vehicles with electrical ones. In January, 30 fully electric powered city shuttles were introduced to the city.

McClelland says the number of people interested in sustainable forms of transport is growing. "Every year there's a Tour of the Fireflies, a cycling tour organized by the Firefly Brigade - a citizen's action group which promotes clean air and people friendly environments. It's been growing year by year. This year the numbers got up to 20,000. There are also bike groups popping up all over the city."

"If you had a safe bike lane that was respected by cars, you'd see a big growth in bike commuters," he added.

Philippine Airlines Quits Flying Shark Fins Amid Outcry

Jakarta Globe – AFP,  Apr 24, 2014

A family eats shark fin soup at Vancouver's Grand Honor Chinese restaurant
 in Vancouver, British Columbia, in this file photo. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said
on April 24, 2014 it has stopped flying shark fin cargoes. (Reuters Photo/Ben Nelms)

Manila. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said Thursday it has stopped flying shark fin cargoes, joining a number of other Asia-Pacific carriers in taking a stand for marine conservation.

The fins are used in shark fin soup, a much-valued delicacy in Hong Kong and China.

Conservationists say booming demand for such fins has put pressure on the world’s shark populations, prompting calls for measures to restrict their trade.

“PAL values the issue on protection and conservation of endangered marine life seriously, recognizing that the company’s long-term interest is and should be consistent with sustainable and responsible business practices,” a PAL statement said.

Air New Zealand as well as South Korea’s two largest airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, separately announced last year that they would ban shark fins from their cargo flights, a year after Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific also stopped shipping them.

Fiji Airways announced last year it would no longer carry “shark fins and shark-related products sourced from unsustainable and unverified sources”, and would only carry fins from species not threatened with extinction.

Agence France-Presse

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Indonesian Bureaucracy Grounded MH370 Search Flights, Military Pledges ‘Fullest Support’

Jakarta Globe, Harry Jacques & Josua Gantan, Mar 19, 2014

Students stand next to a giant mural featuring missing Malaysia Airlines flight
 MH370 displayed on the grounds of their school in Manila’s financial district of
Makati on March 18, 2014. (AFP Photo)

Jakarta. International search efforts for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 hit a setback after Indonesia failed to give clearance for six foreign aircraft to fly over national airspace into the Indian Ocean on Tuesday in spite of assurances that Indonesia’s armed forces had extended its ”fullest support” to the continuing search.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) issued approval for search planes to fly through national airspace earlier this week, but delays in subsequent sign-offs by the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs forced three countries’ search flights to remain grounded in Malaysia, testing relations between two countries well used to locking diplomatic horns.

“For the flight permits to be given out, there needed to be approvals from three different government institutions — the defense ministry, the transportation ministry, and the foreign affairs ministry,” TNI spokesman Rear Adm. Iskandar Sitompul told the Jakarta Globe. “Government institutions other than the TNI had to work on this, too, so the permit was stuck.”

Some 26 countries have banded together since March 8 to search for the missing Boeing 777-200ER over a search area spanning some 22 million square nautical miles, and Indonesia has assumed an important role as the gateway country out of Malaysia to one of two search areas. The southern corridor begins west of Banda Aceh and takes in a vast arc past Western Australia into some of the most remote expanse of the Indian Ocean with an average water depth of around 4,000 meters.

“It probably is the largest peacetime armada of assets and satellite information-sharing that we have ever seen for a rescue and search operation,” Malaysia’s Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said, as quoted by Reuters.

The Indonesian government has so far lent 11 assets to the ongoing search, according to the Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia.

“We have one aircraft — a Boeing 727-200 from the TNI Air Force,” Ambassador Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim told the Jakarta Globe. “We have one Cassa C-212 aircraft, which belongs to the Navy, and five ships also from the Navy.

“We also have one helicopter and three rescue boats from the National Search and Rescue Agency. That’s what we have on record.”

The BBC reported on Tuesday that the southern search had been hampered after the central government banned six planes from flying over Indonesian territory.

Four aircraft from the Japanese Self Defense Force, including Hercules and P-3 Orion planes, as well as a South Korean P-3 Orion and a US P-3 Orion were grounded in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

“We were supposed to take off 7 or 8 hours ago originally to head out over the Indian Ocean south of Java and to search a grid pattern for signs of the missing Malaysian airline,” Rupert Wingfield Hayes, a senior BBC reporter in Kuala Lumpur, said on Tuesday. “All of these aircraft are sitting on the ground.

“There is no search, no aerial search anyway, going on from Malaysia [on Tuesday]. The reason for that is that we have been waiting all day for the Indonesian government to give the foreign military aircraft permission to overfly it’s territory and it simply has not come.”

The Malaysian Embassy’s First Secretary Khairul Tazril Tarmizi would not be drawn on the delay in granting clearance, saying on Wednesday only that the Malaysian government’s position regarding Indonesia’s cooperation remained unchanged.

“Indonesia has been fully cooperative,” Tazril told the Jakarta Globe. “The ambassador’s view is still the same as [on Tuesday].”

The State Palace said it was unaware of the issue when contacted on Wednesday, adding that it would be discussed at a meeting later in the day. But according to Rear Adm. Iskandar, the TNI had tried to expedite the permits. The delay in allowing the six aircraft to take off was a consequence of the labyrinthine bureaucracy of other government bodies, he said.

‘Fullest support’

“We want to get things straight — they [the grounded planes] have received their permits from the TNI,” Iskandar said. “It is incorrect to say that the TNI did not give them the permits. This is a humanitarian problem and it is only right that we help as fast as we could.  The TNI’s principle is that we will give our fullest support. You can see that we sent five warships to the Malacca Strait to help.”

Indonesian Naval commander Adm. Marsetio spoke with his counterpart in the Malaysian Navy, Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, and dispatched the five ships to the Strait of Malacca on Mar. 9.

“[The Mar. 18 flights] were just delayed, we did not reject the permits,” Iskandar said. “There is a mechanism; it was just a bureaucratic problem. We never intend to slow down the process. Please get this right, the TNI never intended to make the process difficult.”

The Indonesian armed forces said there should be no additional overfly clearance issues as the search continued.

“I have checked this with the intelligence, all the grounded flights have been granted access,” Iskandar said. “By now, they can operate.”

 

A Chinese family member of a passenger on board the missing Malaysia Airlines
 Flight MH370 is brought into a room outside the media conference area at a
hotel in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Mar. 19, 2014. (Reuters Photo)

Background checks

While Indonesia’s nebulous bureaucracy grounded search flights from taking off from Malaysia to search into the southern corridor on Tuesday, the Malaysian government said there had been no holdup in Indonesia’s willingness to supply background information held by the country’s intelligence agency on the seven Indonesian passengers on flight MH370.

The passenger manifest lists the Indonesian travelers as Firman Siregar, 25; Ferryindra Suadaya, 42; Herryindra Suadaya, 35; Lo Sugianto, 42; Indrasuria Tanurisam, 57; Vinny Chynthyatio, 47 and Willy Surijanto Wang, 53.

Only Russia and Ukraine had failed to hand over the results of background checks conducted by national intelligence agencies on Wednesday, according to a tweet by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. The countries that did submit reports of their nationals abroad MH370 found nothing suspicious in their investigations.

Indonesian National Police chief Gen. Sutarman, center, addresses a press
 conference in Jakarta on March 19, 2014, clearing seven Indonesian passengers
 on board the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet of terrorism links. (JG
Photo/Ezra Sihite)

Sidney Jones, a leading expert on terrorism in Southeast Asia and director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, told Reuters on March 16 that she would be ”extremely surprised if any group from Indonesia, the Philippines or Malaysia itself would be directly involved.” A subsequent statement from the Indonesian National Police ruled out any involvement in terrorism by any of the seven Indonesian passengers.

“None of the seven passengers have been involved in a banned organization.” National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said at the State Palace on Wednesday. ”We will give full support… so that Malaysia can have access to the information.”

Malaysian officials in Indonesia said they were working with the Indonesian intelligence agency to conduct further background checks on the seven Indonesian passengers.

“The screening of the passengers’ background is being done by the police, Interpol and the CIA,” Zahrain said.  They are all involved — it’s an international issue. Indonesia has been cooperative in this.”

Cabinet meeting

The Malaysian Prime Minister and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono spoke on the phone earlier this week to discuss cooperation efforts, while defense minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that a meeting of the cabinet chaired by the president was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Wednesday to further discuss the search for MH370.

The outcome of this meeting could not be confirmed by deadline.

Purnomo told reporters on Wednesday that Indonesia had not detected MH370 on either its civilian or military radar systems.

“[On the morning of Mar. 8] we did not get detection from any of our radars,” Purnomo said. “There was no detection of any strange plane; there was none.”

Despite the delay in allowing six aircraft to leave their stands in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, the Malaysian government said that it remained satisfied by cooperation with Jakarta.

“The search will continue until we find the plane,” the Malaysian ambassador said. “How long that takes, I don’t know — we don’t know where the aircraft is. The best thing now is to pray.”

—Additional reporting by Reuters

The family of MH370 passenger Firman Chandra Siregar watch television
at their house in Medan, North Sumatra, on March 9, 2014. (EPA Photo)

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