Indonesia prohibits Hindu ceremony of sacrificing sea turtle

Indonesia has rejected a push by the resort island of Bali for rare turtles to be legally slain in Hindu ceremonies, siding with conservationists of the protected reptiles against religious advocates, an official said Friday.

Bali Governor I Made Mangku Pastika enraged environmentalists by advocating a quota of 1,000 green turtles be killed each year, strictly for ceremonial purposes.

He said legally killed turtles should not end up in cooking pots, served to tourists in restaurants as soup or turtle skewers as they had in the past.

"It would be supervised tightly, and any violation would have to punished," Pastika told reporters in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday.

Turtle meat is a traditional delicacy in Bali, the only province with a Hindu majority in Indonesia's Muslim-dominated archipelago. But Indonesia banned the turtle trade and consumption a decade ago amid international concerns about the endangered species' dwindling numbers and threats by animal welfare groups of a tourist boycott of Bali.

Masyud, a spokesman for the Forestry Ministry which is also responsible for animal conservation, said Friday the governor's request for a Bali exemption from national protection laws was recently rejected on scientific advice.

"The law clearly mandates it was not possible, that the green turtles are included in the animals listed for protection," said Masyud, who like many Indonesians uses only one name.

Tens of thousands of green turtles nest on Indonesia's coasts, but sites have dwindled because of poaching and development. Conservationist generally respect the Hindus' need for turtles in rituals, but railed against the number proposed.

Wayan Geria, coordinator of the Turtle Education and Conservation Center at Bali, described the quota plan as an embarrassment to protection efforts.

Creusa Hitipeuw, coordinator of the Indonesia turtle program of the World Wildlife Fund, said introducing such a high quota could trigger large-scale illegal trade and consumption.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/pets/2009/11/28/2009-11-28_indonesia_blocks_sea_turtle_sacrifices.html#ixzz0YCfOCFQM

Dozens trampled in meat handout in Jakarta

Dozens of women and children were trampled as they struggled to get a share of Idul Adha sacrificial meat at the Bhayangkara field at the National Police compound in South Jakarta on Friday.

Medical staff brought the wounded ones to an ambulance on standby in the area.

Kompas.com reported that thousands of residents had waited since morning for the disbursement of 24 slaughtered cows and five goats.

Officers saw the long waiting line and let them in. As a result, the women and children were trampled.

The Economist: The bland leading the blind

SUSILO BAMBANG YUDHOYONO, a son of the soil of eastern Java, is sometimes accused of being a bit too “Javanese”—meaning subtle, indirect and conciliatory. Despite cruising to re-election in July, Indonesia’s president still goes to great lengths to avoid political confrontation, stays on chummy terms with his rivals, and keeps his guard raised when speaking in public. For critics these same traits make the president dithering, overcautious and even bland.

This week, however, some typically Javanese political manoeuvres helped Mr Yudhoyono avert a crisis that was threatening to derail his second term, which formally started only in October. High-ranking officials in the national police and the attorney-general’s office were alleged to have framed two senior members of the country’s anti-corruption commission, the KPK, whom they were investigating for having taken bribes. The fracas exposed deep-rooted corruption within Indonesia’s judicial system, and turned the public against the police and public prosecutors. Many suspected a plot to muzzle the KPK, which, it seemed, had been too effective. Protesters rallied to its support.

The president deftly extricated himself in characteristic fashion. In a speech televised live on November 23rd he said that although he did not have the legal authority to stop the investigation against the KPK officials, “the other better solution” would be that the police and prosecutors “not take the case to court, while continuing to abide by the principle of justice.”

Bewildered editors and television anchors scrambled to decipher what, if anything, had been decided. Anti-corruption activists and student leaders were baffled. The confusion was summarised the next morning by a posting by one local member of Facebook: “Who does he think he is? The Riddler? We need Batman.”

But it seems that to resolve the mess did not require a cogent policy after all. Mr Yudhoyono’s obfuscation did the job. “The people who understand the symbolic language of Java will understand,” explained a government adviser. “He will never make a direct point. He will give a sign.” The attorney-general, Hendarman Supandji, took the hint. He told journalists that, following legal procedures, the case must be sent to the South Jakarta district prosecutor, who may then abandon it. The national police followed suit by reassigning its chief of detectives, who stood accused of leading the plot to frame Mr Bibit and Mr Chandra. Both institutions were given scope to be seen to be maintaining their authority, thus saving face. As Mr Yudhoyono knows, in Javanese culture such considerations are paramount.

Kalimantan Gold plans new fundraising through private share placing

Kalimantan Gold is planning to raise up to £350,000 from a private placing of shares priced at 0.029p per share. The company intends to use the proceeds from the deal to fund its ongoing gold and coal exploration programs in Indonesia, as well as general working capital purposes.

Kalimantan Gold is a junior exploration company listed on both the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and on the London AIM market. The company is active in Indonesia where it has three areas of interest: the Jelai epithermal gold prospect in East Kalimantan; coal opportunities, also in East Kalimantan and a Contract of Work in Central Kalimantan with multiple porphyry copper and gold prospects.

Two weeks ago it reported that analysis of geophysical data from its Contract of Work project in Central Kalimantan had confirmed the potential for major porphyry copper deposits.

Asian investors interested in buying former Bank Century

Firdaus Djaelani, chief executive of the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS), said several investors from Asia were seriously considering to buy Bank Mutiara or former Bank Century.

"Several of them have shown serious interest and have come three times to enquire about Bank Mutiara," he said at a press conference.

LPS became Bank Mutiara`s sole majority shareholder after the agency provided the funds needed to prevent ailing Bank Century from collapsing. After the bailout, the bank was renamed Bank Mutiara.

However, Firdaus said, none of the interested investors had so far filed a letter of intent. "They are still talking. But I am optimistic the bank can be sold," he said.

The government has given LPS three years` time and the possibility of extending the period by another two years to sell the bank to recoup the bailout funds totalling Rp6.7 trillion.

"We will sell it for Rp6.7 trillion within five years but if we fail we will sell it for the best possible price," he said.

The president director of Bank Mutiara, Maryono, said he also believed the bank could be sold at the targeted price.

KPK officially starts investigating Anggodo

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has officially started investigating the case of Anggodo Widjojo who had allegedly tried to bribe KPK officials on behalf of corruption suspect Anggoro Widjojo, his brother.

Anggodo would be investigated on the charge of hampering the KPK`s investigation of Anggoro Widjojo, a businessman suspected of bribery in the procurement of an Integrated Radio Communication System (SKRT) for the Forestry Department.

"An internal KPK document to begin the investgation has been signed by the commission`s leadership," KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said here on Thursday.

With the issuance of the internal order, KPK investigators would soon summon a number of people involved in Anggodo`s case.

PGN To Invest $1 Billion For LNG Terminals

PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) Tbk (PGN) intends to infuse $1 billion to construct liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminals in West Java and North Sumatra, the Jakarta Post reported. The company will seek some loans from banks to finance the LNG terminals.

“The investment in the terminals is about $100 million up to $150 million per unit,” [with some multiple units] PGN's President Director, Hendi P Santoso told reporters.

“We probably will find 30 percent of the budget needed from the internal cash flow, with the rest from bank loans,” PGN finance director Riza Pahlevi Thabrani said.

PGN has targeted to supply a maximum of 400 million cubic feet per day in additional gas supply from the West Java LNG terminal, and around 150 million cubic feet per day from the North Sumatra one.

For the West Java project, PGN had established a partnership with PT Pertamina, and PT PLN.

Meanwhile, for the North Sumatra project, PGN would be fully in charge of the construction and operation of the project.

The company estimated the two projects to start operations in 2012.

Bank Mutiara, formerly Bank Century, books positive growth after bailout

Bank Mutiara, formerly Bank Century, recorded Rp 231 billion (US$24.49 million) in net profit in October, over a year after it was declared a failed bank and put under Bank Indonesia's special treatment.

Bank Mutiara President Director Maryono said on Thursday that the bank’s losses reached Rp 7.28 trillion in December 2008, just before BI came to the rescue and the bank secured Rp 6.7 trillion in bailout fund.

"The bailout has helped us raise the bank's profit up to 3,000 percent," Maryono told a media conference.

By the end of 2008, then Bank Century’s capital adequacy ratio stood at minus 22.29 percent. As of October of this year the ratio has leaped to 10.07 percent.

Maryono said the change in the bank’s name early in October helped it regain the public trust.

"As of October, public funds deposited in our bank reached Rp 5,81 trillion, meaning that we have gained Rp 692 billion in new deposits since December 2008," Maryono said.

Indonesian vice-president: Government will weather political storm

Indonesian Vice President Boediono said Wednesday he was confident that the government would be able to weather a political storm over a graft scandal and a controversial bank bailout. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been under pressure to take strong action after revelations of an apparent high-level plot involving law enforcement agencies to undermine the country's anti-corruption agency sparked a public outcry.

Parliament has also demanded the government explain its decision to bail out a troubled small bank last year, after critics alleged that some of the money was used to save millions of dollars deposited by politically well-connected people.

The state audit agency said this week that part of the disbursement had no legal basis and the central bank, then led by Boediono, appeared to have manipulated data on the condition of the lender.

"These issues will be cleared up," Boediono told journalists. "I'm very optimistic this government will get through this very well."

Boediono said rescuing the bank was necessary to protect the economy amid the global financial crisis.

"I think we did the right thing and the result was good. If there are any questions we will answer," he said.

Indonesian court says case against anti-corruption officials fabricated

The Indonesian constitutional court says there was a possible fabrication of evidence used to incriminate two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders following the revelation of a series of controversial wiretapped conversations involving businessman Anggodo Widjojo and top officials at the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).

“After we heard the recordings we discovered several clues that the implication of the KPK deputies had been fabricated,” Constitutional Court member Achmad Sadiki said Wednesday (November 25).

The recordings played at the court on November 3 overheard the voice of Anggodo requesting that officers of the National Police and the AGO make and find evidence that could support charges leveled against KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah.