Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – The government expects to reach a peace accord with the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) in June or July after two rounds of talks to settle 32 years of conflict in the province.
If a peace deal is struck, there is a possibility that GAM will contest the regional election.
Hoping to restore closer links with the west, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appears to be preparing to block the rise of a hardline general to the country's top armed forces job.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – In an apparent attempt to lobby for the job as new Indonesian Military (TNI) commander, outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu invited retired and active Army officers for a gathering on Thursday to brief them on his "achievements" while leading the Army.
Medan/Jambi/Pekanbaru – Haze thickened on Thursday in several parts of Sumatra, causing flight delays and school shutdowns. The flight delays affected many people, including the Minister of Forestry M.S. Kaban, who is partly responsible handling the haze problem.
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – The Cimahi Police have started questioning officials in charge of the Leuwigajah dump in south Cimahi, where mountains of garbage collapsed on Monday killing 67 people. A total of 89 others are still missing.
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta – City councillors now have every reason to smile. Governor Sutiyoso has set councillors' monthly housing allowance at Rp 20 million for leaders and Rp 15 million for members, tripling their income from the previous Rp 6.5 million to over Rp 20 million.
Endy M. Bayuni, Jakarta – Amid growing public discontent over the lack of progress in punishing those involved in corruption, a new study says that because corruption is largely systemic, or institutionalized, the key to solving the problem is to reform the system and improve governance.
Bandung/Yogyakarta – Heavy rain over the last two days has increased the area under water in south Bandung regency, with 18 out of 45 districts inundated on Thursday in what is said to be the worst flooding in the last 10 years.
Jakarta – A day ahead of the national gathering of the United Development Party (PPP), a survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) revealed on Thursday that the popularity of the country's largest Islamic political party may further tumble at the next general election unless changes are made in the party's leadership.
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Lawmakers nearly got into a brawl on Thursday after failing to agree on a plan to disclose alleged irregularities in the settlement process of a dispute between the government and Mexican cement giant Cemex SA involving a broken contract with a state-owned company.
Jayapura – Over 150 people claiming to be timber company employers staged a protest on Thursday in Jayapura, demanding the government put an end to rampant extortion against them.
In the protest, held in front of the Papua provincial council, the protesters said they were routinely charged illegal fees when they were transporting logs into town.
David Nason, New York – The UN Mission of Support in East Timor looks certain to be extended, after Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned of continuing government corruption, police human rights abuses, judicial chaos and the danger of renewed hostilities on the fledgling's nation's undecided border with Indonesia.
Dili – The government, angered by published reports of famine deaths it denies, has severed relations with one of East Timor's two daily newspapers, "Suara Timor Lorosae".
There never was a good war or a bad peace. Despite the incremental pace of negotiations, the positive mood at the conclusion of a second round talks in Helsinki between the government and representatives of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) should be welcomed by all.
Sunariah, Jakarta – Around 40 members of the People's Representative Assembly (DPR) for the period 2004-2009 are suspected of being involved in corruption. Most originate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (15), the Golkar Party (10) and the United Development Party (8).
Australia says the decision on a permanent seabed boundary with East Timor should be deferred for up to 100 years to allow oil and gas projects to go ahead. The timetable will be put to East Timor at boundary negotiations which will resume in Canberra in the second week of March.
Indonesian troops have cracked down on suspected militia members near the East Timor border, banning them from wearing camouflage uniforms as the UN sought an extension for peacekeeping forces in the fledgling nation.
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A discussion here on Wednesday identified shortcomings in Law No. 27/2004 on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (KKR), and called for amendments to its articles in order to make the much-touted commission actually work.
New York – United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said here Wednesday the human rights violations that occurred in East Timor in 1999 following a UN-sponsored people's ballot were now not the concern of Indonessia and East Timor only but of the international community as well.
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung – Mismanagement at the Leuwigajah dump in south Cimahi was to blame for the collapse of mountains of garbage on Monday, which killed over 55 people and flattened 70 homes, with 101 people still unaccounted for, an official says.
Urip Hudiono and Sri Wahyuni, Jakarta/Yogyakarta – To hike or not to hike. That is the question – and the fuel for many arguments currently raging about what the price of fuel should be come April 1.
Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – The investigation into the murder of top human rights campaigner Munir suffered another setback as national carrier Garuda Indonesia canceled a scheduled preliminary reconstruction of the case.
Jill Jolliffe, Dili – Justice is at the crossroads in East Timor, with the United Nations formally moving to check the impunity of those accused of war crimes committed during Indonesia's bloody withdrawal from the island in 1999 and Timorese and Indonesian leaders proposing that all such charges be dropped.
Jakarta – A coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) unveiled on Wednesday a possible corruption case involving the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) secretariat general in accommodating 118 Regional Representative Council (DPD) members last year.
Edward Aspinall – The international community needs to be cautious in welcoming signs of an apparent breakthrough in the recent Aceh peace talks in Finland. Some of the signs are very positive, but the devil will be in the detail.
Abdul Khalik, Banda Aceh – Standing in front of his ruined house in Lampu'uk, Lhoknga in Aceh Besar regency, 35-year-old Effendi expressed his determination to stay and rebuild his house no matter what.
Jakarta – Indonesia's president praised Thursday the progress made in peace talks between government negotiators and separatist rebels from tsunami-wracked Aceh province, but he cautioned that a speedy solution to the three-decades-long conflict was unlikely.
The Indonesian government and Aceh separatists have wrapped up peace talks, setting a date for new talks and reporting major progress, but no breakthrough, on an offer of special autonomy for the tsunami-wrecked province.
Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – For the past few weeks, M. Isa, a survivor from Meulaboh, has been trying in vain to help his son get an artificial limb after his leg was badly injured during the tsunami and later amputated.
It has taken Indonesia many years, and an international scandal, for the country to finally wake up to the immensity of the looting that has been going on for decades in its lush tropical rain forests. But now at least it seems that action may finally be taken to do something about it.
Achmad Sukarsono, Jakarta – Indonesia expects to reach a peace pact with rebels in Aceh province by mid-year, but will not grant any form of direct self-rule to the separatist organisation, vice president Jusuf Kalla said on Thursday.
A. Junaidi, Jakarta – Semsar Siahaan was a powerful artist who revealed the complexities and injustices of society with a clear eye.
Born on June 11, 1952 in the North Sumatra capital of Medan, Semsar died on Wednesday at Tabanan Hospital in Bali after suffering a heart attack.
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Tabanan/Bali – Indonesia is mourning the passing of yet another prominent artist. Semsar Siahaan, a socialist-realist painter, passed away early on Wednesday at the Tabanan Hospital. He was 52.
Matthew Davies – Publicity about the tsunami relief effort in Indonesia's Aceh province has mostly depicted Indonesia's military (TNI) in an unprecedented favourable light.
Sunariah, Jakarta – Armed forces (TNI) chief General Endriartono Sutarto has question the desire by the leadership of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for self-government, one of the pre-conditions for resolving the conflict between GAM and Indonesia.
Palembang (South Sumatra) – Dozens of Palembang students protested on Tuesday against the central government's plan to raise fuel prices in the near future.
During the rally held in downtown Palembang, the students carried banners and posters demanding that the government cancel the plan on the grounds that the fuel hike would inflict undue suffering on the public.
Gunawan Mashar, Jakarta – For the umpteenth time, on Wednesday February 23 students from the South Sulawesi provincial capital of Makassar have again hijacked fuel tankers. This time, after hijacking two kerosene tankers they drove them round and round the city.
[This letter was sent to Green Left Weekly for publication by Zely Ariane, the international affairs spokesperson of the Aceh solidarity group SEGERA. Green Left Weekly has been asking our readers to assist SEGERA's appeal after the tsunami, for details visit .]
A survey of 1,305 businesses and top managers of local and multinational firms here named Jakarta as the most corrupt city in the country. The survey was conducted last year by Transparency International Indonesia at a time when the city administration was making much-publicize noises about turning Jakarta into a "service city".
Tony Hotland, Jakarta – A number of international human rights observers have expressed their pessimism that offering amnesty for human rights violators would be effective in revealing the truth of their wrongdoings.
Rescuers sifting through the debris of a garbage landslide in Indonesia say that any of the more than 100 missing who have not suffocated or been crushed to death have probably died of heat exposure.
Jakarta – The customs agency, airport security and the Soekarno-Hatta Animal Quarantine office often work in cahoots with smugglers to bring protected animals out of the country, a source at the Soekarno-Hatta Animal Quarantine office says.
Rendi A. Witular and Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta – Military and police personnel along with officials from the ministries of forestry and immigration are all involved in the lucrative business of illegal logging in Papua, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has proclaimed.
We, the undersigned citizens of Australia, address this letter to those representatives of our government who will negotiate with representatives of the government of East Timor about maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea.
Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta – Outgoing Air Force Chief of Staff Marshall Chappy Hakim has suggested that the President consider a high ranking Air Force officer as the next commander in chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI), saying that a rotation among the three forces in leading the TNI was in line with the spirit of the existing law on the military.
Jakarta – An inter-ministerial work group is now investigating the existence of military businesses.
"How many businesses that will be handled will depend on the findings of the work group," Indonesian Minister of Defense Juwono Sudarsono told reporters after opening a workshop on Security Strength Professionalism at the Arya Duta Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday (22/02).
The Bush administration is trying to convince the American Congress to restore some US military assistance to Indonesia. But, it must also win over a number of US Senators who are fiercely opposed to the idea because of Indonesia's human rights record. The advantages for Indonesia in the restoration of assistance are obvious.
Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – State oil and gas company PT Pertamina expects a decline in profit and revenue this year due to declining oil production and higher expenses for its public service obligations (PSOs).
Bill Guerin, Jakarta – As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono and several of his ministers were wooing investors in Singapore last week, the Indonesian affiliate of French oil giant Total SA, the world's second-biggest gas producer, was making a third appearance in court to stave off a demand by two Indonesian contractors for seizure of its assets.
[West Papua and Indonesia since Suharto – Independence, Autonomy or Chaos? By Professor Peter King. University of NSW Press, 2004. 240 pages, $40 (pb).]