ID Nugroho and Wahyoe Boediwardhana
The Jakarta Post , Lumajang, Malang
Thu, 04/24/2008 12:35 AM | The Archipelago
Poll officials are concerned about potential friction ahead of the gubernatorial election in East Java, especially at the grassroots level, due to the synchronous schedule with regency elections, an internal rift within the National Awakening Party (PKB) and shifting political party coalitions.
The East Java gubernatorial election, scheduled for July 23, is likely to be heated given the political climate.
In addition, four regencies in East Java -- Malang, Bondowoso, Jombang and Lumajang -- are scheduled to hold regency elections simultaneously.
The East Java chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPUD) sees the gubernatorial and regency elections as a potential problem due to shifts in political alliances on the provincial and regency levels.
East Java KPUD member Didik Prasetyono told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday the commission was anticipating possible problems.
The party coalitions nominating the East Java governor hopefuls are unset.
Currently, the Democratic Party (PD) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) alliance is backing Soekarwo and Syaifullah Yusuf as its candidates. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) has nominated Soetjipto and Ridwan Hisyam, the Golkar Party has named Soenaryo and Ali Maschan Moesa, and the PKB, affiliated with Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has proposed Ahmadi.
In Lumajang regency, the party coalition map is less clear. Golkar Party and PAN are poised to join forces and nominate Indah Pakarti as regent candidate. The PDI-P is banking on Umar Basar in the race.
The Democratic Party and the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB) alliance has yet to name its candidate, while the PKB, with the most seats in the Lumajang legislature with 15, is still waiting for the rift between Gus Dur and Muhaimin Iskandar to settle.
Lumajang KPUD head Munir also senses potential threats given party coalition differences. He said his office was doing what it could to prevent conflicts during the governor and regency elections.
"We view the problems to be the same, thus we will prevent any possible tension," Munir told the Post.
Despite the "relaxed" atmosphere ahead of the elections, Bondowoso KPUD head Muhammad Muniri expressed similar concern due to the close proximity between Lumajang and Bondowoso.
"So far, the PKB is the only party to nominate four of its candidates," said Muniri.
Strangely enough, the PKB's Bondowoso chapter has not been influenced by the rift between Gus Dur and Muhaimin at the party's central executive board.
The East Java KPUD decided in a meeting to take several anticipatory steps, such as prohibiting outdoor campaign rallies in the four cities where regency elections will be held, but giving candidates the opportunity to campaign in nearby cities.
In Lumajang, the campaign schedule for candidates contesting the gubernatorial election will be moved to Jember, while campaigning scheduled for Bondowoso will be moved to Situbondo.
"We will also rotate the schedules so candidates will not meet in the same city," said Didik Parsetyono.
In Malang, the political climate is getting hotter ahead of the mayoral election slated for July. An unidentified group on Sunday reportedly pelted rocks at the house of a campaign team leader for one of the mayoral candidates nominated by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
The PKS has nominated party member Ahmad Subchan, currently a member of the East Java legislature, in the mayoral election.
Posters and signboards for Subchan were torn down several times during the past week.
Windmill brings water to E. Java residents
ID Nugroho
The Jakarta Post
Nganjuk | Wed, 04/23/2008 10:37 AM | The Archipelago
WATER AT HAND: Two women in Joho village in Nganjuk, East Java, carry containers of water from a nearby wind-powered water pump. Thanks to this new water source, they no longer face long walks to fetch water. (JP/I.D. Nugroho)WATER AT HAND: Two women in Joho village in Nganjuk, East Java, carry containers of water from a nearby wind-powered water pump. Thanks to this new water source, they no longer face long walks to fetch water. (JP/I.D. Nugroho)
The muscles of the right arm of Painem, 70, were stretched taut as the old woman lifted a jerrican of water, hoisting it first up to her shoulders and then onto her back.
"It's heavy, but it is much better now thanks to the operation of this windmill. Before this I was forced to fetch water down in the ravine," said Painem, pointing to steep ravine at the far edge of the village.
Residents of Joho village in Pace district, Ngajuk regency, East Java, now use a windmill to get water for their daily needs, making a long walk to a spring at the floor of the ravine a thing of the past. Instead, they now simply walk to the windmill and open a valve to release a steady gush of water.
Most homes are within one kilometer of the windmill.
The construction of the windmill was sponsored by the East Java provincial administration to meet water needs in the arid area. Joho was chosen for the project as the availability of water is very limited here, and villagers, who have lacked the financial means for other water systems, provided a 25-square-meter plot of land for its construction.
"Joho villagers need clean water. But as most of them are poor, it's impossible for them to buy water pumps," said Nugroho, head of the clean water infrastructure and equipment provision division of Nganjuk.
Villagers hailed the installation of the Australian-made windmill, which can pump 21,000 liters of water per day.
"I've dreamed of getting water as easily as this," said Mairin, another Joho villager.
His hope was made reality when the construction of the windmill was completed recently. Water can be pumped up from a depth of 80 meters.
Nganjuk's windy conditions make it ideal for the operation of windmills, said Geoffrey J. Moore, managing director of the West Australia company that built the windmill, W.D. Moore & Co.
"The windmill can still operate even in a soft breeze," Moore said.
Moore was in Nganjuk recently to oversee the installation of the windmill. He said the type of windmill was common in Australia.
"The Australians have used it for at least 146 years," he said.
Geographical conditions in this part of Indonesia, Geoffrey said, were nearly the same as in Australia.
The windmill, whose spare parts are produced by local company PT Steel Pipe Industry, cost some Rp 130 million (US$14,400).
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Police arrest two alleged JI members
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Surabaya
Two alleged members of the Jamaah Islamiyah regional terrorist network have been arrested in Malaysia and handed over to Indonesian authorities for questioning.
The National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, told The Associated Press that Agus Idrus, alias Agus Purwantoro, and Abdurrahim, alias Abu Husna, were in police custody.
Agus is believed to be the leader of JI, which is reported to have links with al-Qaeda, in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
The two were handed over by Malaysian police over the weekend after their arrest in January.
Bambang said both men had been involved in religious violence in Poso between 2000 and 2001 that claimed more than 2,000 lives and displaced 100,000 others.
The two men are reportedly being held at the detention center of the police's elite Mobile Brigade in Kelapa Dua, Depok, about 25 kilometers south of Jakarta.
Agus graduated from Airlangga University's School of Medicine in Surabaya, East Java, in 1997.
He is reported to have served as a doctor for fugitive terrorist Noordin M. Top.
Noordin is one of the chief JI members in Central Java and is allegedly responsible for a string of bombings in the country. He has escaped arrest on several occasions.
Agus is also known to have been a student of the late terrorist Dr. Azahari, who was killed by the police's counter-terrorism unit during a raid in Malang, East Java, on Nov. 9, 2005.
Malaysian authorities arrested Agus and Husna in January for forging the passport of an executive at an Indonesian tobacco company, Deddy Achmadi Machdan.
A home belonging to Agus' mother, Sukarti Thamrin, on Jl. Petemon in Surabaya was deserted Monday. A neighbor said Sukarti had not been seen since news first broke of her son's alleged ties to terrorism.
Another neighbor, Satuman, recalled Agus as a quiet person who spent a lot of time in the mosque.
"He never caused trouble and was a devout Muslim, regularly praying at the mosque," Satuman said.
He said residents of the housing complex were more familiar with Agus' father, the late Muhammad Thamrin, and mother.
Satuman said Sukarti was actively involved in a local housewives group.
Agus married a woman from the neighboring town of Mojokerto in 2000. The couple later left Surabaya for Kalimantan.
Missing passport misused by terrorist
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Beware if important documents like your passports are missing. Who knows, they may fall into the hands of a terrorist group to be later misused for illicit activities. This was experienced by Deddy Achmadi Machdan, an international communications executive of major cigarette producer PT HM Sampoerna.
Deddy was questioned by a member of the National Police's Anti-terror Detachment 88 because his missing passport was utilized by a member of a terrorist group.
The story starts back in 2003 when Deddy lost his passport in London. At the time Deddy was not aware that his backpack was open. His passport and a number of other important documents went missing.
"I only realized when I got back to my boarding house. I did not think anything more of it. What I knew was that my passport and other documents were lost," he said in Pasuruan, East Java, earlier this month.
Deddy immediately went to the Indonesian Embassy in London to inform them about the missing documents and to ask for a replacement passport.
Time passed and Deddy forgot about the missing passport.
Suddenly there was phone call from Jakarta Police Headquarters. During the conversation, police officers questioned Deddy about his missing passport.
"As I didn't know anything else, I just told them how I lost my passport in 2003," Deddy said.
The police officers later explained the case involving Deddy's passport. According to them, the passport had been misused by someone believed to be a member of a major terrorist network.
The man who misused Deddy's passport and his accomplice, who is also believed to be a member of the terrorist network, have now been detained in a Malaysian penitentiary for questioning.
Deddy was startled to find out that two Indonesians had lost their passports in London on the same day, September 19, 2003.
"I never thought about someone intentionally stealing Indonesian passports," he said.
"The man, who misused my passport, later claiming to be Achmadi Machdan', and confessed to hail from Malang, East Java," Deddy said.
As the police officers did not believe Deddy's explanation, they requested to further investigate Deddy at his house. As Deddy believed he was not guilty, he agreed to the request.
On the second-floor verandah of his house in Jakarta, the police officers showed Deddy a photocopy of his missing passport, which had since been falsified. He told the police the name was his, but the address and photo were not.
The police officers also asked Deddy to show his replacement passport. He showed his passport along with remarks about his missing passport.
According to Deddy, the police officers freed him of any further investigation. If he was unable to produce a replacement passport, the case would have become longer.
The officers later asked Deddy if he was willing to testify as a witness if needed.
Roy Marten gets 3 years in jail
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Roy Marten, one of the country's most popular movie stars in the early 1980s, was sentenced by a Surabaya court on Friday to three years in jail and a fine of Rp 3 million (about US$325) for using illegal drugs.
Berlin Damanik, the judge who presided over the trial, said the sentence was lighter than the 3.5 years demanded by prosecutors as the defendant was found guilty only of using and not selling the drugs.
Speaking to reporters following the reading of the verdict, Berlin said the court found no evidences that Roy, who was previously jailed for nine months on a similar charge, was involved in the distribution of the drugs.
"The defendant knew nothing about the distribution of the drugs as charged by prosecutors," he said.
Roy, one of many movie stars appointed by the National Narcotics Agency to promote an anti-drug campaign, was apprehended together with four accomplices in a hotel in Surabaya in November while taking crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu shabu.
He had reportedly been in Surabaya to witness the signing of an anti-drugs cooperation agreement between the agency and the Surabaya-based newspaper Jawa Post.
"The three-year sentence is too long. I am not a dealer," Roy told The Jakarta Post following the reading of the court's verdict. "Today's court session was only a formality. The verdict had been fixed before."
Four other defendants were earlier sentenced by the same court to between one and five years in jail. Windasari received one year, Fredy Matatullah 3.5 years and Hong Ko Hong aka Hartanto dan Didit Kesit five years.
The above picture shows Roy answering reporters' questions following the issuance of his verdict. (JP/ID Nugroho)
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Surabaya
Two alleged members of the Jamaah Islamiyah regional terrorist network have been arrested in Malaysia and handed over to Indonesian authorities for questioning.
The National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, told The Associated Press that Agus Idrus, alias Agus Purwantoro, and Abdurrahim, alias Abu Husna, were in police custody.
Agus is believed to be the leader of JI, which is reported to have links with al-Qaeda, in Poso, Central Sulawesi.
The two were handed over by Malaysian police over the weekend after their arrest in January.
Bambang said both men had been involved in religious violence in Poso between 2000 and 2001 that claimed more than 2,000 lives and displaced 100,000 others.
The two men are reportedly being held at the detention center of the police's elite Mobile Brigade in Kelapa Dua, Depok, about 25 kilometers south of Jakarta.
Agus graduated from Airlangga University's School of Medicine in Surabaya, East Java, in 1997.
He is reported to have served as a doctor for fugitive terrorist Noordin M. Top.
Noordin is one of the chief JI members in Central Java and is allegedly responsible for a string of bombings in the country. He has escaped arrest on several occasions.
Agus is also known to have been a student of the late terrorist Dr. Azahari, who was killed by the police's counter-terrorism unit during a raid in Malang, East Java, on Nov. 9, 2005.
Malaysian authorities arrested Agus and Husna in January for forging the passport of an executive at an Indonesian tobacco company, Deddy Achmadi Machdan.
A home belonging to Agus' mother, Sukarti Thamrin, on Jl. Petemon in Surabaya was deserted Monday. A neighbor said Sukarti had not been seen since news first broke of her son's alleged ties to terrorism.
Another neighbor, Satuman, recalled Agus as a quiet person who spent a lot of time in the mosque.
"He never caused trouble and was a devout Muslim, regularly praying at the mosque," Satuman said.
He said residents of the housing complex were more familiar with Agus' father, the late Muhammad Thamrin, and mother.
Satuman said Sukarti was actively involved in a local housewives group.
Agus married a woman from the neighboring town of Mojokerto in 2000. The couple later left Surabaya for Kalimantan.
Missing passport misused by terrorist
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Beware if important documents like your passports are missing. Who knows, they may fall into the hands of a terrorist group to be later misused for illicit activities. This was experienced by Deddy Achmadi Machdan, an international communications executive of major cigarette producer PT HM Sampoerna.
Deddy was questioned by a member of the National Police's Anti-terror Detachment 88 because his missing passport was utilized by a member of a terrorist group.
The story starts back in 2003 when Deddy lost his passport in London. At the time Deddy was not aware that his backpack was open. His passport and a number of other important documents went missing.
"I only realized when I got back to my boarding house. I did not think anything more of it. What I knew was that my passport and other documents were lost," he said in Pasuruan, East Java, earlier this month.
Deddy immediately went to the Indonesian Embassy in London to inform them about the missing documents and to ask for a replacement passport.
Time passed and Deddy forgot about the missing passport.
Suddenly there was phone call from Jakarta Police Headquarters. During the conversation, police officers questioned Deddy about his missing passport.
"As I didn't know anything else, I just told them how I lost my passport in 2003," Deddy said.
The police officers later explained the case involving Deddy's passport. According to them, the passport had been misused by someone believed to be a member of a major terrorist network.
The man who misused Deddy's passport and his accomplice, who is also believed to be a member of the terrorist network, have now been detained in a Malaysian penitentiary for questioning.
Deddy was startled to find out that two Indonesians had lost their passports in London on the same day, September 19, 2003.
"I never thought about someone intentionally stealing Indonesian passports," he said.
"The man, who misused my passport, later claiming to be Achmadi Machdan', and confessed to hail from Malang, East Java," Deddy said.
As the police officers did not believe Deddy's explanation, they requested to further investigate Deddy at his house. As Deddy believed he was not guilty, he agreed to the request.
On the second-floor verandah of his house in Jakarta, the police officers showed Deddy a photocopy of his missing passport, which had since been falsified. He told the police the name was his, but the address and photo were not.
The police officers also asked Deddy to show his replacement passport. He showed his passport along with remarks about his missing passport.
According to Deddy, the police officers freed him of any further investigation. If he was unable to produce a replacement passport, the case would have become longer.
The officers later asked Deddy if he was willing to testify as a witness if needed.
Roy Marten gets 3 years in jail
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Roy Marten, one of the country's most popular movie stars in the early 1980s, was sentenced by a Surabaya court on Friday to three years in jail and a fine of Rp 3 million (about US$325) for using illegal drugs.
Berlin Damanik, the judge who presided over the trial, said the sentence was lighter than the 3.5 years demanded by prosecutors as the defendant was found guilty only of using and not selling the drugs.
Speaking to reporters following the reading of the verdict, Berlin said the court found no evidences that Roy, who was previously jailed for nine months on a similar charge, was involved in the distribution of the drugs.
"The defendant knew nothing about the distribution of the drugs as charged by prosecutors," he said.
Roy, one of many movie stars appointed by the National Narcotics Agency to promote an anti-drug campaign, was apprehended together with four accomplices in a hotel in Surabaya in November while taking crystal methamphetamine, locally known as shabu shabu.
He had reportedly been in Surabaya to witness the signing of an anti-drugs cooperation agreement between the agency and the Surabaya-based newspaper Jawa Post.
"The three-year sentence is too long. I am not a dealer," Roy told The Jakarta Post following the reading of the court's verdict. "Today's court session was only a formality. The verdict had been fixed before."
Four other defendants were earlier sentenced by the same court to between one and five years in jail. Windasari received one year, Fredy Matatullah 3.5 years and Hong Ko Hong aka Hartanto dan Didit Kesit five years.
The above picture shows Roy answering reporters' questions following the issuance of his verdict. (JP/ID Nugroho)
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