Jakarta – A consultant with the World Bank in Central Sulawesi rejected on Tuesday a statement that a bank-funded project in Donggala regency in 2002 was marred by corruption.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Prominent religious leaders, businesspeople and activists have agreed to step up efforts against corruption by not supporting candidates in the election that have shown an unwillingness to stop corruption.

They publicly announced the agreement during a one-day conference entitled "Building a Union Against Graft" here on Tuesday.

Jakarta – The husband of Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday accused the security minister of behaving like a child for complaining about being shut out of Cabinet meetings.

Rais Hidayat, Jakarta – Several youth organizations were closely tied with the ruling Golkar party under New Order regime. They were its right arm, ready to guard any of its events and to mobilize support. They gained considerable influence, even if some of it was out of fear or resentment.

Cirebon – The National Mandate Party (PAN) is open to and will allow the ex-members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) to join the party. The precondition being that ex-PKI members - who's political rights were recently rehabilitated by the Constitutional Court - are not allowed to resurrect the ideology of communism.

Jakarta – Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto pointed to the Army leadership as the party responsible for the controversy over the purchase of four Russian-made MI-17 helicopters.

Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Police have arrested another 30 suspected illegal loggers in Kalimantan, an island adjacent to Malaysia, and seized almost 30,000 cubic meters of logs during an operation conducted from February 19 to February 28.

Student protesters on Monday burned effigies of former president Suharto and parliament speaker/Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tanjung.

Apriadi Gunawan and Ridwan Max Sijabat, Medan – The government has not yet tended to poor labor conditions at state-owned oil palm plantations in North Sumatra, leaving the majority of workers underpaid and uninsured.

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – A rise in non-oil and gas exports drove the overall export figure in January slightly higher by 0.74 percent compared to the same period last year, raising hopes that export could help accelerate economic growth to 4.8 percent this year.

Fitri Wulandari, Jakarta – The consumer price index (CPI) fell 0.02 percent in February from the previous month as the rice harvest and a stronger rupiah resulted in lower prices for foodstuffs and lower education and recreation costs. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) also reported on Monday that year-on-year inflation during the month was 4.6 percent, the lowest in four years.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – One of Indonesia's worst outbreaks of dengue fever for years has struck more than 19,000 people, killing at least 336 and prompting a flurry of Government promises to fight it.

Eva C. Komandjaja and Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – The City Council urged the Jakarta Administration on Monday to cut down on the bureaucratic red tape on disbursements for impoverished dengue fever victims, who are unable to get timely or professional medical treatment without the money.

Indonesia goes to the polls in next month, with President Megawati Sukarnoputri expected to retain power. But this time around, the president's campaign is doing little to influence a small group of once-loyal supporters.

Chinese Indonesians, who have traditionally shunned politics to focus on business, are now showing a new willingness to get politically active.

Almost a third of Indonesia's state primary school buildings need repairs and some are so decrepit they threaten children's safety, a senior education ministry official said.

"I estimate that about 30 percent of our primary schools are suffering from various degrees of damage and decay," said Indra Jati Sidi, director general for elementary education.

Sri Wahyuni and Slamet Susanto, Yogyakarta – Sleman Regent Ibnu Subiyanto reassured teachers and students here on Monday that state-run Ambarrukmo Elementary School would not be demolished until a replacement building was provided.

"Students, teachers and parents should not worry about the plan," Ibnu told journalists at his office.

Jakarta – As the election draws close, political parties are now openly touting their possible presidential and vice presidential candidates in the hope of drumming up enough support to grab power.

Lee Kim Chew – Indonesia's biggest political parties expect to hang on to the votes they won in the 1999 polls, but two emerging Islamic parties are confident of making gains in April's parliamentary elections.

Semarang – The campaign against rotten politicians which is being promoted by a number of non-government organisation (NGO) activists should be supported. However just campaigning against rotten politicians is not enough to bring about improvements. There also needs to be a movement to put intelligent people into these posts.

Jakarta – Former vice president Gen. (ret.) Try Sutrisno defended on Monday a decision by the military to open fire on a crowd during the Tanjung Priok incident in 1984.

Moch. N. Kurniawan, Jakarta – The printing of ballot papers may be moved further back as film printing firms have still not finished the templates for the ballots, which will greatly delay the delivery of the election materials to all the polling stations.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The government announced on Monday its plan to develop several infrastructure projects worth more than Rp 200 trillion (US$23.5 billion) over five years in the telecommunications and transportation sectors, as well as in the gas pipeline sector.

Jakarta – Efforts in Indonesia to ease chronic traffic jams in the teeming capital Jakarta are boosting one of the city's more curious professions – car jockeys.

But don't think horses and high stakes. Eni and her two-year-old son spend six hours a day riding in strangers' cars, playing a daily game of cat and mouse with traffic wardens.

Hong Kong – Indonesia is seen as the most corrupt country in Asia for the third year running, followed by India and Vietnam, a survey of foreign businessmen showed on Tuesday.

Singapore was seen as the least corrupt among 12 countries and territories in the region, the study by Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd says.

M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – A former business associate of well-connected businessman Tomy Winata told the Central Jakarta District Court on Monday that his Artha Graha company security guards' threats of violence had always been a fixture of how Tomy did business.

Pasuruan – Her father was known as the Smiling General and some have already dubbed her party the Smiling Party. But Suharto's daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, is leaving furrowed brows around Java.

Mafoot Simon – All was quiet in the Islamic religious school on the outskirts of this city at the weekend, as students and workers went about their business, in stark contrast to a fortnight ago.

Then, a convoy of cars heralded the arrival of presidential hopeful Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and an entourage of VIPs out to woo the heartlander vote.

Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the government would increase security at all vital projects and assets across the country, in a move hoped to help attract new foreign investment in the oil and gas sector.

Mafoot Simon – The sense of anxiety is palpable as six men try to stay calm. After all, they are in their party leader's house to complain about another party official.

For almost three hours, they try to convince Mr Haji Juwanto, head of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) here, that the party should take action.

By Mafoot Simon THE story goes that motorists worried about accidents during Indonesian elections carry the colours of all contesting parties – it's their ticket to a safe passage.

But that was in the past.

Ben Terrall – In the first visit to Indonesia by a Bush cabinet official since George W.'s October "trip to al-Qaeda hell" (in the words of an unnamed White House official quoted by the New York Times) John Ashcroft flew to Bali in early February to attend a two-day regional conference on terrorism.

Jakarta – Thousands of white-clad, religious conservatives rallied and prayed in cities across Indonesia on Sunday, demanding the imposition of traditional Islamic law in the world's most populous Muslim nation.

Urip Hudiono, Jakarta – Students, parents and teachers of the SMPN 56 state junior high school opposing a controversial property deal sought protection from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Friday, the day they were supposed to be evicted.

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta – In funeral services, preachers often say, "May he rest in peace". But you can't take that on face value if you are a Jakarta resident.

Indra Harsaputra and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta/Surabaya – The historic verdict by the Constitutional Court to scrap a ruling which prohibits former members of the outlawed Indonesia Communist Party (PKI), or their relatives, from contesting in April's legislative election has not moved the government to dismantle decades-long discriminatory rulings against them, a minister po

Lee Kim Chew – In his bid to become Indonesia's next president, former military chief General Wiranto yesterday used Singapore as his launch pad to project himself as the strong leader his country needs.

Muh. Azis Tunny and Yemris Fointuna, Ambon/Kupang – Tens of thousands of eligible voters in Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara provinces may not be able to vote in the upcoming elections, as they are not registered with the Central Statistics Agency (BPS).

In Maluku province, the BPS has finished registering voters, although 7,000 eligible voters have not been registered.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – A constitutional law expert has called on the General Election Commission (KPU) and the Constitutional Court to have a look into two contradictory rules about the presidential elections to avoid possible chaos in the upcoming poll.

Robert Go, Medan – Motorised-rickshaw driver Iskandar was one of millions who chose the black bull symbol of President Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P) in 1999.

Mafoot Simon – In this Indonesian city of almost 1,000 Islamic religious schools, it comes as no surprise that the Muslim parties will slug it out for votes in April's legislative election.

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta – The National Police have deployed over 7,000 reinforcement personnel to three conflict-prone areas to help the existing forces there maintain security and order, prior to and during the elections.

Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta – Having seen the current pre-election political maneuverings in the country, nobody would argue the classic adage in politics "There are no perpetual enemies, only interests".

Semarang – State Minister of the Environment Nabiel Makarim says it is very difficult to end illegal logging across the country as local government officials and people benefit from the practice.

Taufik Kamil, Jakarta – Indonesian State Minister of Environment Nabiel Makarim has said that indications of Malaysia's involvement in receiving illegal wood from Indonesia are stronger, as proven by a video recording made by Greenpeace, the international environment protection organization.

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta – The start of the academic year is four months away, but schools in Jakarta – including kindergartens, high schools, state and private schools – are already advertising in the media.

Jakarta – Two months and more than 300 deaths after a deadly outbreak of dengue fever across the country, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has declared the epidemic a problem. She urged hospitals and officials to help all patients, even if they are unable to pay for treatment.

She also advised Indonesians to take steps to prevent the virus from spreading further.

Robert Go, Jakarta – The Indonesian public received a huge shock yesterday when restructuring agency Ibra closed its books for good and handed over a bill for the economic crisis that began in 1997: around 477 trillion rupiah, or S$94 billion.

For some, this is the final chapter in a five-year reform effort; others say the process is not yet over.

Mafoot Simon, Tasikmalaya – The singer gyrated on stage in a red, body-hugging outfit with a plunging neckline as she belted out an upbeat version of Killing Me Softly. It was Valentine's Night at a hotel coffee house and singers like her would have been a common sight at clubs in Indonesian cities that night.

Matthew Moore, Jakarta – Conservation group Greenpeace is blockading two rivers in Kalimantan on the island of Borneo, hoping a mounting pile of illegally cut trees will embarrass the Indonesian Government into prosecuting offenders.

Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has agreed in a plenary meeting to start a thorough inquiry into alleged human rights violations by former president Soeharto during his 32 years of iron-fisted leadership.