UNDP To Finance Wakatobi International Fishery School

Antara News, Fri, July 8 2011

UNDP provides the funds of Rp100 billion for the construction of the Wakatobi International Fishery School, the first of its kind Asia....

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Kendari, SE Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) will fully finance the construction of the International Fishery School (SPI) in Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, a local official said.

Illustration of a Fisherman
(ANTARA PHOTO/Zabur Karuru)

Wakatobi Mmarine and Fishery Office Chief Hajiu said on Friday that Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad would lay the first corner stone next Saturday, July 16, 2011.

"UNDP provides the funds of Rp100 billion for the construction of the Wakatobi International Fishery School, the first of its kind Asia," Hajiu said.

According to him, Wakatobi district government would only provide 100-hectare plot of land for the construction of the school in two stages, financed by UNDP.

For the first stage he said the local government has prepared a 50-hectare plot of land for school which was to be inaugurated by the maritime affairs and fisheries minister.

"On the 50-hectare plot of land for the first stage, the International Fishery School will be built in addition to other facilities such as students dormitory, and Muslim and Christian houses of worship," Hajiu said.

He said both Muslim and Christian houses of worship were needed because the students and lecturers would be from various countries, especially the six countries at the world`s coral reef triangle area.

According to Hajiu, the the prospective students who wanted to study at the school would undergo tight entry test, especially related to their academic competence on coral reefs conservation.

"In principle, the students who are accepted to study at such as school will be taught and trained in such away to master the knowledge about coral reefs conservation," Hajiu said.

He said the first-corner-stone laying ceremony

would also be attended by Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik, Southeast Sulawesi Governor Nur Alam, and a number of other invitees.

Editor: Ade Marboen

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Election ads cost KPU almost Rp 3.5 billion

Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 02/08/2009 11:24 AM  

The two newest advertisements were officially launched by the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Saturday. 

Gina and Omes, who star in Extravaganza, perform in the two TV ads titled, Rumpi Lapak and Contreng? Cincay lah! 

They will remind viewers to exercise their voting rights on April 9, when legislative elections will take place, and to be rational voters by carefully choosing candidates, whom they think are capable of making their vision and mission a reality. 

"The advertisements are aimed at young voters, women, disabled people and those living in rural areas," KPU member Endang Sulastri told a news conference. 

She said the ads started to be aired on Saturday morning on SCTV, Trans TV, Indosiar, Metro TV and TV One, and will run until April 8, the eve of election day. 

Metro TV and TV One are the KPU's official TV partners, while the other three won a contract from the elections body to air the ads. 

KPU member Andi Nurapati, said the two ads focus on familiarizing people with the new "checking" method of marking ballot papers. 

Even though voters are allowed to check the candidate's name, number or picture and political party logo, the ads emphasize checking the candidate's name. 

"The commercials are intended for the whole community and we do not want to confuse them with too many options in marking ballot papers," Andi said. 

Andi acknowledged the production of the ads was sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 

She said UNDP aid was provided to the KPU in coordination with the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). 

UNDP sector manager for political participation Dedi Yevri Sitorus, speaking at the press conference, said it cost some Rp 3.46 billion (US$293,2200 to produce and broadcast the ads. 

The UNDP, Bappenas and the KPU have prepared 316 commercial spots for the election ads. 

Endang said the KPU is currently producing more election ads and called on the State Ministry for Communications and Information to support this program.

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Indonesia to implement Bali Climate Change recommendation in 2009

www.chinaview.cn  2008-11-24 21:14:01           

JAKARTA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian government will implement the Bali Climate Change Recommendation, which was proposed by the United Nations, next year, said an Indonesian official here on Monday. 

"The program will start next year, and involve three Indonesian ministries, namely the forestry ministry, agriculture ministry and public work ministry," said Bayu Khrisnamurti, Deputy Economic Coordinating Minister. He added that the project will be funded by the UN and last for five years. 

"The budget of this project is still being discussed for further possible change. I guess it may exceed 1.5 million U.S. dollars," Bayu said. 

The program will involve both scientists and grass roots in rural areas, who will take an adaptation to the climate change. 

"We attempt to build their knowledge of this climate change, and hope that they will find solutions and ready to adjust themselves to the change," Bayu said. 

According to him, many areas in the country, particularly in the eastern part, were obviously impacted by the climate change. "It is due to the global warming," he said. 

The program will cover 150 villages in six districts, by involving 6,000 households. The six districts include Belu, Timor Tengah Selatan, Rote Ndao, Sumba Timur, and Lembata," he said. 

East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) has been selected as the location of a pilot project in Indonesia, because the province is one of the regions which are prone to the climate change impact. Other regions prone to the climate change impact are eastern Sulawesi and Kalimantan. 

Editor: Yao

Lessons shared on disaster recovery at int'l workshop

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Three years after the Boxing Day tsunami, experts from Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka met on Monday to share lessons learned from recovery efforts in post-disaster areas.

C.V. Sankar, the officer on special duty from the government of Tamil Nadu in India, said the country should learn more from Indonesia's State Ministry for Women's Empowerment in addressing the "women-centric" issues of disaster recovery.

"For example, we distributed saris to women in Tamil Nadu, but they stepped forward and asked for curides, a more modern outfit that they preferred to wear," Sankar said.

He was speaking on the first day of a two-day workshop, which has been organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Indonesian Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare.

Sankar said the government incorporated recommendations from the community and non-governmental organizations in reconstructing damaged and poorly constructed houses using disaster resistant features.

When the tsunami hit Tamil Nadu in 2004, affecting 238 villages in 13 districts, almost 8,000 people were killed and 223 children were orphaned.

"What was most difficult was addressing the psychological trauma of the victims," Sankur said.

"We trained teachers and community workers to better conduct the consultations needed to resolve their traumas."

Tamil Nadu lies on the eastern coast at the tip of the Indian sub-continent.

It is the sixth most populous state in India.

Ananda Mallawatantri, the assistant resident representative for UNDP in Sri Lanka, said too much consultation with international donors and other parties was leading to an unhealthy dependence on foreign aid.

"After the tsunami, we prepared the Disaster Management Act in 2005, followed by the establishment of the Disaster Management Centre and the Ministry," Ananda said.

He said procedural issues, including customs and duty, were causing delays in the recovery process.

"We conducted rapid assessments, but decided to take our time in the recovery process," Ananda said.

"Putting everything into practice was the most difficult aspect."

He said the country's preparedness for natural disasters had improved significantly after the 2004 tsunami.

Budhy Andono, assistant deputy for natural disasters at the Coordinating Ministry for People's Welfare, said there was a complicated line of bureaucracy involved in Indonesia's responses to natural disasters.

"Indonesia is a country prone to many natural disasters, like forest fires, droughts, landslides, earthquakes, floods and tsunamis," Budhy said.

"So we know that the recovery process is not easy."

UNDP identified eight main problems in its preliminary findings on the recovery process in Indonesia, which included weak coordination between the central government and regional administrations, unclear financial mechanisms and weaknesses in collecting and verifying information on victims. (lva)

Environment ministry, WB team up for ozone layer

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The State Ministry for the Environment and the World Bank are teaming up to help 600 buildings in Jakarta switch over to more ozone-friendly air-conditioning systems.

Targeted buildings include hotels, shopping malls, hospitals and government offices, all built before 1985 and all employing centrifugal chillers.

These chillers are used for large buildings in a centralized air-conditioning system. One centrifugal chiller uses about 40 metric tons of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs-12), far higher than the 250 grams usually needed for air conditioners in individual housing.

Ministry head of ozone protection Tri Widayati said Thursday her office would initiate the replacement of the chillers through a scheme to be jointly designed with the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program.

"Hopefully, we can begin replacing the chillers with ones that are only compatible with ozone-friendly products, after completing the financing scheme by the middle of this year."

State-owned Bank Negara Indonesia has agreed to provide soft loans for building operators to replace their chillers. The estimated cost for replacing one centrifugal chiller is about US$150,000.

Erik Pedersen, a World Bank technical adviser on the environment for East Asia and the Pacific, said the bank might subsidize 25 percent of the cost for each chiller replacement.

"We are discussing how to convince owners to replace the chillers because if they replace them, they will save significantly on energy consumption."

He said reducing energy consumption could help ease the impacts of global warming.

"The replacement (of 600 chillers) could save one power plant in Indonesia."

Centrifugal chillers are obsolete in many countries, including Thailand, Mexico and Venezuela, having been phased out as part of the global campaign to reduce the use of ozone-depleting substances.

"China, India and Malaysia are to soon start (phasing out the chillers)," Pedersen said.

He said replacing the chillers was inevitable, with many CFC producers such as Venezuela and Argentina having stopped production.

"China will stop CFC production by July this year," he said.

Indonesia now imports CFCs from India and China.

CFCs, which are also used in refrigerators, foam production, fire extinguishers, aerosols and solvents, are the main destroyers of the ozone layer, which blocks out the sun's deadly ultraviolet rays.

The ministry has estimated that around 4,000 tons of CFCs are illegally traded in Indonesia every year, 10 times the country's annual quota of 400 metric tons.

Indonesia ratified the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layer Protection in 1992, obliging it to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances.

The protocol requires Indonesia to stop importing CFCs by December this year. The ministry recently said Jakarta accounted for 60 percent of all CFCs used in the country.

Reconstruction agency boasts mid-term success

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Aceh-Nias Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Agency (BRR) says it's on track to meet its four year target for public housing, education and agriculture redevelopment.

The agency also says it's used just under half its total budget of Rp 21 trillion (US$2.3 billion).

It was allocated Rp 2.4 trillion in 2005 and Rp 7.4 trillion in 2006.

In 2007, the budget was set at Rp 9.99 trillion.

BRR estimated reconstruction works would cost $6.1 billion, while the central government, international donors and NGOs have committed some $7.1 billion.

"We have received funds from the central government, donor countries and NGOs," said BRR chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto.

The central government established BRR in April 2005 following the 2004 tsunami that destroyed Aceh, and the 2005 earthquake in Nias.

"We have built about 65,000 houses from a targeted 120,000 in Aceh, and 782 schools from a target of 2,006," Kuntoro said.

In the agriculture sector, BRR has rehabilitated 85 percent of Aceh's rice fields.

"This is important because the Acehnese people and their economy are very dependent on rice cultivation."

BRR reported its midterm evaluation Tuesday to stakeholders during the third coordination forum for Aceh and Nias.

Kuntoro noted the agency had exceeded its target of building 127 health facilities because, with the assistance of the UK and Spain, a total of 359 facilities had been built.

More than 17,000 teachers have been trained by BRR to replace the 2,500 who perished in the disasters and the agency has built 1,555 kilometers of new road from a targeted 3,471 kilometers.

But inadequate administration has slowed down land certification. "We have issued certificates for only 23,000 out of 160,000 parcels of land the agency has measured," Kuntro said.

Despite its claims to success, the agency has been criticized for its patchy reconstruction and for graft inside the projects.

"We all want the projects to be free from corruption.

"However, we cannot deny we found several contractors who abandoned their jobs but we hope this will end," he told reporters.

Kuntoro said the next two years would see the agency continue to develop the region's infrastructure, housing and agriculture sectors.

Other challenges for BRR in the future will include the provision of micro-finance training to help strengthen local business.

"Another aspect we are concerned about is the transition of administrative duties when our mandate is over -- Aceh will need to manage all administration themselves."

Aceh is the fourth poorest province in the country with 48 percent of its residents living below the poverty line.

Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Deputy Governor Muhammad Nazar said the provincial administration would have enough personnel to cope with the work when the projects were handed over.

"BRR has done its job well," Muhammad said.

"They have been serious in rehabilitating and reconstructing both the tsunami-stricken and other areas."

The Office of the United Nations Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias (UNORC), and its officer in charge of the project, Satya Tripathi, said BRR's strength was in its willingness to listen to the Acehneese and Nias people.

At the meeting, the agency also discussed several issues for the future, including gender equality, mainstreaming waste and water management, and developing an exit strategy for the project.

Mobile units capable of treating even the most turbid water

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post

The Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) has been working on a mobile water treatment system, which can be started up and applied on the spot, in response to the unequal access to potable water in the city.

A single mobile unit has the capacity to treat 400 cubic meters of polluted water a day.

"One unit can serve more than 4,000 people with a production cost of Rp 1,100 per cubic meter," Indratmo Soekarno, the head of the ITB's department of civil engineering, said recently.

He said the treatment units were able to purify dirty water taken from rivers, wells or lakes.

"The quality of the water is of little consequence. One of our mobile units can purify water with a turbidity of 10,000 ppm (parts per million), which cannot be treated by the state-owned water operators," he said.

The dirty water is first oscillated, spiraling heavier particles like sand and sediment away, before being filtered.

Chlorine is then used to destroy disease-causing contaminants.

Indratmo said the technology could also be applied to make seawater potable, with a production cost of Rp 9,000 per cubic meter.

"We are also developing the technology to reduce the production cost still further," he said.

The treatment units were first used in the city during the floods last month, which left millions of people without access to clean water.

The ITB, in cooperation with the Indonesian Medical Association (IDI), deployed two treatment units to Jakarta.

"We set up one unit on Jl. Sultan Agung, East Jakarta, and another in Bekasi, giving free potable water to the flood victims," Hasnah Siregar, the IDI's chief public relations officer, said.

Many of the city's poor have limited or no access to clean water.

A report issued by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) last year said Jakarta's slum dwellers paid five to 10 times more for water than people living in upscale areas.

The report said almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than US$2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.

Half of the some 10 million inhabitants of the city are believed to rely on groundwater.

The administration says groundwater supplies are steadily depleting due to overexploitation coupled with the poor rainwater catchment facilities in the city.

In low-lying North Jakarta, for example, groundwater depletion has caused serious land subsidence, making the area more vulnerable to flooding and allowing water from the Java Sea to seep into the coastal aquifers.

The administration says 80 percent of the groundwater in wells with depths of 10-20 meters is polluted.

Electricity Project Hoping for Funds from UN

Monday, 15 January, 2007 | 16:54 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Denpasar: A garbage-powered electricity generating plant project that is being built in Denpasar is hoping for funds from Clean Development Management of the United Nations.

“The project helps reducing poisonous gas emitions which is in line with the mission of the institution,” said Made Sudharma, Head of the Garbage and Sanitation Supervisory Agency of Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan, yesterday (01/14).

According to Made, development started one year ago by joining together with British company PT Navigate Organic Energy Indonesia.

The task of the company is to organize the areas of garbage disposal in Suwung, the location of the project.

Made explained that there were some models of garbage management that may produce energy such as sanitary landfill technique—a land management that is equipped with special installation—and anaerobic digestion or decomposition using microorganism for new garbage.

New dry garbage such as plastic, glass, iron, and building ruins, he said, require high temperature non-oxygen warming.

The biogas, which is a byproduct of the process, will be utilizes to activate the turbine.

With an anticipated 1,500 cubic meters of garbage per day, electricity production could be between five and eight megawatts.

Rofiqi Hasan

New Fast Ferry Jetty and Mooring Dolphbins for North Jetty - Ulee Lheue Port

Design and Construction of New Fast Ferry Jetty and Mooring Dolphbins for North Jetty - Ulee Lheue Port, Banda Aceh, NAD, Indonesia

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UNDP Indonesia
Deadline: 01-Dec-06

Design and Construction of New Fast Ferry Jetty and Mooring Dolphbins for North Jetty - Ulee Lheue Port, Banda Aceh, NAD, Indonesia
Request for Proposal
Reference Number: 2006/897

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