Iranians Preferred as Drug Couriers to Indonesia

The Jakarta Globe, Dewi Kurniawati

Indonesian Customs officers standing guard over seven Iranians who were allegedly trying to smuggle hundreds of methamphetamine tablets into the country. (AFP Photo)

The recent spate of arrests of Iranians attempting to smuggle drugs into the country indicates that international drug rings still see Indonesia as a viable market, a criminology expert says.

According to Ronny Nitibaskara, a criminology professor from the University of Indonesia, easier access to international transportation and communication combined with inadequate surveillance have encouraged international drug rings to try to smuggle illegal drugs into Indonesia.

“These international syndicates see that we are lacking in surveillance,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

At least 23 Iranians have been arrested for smuggling drugs into the country using a variety of techniques since October, with 10 in the past week alone.

On Oct. 19 and 20, customs officials at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport arrested eight women and two men from Iran for allegedly attempting to smuggle more than Rp 100 billion ($10.6 million) worth of methamphetamine into the country. Calling it the biggest drug bust ever at the airport, officers discovered the drugs, some of them in liquid form, hidden inside food containers, soap and shampoo bottles packed in hand luggage.

On Oct. 28, Soekarno-Hatta customs found 5,358 grams of liquid methamphetamine worth Rp 11.7 billion hidden in 14 bottles of shampoo and hand sanitizer in the luggage of another Iranian who managed to escape arrest.

Three days later, customs officials intercepted a shipment of 5,130 grams of clear liquid suspected to be methamphetamine worth Rp 11.3 billion in six bottles sent from Iran.

And two days after that, an Iranian was arrested after an airport X-ray scanner revealed 1,000 grams of crystal methamphetamine worth Rp 2.2 billion hidden in four packages in his suitcases.

On Nov. 3, smugglers tried a different entry point — police apprehended two Iranians attempting to smuggle liquid methamphetamine into the country through Juanda International Airport in Surabaya.

The latest arrest last week was by Ngurah Rai customs officials in Bali, with seven Iranians arrested for attempting to smuggle drugs into the country by swallowing hundreds of methamphetamine-filled capsules worth about Rp 4 billion.

The Iranian embassy in Jakarta has refused to make any comment relating to this issue.

Authorities say the arrests show that international drug rings have learned that Africans and Asians, once the favored drug couriers, are being closely monitored. Of 66 foreigners on death row in Indonesian jails on drug charges, 36 are Asian and 18 are African.

“International drug syndicates have altered their strategy from using African and Asian nationals to Iranians,” Sumirat Dwiyanto, spokesman for the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) in Jakarta, told the Jakarta Globe.

“African nationals are still considered as strangers by Indonesians, after all, they are physically different. On the contrary, Iranians are considered closer because of their religious similarity. These international syndicates think we would be fooled by that.”

Some of the Iranians arrested included women wearing traditional Islamic veils.

“As usual, they also take advantage of women, because women are considered weaker, making them less suspicious,” Sumirat said.

Sumirat added that officials were carefully monitoring not only Iranians, but others from Middle-East countries as well.

“They can change their tactics all they like, but as long as the officers are aware and alert we will catch them,” Sumirat said.

The shift from African nationals to Iranians doesn’t surprise Nitibaskara.

“Those drugs couriers carefully weigh the risks and benefits. They come from poor countries, and are willing to gamble with their lives. I mean, they may or may not get caught in Indonesia,” he said.

Despite the arrests, many others could have slipped across Indonesia’s porous borders and coastline.

In a recent police operation in Batam, Sumirat said, officers identified 122 illegal ports of entry.

“If state institutions can close these illegal ports, that would help the effort to combat drug smuggling,” Nitibaskara said.

Although Indonesia has applied stringent measures on drug smuggling, an offense punishable by life imprisonment or death, it doesn’t seem to have deterred international drug syndicates.

“There is a high demand here, and we have a weak surveillance,” Nitibaskara said.

Ade Erwin, a national program officer with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Jakarta, said Indonesia’s strategic location and large population made it a valuable market for international syndicates.

The latest data from BNN shows that 3.6 million Indonesians are drug users.

According to the agency, Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest demand for illegal drugs, prompting more trafficking of drugs in and out of hundreds of “unguarded holes” throughout the sprawling island chain.

Thus, although state institutions in recent years have shown improvements in cracking down on clandestine drug factories and spoiling dozens of attempts to smuggle drugs into the country, the effort may be insufficient.

“This country is too big compared with the small number of officers able to monitor those holes,” Sumirat said. “We don’t have enough manpower because we only have 400 officers in BNN. Even if we hold hands with the police, we still cannot cover the vast coastline of this country.”

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Garuda won't reinstate pilot cleared of negligence

The Jakarta Post, Rod McGuirk, Associated Press, Jakarta | Sun, 12/13/2009 6:41 PM

National carrier Garuda Indonesia on Sunday ruled out reinstating a pilot despite an appeal court overturning his conviction for causing a crash landing in 2007 that killed 21.

The High Court of Yogyakarta quashed Capt. Marwoto Komar's conviction for negligence in the fiery crash of a Boeing 737-400 airliner at Yogyakarta airport on March 7, 2007, lawyers said last week.

Komar was sentenced in April to two years in prison, half the sentence that prosecutors had asked for.

Garuda said Komar, a 22-year career pilot, resigned after an initial accident investigation that found he ignored 15 automated warnings and calls by his co-pilot to circle around the airport again.

"He has not been employed by the company since then and we do not expect this situation to change," Garuda said in a statement. "We wish to reassure everyone that the incident of March 2007 has not been in vain as the airline has since invested heavily in pilot training and safety."

Komar was initially charged with deliberately crashing the plane. He approached the airport too fast and the airliner careered off the runway into a rice paddy where it burst into flames.

Komar blamed mechanical problems. He told the court during the lengthy trial he knew the plane was coming in too steeply, but when he turned off the automatic pilot and tried to pull up the nose manually, it did not respond.

Five Australians were among the 21 killed. One hundred and twenty people survived the crash.

Indonesia has one of Asia's worst aviation records and Garuda's planes were until recently blacklisted from landing in the European Union. Experts say poor maintenance, rule-bending and a shortage of properly trained pilots may be to blame.

Indonesia's space agency prepares educational satellite

www.chinaview.cn 2009-12-12 09:10:43

JAKARTA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's National Flight and Space Agency (LAPAN) will help launching program of communication satellite to support long distance education held by the Ministry for the National Education, Kompas daily quoted an official as saying on Saturday.

The satellite named after the country's prominent education hero Ki Hajar Dewantara will be connected to 50,000 points (schools).

The agency's head Adi Sadewo Salatun said on Friday that "tele-education satellite" will refer to concept implemented by many countries like India, China and Nigeria.

The Ki Hajar Dewantara Satellite Program will be prepared in three years, starting from system engineering, tele-education infrastructure preparation to the satellite launch and operation.

Currently, the program is still in feasible study phase, which is expected to take six months.

The satellite operation is expected to help solving problem of the lack of skilled educators and experts in remote areas, Adi said.

The infrastructure could provide knowledge dissemination to villages about health, cleanliness and personal development as well as to help professionals in increasing their knowledge.

The ministry allocated 200 million U.S. dollars for the program preparation to the satellite launch.

The tele-education satellite weighted 820 kg will be launched at the geo-stationer orbit or at height of 36,000 km. The equipment will be loaded with 12 transponders, consisting of education, telemedicine, defense and back-up ones.

The eight education transponder will serve interactive class in200 points and non-interactive class in 40,000 points.

Garuda Indonesia Crash Pilot Freed on Appeal ‘For Lack of Proof’

The Jakarta Globe

Yogyakarta. An appeals court has overturned a criminal conviction against a Garuda Indonesia pilot who captained a plane that crashed in 2007, killing 21 people, a court official said on Friday.

The Yogyakarta High Court ruled that the charges against pilot Marwoto Komar should be dropped due to a lack of evidence, said Suratno, the spokesman of the Sleman District Court, which heard the original case. He said his office was “just waiting for the official letter.”

Marwoto’s lawyer, Muchtar Zuhdy, said the High Court had reached the verdict in September, but a copy of it was only just received.

The pilot was sentenced to two years in jail by the Yogyakarta district court in April this year after he was found guilty of negligence.

A National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) investigation found that Marwoto had ignored a series of warnings upon landing, but according to the aviation law its findings could not be used in court.

The ill-fated Boeing 737 was carrying 140 passengers from Jakarta in March 2007 to Yogyakarta’s Adisucipto Airport, where it landed at high speed and hit an embankment at the end of the runway before catching fire.

Five Australian diplomats and journalists who were covering a visit by then-Foreign Minister Alexander Downer were among the fatalities.

Marwoto’s conviction sparked controversy in Indonesia as it was the first time a pilot had been brought up on criminal charges over an accident. A group of pilots, aviation engineers and air traffic controllers threatened to go on strike in April, fearing their jobs might be at stake following Marwoto’s guilty verdict.

Adrie Gunawan, the chairman of the Indonesia Air Traffic Controllers Association (IATCA), said in March that 26 air traffic controllers in Indonesia had taken leave to find jobs in other countries since they felt vulnerable to prosecution here.

Manotar Napitupulu, president of the Indonesian Pilots Association, welcomed the appeals court ruling, saying Marwoto should not have been put on trial in the first place.

“This shows that the justice system has finally understood that Marwoto’s case did not belong in court,” he said.

Manotar argued that pilots should be tried separately by the Civil Servant Investigators office and by the ethics council. “However, I thank the court for respecting Marwoto’s rights as a pilot,” he said.

A new law has since mandated the establishment of an aviation professionals council, with its main task monitoring and evaluating air transport workers.

The council will be composed of officials from the Transportation Ministry, civil aviation experts, the KNKT and the police.

US, Japan forge open skies agreement

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press | Sat, 12/12/2009 10:55 AM

The U.S. and Japan have reached a landmark agreement to relax limits on flights between the two countries.

Under the agreement announced late Friday, airlines from both countries would be allowed to select routes and destinations based on consumer demand for both passenger and cargo services without limitations on the number of U.S. or Japanese carriers that can fly between the two countries or the number of flights they can operate.

It would remove restrictions on capacity and pricing, and provide unlimited opportunities for cooperative marketing arrangements between U.S. and Japanese carriers.

The agreement likely will prompt Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways to seek joint ventures with U.S. airlines.

Java Toll Road Gets $498m Loan

The Jakarta Globe, Ardian Wibisono

Toll roads are "strategic infrastructure that have a multiplier effect on economic development," according to the head of BNI bank. (JG Photo/Yudhi Sukma Wijaya)

Agroup of domestic banks announced on Friday that it would lend PT Trans Marga Jateng Rp 4.7 trillion ($498 million) to help finance construction of part of the Trans-Java toll road.

“Toll roads are strategic infrastructure that have a multiplier effect on economic development,” said Gatot Soewondo, president director of PT Bank Negara Indonesia. PT Bank Mandiri, PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia and PT Bank Jateng are also taking part in the loan, which carries 13 percent interest and a 13-year term.

Trans Marga Jateng, a joint venture between state toll road operator PT Jasa Marga and the regional government-owned PT Sarana Pembangunan Jawa Tengah, said the loan would be used to build the 76-kilometer Semarang-Solo toll road, which has a total project value of Rp 6.83 trillion.

Agus Suharyanto, Trans Marga Jateng’s president director, said the toll road would consist of five sections, with construction of the 10.9-km Semarang-Ungaran section already under way.

“For the first section, we estimate construction costs will be Rp 1 trillion,” he said, adding that the stretch should start operating late next year.

“We also hope to begin construction of the section linking Ungaran and Bawen next year,” Agus said.

He said the main obstacle to any toll-road project was land clearance, adding that he hoped the government could speed up the process.

Takeshi Murakami, a senior consultant at Japan’s Nomura Research Institute, said the slow pace of infrastructure development, including roadways, was a major hurdle for Indonesian economic growth.

He said there had been little progress toward the goals laid out during a national infrastructure summit in 2005.

The summit called for 1,700 kilometers of toll roads to be built between 2005 and 2010. However, only 43 kilometers had been built by the end of September, according to Fatchur Rochman, head of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s toll-road development committee.

Anton Gunawan, an economist at PT Bank Danamon, said inadequate infrastructure was also causing higher inflation because poor highways made goods more expensive to transport.

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Jakarta to Step Up Raids On Train-Roof Riders

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, December 10, 2009

An illegal rider scrambles atop a train in Tangerang, Banten. (Photo: Afriadi Hikmal, JG)

Operations targeting train passengers who do not buy tickets will be intensified prior to the December holidays, a railway company spokesman said on Thursday.

Sugeng Priyono, a spokesman for state railway operator PT Kereta Api in the Jakarta region, said the company had been raiding more trains for ticketless passengers, including those who ride on the rooftops, together with the Ministry of Transportation and Jakarta Police.

“These ‘wild’ passengers are always a serious problem for us,” he said.

Poorer passengers on lines connecting stations in Jakarta to neighboring areas such as Bogor, Serpong, Depok and Bekasi frequently seek ways of using the train without paying. Passengers often board the engine carriage and pay a lower price to the train conductor— or ride on the roof of the train, risking their lives.

Sugeng said the ministry would determine the schedule of the raids.

Tundjung Inderawan, director general of railways, said inspections and raids were among his department’s priorities.

“If we find passengers who violate the ticketing regulation, they will have to be fined,” he said.

Tundjung said that one of his plans for 2010 was to revamp the commuter line with the Rp 3.7 trillion ($390 million) allocated by the central government.

“Some passengers choose to ride on the rooftop because the cars are too full, and that is often the case when there’s a delay and passengers accumulate in a station,” he said.

He added that the funds would also be used to renovate stations and improve human resources.

In 2010, the train company is expected to cooperate with TransJakarta to provide an electronic ticket that can be used for both the train and the busway.

“Especially when the e-ticketing is applied, it will help curb the number of freeloading passengers,” Tundjung said.

In 2008, PT KA tried a new tack, with rooftop riders being sprayed by security officers with orange-colored dye to humiliate them. However, this lasted only a short time and was not successful in keeping riders off rooftops.

Seven Iranians Arrested at Bali Airport For Drug Smuggling

The Jakarta Globe,

Seven Iranians have been arrested for smuggling methamphetamines into Bali by packing the drugs into capsules and swallowing them.

Each of the suspects swallowed between 50 and 100 capsules, police said.

Bali Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Gde Sugianyar told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday that the capsules were not damaged while they were inside the suspects because each was covered in six to seven layers of plastic wrap.

According to Sugianyar, the suspects arrived at Denpasar’s Ngurah Rai Airport at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. They flew from Istanbul, Turkey, to Doha, Qatar, before arriving in Bali. A customs officer became suspicious after noticing that one of the stomach of one of the suspects, Daryoush Omidali, looked big and hard.

The customs officer took the suspect to the Bali International Medical Center Hospital in Denpasar and an X-ray scan revealed 100 methamphetamine-filled capsules inside his stomach. Officers conducted the same medical inspection on six other Iranians and found a total of 271 capsules in their stomaches in various quantities. The other six suspects’ names were Mehdi, Bahman, Mohsen, Alireza, Masoud and Saeid.

“Total evidence was 371 meth-filled capsules with a total weight of two kilograms,” Sugianyar said.

He added that the suspects planned to transit in Bali for two hours before continuing the journey to Jakarta by a domestic flight.

JG

Jakarta Streets Quiet on Day of Rally; Blame It on the Rain Man

The Jakarta Globe, Emmy Fitri

While thousands of protesters took to the streets of Jakarta on Wednesday, other parts of the capital, including the usually busy thoroughfare Jalan Jendral Sudirman appeared deserted. (JG Photo)

In a surprising development, the expected traffic gridlock and the avalanche of protesters filling the streets of downtown Jakarta failed to materialize on Wednesday, causing the capital’s rumor mills to spin with speculation that rain men had worked their magic.

As many as 40,000 people had been expected to attend the various rallies to mark International Anti-Corruption Day and almost half of the Jakarta Police’s 29,000 personnel were deployed to safeguard the rallies and the city.

While heavy rain fell along the planned rally routes, deterring many people from participating, at the National Monument (Monas) Square, where the protesters were due to gather, not a single drop fell.

Popular Internet social networking sites Twitter and Facebook were alive with comments and questions as to whether rain men were really hired to conjure up the heavy downpours that only ceased at around 3 p.m.

Basar, a rain man from Cibubur, East Jakarta, claimed to know the answer. He claimed that on Tuesday afternoon he was visited by a man who promised him Rp 1 million ($106) if he could make it rain in certain areas of the capital on Wednesday.

“The guest told me that it was for the greater good, that it was for our own security because he did not want anything to happen in Jakarta. With protesters heading downtown en masse, many things could happen,” Basar said, quoting the man whose identity he declined to reveal.

“For my ritual I had to pass along the streets where the rain was wanted this morning,” he said in a telephone interview. Leaving home after dawn, Basar said he covered the routes, stopping to pray at points along the way.

“There is no offering of flowers or incense in my business. I am a Muslim so I pray the way a Muslim does,” he said.

In Indonesia, where traditions remain deeply ingrained, the services of rain men are in high demand during the wet season with event organizers and production houses often calling on them to assure pleasant rain-free weather on important occasions.

Ek o, a rain main from Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, said he also heard that some people were hired to divert the rain.

“People often misunderstand us. We are not super beings with incredible powers to make rain, because we can’t. Our work only moves clouds to get it to rain in the places they want it to rain. Whether it rains or doesn’t rain is God’s will ,” he said, “we only pray for his help to move the clouds.”

The Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology Agency’s weather prediction for the Greater Jakarta area was cloudy on Wednesday morning with mild rain in the afternoon. Agency spokesman Edison Gurning said, however, that “predictions can be slightly different from the reality.”

Senior politician and noted mystic Permadi said he personally did not believe rain men were behind the “success” in keeping protesters from some thoroughfares, but he did not dismiss the possibility that security forces might have sought their help to make their life easier.

“If I were asked to do so and I knew it was for the president or the government, I would charge more than Rp 1 million,” he said.

It might also have helped that the city police warned people against venturing onto the planned rally routes, while warnings from a number of parties, including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself, suggested that the rallies may be used by unnamed figures to foment unrest.

Medan airport closed after plane's tires burst

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra | Wed, 12/09/2009 1:23 PM

A Garuda Indonesia plane with 134 passengers, including 2 children and 2 babies, was about to take off at Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, when its tires burst on Wednesday, prompting the authorities to close the airport.

All the tires burst when the Boeing 7373-400 plane was about to take off for Jakarta at 9:30 a.m., but no one was injured, the airport's head of operation supervision Robert M. Hutagalung said.

Robert said that the airport would be closed until the plane was towed from the runaway. The airport is redirecting all flights coming into Medan to airports in Pekanbaru and Batam.

At the time of writing, the plane was still at the runaway.

Robert said that the plane's tires were checked prior to its flight from Jakarta to Medan, but the crew did not check them again before the plane's flight back.

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Flight route cooperation

Antara News,

The President Director of Garuda Indonesia, as the country`s flight carrier, Emirsyah Satar, (center) and KLM CEO President Peter Hartman (left) and KLM Country Manager Axel Colen (right) are exchanging replica of aircrafts when signing GIA-KLM cooperation document in Jimbaran, Bali, Tuesday (Dec 8). The two airlines companies will cooperate as chosen flight frequency addition of Singapore-Amsterdam route managed by KLM. (ANTARA/Yudhi/Eliswan/C)

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Security and Safety Key For Indonesian Airlines’ Return to Europe: Minister

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari

Garuda had its ban on flights to Europe lifted during the summer.

Airport security measures and an airline’s ability to deal with chaos and panicked passengers are key points to be considered if all of the nation’s carriers are to be certified as eligible to fly to Europe, Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said on Monday.

He made the statement ahead of a planned visit by the European Union’s Air Safety Commission this month, following a request in November to have EU bans lifted on domestic carriers Lion Air, Indonesia AirAsia, Batavia Air and charter airline Travira Air.

Freddy said the EU would not only assess the airlines but also the security preparations adopted by Indonesian airports.

“Airport safety and emergency readiness are two major points,” Freddy said.

The government has certified 20 of the country’s airlines as eligible to fly to Europe and will soon deliver a report to the EU requesting the 2007 blanket flight ban be lifted.

In July, the EU removed restrictions on flagship carrier Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines, Airfast and PrimeAir.

The move was in response to what the European Commission, the EU’s regulatory arm, deemed “significant improvements” by the Indonesian civil aviation authorities.

The EU flight ban, based on safety concerns uncovered by an audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization as well as a string of accidents in Indonesia, was enforced by on all Indonesian airlines in 2007.

The restriction has been costly, with Garuda losing $1.5 million a month in revenue because of the ban, the carrier said in 2008.

Herry Bhakti Singayuda, director general of civil aviation at the Transportation Ministry, said that the state authority responsible for air transportation would be divided into two separate entities next year.

“One institution will be responsible for monitoring air transport in the eastern half of Indonesia, and the other in the western part of the country,” Freddy said, adding that the offices in the east would be based in Makassar, South Sulawesi, while the western offices would be in Jakarta. The move is in accordance with the 2009 Aviation Law stipulating that the government can only be the regulator and not the operator of an airport. The Transportation Ministry still operates several airports in collaboration with state-owned operators PT Angkasa Pura I and PT Angkasa Pura II.

Trisno Heryadi, spokesman for PT Angkasa Pura II, which is responsible for air travel in western Indonesia, said the company had worked hard to meet the standards set by the ICAO, adding that frequent training programs were held for airport personnel, particularly at international airports such as Soekarno-Hatta in the capital.

Training programs for airport staff, however, were not evident on Friday at Yogyakarta’s Adisucipto Airport, where little was done to pacify angry passengers who became involved in a vicious brawl with Lion Air customer service officials after their flight was delayed three times.

Eko Roesni, secretary general of aviation watchdog People for Indonesia Air Transportation, said the fight was triggered by Lion Air’s failure to communicate vital information to its passengers about the delays.

The altercation on Friday came on the heels of another incident that sent travelers into a panic the day before, when smoke began billowing from a Batavia Air flight’s engine at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. Nine were injured as the passengers rushed for the exits.

In August, passengers waiting to board an Air Asia flight destroyed chairs and luggage carts at Medan’s Polonia International Airport after their flight to Jakarta was delayed overnight.

Indonesia has reported 2,176 air-crash fatalities since 1943, compared with 1,141 in the Philippines and 1,976 in Japan.

Better than nothing

The Jakarta Post, Antara | Tue, 12/08/2009 3:57 PM | National

Elementary school students get on a makeshift raft to cross their flooded schoolyard in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Tuesday. Annual flooding, caused by the Siak River bursting its banks, has hit Pekanbaru, inundating hundreds of buildings and disrupting school activities. Antara/FB Anggoro

Governor Says Monas to Get Its Own Demonstration Corner

The Jakarta Globe, Ulma Haryanto

A man enjoys watches the sun set over Jakarta at the National Monument in Central Jakarta. (Photo: Fanny Octavianus, Antara)

The days of demonstrators converging on the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle are numbered.

The Jakarta administration said it would soon designate an area in National Monument (Monas) Park where protesters could convene and hold rallies.

Governor Fauzi Bowo said the convergence of people at the famous traffic circle was causing damage to the structure, particularly the fountain.

“People who come together [at the traffic circle] often cause damage to the ornaments in the fountain,” Bowo said, as quoted by state-run news agency Antara on Sunday. “Whether it’s the broken concrete edges that are repeatedly stamped on by people or the water spouts that have been clogged by garbage.”

Last week, the city administration announced that it was setting aside Rp 2 billion ($212,000) to make over the fountain in time for Christmas.

Activists have long preferred to hold rallies at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle, situated on Jalan MH Thamrin, because of the number of people who pass through the area and its proximity to hotels and establishments where foreigners stay and visit.

Hotel Indonesia traffic circle

The planned demonstration area in Monas, located about a kilometer from the traffic circle, will be able to accommodate up to 10,000 people, Fauzi said.

The governor said t he specially designated section would be located at the junction of Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan and Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat.

However, Fauzi did not say when the area would be ready to accommodate demonstrations.

“The entrance gate [to the monument] will be pushed back 50 to 100 meters from its current position,” Fauzi said. “We are also going to set up a stage where demonstrators can speak.”

“Of course protesters need to secure a permit from the police first before going there,” the governor added.

Fauzi’s decision to move protests away from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle comes on the heels of a rally that was canceled by the governor late last month.

Members of the Anticorruption Civil Society Coalition (Kompak) were scheduled to hold a rally on Nov. 29, a car-free Sunday in the city, but were turned away at the last minute on the order of Fauzi.

Authorities demanded the protesters disperse, accusing them of violating a 2007 bylaw on public order.

Fauzi reportedly said that he would no longer issue permits for personal events at the traffic circle, saying they would be limited to car-free Sundays and sports events.

The governor’s actions drew criticism from activists, experts and even Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi.

According to the governor, however, Monas is just as strategically located as the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle and will be able to attract large crowds, without the attendant property damage.

New Toys

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 12/07/2009 5:53 PM

Members of the Indonesian Marine Corps and their South Korean counterparts monitor amphibious vehicles granted by the South Korean government to Indonesia, on Monday at Tanjung Priok. South Korea donated 30 landing vehicles (LVT-7A1) to Indonesia. (Antara/ Saptono)

Dirtiest river

The Jakarta Post, Sun, 12/06/2009 5:37 PM | National

Two scavengers search for plastic garbage in Citarum River, Baleendah in Bandung on Sunday. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has declared the 270 kilometer river as the world’s most polluted river. (Antara/Rezza Estily)

Jakarta police warn of busted roads

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 12/05/2009 10:36 AM

Jakarta Police's Traffic Management Center is warning road users of at least 19 areas with damaged roads across the city, including at an intersection in Jl. MT Haryono in South Jakarta, at the Senayan shooting range intersection in Central Jakarta, and on Jl. Simpruk Raya in West Jakarta.

The rainy season has traditionally been a time when motorists, and in particular motorcyclists, are warned to drive more carefully to avoid rainwater-deluged potholes.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo had said his administration would not rush to repair them, adding it could wait until the advent of the dry season.

The list of damaged areas:

• South Jakarta: Jl. MT Haryono, Pancoran, Jl. TB Simatupang, Jl. Minangkabau in Manggarai, in front of Balai Kartini, Jl. Rasuna Said, Jl. Gatot Subroto.
  
  
• East Jakarta: Jl. Sutoyo heading to Jagorawi, near Wika, in front of BKAN office heading to UKI, near the Jakarta Military District Command (Kodam Jaya) office.
  
  
• Central Jakarta: at the Senayan shooting range intersection, at Matraman intersection.
  
  
• North Jakarta: Teluk Gong – from Bandungan to BHI, Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan, Jl. Raya Cacing
  
  
• West Jakarta: Jl. Ringroad Raya Cengkareng and
  
  
• Jakarta Barat: di Jalan Ringroad Raya Cengkareng, Jl. Simpruk Raya

River trip

The Jakarta Post, Antara | Sat, 12/05/2009 1:48 PM | Jakarta

Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Agung Laksono (second left), Jakarta Governor (third left) and Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufrie wave to local residents living on the sides of Ciliwung River during a visit on Saturday. The government is planning to construct an integrated place to repair the to the murky, garbage-ridden, river and to relocate the residents. Antara/Salis Akbar

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Several injured in Batavia Air incident

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 12/03/2009 1:37 PM

The ill-fated plane: A Batavia Air airplane serving the Surabaya-Kupang route has a minor incident with its engine at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar on Thursday. Ten passengers were wounded after jumping out of the plane after assuming that the plane was having engine trouble. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)

Several Batavia Air passengers were injured on Thursday from jumping out of the plane after assuming that the plane was having engine trouble at Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar.

The injured were immediately rushed to the Sanglah hospital.

Ngurah Rai Airport Commander Lt. Col. Aldrin P. Mongan said the Batavia Air plane did not skid off runway, but it had 'a little incident' with its engine.

"There was a blast-like sound which shook the plane when the second engine was turned on. This scared people," he said.

Kupang Airport stops operation after plane makes emergency landing

Yemris Fointuna , The Jakarta Post , Kupang | Thu, 12/03/2009 2:11 PM

All fights to and from El Tari Airport, Kupang have been halted temporarily for several days pending the evacuation of a Merpati airplane which made an emergency landing at the airport on Wednesday night.

Merpati Nusantara branch office manager in Kupang, Agus Longdong, said the evacuation was slow as it required special equipment from Ngurah Rai Airport, Denpasar.

"We just don't have it [the necessary evacuation equipment]," El Tari Airport duty manager, Zaenal said.

Agus said he was relieved that all 88 Merpati passengers and six crews were uninjured during the emergency landing, which was caused by a broken rear tire.