Poet Moe'inah: The struggle for justice continues

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Blitar, East Java | Tue, 09/30/2008 10:17 AM | People

POET MOE'INAH: (JP/ID Nugroho)

More than 40 years since the widespread killings that followed the September 30 Movement in 1965, the tragedy remains an open wound for the victims.

Poet Moe'inah, now 80, lost her husband and sister during the killings, and her freedom of expression for several years afterward when she was imprisoned.

"The time has come for this nation to change and become better," Poet told The Jakarta Post recently.

In the community of Pakisrejo village in Blitar regency, Poet is a legend. Bu Put, as she is known there, knows every elderly resident who has a shadowy political history.

"Many people still come to my house to discuss things, including the future of Indonesia as a country," she said.

Bu Put, who now lives alone, was a witness to a dark chapter in Indonesia's history. At that time, Bu Put was the head of section II of the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwani) in Blitar regency.

Gerwani was the women's organization linked to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), which was held responsible for the 1965 attempted coup.

"From my perspective it wasn't like that, because I knew at that time that Gerwani didn't do all the things we were accused of doing," Bu Put said.

Bu Put's involvement in politics began with her father, Haji Mansyur, the leader of the political organization Sarekat Islam (SI; the Islamic League, an early nationalist organization active in the 1910s and 1920s), which struggled against the Dutch and Japanese.

She did not meet her father until she was six years old, because he had been imprisoned by the Dutch for his political activities around the time of her birth.

"My father's activities were to struggle for society," she said, adding that his political enthusiasm rubbed off on her.

In later years, the Japanese arrested her father and confiscated all family property. Young Poet, at that time a teenager, was unable to continue her education.

"My father wasn't alone. Almost every man in this village was arrested by the Japanese soldiers," she recalled.

In 1946, Bu Put joined the Indonesian Socialist Youth (Pesindo) party, where she held a position in the information department for Blitar regency.

Not long after taking the position, she met Subandi Hadisumarto, a member of the Indonesian National Forces (TNI) from Mojokerto, which at the time was training as a unit with Pesindo.

The two were married in 1947, and Bu Put joined the Indonesian Women's Movement (Gerwis), the pioneer organization of Gerwani.

Bu Put held a high position in Gerwani. Her husband resigned from the TNI and joined the PKI, where he became head of the Blitar branch.

Their political life ended after the events of 1965. News of the killings of six generals triggered the campaign to arrest members of the PKI and their supporters, forcing Bu Put and her husband to flee. They were separated in the confusion.

Bu Put ran away to Malang, then to Yogyakarta and Jakarta, while Subandi built up the troops in South Blitar.

"I left my six children with my sister in her house. I was pregnant and on the run," said the mother of seven.

In Yogyakarta, Bu Put was arrested and held for three months. After her release, she fled to Jakarta, where she gave birth to her last child.

Three years later, she returned to South Blitar.

"When TNI troops came by I hid in the caves," she said.

Bu Put's fugitive life ended when, together with others on the run, she was attacked by TNI troops in Gayas Cave, one of the caves in South Blitar.

"I refused to run, I was too tired ... A TNI soldier entered the cave and guided me out. I was arrested."

She was then imprisoned for 10 years, without being charged or taken to court; she was released in 1978. In prison Bu Put maintained her political activities, holding discussions with other prisoners.

"Luckily, the prison wardens knew me and treated me well," she said.

Her release from prison did not mean freedom for the former tapol (political prisoner). Even today, she still experiences discrimination.

A similar fate befell her seven children: They were prohibited from going to school.

The most difficult thing to come to terms with, she said, was not knowing the fate of her husband and her sister. There was a great possibility that the two had been killed.

"My house was always watched by people I didn't know ... Every time we held a party there was always a guest who came without being invited," she recalled.

Things began to change, she said, when Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, became president and allowed tapol who had managed to flee overseas to returned to the country.

The ex-tapol set up the Research Institute for Victims of the 1965 Incident (LPKP), which went on to produce books and publish Gema magazine.

"LPKP is like an institution for the victims from all over Indonesia, including Blitar," Bu Put said.

She added there were around 100 victims in South Blitar who survived the tragedy of 1965. These survivors continue to hold discussions and are involved in activities of the Reconciliation and Truth Commission, which was formed to discuss the issues faced by the victims and survivors.

"Once again, this hasn't been an easy thing. Many of us were taunted by those in society who accepted the New Order government's (anti-PKI) propaganda," Bu Put said.

"For me, even though I lost my husband, my relatives and my friends in the same struggle, I praise my seven children for being good citizens and for living properly."

Hasan Ali: Guardian of Using culture

I.D. Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , East Java | Fri, 09/26/2008 10:58 AM | People

HASAN ALI: (JP/ID Nugroho)

Hasan Ali believes that the unique arts of the Using people truly show the beauty of the culture of Banyuwangi society.

That's why Hasan, 75, thought it desirable to make an effort to promote Using art by teaching it to children in school.

"If not, I would worry that Banyuwangi art would be lost, eroded by modern culture," Hasan told The Jakarta Post recently.

The afflictions of old age has seen Hasan, who was born in Banyuwangi in 1933, confined most days to the sofa in the lounge of his house.

But his spirit can still be felt through his direct gaze, and the tone of his voice which is firm and loud, especially when he talks about the gandrung dance and the Using language, his two pet topics.

"I've experienced three periods of history -- the Dutch, the Japanese and the Indonesian Republic. But all that time the gandrung dance and the Using language have kept me in love," he said from his home in Mangir village, Rogojampi subdistrict, in Banyuwangi Regency, East Java.

Hasan, who is the father of famous singer Emilia Contessa and the grandfather of singer Denada Tambunan, learned about Using arts, which are remnants of the culture of the Blambangan Kingdom, since he was a teenager.

"Since I was a teenager I liked Using art," he said. His hobby gained him more status when he joined an art group associated with the Indonesian National Party (PNI).

"Because of the art group, I was finally trusted by the PNI to become a member of the Banyuwangi Parliament where I served until 1966," Hasan said.

Ironically the political conflicts of that period also made Hasan's position dangerous.

This was particularly so when Muhammad Arif, the composer of the Genjer-Genjer song (a song associated with Communism), together with hundreds of members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), went missing after the 1965 incident known as the 30 September Movement.

That incident (an alleged coup d'etat in Jakarta) also suddenly linked and identified Banyuwangi art with the PKI.

But as Hasan recalls, what actually happened was quite different. The PKI wanted to eliminate Banyuwangi art, which it considered an art form that damaged the morality of society.

"It was really true that the PKI used Genjer-Genjer as a song of struggle, but apart from that the PKI forbade performances of the Banyuwangi gandrung dance, because it was considered that it would affect society's morals," he said.

Arif, said Hasan, composed the Genjer-Genjer song, during the Japanese period to lift the spirits of the community, which at the time was suffering from poverty.

The Banyuwangi Gandrung dance was nothing more than a social dance; there was no other purpose. The songs that were sung by gandrung dancers were like the local traditional poetry, which expressed wisdom and values.

The impression of immorality associated with the dance appeared because there were certain people who treated it improperly by performing the dance in Banyuwangi's districts frequented by prostitutes.

"Slowly the gandrung dance came to be identified as an immoral dance," he said.

The situation changed after 1965. At the time Hasan had a job as an official in the regional government of Banyuwangi. He was then approached by the former regent, Joko Supaat Slamet, to save the gandrung dance.

"My friends and I agreed to recreate the gandrung dance as a teenagers' social dance performed politely and correctly," he said. Dozens of local artists were invited to participate.

Soon after the performance, the gandrung dance was back in favor. There was even an invitation for the dance to be performed in the State Palace when former President Soeharto was in power. The gandrung dance then became a symbol of Banyuwangi Regency.

Hasan was also interested in another Banyuwangi jewel that had almost become extinct: the Using language that belonged to the Banyuwangi Using tribe.

The Using language had slowly started disappearing from society and nobody in the Banyuwangi community, including many Using people, used it.

"I don't know why, suddenly they felt too ashamed to use their regional language," said Hasan.

Hasan invited Banyuwangi artists to hold a small seminar titled "How to defend the Using language?". The most important recommendation that came from the seminar, which was held in the 1980s, was to introduce the Using language in elementary schools.

"But that wasn't an easy thing to do. It wasn't like the Javanese language where the history has been recorded well. At that time there was no reference book on the Using language," he said.

Therefore, he said, the first item on the agenda was to produce a Using language textbook.

Hasan collected all the data about the Using people that he could access, including 28,000 words of the Using language that were still in use. Ten years later, Hasan had published three books that covered the grammar and spelling of the Using language and a dictionary.

In the process of compilation, the former Banyuwangi Arts Council head had to use the Indonesian, Javanese and Balinese languages as comparative languages.

"I assumed that the Using language has some connection with the Balinese language because it can be seen that some words have the same meaning," said Hasan.

Till now the Using language continues to be taught in the local elementary schools. There are some who commend its beauty, and there are also those who strongly dislike the language.

Many say that it is a credit to Hasan the Using language is still being used.

"Even those Banyuwangi people who have left the region are still using the Using language when they communicate with other Banyuwangi people," he said.

Muslims make pilgrimage to Sunan Ampel

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Fri, 09/26/2008 11:01 AM | East Java

Thousands of Muslim pilgrims of different ethnicities and backgrounds have crowded the city's Ampel Grand Mosque and its one-hectare shrine to Sunan Ampel.

While kneeling, Muslim families, many of them from the city and its outskirts, prayed and recited Koranic verses until dawn of the first night of the "1,000 months", so-called because prayers made at night during the last ten days of Ramadan are said to bring blessings equal to a 1,000 months of praying.

The Letter of Al-Qodar first declared the final nights of the fasting month auspicious in this way, and for this reason they are also known as the Lailatul Qodar nights.

"Because of that belief, the province's holy sites, including the grand mosque and the Ampel grave compound, will be filled by thousands of pilgrims during the last ten days of the fasting month, just as in past years," A. Nasir, a senior cleric at the grand mosque, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday night.

Over the past few days, the mosque and grave compound has seen an increase in the number of visiting pilgrims, many of them small-scale vendors offering religious relics, Muslim food and attire such as sarongs, prayer rugs and caps.

Visitors can also be seen purchasing dates and perfume before heading home.

For many, the pilgrimage began Friday evening with the Isya prayer, followed at 9 p.m. with the Tarawih. At dawn on Saturday, the faithful then worshiped, reading the Koran, both inside the mosque or by the shrine, some of them dozing slightly while waiting for the 2 a.m. Tahajud prayer to begin, followed by the Sahur meal just before sunrise, and then a morning prayer with the sun's first rays to begin the fasting day.

Firman Basuki, along with 14 fellow villagers from Mojosantren village in Sidoarjo, said he had been making a Ramadan pilgrimage to the compound for the past few years.

"We come here to receive the merits of the 1,000-night prayer," he said.

Mohammad Yatim, gatekeeper of the Ampel shrine, said some pilgrims came from as far as Jakarta, Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan and Pontianak in West Kalimantan.

"All Muslims are allowed to come inside the grave compound to pray," he told the Post on Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of the faithful from numerous provinces have visited the grave over the past four days, he said.

Sunan Ampel, after whom the mosque is named, was one of the nine spiritual leaders who first spread Islam across Java in the 15th Century, for which he is revered, particularly regarding his religious work in the province.

Born in 1401 into the family of Ibrahim Asmarakandi, in Champa, Cambodia, Raden Rachmat -- as he was called at birth -- moved to Java at the age of 20, when Surabaya was ruled by the Majapahit kingdom, on whose throne sat king Brawijaya. The king lent him a 12-hectare plot of land on Ampel Denta, on which the mosque was constructed using Javanese and Arabic architectural styles.

About the old mosque on Jl. KH. Mas Mansyur legends abound, including one about Mbah (grandfather) Sholeh's grave.

According to the story, Ampel buried Sholeh in nine separate graves inside the mosque because the former longed for more friends and students. During his lifetime, Ampel prayed to God to resurrect Sholeh. "He was revived nine times and nine times he came to the aid of Ampel," Nasir quoted the tale.

Another legend concerns Mbah Bolong, known for pinpointing from the mosque the exact direction of the Ka'bah in Mecca by making a hole in the wall through which an imam was able to peer out.

Water from the mosque's seven ground wells, dug by Ampel himself, are believed to heal the sick.

"However, most Muslims come here not to cure their illness, but to practice their faith and pray to God," Nasir said.

Banyuwangi residents view gold mines with dread

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Banyuwangi, East Java | Fri, 09/19/2008 11:47 AM | The Archipelago

Bejo, his wife and four children watched the sun tilt westward as they wrapped up their business at a fish auction on Puger Beach, Banyuwangi, in East Java before setting out to sea again. The 60-year-old man looked off from time to time toward Mount Tumpang Pitu and the Merah Islands, located some 5 kilometers to the east. "Perhaps this will be the last time I see the mountain before it vanishes from all the gold mining," Bejo said.

Bejo and some 4,500 other residents of Pancer hamlet are the locals most concerned about PT Indo Multi Niaga (IMN) and its gold mining activities on Tumpang Pitu and Merah Islands in Banyuwangi, as they could have adverse impacts on the local fishing, their livelihood. "People say the sea will get polluted, making the fish go away. Then what would become of us?" asked Bejo, whose first wife was killed in a tsunami that struck Pancer beach in 1994.

Based on a report by the East Java chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), gold prospecting in Banyuwangi has commenced based on a plan three companies devised back in 1995 -- Hakman Group (HG), PT Hakman Platina Metalindo (HPM) and Banyuwangi Mineral (BM) -- to establish a Jember-Banyuwangi gold belt. Business owner Yusuf Merukh has several stakes in the project. He owns BM, IMN, PT Indo Multi Cipta (IMC) and a 20 percent share in the gold mining enterprise PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR).

The threesome shifted their mining plans from Mount Baban Silosanen in Jember to Banyuwangi when they ran into mounting resistance from environmental activists at the first site. Startlingly, the Banyuwangi regency accepted the request despite the fact they never issued written approval, and on Feb. 13, 2007, gold exploration on Mount Tumpang Pitu and Merah Island got underway.

Is gold mining there a threat to the environment or safe? PT Jember Mineral (JM) and PT Banyuwangi Mineral said they planned to apply the submarine tailings disposal (STD) system to manage mining waste. IMN also has described plans to build such a facility in its environmental impact analysis. That plan details installing an offshore tailings block near Merah Island.

The option of an underground mining method by utilizing a landfill waste management system also cannot assure waste would not flow to the sea, given the location of mine in a block adjacent to the sea. Dumping the mining waste on land would pose hazards to residential and farming areas keeping in mind the landfill was slated to be set up on a 250-hectare plot on the mainland.

Mining observer and member of the Nature Lover Communication Forum Stevanus Bordonski said gold mining in Banyuwangi would likely lead to disaster because of the ensuing effects of mining. "Feasibility studies are important to determine the ecological and social conditions of an area before, during and at the cessation of mining, and this has often been neglected," Stevanus told the Post.

Exploitation by means of open pit mining exploitation would remove soil layers without mineral contents, called over border, resulting in millions of metric tons of excess soil. Soil with mineral contents would then be processed by using modern machinery. Stevanus said in the process of isolating the gold ore, various toxic substances, such as arsenic, hydrocyanic acid and mercury are used, but, most importantly, side effects of mining and processing can produce other toxic gases and elements. "Pollution and environmental destruction are imminent and fatal," Stevanus said.

The Meru Betiri National Park has also raised its concerns over the gold mining activities on Mount Tumpang Pitu and Merah Island. Park official Sumarsono said any mining in Banyuwangi should fall under the jurisdiction of the local Perhutani state forestry company because of their location. He said the adverse impact of mining could effect ecosystems in the park area. "Mining is under Perhutani's authority but we would feel the harmful impact," Sumarsono told the Post.

The Banyuwangi gold mines are only 15 km from three vital beaches within the park -- Rajekwesi, Teluk Hijau and Sukamade -- which have been kept pristine so far. Sukamade is especially important as a turtle breeding site. Walhi estimated ecological damage in the area would be dramatic. The NGO also projected the abundant ground water below Pesanggrahan and Sumber Agung villages, both included in the mining area, could be affected, potentially triggering a water and food crisis there. These villages are one of the rice production surplus centers in East Java, exporting some 10 percent of total production.

Surabaya launches teen awareness drive on HIV/AIDS

I.D Nugroho , youthspeak - The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Sat, 08/23/2008 12:27 PM | Education

Hundreds of teenagers from junior and senior high schools attended an event to vote for student ambassadors to represent Surabaya Stop AIDS at their schools.


JAKARTA-BASED soap opera stars and Close-Up ambassadors Christian Sugiono and Rianti Cartwright energized the event, which was organized by the Surabaya municipal administration, the Unilever Peduli (cares) Foundation and the Spektra provincial nongovernmental organization. Officiating the event was Arif Affandi, the Deputy Mayor of Surabaya and the chairman of the AIDS Prevention Commission (KPA). The teen audience was particularly enthusiastic whenever Christian and Rianti came on stage.

HIV is a virus that attacks the human immune system. This virus can infect other humans through direct exchange of bodily fluids, such as blood through shared needles among drug users, reproductive fluids (sperm and vaginal fluids) through sexual intercourse and breast milk through breastfeeding by an infected woman.

AIDS is a disease that is caused by HIV infection and is characterized by a severe loss of immunity and resistance to infection. AIDS develops within five to 10 years after initial infection by HIV. At present, no cure exists for either HIV or AIDS. In his speech, Arif Affandi said the East Java capital has 1,247 active Stop AIDS ambassadors representing several different schools.

The student ambassadors are tasked with explaining the HIV/AIDS issue to their peers and other teens at their respective schools, and are critical in raising awareness of HIV/AIDS in a school environment. Data provided by the City Health Office show that 2,350 people are living with HIV/AIDS in Surabaya. Nearly 49 percent of these are aged between 20 and 29 years old. “That is why Stop AIDS (student) ambassadors are crucial in the awareness effort,” said Arif.

At the event, Karina Putri Andriyani from SMPN 22 and Fikri Audy Hamzani from SMPN 38 were voted in as junior high student ambassadors. Meanwhile, Widianti Pratidiana from SMAN 10 and Ayu Novi Sari from SMAN 21 were voted in as senior high student ambassadors. Surabaya Stop AIDS generally organizes a series of activities under their KIE (campaign, information and education) program. School Volunteer Teams carry out these activities in health education classes for each grade level.

The KIE awareness programs are also conducted as a National Scouts project or as part of graduation events for both junior and senior high schools. Such occasions provide a platform for reaching out to parents with teenaged children as well. The group also holds formal and informal discussions featuring Stop AIDS ambassadors. Many other events are held to improve teens’ awareness of HIV/AIDS, including poetry readings, posters, cartoons and T-shirts, stickers and pins, as well as drama performances with HIV/AIDS themes.

Government to look into violation of internship program

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Fri, 09/19/2008 11:48 AM | National

Authorities in the East Java capital of Surabaya expressed shock over allegations that hotels and fast-food restaurants in the city were employing interns and contract-based workers as permanent employees. Ahmad Syafei, head of the municipal manpower agency, insisted his office had never received any report on the matter. "We will send officers to check and conduct a field inspection. It is a serious violation and a form of labor exploitation if the case is true," Ahmad told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Both the vocational schools supplying the interns and the companies employing them, he said, should be held responsible for such violations. A number of vocational high school students have complained about their employment in fast-food restaurants, including KFC and McDonalds, claiming they did the same jobs with the same working hours as permanent workers, but received only pocket money instead of monthly salaries.

Others said they were employed on a contract basis, only to have the management terminate their employment after a few renewals, with no compensation. A few of the interns, however, said they hoped to improve their competence through these jobs, and said the pocket money would help cover their tuition fees. Most of the interns are below the age of 17.

Labor activists have condemned the practice, calling it a trick used by employers to reduce their overhead. They claim the practice violates the 2003 child labor law, the 2004 child protection law and the 2004 national education law. Ahmad said the municipal education and culture agency should also look into the issue to see if the apprenticeship program was being implemented according to prevailing regulations.

"(The agency) should enhance supervision of apprenticeship programs that are implemented jointly by the vocational schools and companies through a memorandum of understanding," he said. Widjil Septadi, head of the provincial education agency's vocational education division, concurred, saying apprenticeship programs were an effective way of improving students' competence.

"The program is legal. It is endorsed by the government to improve the students' competence in particular fields of work so they will be ready for employment after their graduation," he said, adding the program was being practiced nationwide in all vocational schools. However, he said, such a program should only be held for three months and not six months, much less a year. Its implementation can vary, depending on the respective companies and vocational schools.

"If employers are happy with the interns' performance, they can recruit them following their graduation," he said, adding students usually joined the internship program during their final year of study.

Hotels, restaurants hire interns to cut costs

JP/ID Nugroho
Fri, 09/12/2008 10:51 AM | East Java

Like many workers in general, Murni (not her real name), a vocational high school (SMK) apprentice in a renowned department store and shopping center in Surabaya, has worked as a full-time cashier for almost a year.

Working five hours on shift, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., six days a week, she gets spending money that is only slightly less than the provincial minimum wage.

"What makes me different is I usually wear my school uniform, and I did not apply to work here," she told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

The 17-year-old student admitted she was proud of working in the prestigious mall with the salary she uses to pay school fees.

Andi, another apprentice in a similar program in a hotel in the city, expressed similar sentiments, saying he and his colleagues were treated as casual laborers and employed only when the hotel needed them to serve guests during peak seasons and weekends.

He admitted getting Rp 500,000 each month in pocket money.

Most of these apprentices are under the age of 18, yet perform their tasks with a responsibility similar to that shouldered by permanent or outsourced workers.

Wawan (not his real name), a contract-based worker in a fast-food restaurant in Central Surabaya, has been employed for almost two years, and he and his colleagues have extended their work contracts twice.

"Several were told to stop working before their contracts expired, and our employers are looking for high school graduates to replace us," he said.

"I will celebrate this upcoming Idul Fitri because I am seeking a new job elsewhere as my contract expires."

Wawan added he received the minimum wage plus daily meals.

"There are no allowances or social security programs, and our pay is cut if we are absent without a letter from a hospital or physician," he said.

He added all employees there had contracts, with the employer imposing sanctions for any violation of the contracts.

He questioned the operation of the U.S.-based fast-food restaurant and its commitment to employees, saying: "We're aware of the restaurant's wrongful labor policy, but we have no alternatives and there are no other companies offering better working conditions and pay."

All these apprentices concurred that restaurants, malls and hotels were implementing apprenticeship programs and contract-based employment as ways of reducing labor costs, and thus paying workers poorly.

The Surabaya Legal Aid Institution (LBH) condemned the manipulation of the apprenticeship program and contract-based system, which it said had long been in use by local and international corporations working with local education institutions to cut down on labor costs.

"The apprenticeship program has been manipulated. It is exploitation, and encourages child labor, which are against labor, education and child protection laws," said Ridjal Alifi Ramadhan, head of LBH's labor division.

He said the education law stipulated apprentices were not workers, but students conducting a labor-oriented study without the need to do work as employees.

"It is quite strange and goes beyond the law when certain vocational schools sign an MOU with certain businesses before carrying out the program," he said.

"What is really behind these agreements?"

He called on parents to file complaints against vocational schools that he said "have indirectly employed their students in the international brand corporations because the practice is against the national law and international labor conventions and human rights".

Employers told to pay bonus on time

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya | Fri, 09/12/2008 10:51 AM | East Java

Authorities in East Java have ordered employers in the formal and informal sectors pay mandatory Idul Fitri allowances to allow workers and their families to celebrate the annual religious event.

Acting Governor Setia Purwoko on Monday said the annual allowance was mandatory. Employers should pay for it to maintain harmonious relations with their workers and avoid unrest.

East Java, especially Surabaya and its outskirts, is home to thousands of big corporations and labor-intensive companies employing millions of low-income workers, he said.

"We have disseminated circulars calling employers to comply with the 1994 ministerial decree that requires them to pay the allowance two weeks before the celebration," he said.

This year's Idul Fitri falls on October 1, 2008.

Provincial manpower and transmigration agency head Bahrudin expressed optimism that big corporations would pay the special bonus.

"We will check on small and medium-scale companies to ensure they comply with the decree."

The decree, he said, stipulates that workers who have been employed for at least a year deserve a bonus as high as their gross monthly salary.

Exception is given to companies having financial difficulties. They are allowed to skip paying the bonus, but only after submitting a request to the agency and after being audited by public accountants, Bahrudin said.

"Companies or employers violating the decree are subjects to a maximum three-month jail sentence or a Rp 50 million (US$5,250) fine according to the 2003 Labor Law," he added.

Separately, labor unions urged the provincial and regental administrations to open posts for decree violation complaints.

Confederation of Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union (KSBSI) chairman Rekson Silaban asked the provincial government to remain tough on enforcing the decree because many employers usually used various tricks to avoid paying the allowance.

Among the tricks, he said, include entirely skipping the payment, suspending it after Idul Fitri or granting seasonal gifts.

"The government should make sure the allowance is paid two weeks before Idul Fitri and is as high as the workers' gross monthly salaries," he said.

Charging Workers Alliance (ABM) chairman Jamaluddin similarly expressed pessimism that employers would comply with the decree especially due to the poor global economic conditions thanks to soaring world fuel prices and their impact on the price of raw-materials and basic commodities.

The annual bonus, he said, has been a chronic problem year to year in the province, with 3,181 companies in industrial estates reportedly infringed last year.

The Surabaya Legal Aids Institute (LBH) and United Indonesian Labor Action (Kasbi) has opened a special post for complaints from workers regarding the special allowance this year. Received complaints will be sent to the local manpower and transmigration agency and then brought to the labor court.

HM Sampoerna public relations manager Yudi Rizard said the cigarette company, which employs more than 25,000 workers, has allocated in its annual budget a post for the special bonus. He ensured the bonus would be paid in time.

Maspion PR manager Soeharto concurred, saying that the escalating prices of fuel and raw materials were not a valid reason for his company to postpone the allowance payment.

Apart from the bonus, he said, his company had even prepared buses to transport its 23,000 workers to their home villages to celebrate Idul Fitri with their extended families.

"This is an expression of the corporation's care for the workers," he said.

ExxonMobil vows oil, gas will help empower Bojonegoro people

Ridwan Max Sijabat and ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Bojonegoro | Mon, 09/08/2008 10:58 AM | East Java

Local communities and administrations are questioning the social benefit of oil and gas exploration on the border between East and Central Java, three years after ExxonMobil Ltd began operations in the region.

Villagers at each of the four exploration sites in Banyu Urip, Ngasem, and Bojonegoro have taken to the streets in protest at employment policies adopted by the Oil and Gas Implementing Agency (BP Migas).

They accuse BP Migas of underemploying local workers in local infrastructure development projects. Supporting the protests, local regency administrations have asked both BP Migas and ExxonMobil to give priority to local workers, in accordance with their skills.

ExxonMobil spokeswoman Deva Rahman asked the public to consider the joint operating agreement carefully. Saying she was shocked by the protests, Deva argued Pertamina and BP Migas were responsible for handling infrastructure development projects in the contract area.

"Physical development is the domain of BP Migas. We handle oil and gas exploration," she told The Jakarta Post recently, adding ExxonMobil was strongly committed to its corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, including employing locals and empowering local partners and furthering investment in oil and gas exploration.

"Just as we do in other developing countries worldwide, ExxonMobil will help improve health, education and economic growth in and around our contract areas in the two provinces," she added.

The U.S.-based energy holding company signed a joint operating agreement (JOA) with state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina for the Cepu contract area back in September 2005.

According to the JOA, Pertamina and ExxonMobil each hold a 50-percent interest in the Block Cepu contract, with an eventual 10-percent holding by a regional entity representing the two provinces' administrations.

Two ExxonMobil subsidiaries, Mobil Cepu Ltd. and Ampolex Cepu Ltd. (MCL), are currently exploring the 1.670-square-kilometer oil and gas fields in Banyu Urip, Sukowati, Jambaran and Alas Tua.

Discovered in March 2001, Banyu Urip is believed to contain more than 250 million barrels of oil, with the field expected to produce up to 165,000 barrels of oil per day, at peak production.

MCL spokesman Primantoko said his company's corporate social responsibility program looks to improve health, education and economic growth in Bojonegoro regency.

His company is in the midst of studying proposed development programs to help empower local communities in all regencies covered by MCL's core operations, he added.

"The community development program has to be designed jointly with recipients, to make it useful for the public at large. We began it long before the oil and gas fields started production," Primantoko said.

As examples, Primantoko cited MLC's construction of a public clinic in Gayam village and public polyclinics in Ngringinrejo and Sumber Tlaseh villages, the latter requested by locals.

MLC also assists farmers in pumping water from the Bengawan Solo river to irrigate farmlands, in addition to helping them start a traditional market to spur growth in the regency's agriculture sector.

With respect to education, starting this November, MCL will pay for 500 one-year subscriptions to The Jakarta Post and Newspaper in Education (NIE), as part of its contribution to six junior high and high schools in the regency, he added.

MCL's acting public affairs manager Rexy H. Mawardijaya said the CSR program was based on environmental impact studies (Amdal) related to oil and gas exploration that were conducted jointly with the government and an independent institution.

Separately, a local environmentalist criticized the government and ExxonMobil for promoting the minor benefits of oil exploration to locals while hiding its negative impacts on the environment.

"Apart from polluting the air, oil and gas exploration is believed to exacerbate drought because it will require ground and river water to drive pumps in the oil fields," chairman of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment's (Walhi) East Java Branch Bambang Catur Nusantara said.

He urged the government and ExxonMobil's subsidiaries to make all necessary preparations for handling environmental problems caused by exploration.

Bojonegoro Regent Suyoto said his government has prepared for all positive and negative impacts of exploration on the local community, the government's economic programs and the environment.

"We have implemented several regulations on employment, education, health and economic contributions to maximize the benefits and avoid negative impacts from mining," he added, when asked recently to comment on the potential impacts of oil exploration in the regency.

Resource-rich Bojonegoro relies on non-oil commodities

Ridwan Max Sijabat and ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Bojonegoro | Fri, 09/05/2008 11:30 AM | East Java

Pasiran, a resident of Banyu Urip village in Ngasem subdistrict, some 110 kilometers from the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya, is deeply disappointed with the central government.

The 40-year-old strongly regrets the government's decision not to employ him in a local infrastructure development project led by Cepu Mobil Ltd, a unit of the US-based mining giant ExxonMobil Ltd.

Expecting employment from recent exploration activities in the area, Pasiran said he and his sons -- like many other villagers -- had been refused a part in the project, forcing him to migrate to the city amid the province's prolonged drought.

"I know I'm uneducated and unskilled, but I can contribute something to the infrastructure development project," Pasiran told The Jakarta Post recently.

Ngasem is one of the least-developed subdistricts in the regency, with a majority of its inhabitants living in poverty.

The subdistrict has a four-hectare oil and gas field in Banyu Urip, where the Oil and Gas Implementing Body (BP Migas) is still putting infrastructure in place, including a road.

The oil field is part of the Block Cepu fields, a contract for which has been won by ExxonMobil.

Villagers have several times taken to the streets in protest over employment practices related to the project, closing the road leading to the project site. They blame BP Migas for failing to uphold its social responsibility to empower locals.

BP Migas employed several local senior high school graduates and undergraduates as security guards for the project, but it was done merely to meet minimum ethical requirements and not to empower residents, Pasiran said.

Bojonegoro Regent Suyoto, who supports the protests, said BP Migas and Cepu Mobil have agreed to pave the road in Ngasem and other subdistricts to help accelerate development in the regency.

He warned his constituents, however, not to assume planned exploration of the large oil and natural gas fields in the region would improve their standards of living, as the fields belong to the central government and foreign company.

Speaking to the Post recently at his office, Suyoto said vast teakwood forests and oil fields were not necessarily something to be proud of.

Neither will make the regency more economically prosperous, because the regency will receive only a relatively small share of the profits, he added.

"The teakwood forest belongs to state forest concession PT Perhutani, whose profits go directly to the state while the oil fields belong to the central government," Suyoto said.

Once Cepu Mobil Ltd. starts operation, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels of oil a day -- according to Suyoto -- Bojonegoro will receive 1.5 percent of the profits or about Rp 2 trillion (US$217 million) a year.

"This will not make this regency, with 1.3 million inhabitants, rich," said Suyoto, who is entering his second year in office.

The regent would not elaborate, though the additional funds are certain to boost Bojonegoro regency's current Rp 812 billion budget.

He added his administration is concentrating on repairing the regency's poor roads and on developing irrigation ditches along the Bengawan Solo river, to revitalize the agricultural sector.

Bojonegoro is the second poorest regency in the province, after Trenggalek, Suyoto said. Half of Bojonegoro's budget went to public works projects, including for infrastructure development, particularly an irrigation system and roads.

"A better irrigation system and road networks are two key factors in solving our many social problems including poverty, unemployment and an unhealthy environment," he added.

To assist the poor, the administration has been trying to maximize the central government's health and education programs, Suyoto said.

More than 48 percent of the poor (572,000 individuals) have enjoyed the benefits of the public health program (Jamkesmas), received cash assistance and taken part in the national anti-unemployment program, he added.

"Our main goal is to provide clean water, irrigation facilities and paved roads within three years. Then we will move toward intensifying our education program," said Suyoto, a former lecturer at the August 17, 1945, University in Surabaya.

He admits to an obsession with improving the regency's human development index (HDI) by doubling farmers' per capita income and by improving their health conditions and education.

"We will continue introducing new varieties of rice, melon, soybean, corn and other plants to improve farmers' productivity," he added.

To help realize the regency's goal of raising 400,000 cows a year, he has encouraged his constituents to use harvested rice stems as feed, he said.

"We have also invited a number of state and private banks to provide soft loans to farmers to support the regency's program to promote non-oil commodities," Suyoto added.

AGO investigates airport project

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Banyuwangi | Fri, 09/05/2008 11:31 AM | East Java

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has named a number of former Banyuwangi administration officials as suspects in alleged corruption worth Rp 40 billion during the construction of Blimbing Sari Airport from 2003 to 2005.

The AGO investigation team leader Muhammad Anwar said his team had named seven former officials as suspects but three had not been detained.

He said the team planned to continue questioning Regent Ratna Ani Lestari over her alleged involvement in the case but was still waiting for a permit from the President.

"All suspects will be announced to the public immediately. They will be summoned to undergo a marathon investigation at the Banyuwangi attorney's office," he said after revealing the case in Banyuwangi on Wednesday.

The seven suspects include former regent Samsul Hadi, now serving a jail sentence for another corruption case, property broker H. Effendy, secretary of the regency administration Sudjiharto, former chief of the local development planning board Soeharno and former chief of the local agricultural agency Nawolo Prasetyo.

He said the seven suspects would be indicted for allegedly marking up the price of the 38 hectares of land earmarked for the airport in 2003 and 2005, causing Rp 40 billion in losses to the state.

Nawolo, now chief of the agrarian office in Sangata, East Kalimantan, and Sudhiharto have been detained in Banyuwangi. They and the other suspects they will undergo further interrogation.

"Sudjiharto is accused of disbursing funds for the land procurement and the regent is being held responsible for the mark-up case because he approved the land procurement," he said.

Separately, chairman of the local chapter of Nadhlatul Ulama Masykur Ali called on Ratna to step down from her position because of her alleged involvement in the case.

"It is better for the regent to step down for a fair investigation into the case because she has been held as a suspect," he said Tuesday while at a farewell party for former chief prosecutor Surana.

Ratna, who was accompanied by her husband I Gede Winasa, the regent of Jembrana in Bali, said she would not be pressured by the increasing demands for her resignation because she was not involved in the case.

"I don't know if I am a suspect. This is a consequence that I must take in my position as a public official. I didn't steal the people's money. Whatever happens, the administration must go on running," she said.

She said the new chief prosecutor should work professionally in carrying out a thorough investigation into the case.

The small airport construction has been completed but has yet to be opened. Another one in Jember began operating last month.

The two airports will serve the state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines and Tri GM to help improve public services and stimulate economic development in the province's eastern regions, including Banyuwangi and Jember.

The provincial legislative council praised the new airport although former and current Banyuwangi officials were allegedly involved in corruption surrounding its construction.

"The Banyuwangi people and the media should not stop with the corruption case but look at the regency's long-term development program," councilor Wahyudi of the East Java legislature council said.

Prices increase despite fasting

Fri, 09/05/2008 2:19 PM | East Java

SURABAYA: The prices of foodstuffs in East Java rose between five percent and ten percent during the first week of the fasting month.

The basic commodities price hikes occurred at the Pabean and Keputran traditional markets in Surabaya as well as in Malang and Kediri.

However, increased prices for cooking oil, rice, vegetables, flour and meat have not led to panic at the local markets because demand has remained relatively constant.

The price of eggs rose by Rp 2,000 (21 US cents) to Rp 15,000 per kilogram from the previous Rp 13,000 per kg, and the coconut price rose to Rp 4,500 from Rp 3,000. Meanwhile, vegetables prices generally slumped in Sidoarjo and Gresik.

The beef price rose slightly to Rp 58,000 per kg from Rp 48,000, chicken jumped dramatically from 14,000 per kg to Rp 40,000 per kg, and cooking oil was down to Rp 7,250 from Rp 8,250 per liter in Jember, Banyuwangi and Situbondo.

The provincial industry and trade office was still coordinating with producers and distributors to control the both hikes and speculators, ensuring supply of basic commodities.

"The demand for basic commodities is not increasing because a majority of people are fasting. The rising prices have something to do with the market psychology on the eve of the Idul Fitri celebrations," said a senior official at the industry and trade office Wednesday. -JP

Sanitation problems continue to plague Surabaya

ID Nugroho , The Jakarta Post , Surabaya, East Java | Fri, 09/05/2008 11:29 AM | The Archipelago

Communities in and around Surabaya remain subject to chronic sanitation problems due to lack of public awareness and a comprehensive sanitation system, a conservationist says.

"Although Surabaya is the second largest city -- after Jakarta -- sanitation problems prevail. Many areas have inadequate sanitation facilities. Residents still resort to dumping garbage into rivers," environmental lecturer and researcher at Surabaya's 10 November Institute of Technology (ITS) Ipung Fitri Purwanti told The Jakarta Post in Surabaya recently.

She cited Keputih village in East Surabaya's Sukolilo district as one such community lacking access to proper sanitation facilities, including public bathrooms, potable water and green areas.

"It's regrettable because the village is a stone's throw from the ITS campus, but residents still lack environmental awareness," she said.

One of the stumbling blocks to improving the area's sanitation is negligence and lack of effective city-run programs. The municipality appears less concerned about the problem, while residents remain neglectful.

"The government, residents and intellectuals are to be blamed for not making it a crucial issue, and have only exacerbated the problem instead," Ipung said.

Syaiful Munir, the leader of Kampoeng Sawoeng Community, an NGO focused on village empowerment, was of the same opinion, saying all 33 areas that fall under the organization's purview face similar problems.

"All of them are deprived of proper sanitation," Munir told the Post, citing Kampung Gresikan -- one of the most densely populated villages in East Surabaya -- as continuing to function without adequate sanitation infrastructure.

The village's drainage system is often clogged while green areas are nonexistent.

"Residents still think there's no need to restore the condition of their kampung, saying it's the government's responsibility," he said.

Surabaya faces three principal sanitation problems -- waste management, water management and inadequate public bathrooms, he added.

The city is confronted with particular waste management problems, such as not being able to sort dry from wet garbage for recycling as well as entrenched public attitudes that frustrate efforts at water management, Munir said. For example, people continue dumping household waste into rivers.

"People have neglected these issues because the benefits are not instantaneous and because of a lack of information, not to mention the problem of population density," Munir said.

Tambaksari, Wonosari and Wonokusumo are among the poorest villages supported by Kampoeng Sawoeng.

"They are densely populated areas with little initiative because the majority of people there are poorly educated, making them less aware of the situation," he added.

In dealing with the villages, Kampoeng Sawoeng had to alter its original strategy, Munir added.

In the past, the organization worked to transform young people's mindsets by working with schools and by organizing Saturday workshops on planting and drawing as part of students' extra-curricular activities.

"Three years have passed and a number of schools still see the need for the programs," Munir said.

Between 2006 and 2007, Kampoeng Sawoeng also widened its scope by enhancing awareness through public discussions and direct community participation, such as waste management and regreening drives. The program began with 15 villages and has grown to include 33.

"We're concentrating on a sanitation improvement program this year, with the main focus being water management," Munir added.

The organization will encourage residents to drill holes -- called bio-pores -- around their homes to contain water seepage to be bound by the soil.

"Less water will flow directly into drains and will enter the ground through the bio-pores instead, thus replenishing ground water," he said.

The seemingly simple scheme is challenging, especially with respect to drilling methods, with assistance from the government and funding agencies required to realize the program.

"This is more difficult than regreening efforts because, as I've said earlier, benefits from ground water cannot be felt instantly," Munir added.

Park works hard to safeguard turtle population

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya, East Java, Tue, 09/02/2008 10:24 AM, Environment

"A turtle is laying eggs! A turtle is laying eggs," a national park officer shouted, breaking the silence of the night.

Visitors staying at the guard post of the Meru Betiri National Park in Banyuwangi, East Java, rushed to Sukamande beach, about a kilometer away. Some of them carried torches, while others relied on the moonlight to guide the way. "Please, don't get too close to the turtle, this will disturb the egg-laying process," said Slamet, one of the national park officers.

When a turtle is about to lay eggs, he explained, she becomes very sensitive. A little light can make her stressed and give up. The turtle that laid eggs that night was quite big, about one meter long with 60-centimeter fins on its sides. The head, measuring the size of an adult's two fists, continually moved to the left and right, as if scanning its surroundings.

After laying the eggs, the turtle moved to the left and made another hole to fool predators and then moved slowly towards the sea to disappear into the rolling waves. Sukamande beach remains a site where sea turtles lay their eggs. Four species of turtle -- the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), olive ridley turtle (Lephidochelys olivacea), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys Imbricata) and leatherback turtle (Dhermochelys coriacea) -- lay their eggs along the three-kilometer-long coast, which covers about 250 hectares.

But only green turtles and olive ridley turtles regularly lay their eggs in the area. The presence of turtles on Sukamande beach is important not only for the national park, but also for the people of East Java. "Their presence is proof that the beach is still natural and should be conserved," Heri Subagiyadi, head of the national park, told The Jakarta Post recently.

He said the park's management team was working hard to conserve the beach. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Sukamade beach is the biggest's nesting place for turtles in Java. Every month, around 20 turtles land on the beach to lay their eggs, with one turtle laying between 100 and 150 eggs on average. The turtle seen that night on the beach laid 118 eggs.

At least 2,500 eggs can be seen on the beach every month -- but only one in 1,000 eggs will mature to become an adult turtle. Heri said predators like dogs, eagles, snakes and even leopards are the biggest threat to the turtle population. "But people are the cruelest predators. It is people who often take the eggs to sell them," Heri said.

Turtle eggs fetch a good price -- about Rp.1,500 to 2,000 (16 US cents to 22 cents) each; a higher price than chicken eggs. In many places, he added, people also hunt adult turtles. This especially happens in Bali, as turtles are a part of local religious ceremonies.

"But that is only an excuse. Our investigation shows that turtles are hunted all the time, not only prior to religious ceremonies. Some sell turtle fat to be used in cosmetics," Heri said. The Meru Betiri National Park management, therefore, has deemed it necessary to monitor turtles and their egg-hatching activities.

The process is quite simple: The eggs planted by the turtle mothers are brought to the park post area where they are reburied. In their new location, the turtle eggs are registered and within a week the eggs begin to hatch. The baby turtles are then released into their natural habitat; the sea.

Until July, the park had released 13,510 baby turtles. In a year, an average of 20,000 eggs hatched under the park's monitoring system are released. Yet, despite tight monitoring of the eggs, many are still stolen. The park's management has estimated that 30 percent of the eggs are stolen every year.

"In 2008 alone, we have reported four theft cases to the police, but until today there has not been any follow up," Heri said. Heri said he and his team were determined to make Sukamande beach a turtle conservation area through a turtle conservation management unit, which will concentrate on research, habitat development and turtle egg-hatching activities, as well as public empowerment.

"I have presented this matter before the Directorate of Environmental Service and Ecotourism. I don't know what the results are yet," he said. The park's management is hoping to receive funding to finance the purchase of a turtle-tagging tool. Carrying a price tag of Rp 24 million, the tool will allow tags to be attached to the turtles, which will then be tracked through signals sent via satellite.

The national park currently spends Rp 15 million per month to pay its six employees -- three forest guards, one forest ecosystem controller and two non-structural officers -- and cover the cost of fuel for a a power generator and a motorcycle. The six employees are tasked with monitoring the 11-hectare park, which consists of a beach and a forest. "Under such conditions, we do our best," said Heri.

Tobacco farmers urge MUI to reject anti-smoking edict

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post Surabaya, Mon, 09/01/2008 11:03 AM, The Archipelago

The East Java branch of the APTI urged the provincial chapter of the MUI on Friday to reject a proposed edict that would forbid smoking. "It would be more human if the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) switched to a regulation supporting smoking," Abdum Hafidz Azis said at a meeting with the council's executives in Surabaya on Friday. Abdul is secretary of the Association of Indonesian Tobacco Farmers (APTI) East Java branch.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post after the meeting, Abdul said none of the verses in the Holy Koran and hadith (deeds of the Prophet Muhammad) banned smoking as proposed to MUI by a small society of Muslims grouped under the Islamic Propagation Council (DDI).

"Even Muslims still have internal debates regarding Islamic legal principles, such as what is allowed; mubah (neither forbidden nor required); makruh (the avoidance of which yields merit but the performance of which is not sinful); and haram (forbidden)," said Abdul, who is also a cleric of Miftahul Ulul al Anwar Islamic boarding school in Tlogosari, Madura.

Adbul said Muslims were not allowed to create laws of their own, especially if they then forced others to follow. In terms of smoking, in particular, an edict forbidding Muslims from smoking would surely have grave implications for farmers, he said. "This cannot just be ignored."

The commodity is planted in 20 regencies and municipalities in East Java which contributes 53 percent of the national tobacco production and Rp 682 billion (US$7.4 million) in annual income taxes to the provincial treasury, he said.

Abdul added that the agricultural sector absorbed 27 million workers while the province's 1,367 cigarette factories contributed 78 percent of the national excise revenue. Last year, the government received Rp 41.3 trillion in tobacco excise revenue.

Responding to the demand, MUI East Java chairman Abdussomad Bukhari said the council had yet to forbid smoking, suggesting that tobacco farmers keep planting as usual. National MUI deputy chairman Amidhan had previously announced it was considering issuing an edict forbidding Muslims from smoking.

Earlier, several organizations including the National Commission for Child Protection and the Association of Health Experts, asked MUI to issue an edict banning smoking due to their concerns at the increasing number of child smokers.

In a separate development, a number of people grouped under Jangan Merokok, a community care network for smoke-free areas, staged a rally on Friday on Jl Gubernur Suryo and Jl Pemuda, Surabaya. They demanded the provincial legislative council and Surabaya municipal administration approve and apply the planned bylaw for smoke-free areas.

"It is the most advanced smoking regulation Indonesia has, and therefore deserves support," the network's spokesperson Yanti said. Yanti said the regulation would protect passive smokers including pregnant mothers, children and other vulnerable groups from active smokers. "For this reason, we urge municipal legislative council leaders to push its special committee to complete the deliberation of the bylaw."