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.

Thai company will pay for Timor oil spill

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 07/31/2010 11:37 AM

PTTEP Australasia has agreed to pay Indonesia compensation for damage to its territory near Timor from an oil spill caused by the Thai company’s rig, an official says.

“They have agreed to pay our claim,” Indonesian advocacy team leader Masnellyarti Hilman said.

An exact amount for compensation is still being calculated by the Indonesian government since the oil slick has expanded to cover over 66,000 square kilometers (sqm) of the Timor Sea.

More than 500,000 tons of oil spilled into the Timor Sea after a PTTEP Australasia oil platform exploded in the Montara field off Australia’s north coast in August 2009.

Negotiators from Indonesia and PTTEP Australasia met for the first time Tuesday in Perth. The two parties have not yet scheduled meetings.

The team will ask the National Aeronautic and Aviation Agency (LAPAN) to perform modelling on the areas affected by the spill before proposing a final amount for compensation, Masnellyarti said.

“We will collect supporting data from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, which previously reported a level of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAH] that exceeded marine water quality standards,” she added.

Samples collected by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources indicate that the hydrocarbons now found in the Timor Sea were similar to samples taken from the Montara platform, she added.

The Environment Ministry said its analysis showed the quality of sea water in Timor Sea failed to meet tolerable levels set by Indonesian government.

The ministry sampled sea water in five different areas.

It said that the total suspended density (TSS) of particulate matter in the samples was at 147 milligram per liter (mg/l), far higher than the tolerable level of 20 mg/l.

The East Nusa Tenggara environmental agency also found physical and chemical contamination from the oil spill that exceeded the tolerable level set by the Indonesian government.

The Montara field was developed by the Norwegian and Bermudan-owned Seadrill company and operated by PTTEP Australasia, a unit of PTT, the Thai state-owned oil and gas company.

The company’s oil platform exploded spilled more than 500,000 liters of crude oil into the Timor Sea.

Thirty-eight percent of Indonesia’s sea territory in the Timor Sea was affected by the spill, local fishermen’s catches dropped and thousands of tons of dead shallow water fish and whales were discovered.

The spill also destroyed seaweed farms cultivated by coastal communities in East Nusa Tenggara.

Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi, who is the head of the National Team for Ocean Oil Spill Emergency Situations, previously said the government asked PTTEP Australasia to pay US$5 million in initial compensation to repair environmental damage from the spill.

The initial payment will cover the short-term impacts of the spill, such as losses suffered by fishermen and seaweed farmers in the area, and is estimated to exceed Rp 247 billion, he said

“That was the figure when the oil spill area was still around 56,000 sqm. Now that the area extends over 66,000 sqm. We must recalculate the figure,” he said.

The East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration estimated damage from the oil spill in the short term could reach Rp 806.17 billion.

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House speaker agrees with idea to move Indonesia's capital

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 07/30/2010 4:11 PM

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie agreed on Friday with an idea to move Indonesia's capital from Jakarta to somewhere in Central Kalimantan.

“It is good if it (the capital) is moved. If it is located in the middle (of the country), it will surely be easily accessible from everywhere – the east, the west,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com news portal after attending a plenary session at the House in Jakarta.

The main reason (to move the capital), Marzuki said, is for the sake of efficiency as Jakarta can no longer bear the burden of acute traffic jams. “Whatever is done, it will just move around there,” said Marzuki, deputy chairman of the patron board of the Democratic Party.

Moving the capital will be followed by all the country's administration offices, he said, so that Jakarta will purely become a commercial business city. “The current presidential palace can be used like Bank Indonesia museum for tourism purposes,” he said.

Marzuki further said that moving the capital will be the domain of the government. “The House of Representatives will be in charge of preparing its legislation and regulations,” he said, expressing confidence the process of moving the capital will be able to be completed within five years.

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Pelindo to Pump Additional $77m Into Tanjung Priok as Upgrade Steams Ahead

Jakarta Globe, Faisal Maliki Baskoro, July 29, 2010

 PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II plans to invest Rp 700 billion ($77.7 million) more in the next 12 months to revamp Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta. (Antara Photo/Fanny Octavianus)
 

State-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia II plans to invest Rp 700 billion ($77.7 million) more in the next 12 months to revamp Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta as part of an ongoing upgrade program.

President director Richard J Lino said the company, known as Pelindo II, would use internal funds. It has already allocated Rp 2.7 trillion this year to buy equipment and pay for the initial phase of reclaiming 246 hectares over the next eight years.

“Our customers are global customers and we need to match that by transforming the port into a world-class facility by increasing productivity through expanding capacity, investing in new equipment and giving 24-hour service in all of our ports,” Richard said.

Pelindo II is undertaking a massive program of capital expenditure to upgrade and expand its 12 ports nationwide, including Tanjung Priok, which it hopes to turn into a port capable of being a regional shipping hub.

Richard estimates that the total program will cost Rp 12 trillion for all ports over the next three years, with the total bill for Tanjung Priok’s upgrade coming to $1.6 billion over eight years.

Pelindo II is considering an initial public offering, as well as issuing bonds and seeking bank loans, to finance the projects.

“If we can increase productivity and reduce loading time it would reduce logistics costs,” Richard said. “Logistics costs in Indonesia are among the highest in the world, ranking around 70th. We want to give our customers nearly zero waiting time.”

The World Bank’s Logistic Performance Index ranks Indonesia 75th among 155 economies.

The government has been pushing its seaports and airports this year to prepare for an expected increase in the flow of goods resulting from free-trade deals with China and India.

It said in February that it would spend Rp 10.3 trillion to upgrade 66 seaports and 25 airports this year, compared with Rp 3.27 billion last year.

Pelindo plans to double its productivity within the next eight years, starting with a 90-hectare beach reclamation at Tanjung Priok and buying new cranes. Tanjung Priok and three other national ports began operating 24 hours a day in November.

Caterpillar Mulls Production Base in Indonesia, Gita Says

Jakarta Globe, Neil Chatterjee & Janeman Latul | July 30, 2010

Jakarta.  US heavy equipment maker Caterpillar may pick Indonesia as its Southeast Asia manufacturing base, joining the likes of South Korea’s LG Electronics, which is also considering such a move, as Jakarta takes on regional rivals Vietnam and Thailand, Indonesia’s investment chief said.

Gita Wirjawan said surging consumption, competitive labor costs and confidence in its stability were attracting foreign investment, particularly from Asian and Middle Eastern firms in electronics, infrastructure and energy.

“LG is thrilled with the fact that they have become 40 percent market share holders in Indonesia and the growth is just staggering. They are contemplating positioning Indonesia as a hub for Southeast Asia,” Gita said.

“The labor cost structure is already much more competitive than China and Vietnam,” said Gita, a former JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs banker, on a day when Fitch Ratings — which has Indonesia one notch below an investment-grade sovereign rating — downgraded Vietnam.

Investors have ploughed into Indonesian markets, driving the Jakarta index to a record high this month, pushing down bond yields and lifting the rupiah 4.6 percent this year.

Gita, head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), said on Wednesday that foreign direct investment was forecast to reach Rp 118.4 trillion ($13.1 billion) in 2010, an increase of 25 percent from last year’s realized investment of $10.5 billion.

Previously, the government had expected FDI to rise 15 percent.

Investment so far this year included expansion by miners such as Newmont Mining and Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold plus the relocation of factories from Vietnam and China that make shoes for Nike and Adidas.

Gita said he expected deals in the second half of the year with electronics, infrastructure and energy firms.

A $6 billion joint venture between Indonesia’s biggest steel maker, PT Krakatau Steel, with South Korea’s Pohang Iron & Steel is expected to be signed within a couple of weeks.

He said potential investors appreciated that he also told them about the problems, from natural disasters to the difficulty of accessing capital outside the main island Java, recipient of about 80 percent of foreign direct investment.

Investors’ main concerns include inadequate infrastructure, corruption, inflexible labor laws and red tape, he said.

These are the reasons the country has lagged its regional peers in attracting foreign direct investment in recent years. 

Reuters

Cargill Supports Unilever's Drive to Use Sustainable Palm Oil

Source: Cargill, Inc., 29/07/2010

29 July 2010 — Cargill has entered into a supply agreement to provide Unilever's European operations with 10,000 metric tonnes of segregated refined palm oil, certified by the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

This means that the oil will have been certified as sustainable, having been segregated at every step in the supply chain. Cargill’s new offering will strengthen its ability to provide sustainable palm oil products to meet customers’ requirements and will complement its existing certified RSPO Mass Balance palm oil offering.

“Our agreement with Unilever is the result of both companies’ strong commitment to supporting responsible supply chains”, said Paul Naar, head of Cargill’s food businesses in Europe. “As the demand for certified sustainable palm oil continues to grow, we are combining our supply chain expertise and industry knowledge to provide customers with choices to meet their particular requirements. We are very pleased to partner with Unilever and see this as a big step forward in the drive towards palm oil sustainability.”

"Unilever is ahead of plan to achieving 100 percent sustainable palm oil by 2015 with over 35 percent already being RSPO certified this year", said Marc Engel, Chief Procurement Officer at Unilever. "Today's announcement marks another important milestone in our journey to 100 percent sustainable palm oil, as Cargill's physically segregated certified oil will be delivered in our factories and used in our products. We are very pleased that Cargill, as one of our strategic partners, is sharing our vision on sustainable palm oil and enabling this for us."

Cargill’s offering of fully segregated refined palm oil follows the RSPO certification of the company’s European and Malaysian oil refineries. PT. Hindoli in Sumatra, Indonesia received its RSPO certification in February 2009 and Cargill is currently working to certify its other palm plantation in Indonesia, Harapan Sawit Lestari. Cargill fully supports the RSPO process to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil throughout the supply chain. The company has set a goal of buying 60 percent of its total crude palm oil from RSPO members by the end of 2010. It is encouraging its third-party suppliers to join RSPO and attain certification and its eventual goal is to have a 100 percent RSPO certified supply chain.

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Indonesia, US navies conduct disaster handling exercise

Antara News, Thursday, July 29, 2010 19:28 WIB

Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA News) - The United States and Indonesian navies held a joint exercise on Wednesday on the handling of natural disasters in integrated ways, a spokesman said.

The exercise which involved about 40 personnel from the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), the United States Navy (USN) and Maluku`s Search and Rescue (SAR) team lasted one day, spokesman of the US hospital ship USNS Mercy T-H 19 for Pacific Partnership 2010 Affairs, Daniel Bernardi, said.

"This exercise is held to provide knowledge on how to handle a natural disaster in an integrated way because a natural disaster in one country is different from that in another one," Bernardi said.

So, he said, if a natural disaster happens in a country, rescue workers sent to help mitigate the victims can provide assistance effectively because they already know how to handle it.

He said the joint exercise was divided into two sessions, one was on theories organized at the office of the Maluku governor`s office while the other one was field practice.

Bernardi said that during the Sail Banda event, the Pacific Partership 2010 held a lot of exercises, among others in the health field, emergencies and other types of exercises.

"We call the exercise SMET (Subject Matter Expert Training) which sometimes involve Australia, Singapore, Indonesia and the United States," he said.

The USNS Mercy is in Maluku on a Pacific Partnership 2010 mission and to support Operation Surya Bhaskara Jaya which is part of the international yachting event, Sail Banda.

The Pacific Partnership 2010 is an annual humanitarian program of the United States consisting of exercises on the handling of natural disasters in Indonesia.

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RI prepares pilot project for Norway deal

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 07/29/2010 10:36 AM

The government is determining which province will be the host of a pilot project for the implementation of the Indonesian-Norway forestry deal, says a minister.

“We will choose one of five provinces that are eligible to host the pilot project,” Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa told journalists on Wednesday after a meeting at the ministry. He was accompanied by Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan.

The five provinces under consideration are Papua, East Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, Jambi and Riau. Hatta said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would decide which province would be chosen to host the pilot project under the agreement.

“We will choose one. It will be directly decided by the President,” he said, without further detail.

Zulkifli said all five provinces had the potential to host the pilot project. “We have selected [the five] from the country’s provinces. All five provinces have potential,” he said.

The Indonesian and Norwegian governments signed an agreement on May 26 to reduce Indonesia’s carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as part of the REDD+ scheme. The agreement requires Indonesia to stop conversions of primary forests and peatlands into oil palm plantations for two years. In return, Norway will provide a compensation of US$1 billion (Rp 9 trillion) for the moratorium.

Hatta said the government was preparing a measuring, reporting and verifying mechanism (MRV) for the project.

“We have prepared our MRV to ascertain if the project will be able to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions during the implementation of the agreement, to support our national interests. We need such a MRV. It is still being prepared. I hope it can be completed in October,” he said. (ebf)

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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.

Mercy visit: The US Navy's USNS Mercy hospital ship docks in the Gulf of Jakarta on Wednesday. The ship will take part in the Sail Banda 2010, which is scheduled to run from late July to August.Antara/Fanny Octavianus

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ILO organizes hotel training to support Sail Banda

Antara News, Wednesday, July 28, 2010 16:51 WIB

Ambon, Maluku (ANTARA News) - Some 60 youths here are taking part in a three-month hotel training as part of the ongoing Sail Banda 2010.

The training is organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO) representative office in Maluku in its bid to support the international marine event of Sail Banda.

ILO organizes the hotel training in cooperation with six star hotels in Ambon, namely Aston, Swiss Bell, Amans, Manise, Amaris, and Mutiara which were officiated on Monday by local Manpower and Transmigration Office chief Jeri Uweubun.

ILO education and training program coordinator Lucky Lumingkewas said here on Wednesday there were as yet few trained horel workers in Maluku , and therefore the training was necessary.

Lumingkewas said the hotel training, organized by ILO in cooperation with the six star hotels here, was intended to create job opportunity and skilled workers for hotels.

"This three-month training in the form of theory and internships is expected to create skilled hotel workers because we use standard syllabus referring to Indonesian National Working Standard," Lumingkewas said.

Asked why such a training was carried out late while Sail Banda has already started hotel guests start trickling in, Lumingkewas said it was part of their contribution to make the international marine event a success.

"We know that hotel industry in Ambon has just grown following Sail Banda event, and therefore we will continue to contribute to make it a success," he added.

The 60 youngsters participating in the training are taking internship program at Aston Hotel, Swiss Bell Hotel, Amans Hotel, Manise Hotel, Amaris Hotel, and Mutiara Hotel.

Lumingkewas expressed hope that the training would yield skilled manpower in hotel affairs in Maluku, especially in the provincial city of Ambon.

Taxi company leaves Pertamina, shifts to Shell

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 07/28/2010 9:32 AM

Taxi company PT Gamya Taksi Group is negotiating a cooperation agreement with PT Shell Indonesia after 270 units or one fourth of its fleet could not operate due to broken fuel pumps.

Gamya President Director Mintarsih A Latief said replacing the taxis’ fuel tanks would not solve the problem if the cause of the damage was still around gasstations selling subsidized fuel produced by state oil and gas company PT Pertamina.

“There is no guarantee that the same problem will not recur if we change the fueltanks,” she told Kontan business daily on Tuesday.

Preliminary investigation found that the Pertamina fuel bought from gas stations in Kreo,Pondok Bambu and on Jl. TB Simatupang contained sulfur. Gamya claims to have lost up to Rp 162 million in revenue per day due to the damage.

As of Tuesday 50 taxis could not operate due to limited stock of fuel pump components.

Mintarsih said the use of high-octane fuel from Shell would force her company to increase service fee. “If we cannot find another way, we will have to increase thetariff,” she added.

The multinational oil company only sells non-subsidized fuels.

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BP Indonesia says no change to Indonesian strategy

Reuters, Tue Jul 27, 2010 11:57pm EDT

July 28 (Reuters) - BP Indonesia, a unit of BP plc (BP.L) (BP.N), on Wednesday said there was no change to its strategy or plans in Southeast Asia's biggest economy and that it wants to expand and find new opportunities in Indonesia.

The statement follows BP's announcement on Tuesday that it plans to sell $30 billion in assets over the next 18 months to help cover its liabilities resulting from the Gulf oil spill.

"In Indonesia, there is no change to our strategy and plans. Indonesia is an important area for BP," BP Indonesia president, William Lin, said in an email to Reuters.

"We will continue to manage our existing operations in a safe and efficient manner, as well as continuously look to grow these assets and access new opportunities through further development, exploration and renewal," he said.

BP has a 37.16 percent stake in Indonesia's Tangguh liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Papua, in the easternmost part of the sprawling archipelago, which has capacity to produce 7.6 million tonnes per year (tpy) through two trains.

The Tangguh project cost about $5 billion. Other partners in the project include China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) (0883.HK).

Tangguh has several foreign supply contracts, including a 2.6 million tpy contract with CNOOC, while U.S. firm Sempra Energy (SRE.N) has a 20-year contract to lift 3.6 million tpy, and there are also supply contracts withSouth Korean firms K-Power and POSCO (005490.KS).

BP also has a stake in Sanga Sanga gas field in East Kalimantan, Borneo island, and has also participated in a coalbed methane (CBM) project in the same area in East Kalimantan.

(Reporting by Muklis Ali; Editing by Sara Webb)

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Leighton Asia wins US$155.5 mln contract to develop Indonesian gold mine

Antara News, Tuesday, July 27, 2010 16:45 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News/Asia Pulse)  - Leighton Asia has won a five-year contract to develop the Martabe gold mine of G-Resources Group Ltd in South Tapanuli.

The subsidiary of Australia's mining service contractor Leighton Holdings Ltd (ASX:LEI) will earn A$172 million (US$155.5 million) from the contract.

Leighton Asia will build access road and other mining infrastructure, remove the overburden and drill tunnels, Leighton Asia managing director Hamish Tyrwhitt said. Work will start early next month, the newspaper Investor Daily quoted Tyrwhitt as saying.

Source:

Business in Asia Today - Jul. 27, 2010

published by Asia Pulse

Govt full steam ahead on Manggarai rail project

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 07/27/2010 9:28 AM

The government will accelerate the development of the Rp 4.6 trillion (US$510.6 million) railway project linking Manggarai railway station and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to ease congestion along routes to the city’s gateway, says the top economic minister.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting at his office on Monday, Coordinating Economic Minister

Hatta Rajasa said the proposed law on the use of land for public interests was now being finalized in order to solve the land clearance problems that often hamper infrastructure projects.

“I hope [the law] can be enacted this year,” he said.

He said land-clearance was one of the biggest obstacles in the development of the railway project initiated by PT Railink, a company established by state-airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II and state-railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).

The 33-kilometer railway between Manggarai railway station and the airport will have the capacity to carry 24,109 passengers a day.

“We have asked the National Land Agency [BPN] to show the progress of the law drafting,” Hatta said, adding that the country’s lack of infrastructure remained the biggest obstacle for many investors. 

Meanwhile, Investment Coordinating Board head Gita Wirjawan said the government had seen many public-private partnership projects stagnate due to land-clearance issues.

“[Land clearance] is the most difficult problem we’ve experienced,” he said, adding that BPN head Joyo Winoto promised to soon complete the drafting of the law on land development for public use.

He said the existence of a policy permitting land acquisitions direly needed for the expansion of

their businesses and investments had not worked in streamlining the process.

“They have to directly resolve it with the land owners, and it’s not an easy process despite the existence of a law giving permits on land acquisition,” he said.

However, he said, land clearance would be the utmost interest due to the government’s investment

targets.

“We should have a certain policy that gives investors positive signs of improvement in the investment climate,” he said.

He said that land-clearing problems had been appropriately handled by the BPN, which assured it would finish drafting the law this year. (ebf)

US-RI private sector partnership provides high-tech education

Antara News, Tuesday, July 27, 2010 10:27 WIB

Karawang, W Java (ANTARA News) - Partnership between the Government of Indonesia, the U.S. Government and seven private sector partners opened a pilot ICT lab at the Al-Ahliyah junior secondary school in Karawang, West Java, on Monday.

It aims to build free-standing IT labs at Indonesian junior secondary schools. The labs will be outfitted with cutting-edge technology provided by the private sector partners, the US embassy said in a media release made available here on Tuesday.

Al-Ahliyah received a state-of-the-art computer lab with equipment, software and educational resources. This effort builds on existing ICT and teacher-training cooperation between the U.S. Agency of International Development and the Ministry of Education. The U.S. Government also provided resources for teacher training and support as well as construction of the lab building.

The project will support the Government of Indonesia to (1) improve the relevance of education by increasing student opportunities to develop and apply 21st century life skills to their learning and (2) improve the quality of teachers in Indonesia and their ability to use ICT as a learning tool. The IT lab will provide students and teachers with hands-on opportunities to practice, apply and develop their ICT capability and to use ICT to support learning across all subjects.

This partnership is a concrete realization of the U.S. commitment to increase cooperation in the fields of science, technology and education. In his January 20 speech before the Indonesian Academy of Sciences, President Yudhoyono said, "It is increasingly obvious that economic growth and competitiveness of a nation is highly dependent on the mastery of technology."

This unique partnership will support the development of the "knowledge capital" that President Yudhoyono recognized as so vital to success in the 21st century. Private-sector partners include: PT Cisco Systems Indonesia; PT Hewlett-Packard Indonesia; PT Indosat Tbk; Intel Indonesia Corporation; PT Microsoft Indonesia; Oracle Corporation; and Qualcomm Incorporated.

New technology generates electricity from exhaust gases

RNW, 26 July 2010 - 10:44am

A Dutch company has developed a device which recycles unused exhaust heat. The Tri-O-Gen ORC converts residual heat into electricity using the Organic Rankine Cycle.

This cycle first converts all kinds of residual heat into vapour. This expands in a turbine connected to an electric generator. The system uses no fuel except for exhaust gases or other sources of residual heat which would otherwise disappear into the atmosphere.

The installation can improve the electrical output of an engine or gas turbine by 20 percent - a huge improvement on previous methods which were limited to increases measured in tenths of a percent. It requires minimal maintenance and has no adverse effects on the environment.

The device is the result of nine years of development, experiment and sustainability testing in collaboration with the Technological University of Delft, the TNO research institute and the National Aerospace Laboratory.

The output of a single ORC is enough to meet the consumption of 300 households.

Tri-O-Gen calculates that if all the unused heat in the Netherlands were converted into electricity this way, the country would need one less coal-fired generator.

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Time for Indonesia to accelerate use of renewable energy

Antara News, By Eliswan Azly, Monday, July 26, 2010 21:52 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is at a crossroad. With the impressive rate of its economic growth which leads to a dramatic increase in energy consumption and in an effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, this archipelagic country has to find renewable energy that would may help reduce reliance on carbon-fueled energy.

It is for that purpose that the Energy Care Society (MPE) on Sunday urged the government and the House of Representatives (DPR) to encourage the use of renewable energy as an alternative to fossil fuel.

"The government and the DPR need to issue a regulation to lay a firm basis to change the market domination of fossil fuel by encouraging the public to use more renewable energy," MPE Chairman Abdul Kadir said.

According to him, the regulation must contain clauses requiring companies operating under contracts of work in the oil and gas mining sector to help meet power demand using renewable energy such as solar energy under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.

The companies` participation in the fulfillment of power demand using alternative energy was badly needed to solve power shortages as well as to preserve the environment, he said adding that hopefully this will help accelerate the use of renewable energy in this country.

"It is regrettable that people in oil- and mineral-rich regions have difficult access to electricity. This must draw all of our attention," he said.

He said a number of companies such as state electricity company PLN, state oil company Pertamina, Antam and Freeport had started building solar and micro hydro power plants to meet power demands, however, the power plants are still of low capacity.

"This must become a common movement including the involvement of the extractive industry to think of a solution by providing CSR programs," he said.

He said the MPE had discussed the matter with extractive industries at a seminar in Bandung, West Java, on July 22-23.

In addition, Indonesia could also develop solar power plants which would help it overcome future energy crises, Jacobus Purwono, the director general of electricity, said.

Indonesia recently announced its plan to build 250 solar power plants with a total capacity of 2.2 MW by 2014 to supply the country`s rural areas with electricity. The proposed project is expected to cost around US$84 million.

"The electricity produced by the plants will benefit 150,000 to 200,000 households in different parts of the country," he said.

Indonesia`s announcement comes on the heels of Japan`s $400 million loan to help the country deal with global warming. The proposed solar plants are part of Indonesia`s alternative energy plan, which outlines the installation of solar panels at 192,000 homes, building 570 small-scale hydro-electric plants and the construction of 270 wind plants.

According to Jacobus, the Indonesian government looked forward to the solar project as part of their alternative energy plan since it will power villages while at the same time reducing their CO2 emissions.

Businessgreen.com also reported that the Indonesian government`s statistics showed that only 65% of Indonesia`s 240 million people had access to electricity. Because the large population was distributed in over 17,000 islands, some of the villages, especially in the easternmost regions, were not connected to the National Grid. With the new solar projects, the government hoped to connect more people to electrical supply sources.

As a matter of fact, Indonesia has the world`s largest geothermal power potential, and the plan allocates extensive co-financing to expand large-scale geothermal electricity generation, Katherine Sierra, vice president for sustainable development at the Work Bank, said earlier.

Indonesia could accelerate initiatives to promote energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources by creating risk-sharing facilities and addressing financing barriers to small- and medium-scale investments.

The low-carbon growth investments in Indonesia are an example of similar programs now approved to receive Climate Investment Funds (CTF) financing in Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Taken together, these programs will demonstrate how future energy demands can be satisfied in ways that will not generate excessive levels of greenhouse gases.

"From our vantage point as multilateral development bank partners in helping countries implement these CTF-funded plans, this bold action on the part of Indonesia and other Asian nations is a harbinger of a fundamental shift in climate action around the globe," she said.

And the same sorts of actions are moving forward in developing countries in every region of the world. While developing countries have not been the primary source of climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions from the past burning of fossil fuels, "they are taking positive actions to help achieve a global solution to the common challenge posed by climate change," she said.

This climate-smart approach offers lessons which all, including those in developed countries, can look to emulate in coming years.

The CTF is founded on partnerships between policymakers, indigenous peoples, private sector entities, civil society and others, she said.

More important to help the country arrive at the targeted use of alternative energy is the granting of such incentive to boost investment in renewable energy such as geothermal, solar and biofuel, in an effort to cut reliance on fossil fuels.

Harry Z Soeratin, a spokesman of the finance ministry said in a statement, his office had issued a decree which granted a 5 percent tax cut over six years for renewable energy producers as well as exemptions from value-added tax and import duties on equipment. Another provision allowed investors to use accelerated depreciation and amortization on assets to reduce taxable income.

The incentive is offered to investors as the government aimed to reduce dependency on non-renewable energy and to ensure availability of sustainable energy sources by attracting investment.

In response to offered incentives, Paulus Tjakrawan, secretary general of the Indonesian Bio-fuel Producers Association (Aprobi), gave his applause and said Indonesia had joined the rest of the world by applying regulations to develop renewable energy. The government was heading in the right direction.

Paulus said the incentives would cut bio-fuel production costs, making it more affordable.

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