RI sends $3.3 million worth of assistance to Pakistan

Antara News, Tuesday, August 31, 2010 15:56 WIB

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The total assistance of Indonesian aid to Pakistani flood victims is worth $3.3 million and it will be sent to the country in two stages.

Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono said here on Tuesday that the total assistant was worth $3.3 million and the fist stage has been sent to Pakistan and the second would follow.

"The first stage of assistance, amounting $1.3 million in the form of logistics and medicine was sent to Pakistan early of this month," Agung Laksono said here on Tuesday.

He added that the second stage in the form of cash money would be sent on Wednesday, September 1, 2010.

"In the second stage of the assistance we will send a cash of $2 million along with National Defense Forces (TNI) and medical personnel," Agung Laksono said.

He said a 45-member group consisting of medical personnel, TNI personnel, and National Board of Disaster Mitigation personnel would soon be sent to Pakistan.

"The dispatch of the second phase assistance to Pakistani flood victims is in accordance with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s instruction," Laksono said.

He said the first phase of assistance which has been sent to Pakistan was made up of among others 4,000 pieces of blanket, 500 packages of canned food, 3 tons of medicine, and 50 tons baby food.

According to Agung Laksono, the dispatch of humanitarian assistance to Pakistan was part of Indonesian solidarity to the flood victims in the country.

CJ Cheiljedang to spend us$300 mln on lysine plant Indonesia

Antara News, Tuesday, August 31, 2010 03:10 WIB

Seoul (ANTARA News/Yonhap/OANA) - CJ CheilJedang Corp., South Korea`s biggest food company, said Monday that it will spend US$300 million to build a lysine plant in the eastern part of the island of Java, Indonesia.

Earlier in the day, CJ CheilJedang broke ground on the plant in Jombang. When completed in 2012, it will produce 100,000 tons of lysine and 50,000 tons of threonine a year, the company said in a statement.

Lysine and threonine are essential amino acids for animal feed.

"We will continue to increase our investment to secure a combined annual production capacity of 550,000 tons of lysine by 2013 and grab a 30 percent share of the global lysine market," Kim Jin-soo, chief executive of CJ CheilJedang, was quoted as saying at the ceremony.

CJ CheilJedang predicted that the plant will raise the company`s global lysine market share to 25 percent, beating its two bigger rivals: China`s GBT and Japan`s Ajinomoto.

GBT currently leads the global lysine market estimated at $2.5 billion, followed by Ajinomoto.

CJ CheilJedang also started producing tryptophan, one of the 20 standard amino acids, in its Indonesian plant last month, challenging Ajinomoto`s 70 percent share of the $100-million global tryptophan market.

New Radar to Be Built at Soekarno-Hatta Airport

Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari & Arientha Primanita | August 30, 2010

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A day after the air traffic control radar at Indonesia’s busiest airport crashed, the Ministry of Transportation on Monday announced that it would begin building a new system that would manage flight control for all of western Indonesia.

Herry Bhakti Singayuda, the ministry’s director general for civil aviation, said that new navigational equipment worth Rp 750 billion ($83.3 million) would replace the old radar that has failed twice since June 2009 at Jakarta’s airport.

“We will build a new system called the Jakarta Automated Air Traffic Services at Soekarno-Hatta Airport,” he said, adding that “one of the system’s components is a new air traffic control radar.”

On Sunday, the airport’s radar went down for 30 minutes starting at 9:02 a.m. The incident disrupted dozens of flights, forcing state airport operator Angkasa Pura II to temporarily switch the system to manual to minimize flight delays.

Hari Cahyono, Angkasa Pura II’s corporate secretary, said it was still investigating the cause of the failure, but acknowledged the company’s software or hardware might be faulty. The system had been in operation since 1996.

“We realize people are wondering why the old system has not been replaced,” Hari said. “It is not that simple.”

The Ministry of Transportation’s Herry said that once installed, the system would also be used by most other airports in western Indonesia.

“It’s not like we have been neglecting this problem ever since the radar had a similar defect in June 2009,” he said. “But improving an airport takes a long time.”

Govt to invite investors to manage Jakarta`s int`l airport

Antara News, Monday, August 30, 2010 23:06 WIB 

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government is planning to invite a number of foreign investors to manage service facilities at Jakarta city`s Soekarno-Hatta airport, a minister said.

Soekarno-Hatta airport, Jakarta

"We will invite interested investors to serve as partners to manage the airport," State Enterprises Minister Mustafa Abubakar said here on Monday.

The plan to improve the management of the airport was related to the master strategy of state airport operator to improve airport services, he said.

Airports are one of the mirrors or shop windows of a country, he said.

The quality of Soekarno-Hatta airport`s services must be equal to that of other international airports such as Schiphol in The Netherlands, Narita in Japan and Changi in Singapore, he said.

"International airport operators including those of the United States have expressed interest to become investors," he said.

But he added that the government had yet to respond to the offer because it still had to improve the internal management of the state airport operator.

"It (the project) is open to any investor who is willing to, the more so if they have enough experience. We will select them when all the internal aspects have been completed," he said.

To realize the plan the government would first form a subsidiary which would cooperate with the investors, he said.

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The Netherlands Offer to Build Windmills

Tempo Interactive, Monday, 30 August, 2010 | 14:38 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Makassar: Wampan, an energy consulting company from the Netherlands, has offered to develop wind-generated power suppliers to the South Sulawesi government. “There is a good wind potential in Sidrap, because the wind speed in the area is over five meters per second,” Daniel S. Pangruruk, Wampan International Consultant Energy director, told Tempo yesterday following a meeting at the residence of the South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

Based on the company’s research, the use of a windmill having a 500/600 kilowatt capacity can reduce the use of oil fuel by 0,3 liter per kWh. This is equal to reducing 60 gram CO2 per kWh or planting 57.000 trees, “Wind-generated electricity is environmentally-friendly,” said Daniel, who is also the technical advisor at the Public Works Ministry in the Netherlands.

Daniel admitted that the initial investment for the construction of a large-scale windmill will be high. To produce 20 MW of electricity from 20 windmills will require US$ 70 million.

This is the main consideration of South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo. “The initial investment is high. Yet, one of our principles on developing electricity in South Sulawesi is that it should be low cost,” Syahrul said.

However, he feels that if there is any investor willing to fund the construction, he will support the project. According to Syahrul, the use of windmills to produce electricity needs to be developed because it is environmentally-friendly. “Besides, we want electricity to go into areas which still have no access to electricity,” he said.

Syahrul said energy would benefit the Makassar Industrial Zone. “The operational cost will be lower. Let us see if there is any investor who want to collaborate with us,” he said.

He added that he would make sure the interested investor will hire a consulting company to conduct a research and an in-depth survey on the windmill construction. “We still need to carry out a research, at least for one year,’ he said.

Earlier, Daniel had submitted a proposal to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry as well as to a number of regional leaders in other provinces. “But I went to South Sulawesi because the governor read my proposal and I was invited here to elaborate on the plan when we met in the Netherlands,” Daniel said.

FADHILAH NAZIF

Draft Law to Promote Clean Energy Gathering Steam

Jakarta Globe, Muhamad Al Azhari | August 27, 2010

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Jakarta. The new director general for renewable energy at the Energy Ministry is planning to push a draft law that specifically promotes and regulates the development of renewable energy.

If adopted, the law would offer more incentives to renewable energy investors, and would attempt to establish renewable energy industrial zones where factories are built closer to renewable energy sources.

“More than 95 percent of our energy source still come from fossil fuels and only around 5 percent comes from renewable sources,” Luluk Sumiarso, the newly appointed director general, told the Jakarta Globe Wednesday.

“That means we are wasting an enormous amount of the resources that God gave us. But the biggest challenge in developing green energy will be to change the way of thinking.”

Indonesia is hoping to increase green and sustainable energy use in anticipation of fossil fuel shortages expected in the next few decades.

Geothermal, solar, hydro and wind energy, as well as biofuels, are all considered good alternatives, but government legislation on the issue is limited, consisting mostly of new incentive policies proposed by the Finance Ministry earlier this year.

Luluk declined to reveal specific policies included in the draft law, but said it includes “mandatory” measures intended to help the country reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Because of a lack of legislation and motivation, Luluk said Indonesia had only managed to realize a tiny fraction of its energy potential.

According to a document from the Energy Ministry, Indonesia is capable of producing up to 75,670 megawatts of electricity from hydroelectric sources. But current installed capacity is only 4,200 megawatts.

Other sources, such as geothermal, are estimated to have a production capacity of 28.53 gigawatts, but only 1,186 megawatts are currently produced.

Assuming no oil field expansions, and taking into account potential output from the Cepu oil and gas block in Java, the ministry calculates that Indonesia only has 7.99 billion barrels of oil deposits remaining, an amount expected to run out within 23 years.

As for natural gas, current deposits are estimated at around 159.64 trillion standard cubic feet, and are predicted to run out within 55 years.

Coal should be exhausted within 83 years, after current deposits of 20.98 billion tons have been used.

With the directorates of energy conservation, geothermal, biofuels and miscellaneous renewable energy under his command, and around 100 staffers, Luluk is tasked with attracting private investors to sign on to long-term, risky renewable energy projects.

He’s also carrying the mission of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who said in 2009 that Indonesia can reduce greenhouse emissions by 26 percent by 2020 on its own, or by 41 percent with the help of developed countries.

“There are some fiscal policies that need to be revised. For example, hybrid cars are taxed heavily in our country — that’s strange because in some developed countries those cars are subsidized.

Also, solar water heaters are considered luxury goods here. If we think in a green way, they must be given away for free,” Luluk said. He also emphasized the importance of a subsidy allowing independent power producers to sell energy at higher prices.

Current regulations mandate that state electricity provider Perusahaan Listrik Negara must buy geothermal energy from independent producers whenever the price is at or below 9.7 cents per kilowatt hour.

Above that price, PLN is not required to buy, and is unlikely to.

“Regulations stipulate that PLN must buy if the price offered is at or below 9.7 cents per kWh. But I want the government to subsidize purchases above that price, so that investors don’t turn away from geothermal projects because they think they cannot sell output to PLN,” Luluk said.

Another goal of the new law, Luluk said, is to create industrial zones close to sources of renewable energy.

“Instead of building grids to connect factories to electricity from the power plant, why not bring the factories close to the sources of energy,” he said.

He pointed to Yogyakarta’s Mount Merabu, which has huge geothermal potential, as a good location for an industrial park. In May, the Finance Ministry announced incentives to boost investment in renewable energy.

The ministerial decree includes 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 allows investors to use accelerated depreciation and amortization on assets to reduce taxable income.

Energy Minister Darwin Saleh has established a directorate general in charge of renewable energy. It is to be headed Luluk Sumiarso, the former director general for electricity, and oil and gas.

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Exxon told to clean up mercury at its old site

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 08/26/2010 8:52 PM

The Environment Ministry is officially ordering liquid natural gas producer ExxonMobil clean up mercury found in soil at the company’s former warehouse facility in Hueng village, North Aceh.

The order was made during a closed-door meeting with representatives from ExxonMobil Indonesia at the ministry’s office Thursday.

“We told [ExxonMobil] about our mercury-pollution finding. We also ordered it to clean the soil from mercury,” said Rasio Righo Sani, assistant deputy for management of hazardous waste from mining activities, who chaired the meeting.

He said that representatives from ExxonMobil, however, declined to sign the minutes of the meeting.

“But in principle, they expressed their readiness to help the local administration clean the area from mercury,” he said.

ExxonMobil has said that mercury in the soil of the company’s former workshop and warehouse facility did not come from the company.

“ExxonMobil is ready to cooperate with the local administration and related parties, including the Environment Ministry, to handle the [mercury] problems,” public affairs vice president of ExxonMobil Indonesia told The Jakarta Post.

US-based ExxonMobil handed over the land to the North Aceh administration last year.

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Ministries get KPK whistle-blower system

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 08/26/2010 9:52 AM

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) launched Wednesday a whistle-blower system allowing civil servants to report gratuities to their institutions and the KPK.

Only in its initial phase, the software was installed at seven ministries — health, public works, home, forestry, national education, agriculture and finance — before it will be introduced in other government institutions.

“These institutions are prone to receiving gratuities, so we need more structured prevention efforts,” KPK deputy chairman Haryono Umar told a press conference after the launch.

“Civil servants can file reports to their respective ministry’s inspectorate generals through the system, which is linked to the KPK. The commission along with the inspectorate generals will then further process reports of gratuities received by civil servants,” he said.

Under the system, he added, civil servants filing reports would remain anonymous.

“The system also guarantees that no filed reports would defame anyone because those filing reports must answer certain questions,” he said.

According to Haryono, so far only a few civil servants have filed reports to the antigraft body relating to gratuities they had received.

“The definition of gratuities is broad. However, previous reports filed [by civil servants] usually centered on gifts or money received at wedding ceremonies,” he said.

Haryono added the gratuities might also include any presents, tickets, allowances and souvenirs.

“Civil servants must report the gratuity received within 30 days. Otherwise, these [gratuities] can be categorized as bribes,” he said.

Under Article 12 of the 1999 Corruption Law, civil servants are forbidden from receiving things other than their salaries and allowances.

The software, which will cost ¤30,000 (US$38,000) in its first year of operation, is supported by the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

The KPK also launched two other programs: the gratuities control program and the anticorruption clearing house. Both are part of its corruption prevention efforts.

Abdul Hakim from the Forestry Ministry said his colleagues had previously found it troublesome to run a scheme to return gratuities.

“[Officials] were reluctant to report and hand over the gratuities to the KPK,” he said.

Abdul said civil servants usually felt receiving something other than their salaries or allowances was actually legal.

“We thought it was okay because [the gratuities] had nothing to do with our status. But it does,” he said, citing presents received by an auditor as an example.

“Our biggest task will be to raise awareness over this,” he said.

Abdul was confident an integrated approach — such as that being implemented by the KPK and the ministries — would be effective in the fight against rampant corruption in government institutions. (lnd)

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S. Sumatra’s $1.67b coal railway to begin soon

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Thu, 08/26/2010 9:52 AM

State coal mining company PT Bukit Asam, construction company PT Adani Global and South Sumatra administration have agreed to build a US$1.67 billion railway track connecting Tanjung Enim and Tanjung Api Api port in South Sumatra.

The three parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Jakarta on Wednesday, paving the way for the realization of the 270-kilometer track that has been delayed for almost two years.

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Gita Wirjawan said on Wednesday said the development of the track and coal terminal would boost the economy of South Sumatra, one of seven provinces selected by the BKPM earlier this year to their readiness to accelerate investment.

“I’m happy we will soon see the development of the Tanjung Api Api coal railway track and terminal, which have been long delayed,” Gita said after the signing of the MoU.

The track and terminal would have a capacity to transport up to 35 million tons of coal a year from PT Bukit Asam’s Tanjung Enim mine, Gita said.

The project could take three years to complete, with land acquisition seen as the biggest obstacle, he said.

However, the land acquisition would not impede the project because the local government was also committed to supporting the project, Gita added.

“We will provide appropriate compensation for landowners,” South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin said, adding that his administration would free a 50-meter-wide path to accommodate the track.

Despite the challenges in land acquisition, the project needed to be completed by 2014, he said.

“With a strong commitment for the improvement of infrastructure, God willing, we will complete the project on time,” Alex said.

The project is scheduled to begin next year, following the completion of the land acquisition at the end of this year, he said.

“We are targeting to complete the project within 48 months,” said Ganeshan V, the president director of PT Adani Global, the developer and financier of the project that would be given a contract to transport coal for 25 to 30 years.

PT Bukit Asam president director Sukrisno said in 2014 the track would begin transporting 7.5 million tons of coal a year.

“We will gradually meet our target of 35 million tons in 2015-2016,” he said, adding that South Sumatra had estimated coal reserves of 32 billion tons.

At present, Bukit Asam, one of Indonesia’s major coal producers, transports its coal by a train to a coal terminal in Tarahan, Lampung, for shipment to both local and foreign customers.

Alex said the Tanjung Api Api project was very important to the economy of in South Sumatra.

Apart from the railway track and coal terminal, he said, the project would also include the development of a port worth Rp 8 trillion and an industrial zone worth Rp 54.27 trillion.

The project expects to employ around 100,000 people,” he said, adding that the coal produced in South Sumatra comprised about 48.5 percent of Indonesia’s total coal output.

He said the development of Tanjung Api Api coal railway project and terminal would also support the establishment of an aluminium smelting plant, jointly developed by the government of South Sumatra province and the National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), an Indian aluminium state-owned company. (ebf)

Panasonic Plans Hub in Indonesia

Jakarta Globe, Camelia Pasandaran | August 25, 2010

Jakarta. In a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta on Wednesday, the head of Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic confirmed that it planned to move its production base to Indonesia, senior Indonesian government officials said.

Panasonic plans to relocate factories in China to
Indonesia, citing drastically lower labor costs.
(EPA Photo)

Gita Wirjawan, chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), said Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo told Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono in separate meetings that the company would move its factories from China and Vietnam to Indonesia to take advantage of lower wages and the booming economy, which is driven by consumer spending.

Gita first revealed that Panasonic was considering such a move in March.

Industry Minister MS Hidayat, who was present at Ohtsubo’s meeting with Boediono, said Panasonic was upbeat about the country’s economic prospects, and would close its factories in China and relocate them here. He did not offer a timeframe or investment value for the move.

“They are committed to making Indonesia the production base for exports as well as for the domestic market,” Hidayat said.

This week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the average wage for factory workers in China is about three times more expensive than in Indonesia — $413 versus $129 a month — while wages in Vietnam were $136.

The report cited research by JP Morgan, CEIC and the International Labor Association.

Rachmat Gobel, the chairman of Panasonic Gobel, the electronics firm’s local unit, also declined to cite an investment value for Panasonic’s factory relocations, saying only that the parent company had been continuously investing in Indonesia, and had already brought the total to $400 million.

Panasonic’s three factories in Indonesia — in Jakarta, Surabaya and Batam — make home appliances, personal electronics and batteries.

“Its current annual turnover [in Indonesia] is $850 million,” Gita said, adding that it is expected to surge to $3 billion by 2014, partly because of its recent acquisition of Sanyo.

Yopie Hidayat, a spokesman for Boediono, said Panasonic told the vice president the company may also develop solar panels domestically.

“It plans to turn houses into self-sufficient energy houses with zero emissions,” Yopie said. “They made the prototype in Japan but are considering whether to develop the industry there or in Indonesia considering the skilled-laborers here and the availability of abundant solar energy. The vice president supports the plan to make Indonesia as the production base, not only as the market.”

“They’re still considering the solar panel development here,” he added. “But the LED factories have been here and there’s also plans to extend the battery production factory.”

Boediono encouraged Panasonic to develop solar energy as it could supply remote regions of the country with electricity.

Gita and Hidayat both said Panasonic’s decision was expected to convince other companies to make Indonesia their production base.

Indonesia Project Boosts Global Forest CO2 Market

The Jakarta Post, David Fogarty and Sunanda Creagh | August 24, 2010

Forests soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide and scientists say curbing deforestation is a key way to fight climate change. (Bloomberg Photo/Dimas Ardian)        

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Jakarta. An Indonesian project aimed at saving a vast tract of rainforest has passed a milestone seen as a boost in the development of a global market in forest carbon credits.

That market under the UN-backed scheme Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, also known as REDD, could eventually be worth billions of dollars annually and is central to the goal of driving private sector involvement in forest protection.

The Rimba Raya conservation project covers nearly 100,000 ha (250,000 acres) of carbon-rich peat swamp forest in the province of Central Kalimantan.

Forests soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide and scientists say curbing deforestation is a key way to fight climate change.

The project has earned the first-ever approval of an accounting method for measuring the reduction in carbon emissions under REDD and is being developed by InfiniteEARTH, with funding from Shell, Gazprom Market and Trading and the Clinton Foundation.

The Voluntary Carbon Standard programme, also known as VCS, approved the methodology after it passed a mandated double auditing process.

The project itself is now undergoing third-party validation and is likely to become the world’s first VCS-approved REDD project later this year, Gazprom and InfiniteEARTH say.

The step is a boost for other REDD projects and investors wanting certainty on the quality of REDD carbon credits. There are several dozen REDD projects globally, including more than a dozen in Indonesia at various stages of development.

“This is seen as a landmark moment for the carbon market,” Gazprom said in a statement. “Historically REDD projects have suffered due to their exclusion from the Kyoto Protocol,” it said, as well as the absence of a recognised global standard.

The project is expected to reduce 18.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted in the first 10 years and up to 75 million tonnes in the 30-year life of the project.

At about $10 a credit, that means about $750 million over 30 years.

The future sale of carbon offsets from the project will help boost the livelihoods of more than 11,000 people in the area and save rare species including orang-utans and other primates, the statement says.

REDD aims to reward developing countries that save, protect and rehabilitate forests through large-scale projects.

Poorer nations and local forest communities are meant to take a major share of the sale of the carbon credits to rich nations, which can use them to meet mandated emission reduction targets.

REDD is not yet formally part of a broader UN climate pact and potential buyers of the credits have been waiting for an approved global standard for forest CO2 credits to ensure the reductions are real and verifiable.

“The methodology was designed for conservation projects that avoid planned land-use conversion in tropical peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia,” the statement said.

The project itself borders Tanjung Puting national park and the area has been under growing threat from encroaching palm oil plantations.

“It shows small-scale REDD can be done. This is also demonstrating the ability of project-based activities, that they can do that,” said Daniel Murdiyarso, senior scientist at the Centre for International Forestry Research.

Reuters

Garuda Indonesia seeking foreign pilots

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 08/24/2010 9:00 PM

State-owned airline Garuda Indonesia is seeking 70 international pilots to develop its training program. The search will last until end of this year.

“The foreign pilots will be brought to Indonesia to help us train new pilot candidates. Hopefully the new pilots will be able operate our aircraft by next year,” operational director Ari Sapari said Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com.

Indonesia’s aviation industry is faced with a shortage of pilots because of an increase in available aircraft.

The government has issued policies to help the industry grow, including allowing recruitment of foreign pilots and extending the pilot retirement age to 60.

Garuda had 670 pilots and co-pilots in 2009. This year the company is expecting 851 pilots and co-pilots to operate its 67 airplanes.

Indonesia Sets Up Government Unit to Boost Renewable Energy Use

Jakarta Globe, Bambang Djanuarto, August 24, 2010

Energy Minister Darwin Saleh has established a directorate general in charge of renewable energy. It is to be headed Luluk Sumiarso, the former director general for electricity, and oil and gas.

Jakarta. Indonesia’s Ministry of Energy has set up a directorate general in charge of boosting and regulating the use of renewable energy in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy.

The directorate general’s task is to “formulate policies and the technical standardization on new energy, renewable energy and energy conservation,” Energy Minister Darwin Saleh said in Jakarta on Tuesday. The office will be headed by Luluk Sumiarso, the former director general for electricity, and oil and gas, he said.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, which can be used to make biofuel. The nation, which is a net oil importer, seeks to boost the use of new energy and renewable energy to support a faster expanding economy. The government forecasts the economy to grow 6 percent this year from 4.5 percent in 2009.

Indonesia left the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year after crude oil output slumped 49 percent from a peak in 1977.

Bloomberg

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Government takes over management of conflict-ridden Surabaya Zoo

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 08/21/2010 10:13 AM

The Forestry Ministry has taken over management of Surabaya Zoo on Friday following the death of hundreds of animals, including endangered species such as a Sumatran tiger.

The ministry set up a new team to take over day-to-day operations of the 15-hectare zoo, which is one of the largest in Southeast Asia and in Indonesia.

“We were forced to take over the management because no improvement has made since early this year,” Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said at a press conference Friday.

He said the previous management by a group of so-called animal lovers failed to meet government-set management standards, leading to the deaths of 689 animals between 2008 and 2009.

“Since February this year, 26 animals including a Sumatran tiger and a lion died of old age and poor facilities,” he said.

Surabaya Zoo is home to 4,200 animals from 315 species.

Most of the deaths were due to various illnesses such as pneumonia, enteritis and malnutrition and the poor facilities at the zoo.

The new management run by the Forestry Ministry and the Surabaya city administration will be headed by Tony Sumampau, the chairman of the Indonesian Zoo Association.

The team is required to submit quarterly reports to the Forestry Ministry.

The ministry also gave the new management authority to recruit professional staff to manage the zoo.

Asked about financing to restore the zoo, Zulkifli said “we will continue to welcome the support of the private sector”.

The government has not set a budget to manage Surabaya Zoo, which was built in 1932 by Dutch animal lovers.

The Forestry Ministry upgraded the status of the Surabaya Zoo as an ex-situ conservation organization

in 2002.

A 2006 ministerial decree, however, outlawed groups of individuals from managing zoos.

Since then, internal conflicts have deepened with zoo executives Stany Soebakir and Basuki Rekso Wibowo claiming to be the zoo administrator. They each proposed permits to manage the site.

The conflict peaked in 2007 when Basuki referred to the sale of rare animals, including lions and white tigers, during Stany’s tenure. Stany denied the allegations.

Stany was replaced by Basuki in 2009 but Stany’s supporters insist he was the rightful zoo administrator.

Tony said Surabaya Zoo was old and needed extensive renovation if the government wanted to save the animals in the zoo.

“The zoo must be totally restored and that, of course, would require a lot of money,” he told The Jakarta Post.

The zoo rakes in more than Rp 1 billion in profit annually. Last year, it earned some Rp 1.1 billion.

The government has been under pressure to intervene following the deaths of endangered species such as tigers and orangutans. The animals are endangered primarily due to habitat loss and poaching.

Indonesia previously had three tiger sub-species, of which the Bali and Javan tigers were declared extinct in the 1940s and 1980s.

The government aims to double the Sumatran tiger population to 800 by 2022 and has allocated US$175 million for tiger conservation programs.

SMART ‘misreported’ some conclusions

The Jakarta Post | Sat, 08/21/2010 10:24 AM

Two international consultants hired by palm oil producer PT SMART to verify Greenpeace claims that the firm was responsible for deforestation said SMART misreported some elements in their study.

In their joint press release on Thursday, Control Union Certification and BSI Group (CUC-BSI), said due to the misreported elements, they “wish to restate the key findings of the report”.

On Aug. 10, SMART held a press conference where they announced that the Independent Verification Exercise (IVEX) Team Report had shown that “SMART operates responsibly and within the laws and regulations set out by the Indonesian government”.

SMART also called Greenpeace claims that they were responsible for deforestation and the destruction of orangutan habitats “exaggerated or wrong”.

In the release made available Thursday, however, CUC-BIS revealed several findings demonstrating that SMART was in breach of the law. The IVEX team, which comprised CUC-BIS members and experts from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture’s School of Forestry, found that there was planting on peatland more than 3 meters deep in two estates, a breach of a presidential decree on deep peatland. “This also contravened SMART’s own operating instructions,” it went on. The report said planting in deep peat was evident but not as extensively as claimed by Greenpeace.

On Aug. 10, SMART acknowledged the finding but said the planting was “unintentional”.

CUC-BIS said that of the 11 concession areas they examined, only three in West Kalimantan had obtained the necessary environmental impact assessments (Amdal) before the land clearance, while two in the province and all six in Central Kalimantan did not have the necessary Amdal when SMART cleared the land.

Another key IVEX finding said most of the concessions stood on already secondary forests, degraded and shrub lands before SMART cleared the land. However, the team found that 21 percent of the examined land, or 37,698 hectares of the company’s total 182,528 hectares was opened before an independent high conservation value assessment was conducted.

“This potentially contravenes Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil [RSPO] Principles and Criteria and SMART would need to propose a compensation or exclusion process when these plantations enter into the certification process,” the report said.

Greenpeace said SMART had “manipulated” the report by saying it operated responsibly and within the laws while knowing there were several legal violations. Greenpeace accused SMART, a publicly listed company, of misleading the public and its shareholders.

In response to Greenpeace’s fresh accusations, SMART said it did not have any intentions of misleading anyone as it had published the IVEX Team Report in a “transparent and open way”. “We have taken all the [necessary] steps according to the rules for companies listed on the stock exchange,” SMART president director Daud Dharsono said in a press release Thursday evening.

At a press conference earlier this month, SMART distributed the entire 84-page IVEX report to the press in addition to a press statement containing their own interpretations of the report’s findings on the top of the document in bold typeface. It also made a presentation on parts of the report along with SMART’s own conclusion on the report. — JP

Related Article:

Indonesia Palm Oil Giant Defends Environmental Record — Again

$4.5b Toll Road Project to Untangle Traffic Snarls to Start in 2011: Fauzi Bowo

Jakarta Globe, Arientha Primanita | August 19, 2010

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Jakarta. The Jakarta administration’s ambitious Rp 40 trillion ($4.5 billion) project to build six new toll roads to ease the capital’s famed gridlock will not get underway until next year, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Thursday.

The Public Works Ministry has approved the new toll roads, which will connect the existing networks between Jakarta and Surabaya by 2014.

“The toll roads will add to Jakarta’s road ratio by up to 0.3 percent. The tender process will begin at the end of this year,” Fauzi said. The city’s road ratio currently sits at 6.2 percent.

The city administration had been waiting for central government approval for the project, which involves 75 kilometers of new roads and is part of the city’s attempts to upgrade its creaking transportation infrastructure.

“City Hall will be finalizing the administrative documentation, and the first phase of the construction will be completed by 2012,” Fauzi said.

He also said the city had prioritized certain areas for toll road construction to ensure the highways became a solution to the traffic jams and not an additional burden.

The governor added that companies that won a tender would also manage the operation of the toll road, and the city administration would allow city-owned developers Jakarta Propertindo and Pembangunan Jaya Group to team up and join the bid.

Sutopo, a director at Pembangunan Jaya, said that based on this year’s Presidential Decree on tenders, a city-owned enterprise was permitted to act as a project initiator and was also allowed to prepare a tender.

“The tender is for everyone and the city’s consortium will join the bid,” Sutopo said.

Fauzi said concern from the public had been registered over whether the construction of new roads would spark greater gridlock in a city known for hours-long traffic jams.

While adding road ratio to a city provides a short-term fix to congestion, studies indicate that when new roads are built, vehicle ownership rates increase to cover the new pavement.

But Jakarta’s planners hope that inner toll roads linking with other toll roads such as Jakarta’s outer ring road will still provide a buttress to the capital’s traffic woes.

Fauzi also said the city would manage the on and off ramps of the elevated toll roads to better control the usually voluminous flow of incoming traffic.

The proposed routes for the new toll roads in Jakarta are Kampung Melayu-Kemayoran; Pasar Minggu-Casablanca; Kampung Melayu-Duri Pulo; Pulogebang-Sunter; Ulujami-Tanah Abang; and Semanan-Sunter.

The construction schedule has the six toll roads slated to be built in four stages.

The first stage is the 17.88 kilometer long road from Semanan in West Jakarta to Sunter in North Jakarta, which will be followed by a road running from Pulogebang in East Jakarta to Sunter in North Jakarta.

The second stage is Duri Pulo in Central Jakarta to Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta, and Kampung Melayu to Kemayoran.

A Ulujami to Tanah Abang road makes up the third stage, and the last stage will be a toll road linking Pasar Minggu to Casablanca.