Papua political prisoner finally given surgery

The Jakarta Post, Associated Press, Jakarta | Sat, 07/31/2010 8:55 PM

A high-profile prisoner sentenced to 15 years' jail for raising a banned flag in Indonesia's Papua province returned to prison Saturday after surgery for a potentially life-threatening prostate ailment that had been denied for nearly a year.

Felip Karma, 51, told The Associated Press that many other Papuan separatists held in the easternmost province also urgently need medical care. He reiterated allegations that many had been abused in prisons.

"Many prisoners in Papua have been brutally tortured," said Karma, who returned to the Abepura prison in the city of Jayapura on Saturday.

Candran Listiyono, spokesman for the Directorate General of Prisons in Jakarta, told AP last month he was not aware of any mistreatment of inmates and promised to investigate.

Abepura prison chief Liberti Sintinjak said no inmates have been tortured since he took over in May.

Karma's case - and those of several other high-profile prisoners of conscience in far-flung separatist-torn regions - was highlighted in a 40-page report released last month by New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Karma had been denied medical treatment for the prostate ailment for almost a year. He was granted permission to go to a hospital in the capital, Jakarta, arrived two weeks ago and underwent laser surgery.

Int’l medical team provides free services

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon | Sat, 07/31/2010 11:48 AM

Medical teams from various countries collaborated in the 2010 Pacific Partnership Mission to provide free medical services to thousands of coastal residents in Maluku.

The humanitarian mission was carried out for three days from July 27 in a number of locations in the region. It was part of the Sail Banda event, which will be attended by President Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono on Aug. 3.

More than 17,000 people received health services, said Pacific Partnership Mission Commander Capt. Lisa M. Franchetti. Around 105 doctors were involved in the mission, consisting of 40 doctors manning onshore health posts and 65 doctors aboard the USNS Mercy hospital ship.

“Medical examinations and treatment are conducted at the health posts on land as well as aboard the USNS Mercy,” Franchetti told The Jakarta Post at a health post in Pelauw village, Haruku Island, on Thursday.

More than 10 health posts have been set up on Seram, Ambon and Haruku islands to support the

program. To reach posts outside Ambon city, medical teams and logistics were airlifted by two helicopters on stand-by aboard the USNS Mercy.

“The most common sickness is sore eyes. More than 500 patients come each day to have their eyes treated. Besides medicine, we also provide eyeglasses. Many of the residents also complain about internal illnesses and a number of common ailments,” Franchetti said.

Ailments requiring surgery on board the USNS Mercy include kidney problems, prostate cancer, hernia and cleft palate, Franchetti said.

Members of the medical team on board the USNS Mercy are able to perform between 150 and 200 surgeries daily, while the on-land health posts provide medical treatment for common ailments, such as sore eyes, toothaches, internal diseases and skin ailments.

The medical workers mark the patients with colored wrist bands according to their ailments, such as red for sore eyes, purple for toothaches and yellow for common

illnesses.

Data on patients and their ailments are recorded on computers using the Civil Humanitarian Information Management Expeditionary System (CHIMES).

“We will give this data to the Maluku governor after our mission in Maluku is over, and we will also submit it to the Health Ministry,” Franchetti said.

Besides the presence of the USNS Mercy from the US, a number of countries have also dispatched hospital ships. Singapore deployed its RSS Endevour, while Australia contributed the services of two heavy landing craft (HLC) — HMAS Labuan (L128) and HMAS Tarakan (L129).

Other countries taking part in the program include Canada, Cambodia, New Zealand, the UK and Indonesia. As many as 17 international relief organizations also took part in the mission by sending activists and relief aid.

Residents learn to live out organic lifestyle

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 07/30/2010 11:28 AM

Spurning the plethora of fast food outlets in Jakarta, some residents have started to adopt healthier lifestyles by purchasing organic food products even if it means spending more money.

“I started to eat organic brown rice last year after realizing I had gained weight,” Bagus, 20, told The Jakarta Post after the launch of “Green and Fair Products” campaign in the city on Thursday.

He bought several packages of organic rice at a booth run by the WWF. A kilogram of organic rice sells for Rp 20,000 (US$2.22), almost double the market price of non-organic rice.

The university student said organic product was available at certain supermarkets and shops in the city, but did concede they were dear.

“If organic product was wide spread prices would come down and more people would surely choose the healthier products,” he said.

Bagus added that he used to suffer digestive problems, such as stomachaches and constipation, but they were now a thing of the past.

Organic food products are made in a way that limits the use of synthetic materials, including pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

One speaker at the event, the author of Hidup Organik, Panduan Ringkas Berperilaku Selaras Alam (Organic Living, A Simple Manual to Live in Harmony with Nature), Bibong Widyarti, said that “besides being free from chemical substances, food produced organically has about 20 percent to 40 percent higher nutrients than non-organic products.”

She used organic food since 1997 and has now adopted organic methods throughout her daily life.

“Now I use coffee powder to expel rats from my house and I wash my dishes using lemon grass and limes,” she said, underlining that using organic methods was more environmentally friendly.

The campaign launched by the WWF, a global environmental conservation organization, aims to promote eco-friendly consumption and enhance “fair value”.

Explaining the meaning of fair value, Nazir Fuad, the policy director of WWF, said his organization supported people living on the outskirts of eight national parks across the country with training in ways to grow sustainable organic produce and providing them with marketing support.

Their products include robusta coffee, forest honey, red and black rice, aloe tea and cajuput oil.

“We are currently in discussions with three big retailers in the city about supplying them with organic products produced by these people,” Nazir said. (JP/rch)

Indonesia's Disaster Awareness Plan Targets Schools, Hospitals

Jakarta Globe, Nurfika Osman, July 29, 2010

Jakarta. If there was a fire in her neighborhood, 10-year-old Emili Rihanda says she would be at a loss for how to respond.

“I also do not know what causes fires,” Emili told the Jakarta Globe on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Zafira Salian, 9, said she knew of some disasters, such as floods, fires, earthquakes and eruptions. But she does not know how to respond.

“When my home is flooded, I don’t know what I can do. All I do is sit at home,” said Zafira, a student at SDN Jati Pulo 01 state elementary school in West Jakarta.

Despite Indonesia being prone to frequent disasters, from earthquakes to volcanoes, floods and fires, millions of children and adults are not unlike Zafira and Emili in being clueless in the face of such peril.

In response, the government on Thursday launched a public disaster-awareness campaign known as One Million Safe Schools and Hospitals.

“I urge local health agencies and medical officers nationwide to formulate programs and allocate a budget for disaster risk education in hospitals,” Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said during the launch of the campaign, which will last through November in 1,000 schools and 100 hospitals nationwide.

“Emergency exits and access for evacuation must be well established. All health officers and medical practitioners should understand and be very aware of potential disasters in their individual regions,” Endang said.

The Coordinating Ministry of People’s Welfare, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of National Education and the National Disaster Management Agency, or BNPB, are collaborating on the program.

Fasli Jalal from the education ministry said that the 1,000 schools chosen to participate were spread across disaster-prone regions such as North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bengkulu, Yogyakarta, East Nusa Tenggara and Papua.

“We will be providing education to teachers and students about preparation for disasters. We are fully committed to this campaign,” Fasli said. As part of the campaign, teachers must establish a special forum to discuss disaster response.

Separately, Syamsul Maarif, who heads the BNPB, pointed out that even as the 2007 Law on Disaster Mitigation requires every region to have its own disaster risk map, few have them.

Jakarta, East Java, Aceh and West Kalimantan had adequate disaster risk maps, he said, but they are the exceptions.

“The disaster risk map for West Sumatra is in the pipeline now. My hope is that these maps are drawn not only on a provincial level but also on the subdistrict level. When a disaster strikes, it does not normally strike an entire province,” Syamsul said.

Separately, Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Agung Laksono said that preparedness should be the main priority of disaster planning.

“However, disaster preparedness gets only the smallest bit of attention and priority in our society. We need to work more on this as every citizen needs to be protected,” Agung said, adding that readiness should start at the community level.

Related Article:

Indonesia, US navies conduct disaster handling exercise

USNS Mercy arrival a blessing for Ambon’s neediest residents

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon | Thu, 07/29/2010 9:47 AM |

Nurjanah could not be happier. Her three-year-old daughter, Cici Mahdani, just received corrective surgery to a cleft palate she was born with aboard the 273-meter floating hospital US Navy hospital ship, USNS Mercy.

The 24-year-old mother said she could not have afforded the surgery otherwise.

“I’m so grateful that my daughter received free surgery here. She could not have the surgery before since we did not have the money to take her to the hospital,” she told The Jakarta Post in the ship’s waiting room on Wednesday.

The vessel, carrying 956 US Navy military and civilian personnel, docked in Ambon on Monday. It is on a mission to provide free medical services, including surgeries, as part of Operation Surya Baskara Jaya, which is part of the ongoing Sail Banda maritime event.

The free medical services was also hassle free, according to Nurjanah, who said she did not have to undergo any complicated administrative procedures.

Nurjanah said she was only required to submit a letter explaining where she lives and a letter on her daughter’s ailment. The next day, her daughter was on the surgery list.

“When I heard about the ship’s services from my cousin, who works at a community health clinic in Ambon, I was just submitted the letters and my daughter could come here for the surgery. The

arrangements took only one day,” Nurjanah said.

Despite her troubles in speaking English, she said the doctors and attendants made efforts to consult her condition and that of her daughter.

Nurjanah said she felt lucky to be able to board the world’s largest hospital ship. Out of the hundreds of patients who were offered treatment, only 83 had been referred for surgery aboard the sophisticated vessel.

USNS Mercy contingent commander Capt. Jeffery W. Paulson said more than 20 patients had undergone surgery aboard the vessel since Tuesday.

“We intend to operate on 83 patients on the ship. We have also opened a dental clinic and worked together with 50 health clinics in Ambon and the surrounding areas,” Paulson said.

“We estimate that 500 patients will receive treatment each day.

“The biggest surgery we’ve performed so far on our visit to Ambon was an orthopedic surgery. But we’ve also performed cataract and harelip surgeries,” said Paulson.

During its visit to Ambon, the USNS Mercy will provide free surgery, medical treatment and dental care at a number of locations in Ambon and the surrounding islands, including Seram and Haruku islands.

Currently on its 2010 Pacific Partnership mission, USNS Mercy is supported by 65 doctors and assisted by hundreds of medical attendants.

In the Pacific Partnership mission, the USNS Mercy is led by three captains — Capt. Lisa M. Franchetti (Pacific Partnership mission commander), Capt. Jeffery W. Paulson (medical contingent commander) and Capt. David C. Bradshaw (ship’s captain).

The 2010 Pacific Partnership is part of the fifth training exercise conducted in Indonesia aiming to help disaster victims and strengthen regional cooperation.

The humanitarian mission carried out by the US and a number of countries is currently taking place simultaneously with the Sail Banda event in Maluku.

Mission commander Capt. Franchetti said she was proud to be a part of the Sail Banda event.

“Our visit to Maluku has been very productive and full of memories,” said Franchetti.

Various teams participating in the mission in Indonesia are professionals in various fields, such as medical and machinery.

They come from Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Singapore, New Zealand, England, Indonesia and the US armed forces.

Volunteers from a number of NGOs are also involved in the mission.

The USNS Mercy has made three visits to Indonesia. The first was its involvement in humanitarian efforts after the 2004 boxing day tsunami that devastated Aceh. In 2006, it docked in Indonesia as part of its five-monthly program providing medical mitigation programs in Bangladesh, Timor Leste and the Philippines.

After setting sail from Ambon, the USNS Mercy will head to Timor Leste to complete the 2010 Pacific Partnership mission.

Give blood, say regional representatives

The Jakarta Post, Mon, 07/26/2010 10:09 AM | The Archipelago

MEDAN: Regional Representative Councillors in Medan have urged local administrations to step up efforts in blood donor program.

Irman Gusman, a member of the Regional Representative Council (DPD), said Indonesia faced a 35 percent shortfall in meeting the nation's demand for blood.

"Local administrations need to encourage donor programs because of the need for blood. Indonesia needs 4.5 million units of blood everyday, and supply has never met demand," he said while attending a blood drive in Medan on Saturday.

Over one thousand donors gave blood during the one-day program, which was jointly organized by the North Sumatra administration and the Indonesia Red Cross.

Other participating institutions included the Indonesia Ulema Council (MUI), Kopri (the civil servants organization), the Interfaith Forum's North Sumatra office, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI), the Council of Budhist Communities (Walubi) and several hospitals. - JP

Indonesia foils narcotics smuggling from Malaysia

Antara News, Sunday, July 25, 2010 05:48 WIB

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News)- Indonesian customs officers at Sultan Iskandar Muda International Airport here foiled the smuggling of 158 grams of "Shabu-Shabu" from Malaysia on Friday.

"Besides the Methamphetamine drug, we also seize bank notes totaling Rp200 million from the suspect," Head of investigation division of the Aceh province`s customs office Edy Safutra said.

Speaking to newsmen here Saturday, Safutra said his men arrested a suspect, identified as HBS, 26.

The six packs of Methamphetamine drug were found inside a plastic bottle of liquid soap owned by the suspect, he said.

HBS himself was resident of Syiah Kuala sub-district, Banda Aceh. He arrived here from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia, Safutra said.

The airport`s customs officers suspected HBS of concealing drugs after thoroughly checking his bag.

The on-duty officers successfully identified covered packs of "Shabu-Shabu" that the suspect put inside a plastic bottle, he said.

"We have referred this case to the police," he said.

The suspect said the Shabu-Shabu did not belong to him but it was owned by someone in Malaysia only identified as D. The drug package was then given to an Aceh resident only identified as M, he said.

"We are cross-checking his confession," Edy Safutra said adding that HBS could be jailed for 15 years if found guilty.

Due to its geographical position, the Aceh province is vulnerable to trans-national drug trafficking activities.

"There are a lot of vulnerable smuggling gates in Aceh. But the trans-national smuggling activities through the Aceh waters are much riskier than through air," Adjunct Sen.Comms Heru Sukanto said.

This chief of Aceh provincial police`s anti-drug directorate said the Aceh waters could be used by drug traffickers due to the Malacca Strait`s busy sea-lane.

The Aceh province`s eastern and northern coastal areas were also vulnerable to the overseas Methamphetamine drug traffickers, he said.

"Aceh has lots of estuaries of rivers. In Idi, East Aceh district, alone there are about 300 estuaries of rivers," he said.

Heru Sukanto said the drugs smuggled into Aceh by international syndicates were dominantly from such countries as Malaysia, Thailand, as well as certain African and Middle Eastern countries.

"The way the drug traffickers smuggle is sometimes uneasy to detect," he said adding that the drug traffickers used poor local residents as their couriers.

The Aceh police got difficulties in crashing the drug trafficking rings because their masterminds lived abroad so that they were untouched, he said.

The arrested couriers did not even know the masterminds. Therefore the Aceh police would meet with those from national police for talks about a possible cooperation with neighbors` police, he said.

Foreign Ministry to Investigate Torture, Death of Indonesian Maid in Kuwait

Jakarta Globe, July 23, 2010

Migrant worker Sariah, 37, died after she was allegedly tortured and beaten in Kuwait. Indonesian authorities have been criticized for failing to act. (Photo Migrant Care)

Jakarta. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged torture and death of an Indonesian migrant worker in Kuwait.

Teguh Wardoyo, the ministry’s director general for the protection of Indonesians overseas, told Detik.com that it had received an official report from an Indonesian forensic team who performed an autopsy on Sariah, 37.

Teguh said that according to the report, the domestic worker from Indramayu, West Java, died from abuse and not of natural causes, as claimed by Kuwaiti medical practitioners.

The team from Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital announced on Wednesday that the Sariah had been beaten with a blunt object, including the likely fatal blow to the back of her head.

Teguh said the ministry was following up of the results of the autopsy but was quick to deflect any hint of blame from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuwait, saying if its offial report contained errors, responsibility should lay with the Kuwaiti doctor who wrote the initial findings of death by natural causes.

Sariah left for Kuwait in 2008 and changed employers on three occasions.

She told her family over the telephone that her employer had routinely abused her. In her last phone conversation, she said she was beaten and locked in a room without meals.

She was already in a critical condition when her employer took her to Al Adan Hospital in Kuwait on June 30. She died eight days later.

In its report, the hospital wrote that she died from heart complications and a damaged artery.

Kuwait’s Ambassador in Jakarta, Nasser Al-Enizi, was not available for comment.

Indonesian migrant workers often suffer terrible abuse in the Middle-East, where abusers act with impunity.

Anis Hidayah, director of labor watchdog Migrant Care, said Shariah’s family had contacted the organization after she was admitted to hospital in a coma.

Migrant Care reacted by contacting the Foreign Ministry and the Indonesian Embassy in Kuwait, which had failed to investigate despite solid evidence of torture and sustained beatings at the hands of her employer.

Anis said it was Migrant Care, not the Indonesian government, that had been forced to act to ensure an autopsy was completed at RSCM.

“The government should perform an autopsy on every migrant worker who dies while in the care of their employers, even if the hospital reports from foreign countries say they died of natural causes,” she said.

“The hospital in Kuwait lied to the Indonesian government about Sariah’s death and it might not be the first lie foreign hospitals have told us.”

Anis said that according to its data, not a single foreign employer from a Middle-East country had ever been found guilty of abusing a domestic worker.

She hoped Sariah’s death “could be the starting point to investigate other deaths and we hope the government will be more attentive to our workers.”

Indonesian Society in ‘Crisis,’ Warns Agency as New Child Abuse Figures Released

Jakarta Globe, July 23, 2010

National Commission for Children’s Protection chairman Arist Merdeka Sirait is warning of a "social crisis" in Indonesia after shocking new child abuse statistics were released. (Antara Photo)

Jakarta. The National Commission for Children’s Protection says it had recorded 1,826 cases of violence, sexual assault and incest against children across Indonesia in the first five months of 2010 alone.

“The number of cases of violence against children, especially physical and sexual violence, has increased. In the first five months of 2010 alone, there were 1,826 cases,” Arist Merdeka Sirait, chairman of the commission, Komnas Anak, said in Jakarta on Thursday.

Some 68 percent of the sexual abuse cases involved close relatives, he said.

For all of 2009, there were a total of 1,891 cases of violence against children, up from 1,626 cases in 2008, according to the commission’s data.

Sirait said the cases reflected the failure of families to protect their children, citing examples of where a parent had burned their own baby and a mother broke her five-month-old baby’s hand and leg.

“It’s a social crisis and the violence does not make sense. Those who committed the violence were the ones who are supposed to be protecting the children,” he said.

Children who are particularly prone to violence are street children and children from middle- and low-income families, Sirait said.

Antara

Humanitarian talks

Wendra Ajisyatama, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 07/21/2010 8:24 PM

Humanitarian talks: Indonesia's Red Cross chairman Jusuf Kalla (left) poses with (second left to right) Head of Tsunami Unit & Head of Support Service International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) Asia Pacific Zone Al Panico, PMI secretary-general Budi A. Adiputro and IFRC Acting Head of Delegation International Amara Bains after a press conference on a South East Asia Leaders Meeting 2010 in Hotel Sultan, Jakarta, on Wednesday. The first international meeting held by the PMI aimed at discussing world issues, including world peace and global warming, in order to help nations' leaders settling the matters. JP/Wendra Ajistyatama

Gas Blast Victim Ridho Finally Gets Treatment After Appeal to President

Jakarta Globe, Camelia Pasandaran, July 21, 2010

Ridho Januar is finally getting treatment after his mother took the gas explosion victim to the state palace for help and she made the headlines. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)

Jakarta.Susi Haryani is no longer crying.

The unemployed mother of 4-year-old Ridho is elated that her son, disfigured in March by a gas cylinder explosion in Bojonegoro, East Java, is finally receiving the treatment he needs.

Susi made headlines after she and her son tried unsuccessfully on Monday to meet the president at the State Palace to ask for help in getting further treatment.

The explosion that maimed Ridho happened in a rented room they were sharing. Susi had started cooking when a gas leak caused the blast and severely burned her son.

The East Java government provided treatment for the burns, but Susi said her son now needed plastic surgery to rebuild his face. Her desperation at having no money to pay for it drove her to try to seek help directly from the president.

Instead, she and her son were taken in a presidential car to state energy firm PT Pertamina’s offices, where it was arranged for Ridho to be treated at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital.

“Ridho is now in the special burn unit,” Susi told the Jakarta Globe. “I will stay here until he has recovered.

“If the doctors ask my son to stay, then I will stay to accompany him. If they want my son to be an outpatient, I will just obey what they say.”

Her story was reported widely on Tuesday, prompting many organizations and individuals to offer to finance her son’s surgery. But Susi said she would not take any money offered.

“I want them to just give it to the hospital,” she said. “I don’t want to hold the money myself, or else people may say I was only looking for money. So please, those who offered help, just give it to the hospital directly.”

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said the palace had not turned Susi away when she came to seek the president’s help.

“There was no rejection, not at all,” Julian said.

“I think there is a misperception and miscommunication here. I talked to Pertamina, telling them that this victim had come to Jakarta and was now at the palace. I asked the palace staff to prepare a car and they took them to Pertamina’s offices.”

Julian said the palace also had coordinated with the Health Ministry over the treatment needed.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, speaking after visiting Ridho and his mother at the hospital, said: “We will bear all the costs,” referring to the government and Pertamina. She gave no estimates.

Julian said it was the right of every citizen to come to the palace, but the primary responsibility to deal with victims lay with local authorities.

“Because the victims are from East Java, the ones who should handle it are the local government in coordination with the local oil and gas authority, so they should not directly come here,” he said.

“It is our concern, and the president expresses his deepest sympathy to the victims and has already asked the health minister to coordinate with Pertamina in handling the case.”

Julian also said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono wanted all victims of gas canister explosions to be treated well.

There have been scores of explosions blamed on leaks from faulty parts on stoves using three-kilogram gas canisters.

Millions of the stoves have been distributed since 2006 under a program to reduce fuel subsidies by swapping kerosene for cheaper liquefied petroleum gas.

Badly disfigured and injured Muhammad Sofyan in Gatot Subroto Hospital in Central Jakarta. Sofyan's four surviving daughters can not raise enough money to pay for his care after a Pertamina LPG cylinder exploded in his Tangerang home and killed his wife. (JG Photo/Stephanie Riady)

Related Articles:

Pertamina Lampung Bears Medical Cost of LPG Explosion Victim

Indonesian Gas Explosion Victims Fall Through Government Cracks

Police bust drug ring, arrest foreign smugglers

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Badung | Mon, 07/19/2010 10:49 AM

Police busted a drug ring early this week after its members, a Filipino and a Nigerian national, attempted to smuggle heroin and crystal methamphetamine from Kuala Lumpur. The arrests were made in Jakarta and Bali.

Two of the four suspects, both Filipino women, were arrested at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport late Monday, the Bali customs and excise officials said Saturday.

It is common practice here for law enforcement agencies to delay the announcement of drug-related arrests to provide more time for officers to develop the cases.

The first suspect, identified as Carolina Sarmiento Bautista, was arrested at 8 p.m. as she landed from Kuala Lumpur, several hours before the second suspect, Fulache Beverly Adtoon, was arrested. Adtoon was also carrying drugs from the Malaysian capital, but on a different flight.

Bautista was arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle 2.5 kilograms of heroin, while Adtoon was caught with 2 kilograms of crystal meth in her luggage.

“Both suspects used similar modus operandi by hiding the drugs inside the outer linings of their suitcases,” head of customs monitoring service Bambang Wahyudi said.

When their luggage passed through X-ray scanners, officers said they saw uncommon objects. The monitor displayed a thick orange layer indicating the presence of an organic substance, Bambang said.

Following a quick check, the drugs inside Bautista’s suitcase tested positive for heroin, while Adtoon’s contraband tested positive for crystal meth.

Bautista admitted that she was to have been paid US$1,000 (Rp 9.1 million) for transporting the drugs to Bali. She had been told to stay at a hotel in Kuta upon arriving at the resort island.

Adtoon said she was asked by a person in Malaysia to bring the drugs to Jakarta via Bali and was promised $1,500 if she managed to successfully bring the drugs to Jakarta.

Working on the assumption the two women were part of an international drug ring, Bali customs and Bali Police officers widened their investigation by bringing both suspects and the drugs to Jakarta.

The investigation in Jakarta led to the arrest of two Nigerian men, Maikel Onuorah and Austine Uchenna Bosa, allegedly the would-be recipients of the drugs, as well as an Indonesian woman, Enny Malini, allegedly the broker.

Bali Police narcotics division head Sr. Comr. Mulyadi said the suspect used Bali as a transit point.

“We found no indications the drugs were to have been distributed in Bali. It was to have gone on to Jakarta,” he said.

Drug smuggling from Kuala Lumpur to Indonesia has increased in the last several months. This is the 90th time that Customs and Excise officers have busted a smuggling attempt from the Malaysian capital, Bambang said.

Police reports show that 295 people have been arrested in drug smuggling cases in the first half of the year, 11 of whom were foreign nationals, including from Australia, Germany, Malaysia, the US and the Netherlands.

Thousands of chickens in Bengkulu found dead

Antara News, Sunday, July 18, 2010 22:44 WIB

Bengkulu (ANTARA News) - Thousands of chickens in three villages in Seluma district, Bengkulu province, were found dead in the past three weeks.

The three villages are Suka Raja, Suka Maju and Dermayu.

Hendri, an inhabitant, said on Sunday there were more than 1,000 chicken found dead from an unknown disease.

Fortunately the disease was predicted not to attack humans since there were no unusual cases of people having an unknown disease in the past weeks.

Husen, another inhabitant, hoped the government would immediately investigate the phenomena.

"We hope the government will form a team to investigate and conclude whether the cause of the sudden death of so many chicken here will also affect people," he said.

On the other hand, Central Coordinator for Avian Flu Disease in Bengkulu province, Emran Kuswadi, said he would soon send a team to the location.

"I will send my team to take some samples there," he said.

Related Article:

Bird flu kills tens of chickens in Bengkulu

Australia Announces Debt Conversion for Indonesia

Tempo Interactive, Thursday, 15 July, 2010 | 17:35 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Australia has unveiled conversion for AUS$75 million of its loan to Indonesian government into global health fund, during the visit of Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith today (15/7).

The conversion would translate into obligation by Indonesia to invest half of the loan into debt2health initiative, to fight the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis, and Malaria in Indonesia, which was signed by Australia, Indonesia, and debt2health. Indonesia has the third largest TB-infected population with more than 90,000 deaths every year.

Director General of Debt Management of the Finance Department Rahmat Waluyanto said in the occasion "We have supported the initiative from the beginning, (it) enables us to divert (payment) for debts to public health programs." 

ISMA SAVITRI

Broken Health Care Drives Women to Sell Babies

Jakarta Globe, July 13, 2010, Ulma Haryanto & Made Arya Kencana

The recent cases of low-income women selling their babies in order to pay for their medical bills highlights the need for a comprehensive national health care insurance scheme, an academic said on Monday.

Suparti, a resident of Gunung Kidul district near Yogyakarta is one such case. The 41-year-old said she was forced to sell one of her twin girls in order to pay the delivery fees at a state hospital.

Munawaroh, another low-income earner, offered to sell her newborn boy to cover the birth and related medical bills from a Bali hospital. Her bills have now reached Rp 17 million ($1,870).

And on it goes. In the latest case, Dewi Mukarom, a 17-year-old migrant worker from Tegal in Central Java has given her baby up for adoption after she failed to come up with the money to pay a Jakarta midwife.

An affluent couple from the capital has already petitioned the Central Jakarta District Court to allow them to adopt the child.

Hasbullah Thabrany, a public health professor from the University of Indonesia, said that even though he was not against the adoption itself, the reasons behind the adoption should be made illegal.

“A midwife or doctor or hospital should not and cannot advise patients to give away a baby just because the parents cannot afford the delivery fees,” he said.

He also said that Dewi was a clear example of the people who were falling through the massive cracks of a shattered health care system.

“Because she is from outside Jakarta, I am sure that she was not applicable for the regional health insurance scheme [Gakin] for the poor,” Hasbullah added.

“There are loopholes in our system. There is yet to be a regulation that obliges local and national government to cover the health care of their people.”

The public health expert said that a lack of information for the poor on their rights and access to health care and insurance is exacerbating the problem — and in many cases is driving women to give up their newborns.

Usman Sumantri, head of financing and insurance at the Health Ministry, said on Monday that he believed Dewi had not been covered by the national health care scheme for the poor, also known as Jamkesmas.

“If she were a member of Jamkesmas, which is valid nationwide, her fees would be covered,” he said.

“But I believe she wasn’t. She could also have asked for a letter of recommendation from the Jakarta Social Affairs Agency, but it might be difficult since she is not a registered resident.”

Usman said that Dewi was also ineligible for the regional insurance scheme.

“Jakarta is quite unfriendly to migrants,” he added.

In Monday’s first hearing of the proposed adoption of Dewi’s baby, the court heard from an acquaintance of the couple, who testified that Susanto, an enterpreneur, and Risna, an air stewardess, were financially secure and had no children.

The witness, Sri Mulyono, also said he had been to the birth mother’s home and said that “in my opinion, Dewi could not afford to keep the child.”

Dewi, who was also present for the hearing, told the court that she came to Jakarta last year to work but had become pregnant shortly afterward.

“The father did not acknowledge the child and did not want to be responsible for it,” she said, adding that she had no family in the capital and was living with a friend.

According to a 1983 Supreme Court memo on child adoption procedures, prospective parents need to file their adoption request with the district court in their jurisdiction before a judge and a court clerk, and present two witnesses who can attest to their social and financial wellbeing.

In Bali, Munawaroh, who plies a hard trade as a washerwoman, was allowed to leave the clinic where she gave birth to a baby boy recently, although she could not afford to pay her bill.

“We allowed her to leave. We cannot do anything,” said Gede Widarta, an official at the Sari Dharma Clinic in Denpasar.

The baby, who was suffering from a lung infection, had been referred earlier to Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar for treatment.

The baby was later placed in an incubator.

The hospital’s director for general and operational affairs, Triputro Nugroho, said that the baby’s treatment costs at the hospital had already reached Rp 17 million.

But because Munawaroh did not claim a reduction under the Jamkesmas scheme, “the cost we charged her is the same as for any other patient in general, and not the discounted cost.”

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Iranian woman busted for drug trafficking in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/12/2010 9:59 PM | Jakarta

An Iranian woman reportedly carrying 6.1 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (locally knows as “shabu-shabu”) and 65 gram of hashish was arrested by customs officers at Soekarno Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten, on Monday.

The crystal methamphetamine was worth up to Rp 12.2 billion (US$1.4 million), while the hashish was worth Rp 98 million, Customs and Excise Office chief Bahaduri Wijayanta said.

Separately, Customs and Excise prosecutions chief Gatot Sugeng Wibowo said the suspect, Maryam F, 26, had hidden the drugs in the bottom of her luggage.

Maryam entered Indonesia on an Etihad flight from Damaskus, Syria, Gatot said.

Previously, the Indonesian government had announced that as of January this year Iran was the most common country of origin of arrested smugglers of class-A drugs into Indonesia.

Prior to this case the office had busted 15 Iranian nationals this year linked to 22 cases. It has also seized a total of 115 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, ketamine, heroin, cocaine and marijuana.

Australian Jumps to Her Death from Jakarta Mall

Jakarta Globe, July 08, 2010 

Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an Australian woman who allegedly jumped from Plaza Semanggi in the central city.

Police told the Jakarta Globe that a parking attendant witnessed the woman, who appeared to be in her 40s, jump from the fifth floor of the car park at 6:45 a.m. She fell to the third floor, dying instantly.

Investigators have cordoned off the area and are undertaking an examination of the scene. Her body was yet to be removed at 8 p.m.

An officer told the Jakarta Globe that she had jumped with her handbag containing her identification.

Suicide is yet to be stated as the official cause of death.