Jakartans told to stop littering city rivers

Triwik Kurniasari, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Tue, 03/31/2009 11:11 AM

Changing people’s mind-set about living healthy and keeping the environment clean is the main key to encouraging people to handle waste management issues, a discussion concluded on Monday.

Sanitation remains a major problem in the capital, with many Jakartans still disposing of human waste into rivers, and even using the rivers over lavatories when nature calls.

National Development and Planning Agency (Bappenas) wastewater unit head Nugroho Tri Utomo said many people did not heed the importance of defecating in lavatories.

“We can see many slum dwellers living along riverbanks, like the Ciliwung, choosing to defecate in the river for practical reasons,” he said.

“Besides, many people who have lavatories at home still build waste pipes from their toilets to nearby rivers. It’s just the same as defecating in the river.”

Most people, he added, were unaware that human waste could pollute river water and cause various diseases, like diarrhea and typhoid.

“But it’s not easy to kick off the habit, since disposing of human waste into rivers has been some kind of culture,” Nugroho said during a discussion about sanitation at Trisakti University.

Ariani Dwi Astuti, head of Trisakti’s School of Environmental Engineering, agreed.

She said it was necessary to create specific toilet designs for people with different backgrounds.

“It’s important to adapt the technology for the local community. We can create a dry toilet for people in East Nusa Tenggara, for instance, since the people usually defecate in dry open air,” Ariani said.

She added the media played a big role in raising awareness about the important of using proper lavatories.

“It’s not easy raising public awareness about using lavatories instead of rivers to defecate in,” she said.

“Putting up ads on local TV is a good and effective way of educating people. The city administration can also take part by giving sanitation education in schools.”

The government, through Vice President Jusuf Kalla, is targeting to rid Indonesia of the habit of defecating in open areas by 2014, in a bid to increase public health quality.

Naning Adisowo, chairwoman of the Indonesian Toilet Association (ATI), urged the city administration to procure more public toilets.

“If the administration provides appropriate toilets in public places, it will prevent people from urinating on bushes or trees,” she said.

West Java police destroy bogus herbal medicine

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/31/2009 10:43 AM

West Java police burned thousands of boxes of artificial "herbal" medicine, cosmetics and tainted food at the office's headquarters in Bandung on Tuesday morning.

The police and the local Food and Drug Monitoring Agency said the goods, which were siezed from a warehouse in Bandung last month, contain dangerous chemical substances.

“There are a total of 15 tons of them worth billions of rupiah,” head of the agency Agung Prabowo said, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. He added that the goods include 130,000 packs of bogus herbal medicine.

Agus said the agency suspect the bogus medicine has been distributed to small stores and kiosks.

Police have arrested Yo Giok Hin, aka Johny Setiawan, owner of the warehouse, as suspect in the case, but are making further investigations.

Text on the herbal packages claims the medicines were made in Cilacap or Jawa Tengah. Brand names include Cobra, Pastijoss, Sembilan Raja and Jawa Asli. (dre)

Health Minister’s Husband Dies at 66

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, March 29, 2009

Hundreds of family members, friends and state officials gathered on Sunday at the residence of Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari to mourn the death of her husband.

Muhammad Supari passed away on Saturday afternoon at the age of 66 from leukemia. He was admitted to Jakarta’s Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital on Wednesday.

“He fell into a coma on Saturday morning,” said Lily Sulistyowati, chief spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, “and at 5:20 p.m., he passed away.”

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Supari’s house on Sunday night, after returning from campaigning in Aceh Province.

The president described Supari as a humble man who never lost his spirit, even when ill.

“He kept motivating his wife to work even when he was sick,” Yudhoyono said.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla and his wife visited the minister’s house on Saturday night to pay their respects.

Lily said Supari first became ill last September, before being diagnosed with leukemia, a cancer of the blood.

“He looked quite healthy for the past few months,” Lily said, “but that’s the thing with cancer, you just never know when it’s going to strike.”

Lily said Supari was buried at the San Diego Hills cemetery in Karawang, West Java Province, later on Sunday.

A number of ministers reportedly attended the funeral service, including Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto and Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono.

Police asked to investigate death of RI student in Singapore

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 03/30/2009 5:06 PM

The National Police Headquarters has been urged to investigate the recent death of David Hartanto, an Indonesian studying at the Nangyang Technological University in Singapore, state news agency Antara has reported.

Hartanto Wijaya, David's father, made the statement at the National Police's Ciriminal and Investigation Unit in South Jakarta on Monday.

He came to the National Police Headquarters to urge the police to investigate the death of his son in Singapore.

David was found dead on March 3, 2009 after plunging from the third floor of the university's campus.

Singaporean authorities said David committed suicide, but Hartanto Wijaya does not believe this to be the cause of his son's death.

"I want the Police and the government to help investigate the case of my son in Singapore because his death was anomalous peculiar," he said.

He said that what was peculiar about his son's death was that David was reported to have stubbed his teacher, but that it was his son who died in the incident.

He also questioned why the wound on his son's neck was covered with a plaster when he died.

"If David committed suicide by jumping down from the university campus, his body would have broken into pieces but in fact he only sustained bruises," Hartanto Wijaya said.

He also questioned why the results of an autopsy have yet to be issued.

Hartanto Wijaya denied that the death of his son had something to do with the suspension of his scholarship by the university. (ewd)

Related Article:

National Police rejects inquest request of slain student's parents

University`s faculty to reject scholarships from cigarette industry

Semarang (ANTARA News) - The faculty of public health of state Diponegoro University here will reject all kinds of donations including scholarships from cigarette companies as of 2009, its dean, Tinuk Istiarti, said here on Saturday.

"All financial assistance from cigaratte industry will be rejected including scholarships for students or lecturers as well as sponsorship funds for campus activities," she said.

She said the decision was taken with regard to promoting anti-cigarette smoking campaign in campus that has also been carried out in several other campuses in Indonesia.

She said she was of the view that campus was a place for students to learn and to support it a healthy learning environment had to be created among others through creation of smoke-free environment.

"The university`s faculty of public health is participating in pioneering the campaign of anti-cigarette smoking in campus with a hope it will arouse the public particularly students who smoke to stop the habit," she said.

She said her side had to have the courage to make the decision because cigarette industry was one of the biggest donors for students and lecturers.

She said it would be inconsistent if on the one hand the campus received donations from cigarette industry but on the other campaigned against cigarette smoking.

Moreover, she added, the campus would be considered legitimizing smoking if it received funds from cigarette companies.

"Anti-smoking campaign must not stop on forbidding smoking but must proceed to reject all kinds of cigarette ads in campus," she said.

The faculty of public health has promoted anti-cigarette smoking since the end of 2008 but the launching of anti-cigarette smoking campaign was officially announced only on Thursday, March 6, 2009.

She said any student found smoking a cigarette in the campus area would be fined Rp50,000.

She said so far no student or lecturer had been caught smoking in the campus. "No one has been fined yet," she said.

Health minister asked to give higher care on Ponari`s practices

Semarang (ANTARA News) - Health Minister was expected to give higher care on the welfare of the people especially in the field of health following the death of another patient of Ponari, a small boy healer from Jombang, on Sunday.

Coordinator of the Women and Children Care Network (JPPA) of Central Java chapter Prof Agnes Widanti S here on Monday said with the death of another Ponari`s patient, the health minister should immediately take a follow up step to prevent such similar incident from recurrence in the future.

"Just let this incident come up as a lesson in order to avoid such similar incident from happening in the future," she said.

However, she reminded that so far the condition of people`s health was really poor. Practically such similar incident tend to happen in the future.

As a matter of fact, the government especially the health minister should be responsive to this problem and take a follow up step to improve the condition of the people`s health.

After learning Ponari`s case, Agnes further stressed the community preferred more to choose a small boy to heal their diseases more than medical doctors.

"The reason why they prefer to meet Ponari is due the fact that consultation cost to the doctor is much higher than that of healing service handled by Ponary," she said.

However, Agnes added, the government had taken various steps to improve the health of the people by providing generic medicines and public health guaranty.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the implementation of those efforts was not effective to improve public health, Agnes said.

Therefore, he reminded the government to continuously monitor and watch medical practices of Ponari in the sense that the healing practice should not hamper the process of Ponary`s progress as a child.

"Let alone, the right of a child to get education is not ignored. That is really lamentable," she said.

‘Mx’ gene in indigenous chickens keeps the flu away: Study

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, BOGOR | Wed, 03/25/2009 11:18 AM

At least 62 percent of chickens indigenous to Indonesia are resistant to bird flu, thanks to a gene in their body called Mx, the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) revealed Monday.

“Genetically, the indigenous chickens [to Indonesia] have a gene that is immune to avian influenza,” said head of the institute Umar

Anggara Jenie, in an exposé of a biological study she gave at the Cibinong Sciences Center in Bogor, West Java.

Sri Sulandari, a gene researcher at the institute’s biological research center who studied the genes of indigenous chickens, said her institute carried out the first ever gene study focusing on how humans coped when contracting the virus and on the vaccination process.

“Few have looked into the genetic side to see how chickens themselves have a natural resistance to bird flu. The indigenous chickens’ ability to resist avian influenza varies according to the strength of the antivirus genes in their body,” Sri said.

Recent evidence indicated the Mx gene was associated with chicken resistance or susceptibility to highly pathogenic bird flu.

Indonesia’s varied population of indigenous chickens is a mine of information on the Mx gene and how resistant each breed of chicken is to bird flu, Sri added.

“Therefore, if there is a bird flu epidemic in a certain region, it is unwise to simply cull indigenous breeds, as we may lose crucial information on the Mx gene,” she said.

Ayam Cemani

A visit to Beji, the "birthplace" of the Ayam Cemani

Based on research findings, the institute rated the dark-colored Cemani chicken the most resistant to the virus and the green forest chicken the most susceptible.

The population of chickens in Banten, West Java, Lampung and North Sumatra was also found to be highly resistant to the virus.

The institute’s research findings were based on samples taken from 1,872 indigenous chickens of various breeds.

Avian influenza was first detected in Indonesia in August 2003 and has now been found in birds from 31 of the archipelago’s provinces.

According to the Indonesia National Committee for Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic Influenza Preparedness, there have been 145 human cases of bird flu in Indonesia spread over 12 provinces, with 119 fatalities.

To curb the spread of bird flu, the Jakarta administration issued a bylaw to ban backyard farming and also plans to remove all fowl slaughterhouses from inner city areas, concentrating slaughtering in the peripheral areas of Jakarta, such as Pulogadung, Rawa Kepiting and Cakung in East Jakarta and Kalideres in West Jakarta.

The administration is also aiming to relocate all slaughterhouses in the city to the four fowl slaughter centers by April 2010. In 2007, the city administration culled 78,741 fowl.

100 still missing in Situ Gintung dam burst tragedy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 03/29/2009 2:29 PM

Recovering remains: Indonesian soldiers search for victims after a dam burst in Jakarta on Sunday. Attention shifted to caring for homeless and hungry survivors after a dam burst outside the Indonesian capital, sending a wall of water crashing into homes and killing at least 91 people. More than 100 others are still missing, but hope dimmed Sunday of finding them alive. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana)

An emergency search and rescue team (UMJ) combing the Situ Gintung area has so far found 96 fatalities, while 100 residents remain missing, tempointeraktif.com reported on Sunday.

"The count is based on the reports of local residents and also neighborhood coordination. Many of the bodies are not clear which neighborhood unit they belong to," UMJ coordinator Rahmat Salam said.

More than 500 people have volunteered to help evacuate victims in the aftermath of the deadly collapse of the Situ Gintung sluice gate and embankment in Cireundeu, Tangerang.

The team comprises members of the national Search and Rescue (SAR), BNPN, Gegana bomb squad, the Health Agency, the Indonesian Red Cross, the police, college students and other members of the public.

The dam burst, which was triggered by heavy torrential rains on Friday evening, had flatted 319 homes, schools and a university campus.

More than 500 residents became homeless and were staying at temporary shelters erected at several locations around the disaster area. (amr)

Situ Gintung search drags on as death toll reaches 91

Multa Fidrus and Irawaty Wardany , THE JAKARTA POST , TANGERANG | Sun, 03/29/2009 11:20 AM

In the aftermath of the deadly collapse of the Situ Gintung sluice gate and embankment in Cireundeu, Tangerang, a joint search and rescue team scoured the area devastated by the dam burst on Saturday, recovering more bodies and bringing the death toll to 91.

Coordinator of the police post at STIE Ahmad Dahlan, Comr. Dahlan said that the teams had found 33 bodies as of Saturday evening.

Dahlan, however, said that the team found it difficult to identify the bodies recovered from the thick mud and building rubble.

“Many victims are not registered by our neighborhood unit because they were university students who rented rooms in the neighborhood,” Bejo, an official of the severely-damaged neighborhood unit (RT) 04, said.

The police said they were still searching for 73 people reportedly missing from the 15-minute disaster.

More than 1,000 search and rescue team members would keep searching for victims every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a week.

“Then, we will use backhoes and bulldozers to clean up the rubble,” Tangerang military commander Lt. Col. Joni Abdi said, as quoted by Vivanews.com.

The dam burst, triggered by torrential rains on Friday evening, had flatted 319 homes, schools and a university campus. More than 500 residents became homeless and were staying at temporary shelters erected at several locations around the disaster area.

“So far, we’ve got enough food. But, we don’t have clothes to change into or clean water to take a shower,” said Sarminah, a resident of RT 01, who has been residing in the area for eight years.

But, another victim, Supriyati, a mother of two, said what she wants most is a new house.

“What we are thinking right now is about our house. The walls are all crushed although my house still has the pillars,” she said.

Most residents whose homes were swamped with water during the flash flood were seen cleaning up debris and mud from their homes on Saturday.

“We have decided to move to a safer location. For the time being, we will rent a house ,” said children’s rights activist Seto Mulyadi.

The flash flood, called by residents a ‘mini-tsunami’, had swept through Seto’s house and damaged five cars and one motorcycle, along with important documents.

Saturday’s massive clean-up and search, however, was slowed by an influx of unwanted visitors as thousands of people who came to see the area.

“We had to ask the people that came for ID. We didn’t want any thieves coming to loot valuables from abandoned houses,” said Denny, one of the locals who asked every visitor to show their ID.

“We have seen the disaster on TV, but we want to see it directly with our own eyes,” Tajudin, a resident of Palmerah, West Jakarta, said. Tajudin and some of his neighbors came to the site on motorcycles and said they also wanted to see the rescue team searching for victims.

An official with the Public Affairs Ministry, Widagdo, said that the ministry would not immediately rebuild the collapsed embankment.

“We will instead make a temporary 2-kilometer canal to let the Situ Gintung lake water flow into the Pesanggrahan River below, to ease the pressure on the lake and prevent any further collapses,” Widagdo said.

Separately, Golkar Party chairman Jusuf Kalla handed down some Rp 1 billion (US$60,846) in donations for the victims through Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah at the party’s campaign in Jakarta. (iwp)

Indonesian Red Cross provides clean water for Situ Gintung flood victims

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 03/29/2009 9:51 AM

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has since Saturday provided Situ Gintung flash flood victims with clean water, setting up eight makeshift faucets with access to 10,000 liters of water in Cireundeu, South Tangerang, kompas.com reported on Sunday.

"The water container and faucets are placed at a basketball court near the entrance of the Ahmad Dahlan School of Economics. This is to support residents and volunteers alike in sanitation measures," PMI's Water and Sanitation (Watsan) team coordinator Ersan said.

Ersan said 13 Watsan volunteers were able to mobilize water from the State Islamic Institute.

"To anticipate the scarcity of clean water, we've also cooperated with the Pondok Indah drinking water company (PAM) to provide assistance in providing clean water," PMI field coordinator Kristiansyah said.

Meanwhile, PMI continues to help residents rehabilitate the scene.

"A mini truck and excavator arrived Friday evening to help us rehabilitate the disaster area and clean up the flood remains," Kristiansyah said.

Early Friday morning an inland tsunami caused by a wall of water gushing from a collapsed sluice gate at the 21-hectare Situ Gintung Lake had caused the death of no less than 70 residents, many of whom were children.

The sluice gate reportedly collapsed after it failed to contained water from incessant downpour that occurred throughout the day. (amr)

Japanese Red Cross sends family kits to Gintung victims

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 03/28/2009 8:11 PM

The Japanese Red Cross in cooperation with Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) had sent "Family Kits" to Situ Gintung dam tragedy victims at Cireundeu village in Ciputat, Tangerang District in Banten province.

"The Family Kits from PMI and Japanese Red Cross contain various household utensils," logistic official at Jakarta Muhammadiyah University (UMJ), Uus Rustandi said as quoted by Antara newswire on Saturday.

He said the assistance for the two countries Red Cross in around 100 bags consisted of plastic containers, washbasins, plastic dishes, plastic glasses, water dippers, spoons, towels, tooth brushes and tooth pastes, bathing soaps, instant noodles, and mineral water.

"The assistance arrived on Friday night at around 9 p.m.," Rustandi said, adding that a post command at UMJ campus was open 24 hours to receive humanitarian assistance from various parties.

Meanwhile, the Banten branch of the Indonesian Red Cross said it had deployed 100 rescue workers to help the victims of the dam tragedy.

"We have deployed some 100 PMI workers to help the dam burst victims," vice head of PMI's Banten office Airin Rachmi Diany said here early Saturday morning.

She said that PMI offices for Jakarta, Cilegon and the headquarters had also sent rescuers who coordinated in providing help for the victims.

Airin said that for the time being the evacuation of the victims was halted Friday night due to the power outage around the area. For this purpose, PMI Banten sent a number of power generator sets to the location.

In the meantime, the rescue workers at the Ahmad Dahlan High School for Economics were channeling assistance from the public in the form of food, blankets, children dresses and mineral water.

At least 62 institutions, mass organizations and state companies have provided contributions to the victims.

One hundred Red Cross workers help dam collapse victims

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 03/28/2009 5:28 PM

The Banten branch of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) said it had deployed 100 rescue workers to help victims of the Situ Gintung Dam tragedy which killed about 50 people early Friday as reported by Antara state news agency.

"We have deployed some 100 PMI workers to help the dam burst victims," vice head of PMI's Banten office Airin Rachmi Diany said here early Saturday morning.

She said that PMI offices for Jakarta, Cilegon and the headquarters had also sent rescuers who coordinated in providing help for the victims.

Airin said that for the time being the evacuation of the victims was halted Friday night due to the power outage around the area. For this purpose, PMI Banten sent a number of power generator sets to the location.

In the meantime, the rescue workers at the Ahmad Dahlan High School for Economics were channeling assistance from the public in the form of food, blankets, children dresses and mineral water.

At least 62 institutions, mass organizations and state companies have provided contributions to the victims.

The Lake Gintung disaster in Ciputat area, which is on the southeastern outskirts of Jakarta, had caused great worry of the Jakarta provincial administration that a similar disaster may hit its area.

To prevent such an disaster from happening, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo has ordered the Jakarta Public Works Agency to immediately inspect all the flood prevention means and infrastructure throughout the capital city.

"I have ordered the relevant authorities to check and recheck all the flood prevention infrastructure," he said at his City Hall office in Jakarta Friday.

However, he said in Jakarta there was no embankment as big as that of Lake Gintung.

The Lake Gintung embankment burst in the small hours of Friday, and caused a flash flood killing 46 people, while many others were still missing.

Down’s syndrome kids celebrate world day

The Jakarta Post , Tangerang, 03/25/2009

For our friends and parents: People with Down’s syndrome
 play six songs in a band during a celebration of World Down’s
 Syndrome Day, in Ciputat’s Kandank Jurank community in Banten.
(JP/Kili Pringgodigdo)

As many as 200 children with Down’s syndrome (DS), from Ciputat’s Kandank Jurank community in Banten, celebrated the World Down syndrome Day with their parents over the weekend.

They took turns singing cheerful songs with their friends and dancing to the melody.

Dodo showed off his drumming to an audience of parents and friends, while 23-year-old Kartika, nicknamed Noni, recited a long poem about having DS.

“If a child with mental deficiency is able to talk about herself, this is what she would say. I am a person with a mental deficiency. My parents told me when I was a fetus in my mother’s womb, they never stop praying that I would grow healthy, strong, and smart...” Kartika recited to the crowd.

With a theme titled “I exist, I can”, the event was held by the Affiliation of Parents of DS children (Potads).

DS is a chromosomal disorder first reported in 1866 by a British doctor, John Langdon Down. DS leads to the impairment of sufferers’ physical and intellectual development.

With one in every 700 people born with DS, Indonesia has about 300,000 people with DS.

Olivia Sitaresmi, head of the event’s committee, said World Down’s syndrome Day was celebrated so that parents of DS children could meet and give each other support.

“We have to be especially patient and support children with DS with loving care. That’s the most important thing,” said Kartika’s mother Henny Tjoa.

She said support from the family and teachers was crucial. When she found it hard to cope with raising her DS child, she asked for the help of experts and other parents who have DS children. A child with DS might need a year to learn something a child without DS would learn in a month.

“But I’m grateful to God. She might be less privileged mentally, but God has given her so many blessings,” Henny said about her daughter who learned English without any mentor.

Dik Doank, a musician whose community facilities were used for the event, said, “These DS children are gifted. Some of us might see them as deficient, but it’s just because we, average humans, cannot see their qualities. They are gifted.”

Dian HP, a musician who prepared the younger DS kids for the percussion show, said it took six months to train them for the six songs.

“They actually love music very much! They follow the rhythm and every beat,” said Dian.

Sriwahyuning, mother of 10-year-old Abil, advised parents with a DS child not to be embarrassed when introducing their child into society. This will help them cope better the situation, she said.

“When you have a special need child, people around you are capable of saying anything about your child, from harassing to supporting words. But when I gave birth to Abil, after three days in the hospital, I wasted no time introducing Abil to my relatives and neighbors,” said Sriwahyuning.

“[We realized] If we were open about it [her special need], then people would also be open to share information and we would receive more help and information when caring for our child,” she said.

She said quit her job when a psychologist advised her that her child needed her care.

She took her now 10-year-old child Abil for monthly physical therapy from when Abil was three months old until she reached her ninth birthday. She said DS children need physical therapy as their muscles were weak.

Later on, her child needed occupational and speech therapy.

“If everything goes well, then bring your child to school, preferably a general school that accepts special need children as it is better for their social life,” she said.

She advised parents not to treat their DS children any different from their other children. For those who had more money, she suggested given their DS children the opportunity to learn any form of art, music or dance.

“Music therapy is good to maintain their emotions in balance,” she said.

“Sometimes these children have high energy levels that they cannot control. Music will help bring sooth those energy levels.” (iwp)

National Symposium Held on Brain and Heart

Friday, 27 March, 2009 | 17:40 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Indonesian Cardiocerebrovascular Association’s board, supported by the Indonesian Doctors Association is holding the Brain and Heart Symposium IX on March 26 – 27 in Batam. The event is expected to improve knowledge and capacity as well as health services, particularly for heart disease and stroke.

The event held at the Planet Holiday Hotel, Batam, is being attended by doctors who are the front runners for health services in remote areas. The event is also to publish ways to prevent heart disease and stroke for the public.

HERU TRIYONO

387 Hindu Prisoners Receive Sentence Reductions

The Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, March 26, 2009

The government announced sentence reductions for 387 Hindu prisoners across the archipelago on Thursday to mark the Hindu Day of Silence, or Nyepi, an official said.

Reductions ranged from 15 days to two months, allowing 12 inmates to be released from prison, said Muhammad Sueb, a spokesman for the country’s correctional institutions.

Untung Sugiono, the director general of correctional institutions at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, will officially announce the cuts at a ceremony on Wednesday at Denpasar Prison, Bali Province.

“We chose Denpasar to make the announcement because the majority of Bali’s residents are Hindu,” Sueb said, explaining that 253 of the inmates who received sentence reductions were in Bali’s nine prisons.

“Seven of the [inmates in Bali] are set to walk free.”

Sentence cuts have traditionally been given to mark Independence Day on Aug. 17, and for major religious holidays — Idul Fitri for Muslims, Christmas for Christians, and Waisak for Buddhists.

Sueb said all of the inmates who received the reductions had behaved well during their terms.

“The reductions are a reward for those who behaved,” he said.

All prisoners who had already served a year of their sentence were eligible for the cuts, except those convicted of terrorism, graft, illegal logging or drug-related crimes.

Inmates who had already served a year received the minimum cut of 15 days. Those who had served six years or more were given two months off.

Last year, 348 Hindu inmates received sentence reductions. Sueb said the cuts would also ease overcrowding in prisons.

Tangerang Dam Burst Kills at Least 28

The Jakarta Globe, March 27, 2009

A rescuer searches for flood victims. (Dadang Tri, Reuters)

In pictures: Jakarta dam burst (BBC)

Special Section (JG)

A dam on the outskirts of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, burst on Friday, killing 28 people and flooding hundreds of houses nearby, officials said.

Police said that they were still searching the area for more casualties. Metro TV showed rescuers wading up to their chests in floodwater.

"The break down of Situ Gintung dam has claimed 28 lives, and seven houses were swept away," Chrysnanda Dwilaksana, a spokesman for the Jakarta police, said in a telephone text message.

The dam, which was used to retain water in Lake Situ Gintung in Tangerang District, southwest of Jakarta, broke early on Friday morning. There had been heavy rain in the area but so far the cause of the accident is not known.

"Hundreds of houses are flooded, tens of houses damaged, it was like a small tsunami," said Rustam Pakaya, an official at the health ministry.

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22 missing in collapsing dam incident

President instructs reconstruction of Situ Gintung dam

Govt to hand over cash aid for collapsed dam victims

More bodies of dam burst victims found

At least 50 dead in 'mini tsunami' after dam bursts in Jakarta

A women safe his child from floods in Pondok Pinang, Tangerang, Banten province, Friday (Mar 27). Dike of Gintung reservoir was broken down cause some citizen settlements inundated and 18 peoples death. (ANTARA photo/Paramayuda)

A rescuer searches for flood victims after a dam burst on the outskirts of Jakarta in Indonesia. (Reuters/Dadang Tri)

Vaccine Review Meets With Irritation, Questions of What Supari Isn’t Saying

The Jakarta Globe, Dessy Sagita, March 26, 2009

Doctors on Thursday criticized and questioned the health minister for her decision to review a number of discretionary vaccines that she said had not scientifically been proven beneficial.

Soedjatmiko, chairman of the Indonesian Pediatrics Association, told the Jakarta Globe that Siti Fadillah Supari had created unnecessary alarm by announcing the plan before the ministry could provide any reason for doing so.

“It would be better if she kept things confidential until her cause for worry was clear, especially on such a sensitive matter,” he said, adding that even though the vaccines were excluded from the government’s list of mandatory vaccinations for children, they had been proven beneficial and were widely used in neighboring countries, including Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.

“Do you really think all those countries would use these vaccines if they weren’t beneficial?”

Soedjatmiko said that if the government deciding against making additional vaccines mandatory due to financial reasons, it should not prohibit people who were willing to pay from obtaining the vaccines.

“The diseases exist in this country, the vaccines are readily available, and if parents can afford them, why should we stop them?” he said.

Soedjatmiko also said all vaccines available in Indonesia had been tested by the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency before being made commercially available.

Sukman Tulus Putra, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Doctors Association, said the vaccines had, in fact, been scientifically proven to be beneficial, although some of the research was conducted overseas.

“But we don’t need to rely only on local research; we can consider foreign research as long as a particular country has our same standards,” he said.

“We have no problem with the ministry’s plan to review the vaccines, but please don’t prohibit them.”

However, Iskandar Sitorus, spokesman for the Legal Aid Foundation for Health, or LBH Kesehatan, said his office had found indications that some vaccines were not only not beneficial, but were even harmful for children.

Sitorus said Supari’s call for a review came years too late.

“Over the past few years, trillions of rupiah has been circulating around these possibly wasteful vaccines, and our children may be left to bear useless and possibly toxic chemical substances in their bodies,” he said.

Sitorus said the minister should have initiated a review years ago, before the use of some vaccines had become commonplace.

He also said the ministry’s decision indicated that some problems likely had been found.

“I don’t think the ministry would announce the review so suddenly if they hadn’t run into irregularities.”

Earlier this week, Supari said she would review the benefits of immunizations that aren’t currently included in the government’s official vaccination program, including vaccines for pneumonia, flu and rubella.

Supari said that in urban areas at least 11 different kinds of vaccinations were available, but that the ministry had made only four mandatory — for measles, polio, tetanus and tuberculosis.

“Those four were cleared by the WHO and were scientifically proven to be beneficial and necessary,” she said.

Of the remaining eight, she said, “Note this: I’m not saying they are dangerous, but the real question is whether or not they’re necessary. That’s why the ministry is conducting a review.”

Dam burst death toll raises to 20

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 03/27/2009 10:16 AM

A dam burst in Cirendeu, Ciputat, South Tangerang on the outskirts of Jakarta, before dawn Friday, sending a flash flood into a crowded residential neighborhood, submerging hundreds of houses and killing at least 20 people, officials said.

A wave of water crashed into around 400 homes in the industrial area of Tangerang at around 2.00 a.m., said Health Ministry Crisis Center chief Rustam Pakaya. Floodwaters were up to 2.5 meters deep is some areas, police and witnesses said.

Pakaya said 20 bodies had been recovered by rescue teams, but that he expected the death toll to climb because residents were sleeping when the disaster happened. At least a dozen others were reportedly missing.

Antara news agency reporte that search and rescue officers were still working to rescue residents being trapped in their submerged houses. The survivors were evacuated to higher grounds at the nearby Muhammadiyah University of Jakarta.

It was unclear what caused the failure of the 10-meter-high dam, which was holding back around 2 million cubic meters of water at the Pesanggrahan river, according to South Jakarta Police chief Makmur Simbolon.

A rescue worker identified only as Toni, told El Shinta radio another 19 people were being treated at nearby hospitals.

"A flash flood came suddenly and was horrifying," said Seto Mulyadi, whose car was washed nearly 300 feet (100 meters) from his driveway into a public park, as quoted by The Associated Press. "My house in a dreadful mess ... Thank God my family is safe."

Mulyadi said he heard a siren sound at the dam before the water smashed out all the windows and doors and inundated his home in 2.5 meters of water. He said his wife and four children were all sleep upstairs and were unharmed. (dre)

Bird flu suspect dies in Pekanbaru

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 03/26/2009 2:44 PM

Two-year old Wahyu Ibnu Saputra, who has been intensively treated for a suspected birdflu case, died in an isolated room at Arifin Achmad Hospital in Pekanbaru, Riau, on early Thursday morning.

Azizman Saad of the hospital's birdflu handling team told Antara that Wahyu had trouble breathing and lost his consciousness before his death.

He said that six doctors worked to save the boy's life. Wahyu was pronounced dead at around 02:00 a.m..

Azizman said that the patient's condition was relatively well on Wednesday morning, but quickly deteriorated during the evening.

Wahyu was admitted as birdflu suspect last Friday after he had been treated at another hospital for six days.

Azizman said the hospital has yet to announce whether the boy died of birdflu because it was still waiting for nasal and throat swabs test result form the Health Ministry laboratory in Jakarta. (dre)

Indonesia may stop child vaccinations on testing fears

News.Scotsman.com, By MARGARET NEIGHBOUR, 26 March 2009

INDONESIA'S health minister wants to end vaccinating children against meningitis, mumps and other diseases, because she fears foreign drug companies are using the country as a testing ground.

The controversial minister, Siti Fadillah Supari – who first drew widespread attention by boycotting the World Health Organisation's 50-year-old virus sharing system in 2007 – said she wanted scientific proof that injections against illnesses such as pneumonia, chicken pox, flu, rubella and typho.

"If not, they have to be stopped," she said, declining to say exactly what that would mean. "We don't want our country to be a testing place for drugs, as has been the case in Africa."

Ms Supari said she still would advocate immunisations against measles, polio, tetanus, hepatitis B and tuberculosis.

Her statement comes as Indonesia struggles to contain outbreaks of preventable childhood illnesses.

Cases of measles, tuberculosis and other diseases have skyrocketed.

Map offers hope in fight against malaria

By Grace Wong, For CNN

LONDON, England (CNN) -- A new map illustrating global malaria risk in unprecedented detail suggests that wiping out the disease in many parts of the world is possible.

An international team of researchers published Tuesday what they say is the most comprehensive map ever showing how severe the risks of contracting malaria are in the world.

Using mathematical modeling, spatial analyses and supercomputing technology, researchers were able to quantitatively map the prevalence of the disease around the world to a 25 square-kilometer resolution.

The map shows that 2.4 billion people are in danger of contracting the deadliest form of malaria, but that 75 percent of them live in places where transmission rates are low and malaria can be easily controlled.

"This map of malaria risk gives us hope that eliminating malaria in many countries is technically feasible," said Dr. Simon Hay of the University of Oxford, who heads up the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP).

However, it also indicates the challenges facing Africa remain high. The map shows that nearly everyone living in areas of high transmission lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

Malaria claims more than one million lives every year. Children and pregnant women are particularly susceptible to the infectious disease, which is transmitted by infected mosquitoes.

The disease is particularly prevalent in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. There are an estimated 300 million acute cases of malaria each year globally, according to the World Health Organization.

The MAP team analyzed estimates of parasite prevalence as well as climate data to compile the map. The project focused on the Plasmodium falciparum species, which accounts for 90 percent of malaria deaths.

Individual country maps, as well as world and regional-level maps, can be viewed online and are also available for download on the MAP Web site.

MAP is funded by the Wellcome Trust, a UK charity that backs biomedical research.

Drug-resistant TB on the rise in Asia: WHO

Manila (ANTARA News) - World health chiefs stressed on Monday the urgent need for countries to strengthen their health systems to tackle the spread of tuberculosis amid the growing threat of drug-resistant TB.

The World Health Organisation's Dr. Pieter van Maaren told AFP that there were 112,000 new cases of drug-resistant TB in China alone in 2007 and figures for 2008 were likely to be similar.

Van Maaren, WHO's Western Pacific regional adviser for TB, said the Philippines is the second hardest-hit country in the region, with up to 6,000 new cases of resistant TB a year.

Vietnam had an estimated 3,000-4,000 new cases of multi-drug-resistant TB in 2007 while Cambodia had fewer than 1,000 resistant TB cases, he said ahead of World Stop TB Day on Tuesday.

Estimates for 2008 are not yet out but van Maaren told AFP that the rate of new infections will "likely be in the same range" as in 2007.

Exact figures are not available, he said, saying not all of these cases are diagnosed.

Van Maaren, based at the WHO's Western Pacific headquarters in Manila, warned drug-resistant TB was more difficult to diagnose and that drugs to treat it were limited, costly and had more side-effects.

It was "a man-made problem caused by insufficient or inappropriate treatment, a result of patients stopping treatment before they are cured," he said.

This can be seen in the Philippines and partly in China, where many TB patients resorted to "self-medication" without getting the proper medical advice, allowing the TB bacilli to survive, he added.

In contrast, the rates of drug-resistant TB in Vietnam and Cambodia were lower partly because of their good control programmes and also because powerful anti-TB drugs had only been introduced in those countries in the past decade, "so the TB bacilli did not have time to develop resistance."

WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Shin Young-Soo said despite gains using the WHO-recommended TB control strategy, effective TB control had been hampered by weaknesses in health systems such as chronic staff shortages and inadequate resources.

"Our available tools work but they are not enough," said Shin.

Tuberculosis is a contagious lung disease that spreads through the air, including through coughing and sneezing.

Health Ministry officials return alleged graft money to KPK

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 03/23/2009 5:43 PM

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) says it has received some Rp 1. 2 billion (US$ 100,000) from a total Rp 71 billion that was allegedly embezzled by Health Ministry officials and businessmen in the ministry's procurement of X-ray equipment in 2003.

KPK deputy chairman Bibit Samad Riyanto told kompas.com on Monday that ministry officials had handed the money to the commission.

Previously, the KPK had declared former PT Kimia Farma director Gunawan Pranoto, Rifa Jaya Mulya director Rinaldi Yusuf and the head of a similar X-ray equipment procurement project (from 2007), Mardiono, as suspects in the case. (ewd)

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20 women detained for soliciting `kawin kontrak'

The Jakarta Post, Sat, 03/21/2009 2:22 PM

BOGOR: About 20 women allegedly soliciting themselves for kawin kontrak (unregistered or contractual marriage) were arrested by Cisarua Police in several places in Bogor on Friday morning.

The women would come to villas and boarding houses in Warung Kaleng and Gang Sempit in Puncak, soliciting themselves to mostly Arab-descent people who were on vacation in the area.

One of the women, Aryati, told vivanews.com the kawin kontrak season started next month.

Unregistered marriages are widespread in Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim nation, because they are still recognized under religious law. By pronouncing talaq (divorce in Arabic) three times, a husband can annul the marriage under Islam.

Critics said such practice was actually prostitution that abused religious beliefs.

World Health Assembly: Pope Benedict "wrong"

AFP/Google, 22 March 2009

GEORGETOWN (AFP) — World Health Assembly President, Guyana's Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy, condemned Pope Benedict's call for ending condom use in the fights against AIDS, saying he was trying to sow confusion.

"The statement by the Pope is inconsistent with science, it's inconsistent with our experiences and it is not in sync with what Catholics have experienced and believe," Ramsammy told a news conference.

The Health Minister, who is regarded by the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) as a leading advocate in the fight against HIV and AIDS, accused the leader of the Roman Catholic Church of attempting to "create confusion" and "impede" proven strategies in the battle against the disease.

Declaring the position by the Pope on condom use as "absolutely and unequivocally wrong," Ramsammy recommended the continued use of condoms as part of an overall strategy that includes education, fidelity and monogamy.

The Health Minister said he planned to rally support among colleague health ministers of the 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom), which is predominantly Roman Catholic.

"Whilst I would hope that Catholics would continue to be extremely supportive of their church and the pope ... on this issue, they (should) rely on the evidence, and we need at this time to come out forcefully with the evidence to demonstrate that condoms and lifestyle matter," said Ramsammy.

Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday on his way to Africa that condoms were not the answer in the continent's battle against HIV-AIDS, his first such public pronouncement on the delicate issue of condom use.

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