Louise Williams, Jakarta &150; The Soeharto Government was facing an unprecedented crisis last night as a wave of public criticism over its handling of the fire emergency coincided with a dramatic fall in the rupiah and warnings of serious economic problems ahead.

Jakarta – One hundred construction workers have died in work-related accidents in the city [of Jakarta] already this year. Last year 101 workers died.

Amidst the fires furore, spare a thought for Forestry Minister Jamaludin Suryohadikusumo. As official custodian of Indonesia's vast but shrinking forests, he has both to maximise state revenue from the forests, as well as maintain them for the future. This makes him both partner and policeman to well-connected timber tycoons like Bob Hasan, Prayogo Pangestu and Eka Tjipta Widjaya.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – Air-particle pollution levels in Jakarta were nine times above the safe limit yesterday and meteorologists issued a warning to ships and aircraft as changing wind patterns pushed the smoke haze into the Indonesian capital. It was the first time air pollution levels for Jakarta were published.

Jakarta – Indonesia's currency crashed to a new low today when it hit 3,725 rupiahs against the U.S. dollar before recovering slightly.

The plunge carried over into the Jakarta Stock Exchange, where the main index dropped 4 percent, or 21.447 points, to 515.477 points.

Robin Cook, the foreign secretary, has been told by the prime minister to moderate his policy of blocking arms sale to countries accused of serious human rights violations.

Catherine Shepherd – Blue skies? Sunshine? Millions of people in Malaysia and Indonesia have a hard time remembering what that looks like. After months of persistent smog, the hospitals are full of patients with breathing problems, productivity is down and tourists are turning away in droves.

Margot Cohen in Jakarta and Murray Hiebert in Kuala Lumpur – President Suharto's unprecedented apology for the forest fires that are spewing smoke over neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore has drawn praise as a sign of Indonesia's readiness to tackle the annual "haze." In his September 16 speech to an Asean meeting, however, Suharto cited "obstacles that are not easy to overcome," pa

On 29 September, the Indonesian Ministry of the Interior announced that the PRD, the People's Democratic Party, and all its associated organisations, have been banned. This includes the PPBI, the Indonesian Workers Struggle Centre, and the STN, the Indonesian Peasants Association.

Adjidar Ascha, the father of imprisoned trade union activist, Diti Indah Sari, has lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission regarding the treatment of his daughter who is jailed in Malang Prison, East Java.

Jakarta – Indonesia's new national parliament, its members including 10 relatives of President Suharto and a number of his business associates, was sworn in for a new five-year term on Wednesday.

George J. Aditjondro &150; The haze enveloping our northern neighbours should not be allowed to obscure a lesson for their ruling elites, who are largely to blame for the disaster.

Friends of the Earth International today called for immediate and effective action by the Indonesian government to combat the continuing forest fire crisis.(1)

Kevin Dunion, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, said:

[Based on reports in Kompas and Republika, 30 September 1997]

The government has at last (!) banned the People's Democratic Party (PRD) and all the organisations associated with it.

Jakarta – The government's decision to ban the Peoples' Democratic Party and all its affiliates will not affect the activities of the organisations. They will continue with their actions until their aims have been achieved, the PRD chairman, Budiman Sudjatmiko told Siar in Salemba Prison, Jakarta.

Bekasi – The trial of Romo Sandyawan Sumardi SJ and his older brother, Benny Sumardi, started yesterday (29/9) at the Bekasi State Court. Romo Sandy, as he is usually known, and Benny, are being tried for hiding the fugitives Budiman Sujatmiko, chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (PRD) and Petrus Haryanto, the Secretary General of the PRD.

Jakarta – The government has officially banned the Peoples' Democratic Party (PRD) along with its affiliated organisations according to Department of Home Affairs decision No 210-221, dated September 29, 1997.

Eugene Moosa, Tokyo – Aviation experts discount the theory that zero visibility in dense smog could have caused the crash of an Indonesian Garuda airliner, but they have not ruled out another theory: engine failure caused by smog intake.

Derwin Pereira, Indonesia – has rejected blame for the haze blanketing large areas of South-east Asia, saying that one of the culprits is the El Nino climatic phenomenon that no one could have prevented.

David Miller, Sumatra – Malaysian firefighters eager to get on with the job of fighting the forest and peat fires here have been forced to play a waiting game.

The Straits Times, which followed one team of firefighters over the weekend, found that it has only handled a handful of peat fires.

[The following is a translation of an interview sent to ASIET by the underground Peoples Democratic Party (PRD)]

Azhar Basri, Jakarta – An Indonesian ministerial report has blamed 176 logging and plantation firms over the huge forest fires which had already choked most areas in southeast Asia, saying that those companies had conducted the dangerous slash-and-burn practice to clear their land.

John Vidal – The scale of one of the world's greatest manmade environmental catastrophes was becoming clear last night as poisonous fog blanketed up to 70 million people in six south-east Asian countries and scientists warned of long-term climate disruption.

Ian MacKenzie, Jakarta – Burning forest peat, too hot and thick to be put out by fire-fighting equipment alone, is now the major cause of choking smog spreading across Southeast Asia, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

"Peat is causing the majority of the smoke problem. It is causing the vast majority of the smoke," a Western source in contact with forestry experts said.

The announcement in New York yesterday by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that the Foreign Office has blocked the sale of military equipment to Indonesia is being taken as a sign that the Labour Government is beginning to implement its ethical policy regarding arms sales to repressive regimes.

Yesterday morning, September 25, 30 activists from the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (Komite Nasional Perjuangan Demokrasi, KNPD) and workers from PT. Sindol and Mega Beta Pratama loged a complaint because of military mistreatment against them which occurred at an action on September 23.

Lewa Pardomuan, Jakarta – Forest fires in Indonesia have spread to rubber and palm oil plantations and are likely to hit output, officials and traders said on Friday.

Agriculture Minister Syarifuddin Baharsyah said 173 plantation areas were reported to be on fire, 73 of which had actually made reports to the ministry.

Jakarta – Indonesian Footwear Manufacturers' Association (Aprisindo) contested yesterday U.S. shoe giant Nike Inc's reason behind the termination of contracts with its four Indonesian partners.

Jakarta – More than 1,300 workers at two shoe factories in North Jakarta went on strike yesterday and demonstrated at the House of Representatives, demanding welfare improvements. The strikers, mostly female employees of PT Sindoll Pratama and its subsidiary PI Mega Beta Pertiwi, both located on J1. Kapuk Muara arrived at the House at about 9 a.m.

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information on the detention and trial of Mr Mochtar Pakpahan in Indonesia.

Background

Jakarta – Indonesian police have officially closed their investigation into the 1993 slaying of female labor activist Marsinah, which had sparked a controversy in the country and abroad after they failed to prove the latest evidence, an English-language newspaper said Tuesday.

[The following is an abridged translation of a leaflet sent to ASIET by the National Committee for Democratic Struggle (KNPD) which was distributed during the strike actions by workers from PT. Sindol and PT. Beta Mega Pertiwi.]

8.45 am - 1.800 workers from several factories (each from different organisations), from the JABOTEK industrial area [outside Jakarta] together with students mostly from the National Committee of Supporters of Democracy (KNPD) gathered at the entrance gate to the national parliament.

Geoff Spencer, Jakarta – A drought that has destroyed crops across the Indonesian archipelago and other Pacific islands could force villagers to begin eating a famine diet of insects, banana tree roots and leaves, an aid official said Tuesday.

Jakarta – The Environment Minister has released a list of 176 timber companies which are considered to be "at fault" in [causing] the fires in Sumatra and Kalamantan. Many of those listed are by conglomerates owned by people such as Lim Sioe Liong, Bob Hasan, Eka Tjipta Wijaya, and Prayogo Pangestu.

Jakarta – The wife of Dwi Sumaji, alias Iwik, the defendant on the murder of Bernas daily's reporter Udin, said that her husband was at home in the night it happened.

Sunarti, Iwik's wife, yesterday was present in Bantul district court, Yogyakarta, as a witness to unveil Iwik's alibi.

Martin Wolk, Portland – Nike Inc. said Monday it severed ties with four Indonesian-based factories because they failed to adhere to the company's requirements for wages and working conditions.

Jakarta – Indonesia has arrested nearly 600 people for alleged involvement in ethnic riots in South Sulawesi province, the official Antara news agency reported on Sunday.

Derwin Pereira, Jakarta – Pressure is mounting on the Indonesian government from various groups in the country to strike hard against firms responsible for the forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Kuala Lumpur – Malaysian non-governmental organisations staged a rare demonstration on Sunday demanding immediate and serious action from authorities to combat a smoky haze blanketing parts of Southeast Asia.

The health of millions of Indonesians - and of people in neighbouring countries - is threatened by the smoke from blazing forests. As Louise Williams reports, Jakarta not only has to cope with the crisis, but stop it happening again.

Jakarta – Police Friday detained two Australian trade unionists and at least nine Indonesian activists after ordering the closure of the annual meeting of a local union, witnesses said.

But the police released two Jakarta-based Dutch journalists they had taken in at the same time.

Louise Williams, Pringluan, Central Java – More than three months ago the wells dried up and the villagers began to gather to pray for rain, the elders murmuring fearfully about the last great drought of 1962 when they ate boiled bark and rats.

Naomi Lee, Jakarta – Anti-Chinese riots in Ujung Pandang, which continued for a third day yesterday, have claimed three lives, police said, as victims of the violence - including Hong Kong businessmen - told of their terror at the hands of rampaging mobs.

The riots were sparked when an apparently mentally disturbed Chinese man stabbed two Muslim girls on Monday night.

Louise Williams, Jakarta – President Soeharto has publicly apologised to Indonesia's neighbours over thousands of forest fires which have sent a thick haze of smoke as far north as Kuala Lumpur, exposing tens of millions of people to dangerous levels of air pollution.

Ujung Pandang – Streets in the city of Ujung Pandang were quiet Wednesday, after security forces managed to quell two days of anti-Chinese rioting, a human rights group said.

Schools, shops and offices were closed in the provincial capital, about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) northeast of the national capital, Jakarta.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – More than 200 Chinese-owned shops and dozens of vehicles were damaged in an riot which broke out in the capital of Indonesia's South Sulawesi province yesterday after an ethnic Chinese man hacked an indigenous Bugis girl to death with a machete.

Muklis Ali, Jakarta – Indonesia announced deep, wide-ranging spending cuts and delays in major projects on Tuesday to help cope with currency and share market upheavals.

Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad told a parliamentary commission that projects worth some 39 trillion rupiah ($13 billion) would be postponed, and projects worth 63 trillion rupiah would be reviewed.

It may not seem to be a privileged position, but the House speaker is the key to who could succeed Suharto, writes The Nation's Andreas Harsono.

Batam – A Batam company is selling large quantities of water daily to Singapore even though the island is suffering from a water shortage, an Indonesian newspaper has reported.