Foreigner Wanted for Gruesome Murder in Indonesia Arrested by Spanish Police

Jakarta Globe, November 26, 2010

Spanish Police have detained a Pakistani man accused of stabbing a man to death in Indonesia and then chopping his body into pieces, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

Spanish Police have detained Pakistani man Imran
 Firasat Sulaeman, pictured, who is accused of stabbing
 a man to death in Indonesia and then chopping his
 body into pieces. (Photo courtesy of Minutodigital.com)       

Police arrested the 32-year-old father of two as he was about to enter a metro station in central Madrid, it said in a statement.

They identified him only by his initials but Spanish media gave his name as Imran Firasat Sulaeman, who in 2006 was given permission to live in Spain on humanitarian grounds after claiming he faced the death penalty in Pakistan for marrying a non-Muslim and criticising Islam.

Indonesian authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for his arrest following a kidnap-murder in Karawang, about 60 kilometers east of Jakarta, in June 2010.

Sulaeman and his wife are accused of contacting the victim with the pretext of hiring him to create a web page, and then kidnapping him for ransom, the interior ministry said.

“The crime culminated in a lethal knife stabbing and then dismemberment, with different parts of the body placed in bags and suitcases within refrigerators and then dispersed around Karawang,” it said.

Sulaeman’s Indonesian wife Jenny Setiawan, a Buddhist, was arrested in Indonesia over her suspected involvement in the murder but he returned to Spain at the end of September.

In interviews granted to Spanish media while the couple’s asylum request was being considered, Sulaeman said Pakistan police had amputated the thumb on his left hand and raped his wife as punishment for their relationship.

They fled to Germany but after their asylum request there was turned down they moved to Spain.

The couple settled in Cantabria in northern Spain where they opened several restaurants and where the local press dubbed them “heroes for love.”

They left Spain in 2007 after being accused of defrauding their business partner in the restaurant business and leaving behind hefty debts.

Sulaeman returned to Spain at the end of September 2010 and got a job at a restaurant in Cordoba but after one week he attacked the owner with a knife and stole 6,000 euros ($8,000) from him, according to the ministry statement. He then moved to Madrid.

Agence France-Presse

Bali to build int’l standard hospital

The Jakarta Post | Fri, 11/26/2010 10:52 AM

The Bali administration announced plans to develop an international-standard hospital in Sanur to cater to local and foreign visitors.

Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said Thursday that his administration was conducting a comprehensive feasibility study on the construction.

“We have allocated Rp 4 billion [US$446,000] from the 2011 provincial budget to plan and design the project,” he said, adding that an additional Rp 100 billion from the 2012 budget would be used for the construction.

“We expect to complete the project by 2013 when Bali hosts the APEC meeting,” Pastika added.

The hospital, which the administration claims would feature high-tech facilities, would be built on 3.4 hectares in Sanur.

“Bali is an international tourist destination. We have to provide excellent healthcare services for our guests. Visitors may be able to spend their holidays while also having medical check-ups done here,” Pastika said.

There are a number of so-called “international” hospitals in Denpasar despite the Health Ministry’s ban on using the word “international” in the names of the hospitals.

In addition to an international hospital, the local government also announced plans to build another hospital for patients covered by Bali Mandara Healthcare Insurance.

The scheme is a free healthcare program for Balinese residents across all eight regencies and one municipality. The program began in 2009 using Rp 181 billion in funds from the local budget.

The scheme allows residents to get free medical treatment at Denpasar’s Sanglah General Hospital and a number of other hospitals.

Pastika said profits from the operation of the planned international hospital would be used to fund the Bali Mandara hospital.

Karyasa Adnyana, the deputy chairman of the Bali Legislative Council’s Commission IV, said he fully supported the idea of a “cross-subsidy”.

“The development of an international-standard hospital will certainly enhance the image of Bali as a world-class tourist destination. Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia have been doing this for a long time,” he added.

Adnyana said the construction of the two hospitals would be funded by the provincial budget, and that therefore the administration had to be cautious in using public money. “We hope the money is spent in a transparent manner.”

— JP/Ni Komang Erviani

Official Says Indonesian Hajj Pilgrim Died of Swine Flu

Jakarta Globe | November 26, 2010

Jakarta. An official at the Hajj Health Center in Mina, Saudi Arabia, confirmed that two Indonesian pilgrims were found positive for the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu. One had died and another was still at the hospital.

Millions of hajj pilgrims praying in front of the
 Kabah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. On Friday, an official
 confirmed that an Indonesian pilgrim died from
 the H1N1 virus. (Antara Photo)   

Wan Alkadri, head of the center, said that ST died two days ago after being declared H1N1 positive on Nov. 12. ST was originally from Surabaya, East Java.

“The other one is still being treated at the Al Wadi Hospital in Mina. Both pilgrims were suspected to have contracted the disease in Mecca,” Alkadri was quoted as saying by news portal Detik.com, adding that the two were not the carriers of the virus.

“We have conducted investigations and monitored everyone who shared the same floor with them, including members of their entourage. Nobody else showed symptoms of the disease,” he said.

Previously, Saudi's Health Ministry had said that four pilgrims had died due to swine flu and 67 others have been diagnosed with the virus. The casualties were a Moroccan woman, a Sudanese man and an Indian man who were all older than 75, and a 17-year-old girl from Nigeria.

The Saudi Gazette reported that meteorologists predicted more rains at the pilgrimage sites after Wednesday's sudden downpour. It was initially feared that the rains would hasten the spread of the virus, but Hasan Al-Bushra an epidemiologist at the Cairo office of the World Health Organization, said that this was not the case.

“It is carried in the air, by sneezes, coughs and touch. It is not waterborne. The rain could even be beneficial if it means crowds are smaller,” he told Saudi Gazette.

Study: AIDS pill helps gay men avod HIV infection

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Milwaukee | Tue, 11/23/2010

Scientists have an exciting breakthrough in the fight against AIDS. A pill already used to treat HIV infection turns out to be a powerful weapon in protecting healthy gay men from catching the virus, a global study found.

Daily doses of Truvada cut the risk of infection by 44 percent when given with condoms, counseling and other prevention services. Men who took their pills most faithfully had even more protection, up to 73 percent.

Researchers had feared the pills might give a false sense of security and make men less likely to use condoms or to limit their partners, but the opposite happened - risky sex declined.

The results are "a major advance" that can help curb the epidemic in gay men, said Dr. Kevin Fenton, AIDS prevention chief at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But he warned they may not apply to people exposed to HIV through male-female sex, drug use or other ways. Studies in those groups are under way now.

"This is a great day in the fight against AIDS ... a major milestone," said a statment from Mitchell Warren, head of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit group that works on HIV prevention.

Because Truvada is already on the market, the CDC is rushing to develop guidelines for doctors using it for HIV prevention, and urged people to wait until those are ready.

"It's not time for gay and bisexual men to throw out their condoms," Fenton said. The pill "should never be seen as a first line of defense against HIV."

As a practical matter, price could limit use. The pills cost from $5,000 to $14,000 a year in the United States, but only 39 cents a day in some poor countries where they are sold in generic form.

Whether insurers or government health programs should pay for them is one of the tough issues to be sorted out, and cost-effectiveness analyses should help, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"This is an exciting finding," but it "is only one study in one specific study population," so its impact on others is unknown, Fauci said.

His institute sponsored the study with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Results were reported at a news conference Tuesday and published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

It is the third AIDS prevention victory in about a year. In September 2009, scientists announced that a vaccine they are now trying to improve had protected one in 3 people from getting HIV in a study in Thailand. In July, research in South Africa showed that a vaginal gel spiked with an AIDS drug could cut nearly in half a woman's chances of getting HIV from an infected partner.

Gay and bisexual men account for nearly half of the more than 1 million Americans living with HIV. Worldwide, more than 40 million people have the virus, and 7,500 new infections occur each day. Unlike in the U.S., only 5 to 10 percent of global cases involve sex between men.

"The condom is still the first line of defense," because it also prevents other sexually spread diseases and unwanted pregnancies, said the study leader, Dr. Robert M. Grant of the Gladstone Institutes, a private foundation affliated with the University of California, San Francisco.

But many men don't or won't use condoms all the time, so researchers have been testing other prevention tools.

AIDS drugs already are used to prevent infection in health care workers accidentally exposed to HIV, and in babies whose pregnant mothers are on the medication. Taking these drugs before exposure to the virus may keep it from taking hold, just as taking malaria pills in advance can prevent that disease when someone is bitten by an infected mosquito.

The strategy showed great promise in monkey studies using tenofovir (brand name Viread) and emtricitabine, or FTC (Emtriva), sold in combination as Truvada by California-based Gilead Sciences Inc.

The company donated Truvada for the study, which involved about 2,500 men at high risk of HIV infection in Peru, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, Thailand and the United States (San Francisco and Boston). The foreign sites were chosen because of high rates of HIV infection and diverse populations.

More than 40 percent of participants had taken money for sex at least once. At the start of the study, they had 18 partners on average; that dropped to around 6 by the end.

The men were given either Truvada or dummy pills. All had monthly visits to get HIV testing, more pills and counseling. Every six months, they were tested for other sexually spread diseases and treated as needed.

After a median followup of just over a year, there were 64 HIV infections among the 1,248 men on dummy pills, and only 36 among the 1,251 on Truvada.

Among men who took their pills at least half the time, determined through interviews and pill counts, the risk of infection fell by 50 percent. For those who took pills on 90 percent or more days, risk fell 73 percent. Tests of drug levels in the blood confirmed that more consistent pill-taking gave better protection.

The treatment was safe. Side effects were similar in both groups except for nausea, which was more common in the drug group for the first month but not after that. Unintended weight loss also was more common in the drug group, but it occurred in very few. Further study is needed on possible long-term risks.

What's next?

All participants will get a chance to take Truvada in an 18-month extension of the study. Researchers want to see whether men will take the pill more faithfully if they know it helps, and whether that provides better protection. About 20,000 people are enrolled in other studies testing Truvada or its component drugs around the world.

The government also will review all ongoing prevention studies, such as those of vaccines or anti-AIDS gels, and consider whether any people currently assigned to get dummy medicines should now get Truvada since it has proved effective in gay men.

Gilead also will discuss with public health and regulatory agencies the possibility and wisdom of seeking approval to market Truvada for prevention. The company has made no decision on that, said Dr. Howard Jaffe, president of Gilead Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm. Doctors can prescribe it for this purpose now if patients are willing to pay for it, and some already do.

Some people have speculated that could expose Gilead to new liability concerns, if someone took the pill and then sued if it did not protect against infection.

"The potential for having an intervention like this that has never been broadly available before raises new questions. It is something we would have to discuss internally and externally," Jaffe said.

Until the CDC's detailed advice is available, the agency said gay and bisexual men should:

-Use condoms consistently and correctly.

-Get tested to know their HIV status and that of their partners, and get tested and treated for syphilis, gonorrhea and other infections that raise the risk of HIV.

-Get counseling to reduce drug use and risky sex.

-Reduce their number of sexual partners.

---

Online:

• CDC advice: www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom
• AIDS information: www.aidsinfo.nih.gov
• and http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/HIVAIDS/
• Pill study: http://www.iprexnews.com
• Journal: www.nejm.org
• UNAIDS: http://tinyurl.com/krq7kr
• Prevention efforts: www.avac.org

Related Articles:

Daily Pill Greatly Lowers AIDS Risk, Study Finds

U.N. sees global AIDS epidemic starting to turn

RI admits lack of cooperation with Saudi over migrant workers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 11/22/2010 9:54 AM

The Indonesian government has admitted it proposed but never signed a draft of a memorandum of understanding intended to improve protection for Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia, a top official says.

Manpower and Transmigration Ministry Secretary-General Setyoko said Sunday that Indonesia had a long time ago proposed a legal basis to guarantee protection for Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia.

“We proposed the MoU a long time ago. But, the agreement requires the political will from both parties to sit together and cooperate,” Setyoko said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com.

Setyoko declined to comment on why both Indonesian and Saudi Arabian had not signed the agreement.

“We keep trying to use our diplomatic channels to talk about the issue. We are still waiting for the outcome of the talks,” he said.

“We will also invite the Saudi Arabian manpower ministry to discuss the draft of the agreement as soon as possible,” he added.

More than 4,300 Indonesian migrant workers were currently facing hardship, ranging from illness to sexual abuse, the Indonesian government said earlier.

That number constitutes 0.1 percent of the total 3.27 million Indonesian migrant workers worldwide.

Related Articles:

Indonesian Minister on Saudi Mercy Mission Is Still Awaiting Visa

Sending Migrant Workers to Countries without Legal Guarantees Must Stop

Govt to improve migrant workers` contracts in S Arabia

Muzadi calls to stop sending housemaids to Saudi

Migrant moratorium a good move: House deputy speaker

Indonesia maid 'killed in Saudi Arabia'

Indonesian Maid in Saudi Hospital in Latest Abuse Case

Saudi King Abdullah leaves for the U.S. for medical treatment

Saudi prince returns as king readies for US treatment

Maids Share Stories of Nearly Being Worked to Death by Saudi Employers

Jakarta Globe, Fitri R. | November 21, 2010             

Mataram. Selvia, a 27-year-old former maid from Sumbawa, a district of West Nusa Tenggara, has been partially paralyzed since 2007.

Activists in Malang, East Java, demanding the government
 investigate allegations of torture of Indonesian maids in
Saudi Arabia. (Antara Photo)  

It happened when she worked as a domestic worker in the Saudi Arabian city of Nabuk, where she says her employers nearly worked her to death.

“They didn’t torture me, but they frequently scolded me and I had to work very hard, lifting heavy objects like gas canisters,” she says.

The back-breaking work did just that — it broke her back, and now Selvia cannot walk properly.

Such stories are common, but only receive sporadic attention, such as the recently discovered horrific abuse of Sumiati, an Indonesian maid, by Saudi employers.

Selvia returned to Indonesia in July 2010.

“When she tried to walk, bent over, I could see that it was costing her a lot of effort,” says Endang Susilowati, an activist from the Panca Karsa Foundation (PPK), which helps former migrant workers who have suffered abuse. “Now her condition is getting worse.”

Endang accuses the government of ignoring its obligations to Selvia by not allowing her full treatment the West Nusa Tenggara General Hospital in the provincial capital Mataram without a government-issued insurance card known as a Jamkesmas.

Selvia’s injury, she argues, stems from a workplace accident, and as such the migrant worker placement agency (that sent her to Saudi Arabia ought to pay for her medical bills and arrange her insurance.

Yanti Yusepa, 25, from West Lombok, is another injured former migrant worker who is still waiting for her insurance payout.

She went to Saudi Arabia on Aug. 29 and arrived back in Indonesia on Oct. 6, paralyzed from the waist down after jumping from a second-story window to get away from what she called chronically abusive employers.

Yanti says she worked for three different families in Saudi Arabia, fleeing from the first two after they starved and physically abused her.

She says the third family was particularly cruel. The daughters would burn her with a hot iron while their mother would beat her. That abuse induced her desperate flight.

“I’m still traumatized. I get scared every time I remember mustering the courage to jump from the second-floor window,” Yanti says. “Not a single person was willing to help me when they saw me fall.”

She says she has not received any compensation from her Jakarta-based placement agency, Sinar Berkilau Mandiri, or her Bahrain-based agent, Al Gandir.

She says the agency only gave her Rp 100,000 ($11) to seek treatment at a community health center upon her return.

Yanti says she knows of at least 26 other Indonesian migrant workers sent out by the agent in Bahrain who have also been abused by their employers, in some cases sexually.

“I was afraid to tell this to the agents because they always threatened me and accused me of lying,” she says.

Awajir, a field recruiter for SBM in the province, said the company was fully committed to its obligations to Yanti.

“We even spent Rp 16.5 million of our own to bring her home when her parents got news that she had jumped from the window,” he said.

He added the company was also trying to process her insurance claim, but said Yanti had refused to have her injuries assessed at a hospital.

“We don’t want to be called irresponsible,” Awajir said. “She asked to be brought home, and we did it. She asked for her insurance payout, and we’re working on it.”

Baiq Halmawati, from the PPK, says more than 350 domestic workers from West Nusa Tenggara are currently stationed overseas and may be facing abuse or inhumane working conditions.

Govt steps up heat on Saudi Arabia over worker abuse

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 11/20/2010

In reality, it will be worse: Activists from the Indonesian Workers Association and Migrant Care stage a theatrical performance with a theme of torturing Indonesian maids in Saudi Arabia in front of the Royal Saudi Arabia Embassy in Jakarta Friday. Sumiati bini Salan Mustapa, an Indonesian maid, was inhumanly tortured by her Saudi employer recently. JP/Nurhayati

Indonesia’s fury over the abuse and murder of migrant workers has found no relief. A regional government has imposed a complete moratorium while the President considered reviewing the practice of sending workers to Saudi Arabia.

Indonesia would review sending migrant workers to “uncooperative, non-transparent” countries, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told reporters at the State Palace after a Cabinet meeting on Friday.

The President said “all out diplomacy” would be deployed against non-transparent countries to protect the interests of Indonesian workers.

Indonesian migrant worker Sumiati binti Salan
Mustapa after she was brutalized by her Saudi
Arabian employers. (Photo courtesy of the Saudi
Gazette)

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said that “uncooperative, non-transparent” countries were generally in the Middle East, and included Saudi Arabia.

Marty summoned Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdurrahman Mohammad Amen Al-Khayyat on Friday for the third time this week on yet another incident involving a migrant worker.

He previously summoned the ambassador twice and sent a letter to the Kingdom’s foreign minister following the case of 23-year-old Sumiati, a West Nusa Tenggara resident who was allegedly abused by her Saudi Arabian employer.

East Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Zainul Majdi imposed a moratorium Friday on sending female domestic workers from the province to Saudi Arabia following the news on Sumiati. Sumiati was reportedly tortured and sustained cuts around her mouth that suggested she was attacked with scissors. She also reportedly has burns that may have been caused by a hot iron.

“Today [Friday], we’ll also call the Saudi Arabian ambassador, again. It is not because of the case of Ibu Sumiati, but another case that was just revealed last night [Thursday],” Marty said, referring to Kikim Komalasari, another Indonesian migrant worker who was found dead in garbage bin.

Kikim’s neck was reportedly slashed, and she also had cuts to the rest of her body.

Marty said it had taken longer than usual for the Kingdom’s police to inform the Indonesian Embassy about Kikim’s death because she was previously misidentified as a Bangladeshi.

“Saudi Arabia and Middle Eastern countries in general don’t recognize [bilateral] MoUs in the informal sector. They only want to sign ones on the formal sector,” Marty said.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar cited Saudi Arabia and Jordan as two countries Indonesia had not yet managed to sign good agreements on migrant workers with.

The result of the review might lead to a decision to halt the sending of workers to these countries, he added.

President Yudhoyono also said the government was mulling the prospect of equipping Indonesian migrant workers with cell phones to help them reach officers more easily when they face problems.

“Based on our experiences, we often receive reports on what has happened with our migrant workers [after it] is too late,” the President said.

Muhaimin explained afterward only migrant workers sent to Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan had been equipped with cell phones.

“Cell phones should be a means of an open communication system included in the MoUs. Agents abroad must provide the phones, and the employers should not be allowed to take them [away],” the minister said.

Yudhoyono said currently about 4,300 Indonesian workers overseas are facing various hardships, ranging from being denied their salaries, overwork, and physical and even sexual abuse. Approximately 3.27 million Indonesians are now registered as migrant workers.

A protest over the torture of Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, outside
the Saudi Arabian embassy in Jakarta. on Nov. 18. (Photo: CNN)

Related Articles:

Indonesia maid 'killed in Saudi Arabia'

Indonesia: Maid killed, dumped in trash by Saudi employer

Indonesian Maid in Saudi Hospital in Latest Abuse Case

Saudi couple "hammer 24 nails" into Sri Lankan maid

Saudi prince found guilty of murdering his servant

Police install CCTVs and fingerprint scanners in detention centers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 11/17/2010 5:47 PM

The National Police have said they have upped security measures at their detention centers, including the one in Kelapa Dua, Depok, West Java, that high-profile graft suspect Gayus Tambunan unlawfully vacated several times after bribing his prison officers.

"We have installed CCTV [closed circuit television] cameras and fingerprint identification devices at the center," National Police Detectives Chief Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi said as quoted by Tempointeraktif.com on Wednesday.

"We guarantee that no one unauthorized will be able to enter the centers' premises now," Ito said.

Security at police detention centers became a hot issue when a bribery scandal implicated nine police officers for allegedly allowing detainee Gayus permission to leave his cell at least once a week.

Gayus was spotted by journalists watching an international tennis match in Nusa Dua, Bali.

Aside from giving special treatment to Gayus, Comr. Iwan Siswanto, the former head of the Kelapa Dua detention center admitted he had also unlawfully allowed other high profile inmates, including Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji and former Sr. Comr. Wiliardi Wizar, a convicted murder, to leave their cells.

Lombok Hotel Staff Struggle to Have Aussie Boss Charged With Sexual Abuse

Jakarta Globe, Fitri R. | November 16, 2010

Mataram. Four residents of a village in West Nusa Tenggara have reported an Australian to the police for alleged pedophilia and sexual assault but their complaints have been rejected.

The locals, from Pandanan village in West Lombok, claimed Paul Robson, 55, the owner of an unnamed hotel in the Senggigi resort area, sodomized and otherwise sexually abused them five years earlier.

It is not known if Robson is still in the country.

Police said they rejected the case because of incomplete paperwork, which they said needed to be in order before they could investigate.

West Nusa Tenggara Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Lalu Wirajaya said that while he could not go into detail, it was a matter of paperwork.

“That’s the common reason for a complaint being rejected,” he said. “But if they complete their paperwork, we’ll accept their report.”

Three of the accusers, two of whom were minors at the time of the alleged assault, claim they were hired by Robson to work as security guards at his hotel.

They said they were called into Robson’s office and asked to strip naked for a “ritual,” during which they were sodomized by the Australian and later paid to keep silent about it.

One of the victims, Sah, said he was 15 at the time and married, and that the repeated sex acts with Robson had caused him to become homosexual.

“I went off women completely and divorced my wife after being with Paul,” he said. “What he did to me ruined my life.”

The fourth accuser, who was 12 at the time of the alleged crime, said Robson had offered to pay his school fees if he allowed the Australian to touch him in “inappropriate places.”

“I felt I had to allow him to do it and I didn’t dare report it to anyone because he threatened me,” he said.

“He also made me sleep with him naked. He said it was a ritual.”

Fauzi Yoyok, a lawyer for the alleged victims, said Robson might have sexually assaulted up to eight men and boys over the past five years.

“This kind of crime has for far too long been tolerated in our community for the sake of tourism, but it’s ruining our younger generation,” he said.

Related Article:

Lombok Sex Abuse Claims Dismissed as ‘Unsubstantiated Slurs and Rumors’

British, Japanese Citizens Arrested in Foiled Drug Smuggling Attempt

Jakarta Globe, November 15, 2010

Customs officials at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport displaying the drugs seized from the three suspects, who have been identified as Morita Yukifrom from Japan, right; Khuram Antonio Khan Garcia from Britain, center; and Indonesian Yan Zacharia Santosa. (Antara Photo)

Denpasar. Customs officials at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport have arrested three men, including a British and a Japanese citizen, and seized 9.1 kilograms of narcotics in what are believed to be linked smuggling attempts.

“The first suspect we arrested was Khuram Antonio Khan Garcia, 39, a British citizen, after he arrived at the airport on Sunday night,” said Bagus Endro Wibowo, a customs official at the airport.

Garcia was arrested after he disembarked from a Qatar Airways plane at around 8 p.m. According to Bagus, the suspect triggered suspicion because he appeared pale and fidgety.

“Our officers took him to the special investigation room and found 3.1 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine,” Bagus said. “He had hidden the meth in the lining of his suitcase.”

Garcia reportedly then gave investigators the names of his two accomplices. Police picked up Yan Zacharia Santosa, 31, from Jakarta, who was staying at a hotel in Bali.

“Yan Zacharia Santosa was supposed to receive the smuggled drugs. He had been in Bali since November 12,” Bagus said.

The second man named by Garcia, a Japanese citizen identified as Morita Yuki, 35, was arrested after he arrived on a flight from Bangkok later on Sunday night.

Customs officials found six kilograms of hashish inside the suspect's suitcase.

All three suspects will be handed over to the Bali Police's Narcotics Division today. 

Antara

Karawaci to buy Balikpapan hospital for $26 million

The Jakarta Post | Mon, 11/15/2010 2:31 PM

Lippo Karawaci will pay $26 million for a controlling 79.61 percent stake in Balikpapan Husada Hospital, the property firm said in a statement released on Monday.

The hospital will be upgraded with 200 beds, 40 outpatient suites and three operating rooms specializing in neurosurgery, cardiology, orthopedics and emergency trauma.

“The aim is to serve the needs of the people of this resource-rich province who currently must go all the way to Singapore for treatment,” Karawaci said in the statement.

The hospital - the sixth operated by Karawaci - will serve East Kalimantan, which is home to companies such as Pertamina, Petrosa, Adaro, France's Total S.A., the US' Chevron Texaco and Australia's Theiss.

The newly acquired hospital would provide the company a six percent revenue boost in 2011, Karawaci said.

Just two weeks ago, Karawaci announced the $18 million acquisition of a hospital in Jambi, East Sumatra, and said it planned to acquire more hospitals.

Karawaci said it expected post-acquisition hospital revenue to grow by more than 42 percent in 2011. (est)

Aceh governor earns highest public health award

Antara News, Friday, November 12, 2010 18:13 WIB | National

Banda Aceh (ANTARA News) - Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf has earned a "Ksatria Bakti Husada" or the highest award in public health from the Health Ministry, a local official said.

M Yani, head of Aceh`s health office, said here Friday the award was to be presented to Irwandi Yusuf in Jakarta on Friday, November 12, 2010 on the occasion of National Health Day but the governor was too busy to come to the capital.

"The governor is too busy to go to Jakarta to receive the award so he will send a representative to the capital for the purpose," Yani said, adding that he got the information through a fax on Friday.

He said the governor got the award based on an evaluation conducted by a Health Ministry team in Banda Aceh several days ago.

"The team from Health Ministry office directly came to the field in Aceh to obtain first hand information about health services and free medical treatment through the Aceh Health Insurance program," he said.

He said three indicators evaluated by the team were related to malaria eradication effort, approach and service for people with mental disorders, and the Aceh Health Insurance program.

Official Proposes Disaster Education in Schools

Jakarta Globe, November 12, 2010

Jakarta. The government needs to make education about natural disasters part of the school curriculum, an official said on Friday.

A woman and her child in Pagai Selatan, Mentawai Islands, crying
after hearing about the deaths of family members following the
tsunami on Oct. 25. Officials said that education can help reduce
casualties when calamities strike. (Antara Photo)

"Including knowledge about natural disasters in the school curriculum is one way to help reduce casualties when a disaster strikes," said Safri Baharuddin, chief of information at the Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare.

He said that many Indonesians did not know what to do in the event of natural disasters, like earthquakes or tsunamis. This often adds to panic during such situations.

"People, especially those living in disaster-prone areas, must be taught what they must do during a disaster. Conducting disaster drills may help, but such exercises are not regularly done," Safri said.

He added that 1uake-proof buildings should also be enforced. "BMKG [The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency] and the Ministry of Public Works have created a model of a seismic-proof buildings. I suggest that developers, especially those who want to build housing complexes near disaster-prone areas, use the system," he said.

To try to reduce the number of casualties in the event of natural disasters, the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) had earlier announced that it would allocate Rp 100 million ($11,200) in 2011 for the mapping of disaster-prone areas in Indonesia.

"The map is needed to support local governments' efforts to daw up maps of the vulnerable areas. These areas must not be used for housing development or construction of public places," said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, BNPB's director of Disaster Risk Reduction.

He added that the funds would be distributed equally among BNPB's office in 33 provinces to support the mapping work.

Sutopo expressed hope that the mapping of disaster-prone areas in Indonesia could help the government reduce the number of casualties due to natural disasters.

Indonesia is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world because it is located on the Pacific Ocean's “Ring of Fire” of volcanoes and earthquakes.

Last month, Indonesia was hit by three major disasters in different parts of the country. The first one was a flash flood in Wasior, West Papua, on Oct. 3 that left 124 people dead and 123 others missing.

The second disaster was an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7, which was followed by a tsunami in the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, on Oct. 25. At least 408 people were killed, 303 others missing and 23,000 displaced.

Just one day after the Mentawai earthquake and tsunami, Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes, started to erupt on Oct. 26.

Antara

Bogor children suffers from lead poisoning

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 11/11/2010 7:46 PM | Jakarta

A government-sanctioned team has found that children in one village in Bogor, West Java, have been suffering from chronic lead poisoning.

The Committee for the Leaded Gasoline Phase-out found that children in Cinangka Village, Bogor, have an average lead level of 32.62 micrograms per deciliter of blood, exceeding the safe level of 10 micrograms per liter set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Local chairman of the committee Ahmad Safrudin attributed the high lead-to-blood level to a battery recycling plant set up in the vicinity of the village.

“Cinangka Village has been the center of the home industry specializing in battery recycling, which has been operational since the early 1980s,” Safrudin said.

In the village alone, there are more than 40 battery recycling plants, some of which were shut down due to the hazards they posed on the environment.

The committee conducted a field test on elementary school students in April by taking blood samples from 40 children in Cinangka Village.

Laboratory tests showed that the highest level of lead was found in the body of a 7-year-old, at 60 micrograms per deciliter.

The lowest level was found in the blood of a 6-year-old boy at 16.2 micrograms per deciliter.

Lead affects a number of body processes, damaging organs and tissues including the heart , bones , intestines , kidneys , and reproductive and nervous systems. People can be exposed to lead through contaminated air, water, soil, food and consumer products.

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Bogor children suffers from lead poisoning

Obama says US to help victims of natural disasters

Antara News, Wednesday, November 10, 2010 04:02 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Visiting US President Barack Obama expressed sympathy for Indonesia on Tuesday and pledged to send humanitarian aid to victims of Merapi eruptions in Yogyakarta and Central Java and tsunami in Mentawai.

"We will keep supporting. The United States of America would continue to collect humanitarian aid in everyway possible ," he said at a joint press conference with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono here Tuesday evening.

Obama said Indonesia was facing difficult times recently due to a number of natural disasters that came one after the other.

He praised President Yudhoyono that had worked hard to help his people that had become victims of the natural disasters.

To all the victims he expressed deep sympathy and condolences. "Please accept my sympathy," he said.

Obama said his arrival in Indonesia was one of the ways to assure that the US was a loyal friend of Indonesia.

On the occasion President Yudhoyono said that Obama was a figure who knew Indonesia. In view of that he hoped the good relations between the two countries would help improve the quality of life in the two countries.

"So, the cooperation between Indonesia and the US could be done more quickly," he said.

President Obama, flanked by First Lady Michele Obama, arrived here on Tuesday afternoon for a state visit until Wednesday.

He was officially welcomed at Merdeka Palace at 5pm by President Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono.

President Obama is scheduled to visit the country`s biggest mosque the Istiqlal on Wednesday and made a public speech at state University of Indonesia before leaving for South Korea to attend the G20 Summit.

Acute respiratory infection threatens Mt Merapi refugees

Antara News, Sunday, November 7, 2010 23:52 WIB

Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - Acute rspiratory infection, hypertension, and headache were the ailments that lots of Mount Merapi eruption survivors suffered at the refugee shelters, a health worker said.

"The displaced people are so vulnerable to these diseases," top official of the Health Ministry Supriyantoro told newsmen here Sunday.

The sick refugees got medical treatment at clinics set up inside the refugee shelters but if their health condition got worse, they would have to be sent to a hospital, he said.

During their medical treatment, the Mount Merapi refugees would not have to pay anything, Supriyantoro said.

Some 45 hospitals and more than 100 health centers were ready to serve Mount Merapi eruption victims in the districts of Sleman, Klaten, Magelang and Boyolali, he said.

"But we (health workers) have difficulties in taking care of the refugees` health problems because many moved from one refugee shelter to another," he said.

Asked about the medical supplies for the refugees, especially those with serious burns, he said the supplies were not sufficient, but situation could still be handled and overcome, he said.

For taking care of refugees with burns, the medical equipment of general hospitals as Dr.Sardjito in Yogyakarta are quit sufficient, he said.

Mount Merapi, located on the border between two provinces, lies geographically close to Yogyakarta but is officially part of Central Java. It has continuously erupted since October 26, spewing hot clouds into the air and sending lava down its many slopes.

Due to the intensive large eruptions, the safety zone had been extended to 20 kilometers.

The exact number of victims remains uncertain but the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) noted that at least 135 people had been killed since Mount Merapi first erupted on October 26.

Besides killing at least 135 people, the eruptions had also injured 411 people and forced 278,403 others to take refuge.

The displaced people were sheltered in various refugee centers set up in five districts and towns within the provinces of Yogyakarta and Central Java.

Mount Merapi is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia, whose eruptions have regularly been detected since 1548.

Volcano a no-smoking area

smh.com.au, Will Carless, November 5, 2010 - 5:29AM

Nobody is allowed to smoke in the Sampoerna Rescue camp.

The cluster of leaky, ash-covered canvas tents that has been set up in a muddy field here, on the slopes of erupting Mount Merapi in Central Java, has been designated a smoke-free zone by volunteers and employees of Sampoerna, one of Indonesia's largest tobacco companies.

The camp is one of the only places here in Java, where almost two-thirds of adult males are addicted to cigarettes, and where smoking is tolerated everywhere from airport lounges to children's play parks, that you can't smoke.

The company, which has been owned by Philip Morris since 2005, paid for the camp, the flashy four-wheel drive vehicles parked in front of it, and the cluster of eager staffers wearing natty red and black uniforms covered with company logos.

The team is one of several emergency response efforts organised by large Indonesian corporations in response to the devastating series of eruptions that have so far killed 44 people and displaced more than 77,000 rural residents in the last week.

On Thursday, as the volcano unleashed its biggest explosion yet, killing five more people, the mountainside crawled with expensive ambulances, water purification trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles, all provided by the companies.

Businesses as diverse as Jakarta-based conglomerate Artha Graha, telecommunications giant Telkomsel and state oil company Pertamina provided the vehicles, which, like the uniforms of the squads of employees who operate them, are typically emblazoned with corporate logos.

Known here as "corporate social responsibility" efforts, the disaster relief teams aim to augment efforts by a stretched Indonesian government to house, clothe and feed evacuees from the volcano.

Representatives of the companies working on the mountain said their efforts are entirely altruistic, and baulked at any suggestion that the aid teams double as a marketing campaign for the companies.

But local residents and evacuees were not so sure.

"Why can't they just do the good stuff, but without the advertising?" asked 18-year-old Anin, who like many Indonesians only uses one name and who was volunteering at an evacuation camp opposite the Sampoerna camp in her home village of Harjobinangung.

"Why can't they just use plain white vehicles or something?"

Earlier this week, police and military officers tore down hundreds of banners and advertisements for political parties that had quickly sprung up on main streets in the evacuation zone.

The removal of the advertisements, which had rankled local residents and evacuees, came after a local official said they had been erected without permits.

Aprilianto, a 31-year-old evacuee from the slopes north of Harjobinagung, said the government should apply the same rules to private companies that have erected banners and tents displaying their corporate logos.

"The companies are taking advantage of the situation, so why should they be treated differently?" Aprilianto said.

Inside one of the Sampoerna tents, Herman Sudjarwo, a general practitioner who usually works in a private hospital in the city of Surabaya in East Java, attended to evacuees in a makeshift clinic.

He said most of the 90 to 100 patients he sees a day are suffering from breathing difficulties attributable to the high levels of volcanic ash and dust that have rained down from the volcano's crater.

Asked whether he sees any irony in a cigarette company providing free medical checkups, Sudjarwo giggled.

"This is to balance it out," he said.

Arief Triastika, a national coordinator for Sampoerna's community development efforts, who has been managing the camp on Merapi, said his company is only interested in providing assistance to people affected by the volcano and is not using the disaster as a promotional opportunity.

Sampoerna maintains three disaster management teams on the island of Java and has dispatched crews of volunteers to disasters all over Indonesia since 2002, Triastika said.

The company has helped provide food, medical equipment and logistical aid to victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the 2006 tsunami in West Java, earthquakes in Padang and Yogyakarta and floods across Java in 2010, he said.

Asked if skeptical evacuees have criticised his efforts, Triastika shook his head vigorously.

"At the moment we don't have that criticism. And we keep giving the best we can do for the community," he said.

When employees and volunteers want to smoke at the Sampoerna Rescue camp, they have to leave the tents, even if it is pouring with rain, Triastika said.

The camp is a de facto medical clinic, he said, and therefore must be kept sterile.

Locals eyeing the tents and the Sampoerna banners from an evacuation camp across the street had other ideas about the Sampoerna effort, however.

Asked if he had ever thought to approach the camp volunteers for free cigarettes (the company does not hand out cigarettes), Aprilianto's eyes lit up.

"No," he said as he stubbed out a rival brand's clove cigarette. "Do they do that?"