M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The House of Representatives and the government have agreed on joint management of oil and gas in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam by the provincial administration and central government, reneging on a promise to let the Acehnese control their natural resources.

Jakarta – Activists are demanding legislators ensure women's political rights are protected in the Aceh governance bill expected to be passed into law by the middle of next month. The bill should allocate quotas for women in local political parties, they said.

Jakarta – The cost of illegal imports in lost revenue to the government almost doubled last year, with Industry Minister Fahmi Idris warning Friday the practice had reached a critical level that endangered the economy.

After much speculation and rumor, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani was replaced after only 22 months in office, handing over his command to Insp. Gen. Adang Firman on Wednesday.

Jakarta – The second International Conference of Islamic Scholars (ICIS) ended with a call for Muslims living in non-Muslims areas to promote their religion as one of moderation and tolerance.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Ubud (Bali) – Sidelining customary laws and undermining tribal wisdom in managing Indonesia's rich natural resources is certainly not what the 1945 Constitution espouses, therefore reinterpretation of the supreme law is badly needed to promote prosperity among Indonesians, environmental law and management experts say.

Jakarta – The courts should severely punish members of radical groups convicted of violent offenses, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto says.

Sutanto, who has been criticized for being too soft on ethnic gangs and religious vigilante groups, said the police had done their utmost to arrest and legally process offenders from these groups.

Cianjur – Administrations of a dilapidated state elementary school in Gunungmanik village are making pupils wear safety helmets during classes – just in case the roof crumbles in.

Rendi Akhmad Witular, Jakarta – The government will provide subsidies for farmers engaged in planting palm oil, cacao, rubber and corn in an effort to boost the country's plantation output and create jobs.

Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – It was a day like any other at the Jakarta Transportation Agency on Wednesday, with public transportation drivers arriving in droves to file complaints.

Dozens of drivers of taxis, minibuses and buses gathered in the office, demanding to be heard.

Tangerang – Some 500 workers of plywood producer PT Panah Forest Perkasa at Cikupa Mas Industrial Plant continued their strike Wednesday, bringing production to a halt.

The work stoppage, which started Monday morning, is to demand the company – which is located in Cikupa district, Tangerang regency – improve conditions for workers.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – Civil activists in Aceh are urging the Indonesian government to immediately form an Acehnese Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR) and Human Rights Court in order to resolve problems that took place in the past. The call was conveyed by a number of Acehnese activists after they decided to resign from the Aceh Reintegration Agency.

Jakarta – The Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) has decided to postpone a national bipartite meeting with the country's labor unions supposedly due in June to an unspecified future date.

Apindo secretary-general Djimanto said Thursday said that the association made the decision Wednesday because up to now representatives of labor unions did not have a united front.

Radzie, Banda Aceh – A statement by Indonesia's senior representative on the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), Major General Bambang Darmono, which categorised the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) as an illegal organisation has been condemned by civil activist groups in Aceh.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The Commission for Truth and Friendship (KKP) has identified 14 incidents of gross human rights violations it says occurred in 1999 around the time the former province of East Timor voted to split from Indonesia.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Malang – The Human Rights Center of Surabaya's Airlangga University revealed Wednesday that seven cases of gross human rights violations in East Java remain unsettled to date through either the judicial system or the human rights tribunal.

John Martinkus – The East Timorese Prime Minister has added to the murk surrounding the country's descent into violence by accusing opposition groups backed by foreigners of conspiring to overthrow his Government in an armed coup.

And his claims have been backed by senior sources within the Defence Force, who say there have been three coup plots in the past 18 months.

Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, Jakarta – Newly installed Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman was right when he pledged that combating thuggery would be a priority during his tenure.

But there are question marks on whether he will have the courage to succeed where his predecessors did not.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Leaders of Nadhlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, the country's two largest Muslim organizations, say they are committed to campaigning for moderate Islam to counter the emergence of militant groups.

Jakarta – Conservative religious leaders are marshaling hard-line Islamic groups to counter the growing public pressure for the government to outlaw organizations that commit violence in the name of religion.

Indra Harsaputra and ID Nugroho, Jakarta/Sidoarjo – On Tuesday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla offered soothing words to local residents displaced by a huge industrial accident that has spewed tons of foul-smelling mud into their homes.

Those responsible, he said, would be made to provide compensation at whatever price necessary.

Multa Fidrus, Tangerang – Residents of Jatimulya village in Tangerang regency have complained about dust emanating from a nearby plastic pipe company.

"The dust hangs in the air like fog, from midnight to dawn... We are really worried because some of us are suffering respiratory problems and skin diseases," a resident, Husein, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Ahmad Dani, Jakarta – Common crimes committed by members of the TNI (Indonesian military) in Aceh must be tried in civilian courts. Unfortunately, the Draft Law on Aceh Government (RUU-PA) in fact seeking the opposite. Common crimes by members of the TNI will still be processed in military courts.

Jakarta – Unscrupulous officials who fast-track developments without concern for planning laws are favoring big developers over common Indonesians and are choking the productivity of cities, costing the country trillions in lost rupiah, experts say.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – Opposition is mounting against the government's plan to issue a decree reviving the authority of state oversight bodies to handle corruption cases involving officials.

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – Within hours of his release from prison, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir wasted no time reiterating his jihadi mission.

Kalinga Seneviratne, Sydney – A two month old rebellion by sacked army officials and police deserters in East Timor, one of the world's newest and poorest countries, has resulted in an Australian-led "peacekeeping" force arrival in its capital Dili, and a media-supported push for 'regime change'.

Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission has set up a monitoring mission of reconstruction projects currently underway in the tsunami-hit Aceh and parts of North Sumatra.

KPK head Taufiequrrahman Ruki said the team would oversee a multimillion dollar project carried out by the Aceh Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR).

Jon Lamb – East Timor's foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta formally requested to a special session of the United Nations Security Council on June 14 that the UN Office In East Timor be extended by at least one month to August 22.

Adi W, Banda Aceh – Indonesia's senior representative on the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM), Major General Bambang Darmono, has confirmed that there are no longer any illegal groups in Aceh. If there still are, then these groups must be disbanded immediately.

Oktamandjaya Wiguna, Jakarta – Elements of the Acehnese people, including the Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) and the Aceh Traditions Council (MAA) met with the Aceh Government Draft Bill (RUU PA) formulation team at the Hotel Santika, Jakarta, yesterday (20/6).

Duncan Graham, Gembol (East Java) – Westerners who have seen concerts or videos featuring Indonesia's top entertainer Inul Daratista wonder what the fuss is all about. The archipelago's No 1 dangdut singer and dancer performs fully dressed – and stays that way.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Empowering moderates to speak up in the increasingly divided Islamic world is essential to promote peace and cultivate interfaith harmony, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama said Tuesday.

Tomas Freitas is the director of Luta Hamutuk (Fight Together), a research and advocacy institute focusing on economic issues, including East Timor's Petroleum Fund. The Petroleum Fund is a mechanism to regulate the expenditure of East Timor's oil and gas proceeds.

Agus Supritanto, Manado – The productivity of the Indonesian agriculture sector has declined.

Etty Puji Lestari, a member of the Association of Indonesian Economic Graduates (ISEI), has revealed that between 2001 and 2003, a total of 610,596 hectares of productive paddy-fields were turned into housing or used for other activities.

Jakarta – The Indonesian government's plans to reform military-owned businesses do not sufficiently address the human rights problems fueled by the current system, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The Indonesian military's independent financing undermines civilian control, contributing to abuses of power by the armed forces and impeding reform.

Nurfajri Budi Nugroho, Jakarta – The 42 Papuan asylum seekers who obtained temporary visas in Australia are now biting their finger nails. Their dream of finding work in the Nation of the Kangaroo has run aground (sic).

Hamish McDonald, Boibao Fort – Clanging gongs and beating drums were background noise to testimony by leaders of an alleged political hit squad that might bring down East Timor's embattled Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri.

Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – State higher learning institutes have invited controversy by applying steep admission fees for those who can afford, such as Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) when it sought Rp 45 million (US$5,000) in education development fees from each new student in 2003.

Ken Yunita, Jakarta – The secretary general of Government Watch (Gowa), Andi W Saputra, says that 60 percent of public officials and level II regional heads used false diplomas to get elected.

Minh Nguyen – Following a period of relative quiet, the notion of failed or failing states is again making headlines in Australia as its troops struggle to disarm warring gangs in East Timor.

Shawn Donnan – To anyone who has followed East Timor's violent birth, the prefab trailer sitting just inside the entrance of the former United Nations compound known as "Crocodile Alley" is an uneasy reminder of the stalled judicial efforts that have followed.

Jakarta – The government will embrace hard-line groups in an effort to persuade them to stop using violence, even though it has already been proven that the groups have broken the law.

Richard Kerbaj – Hundreds of protesters, including four Papuan refugees, yesterday rallied against the Howard Government's proposed migration bill that would lock asylum-seekers in offshore detention centres.

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) says it will continue guarding PT Freeport Indonesia in the restive province of Papua, despite accusations of human rights abuses against local people.

Hamish McDonald, Dili – New details have emerged about an East Timorese Government minister's efforts to turn police into a private army for the ruling Fretilin party and arm civilian hit squads to cow voters and rivals before next year's elections.

Reporter: Liz Jackson

Most Indonesians consider the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is doing a good job and trust its leadership, according to a quarterly survey by Roy Morgan Research.

Only 40 percent of respondents in the last quarter of 2005 agreed with the statement "I don't trust the current government", and it dipped another percentage point during January-March 2006.

Jakarta – The illegal logging that continues unchecked across Indonesia has had a worse impact on human lives than expected, experts say.

The unauthorized practice has caused a massive loss of biodiversity, particularly in Papua, that could have eventually been useful to human lives, said Barnabas Suebu, the recently elected new governor of the resources-rich province.