Sutiyoso cross about checks on time sheets

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso was pleased to find no civil servants or City Hall employees were absent without notice Monday, the first working day after the weeklong Idul Fitri holiday.

 But the smile was soon wiped off his face by the realization that many of his subordinates had checked the afternoon and evening time sheets first thing in the morning. 

 “How can this be? The attendance list must be signed three times a day; in the morning, afternoon and evening,” he grumbled during a visit to the Central Jakarta population agency office.

 He surmised the officials who had tampered with the time sheets were lazy individuals who had wanted to go home early.

 Civil servants and employees of the Jakarta administration enjoyed shorter working hours during the fasting month and began their holiday on Oct. 21.

 The governor, who has made a habit of paying impromptu visits to city offices after holidays, found time sheets had been falsely marked at a number of city offices including Central Jakarta’s public lighting, housing and development supervision agencies.

 In response to the new strategy for avoiding disciplinary action, the governor ordered the heads of all divisions of the city administration to employ attendance technology to discourage officials from knocking off from work early.

 In his inspection of Srengseng subdistrict office in West Jakarta, Sutiyoso told subdistrict head Yan S. Hadi to bring each of the 18 staff members who had signed the time sheets before him.

 Sukesti Martiono, the head of the city administration’s personnel office, said a computerized attendance system had been  successfully applied in some offices.

 “However, such technology is limited to those offices due to funding shortages,” he said as quoted by city official news portal Beritajakarta.

 Sukesti said the computerized system cost Rp 40 million to set up but could only handle the data of 400 staff.

 Only one of the Central Jakarta population agency’s 50 members of staff was absent Monday.

 Bekasi administration, which has 8,963 employees, pledged to sanction the 84 officials who skipped work Monday.

 Bekasi population agency head Rusdjama said a week was long enough for families to get together over Idul Fitri.

 “There is no reason for them to stay longer at home. We will take action against them. However (the type of action) will be decided by each division,” he was quoted as saying by Antara.

 Rusdjama said the 84 civil servants, mostly senior members of staff, had violated government regulations.

 The Bogor administration also inspected its offices Monday.

 Bogor administration official Bambang Gunawan said  anyone who took an extra day off would be found out.

 “We will give warning letters to officials who were absent Monday,” he said.

 As public services resumed Monday, pawnshops across the city reported an influx of customers.
 “We served more than 500 people before 2:30 p.m.,”

Djumari, the manager of Salemba pawnshop in Central Jakarta, said.

Even unarmed men dangerous, police say

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Officers with the Jakarta Police lowered their guns early Sunday to shoot two alleged robbers in the legs as they attempted to pocket a cellular phone in Kramat Bunder, Senen, Central Jakarta.

 The two men, identified as Frenki Gurning alias Toha and Suprapto, were both shot in the right leg by patrolling policemen.

 According to police, the unarmed suspects, residents of Rawa Denok in Depok, had been attempting to take the cell phone from Turyanto Warso, who was carrying it in his hand.

 Turyanto and his sister Rita had just arrived from their hometown, where they had spent Idul Fitri. 
 Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said Monday the officers had done the right thing.

 He said the fact the robbers were unarmed could not be assumed and the officers had sensed they were in danger.

 “Anything can be carried out to prevent the taking of other’s lives,” he said.

 In Tangerang, police also shot an alleged robber and murderer in both legs for “resisting arrest”.

 The suspect, identified as Jaji alias Kebo, was shot early Sunday in his hiding place in Cisauk, Tangerang.

 Two days before Idul Fitri on Oct. 24, Jaji and his accomplice — identified only as Amd and currently still at large — killed Marudin, 19, an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver and took away his motorcycle.

 Marudin’s body was found on Oct. 26, with wounds to his head.     

 A preliminary investigation found the two suspects were the last people to be seen with the victim.
 A tip-off led police to Jaji’s and Amd’s hideout.

 Ketut said unarmed robbers could be dangerous and officers could never let their guard down. 
 “People can kill using their bare hands,” he said.

 In the month of Ramadhan and during the Idul Fitri holiday, the Jakarta Police shot nine alleged robbers, killing five of them.

 Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Adang Firman had given a shoot-on-sight order to secure the Idul Fitri holiday.

Clean-up program brightens up N. Jakarta slum

Behind the dusty streets of North Jakarta, on the Muara Angke River, lies Kapuk Muara.  

 Walled in by two-story row houses its narrow alleys are shady and cool, a respite from the heat.  

 Two hundred families live in the neighborhood unit, which is one of 13 in the area.

 Their semipermanent homes, which measure no more than 15 square meters each, are clean and comfortable.

 The residents have amassed collections of potted plants, placing them overhead and underfoot on every available space.

 But there has also been room set aside in the one-meter-wide alleys for the plastic trash bins that stand outside every home.  

 Mothers and older siblings perch on their doorsteps minding babies and toddlers. They are drawn together, like a neighborhood playgroup, by the proximity of their homes.

 “It was difficult convincing the residents to spend their limited earnings on something like plants,” said Dati,  the wife of the Kapuk Muara neighborhood chief.

 “It was even harder to stop them dumping their rubbish in the alley.”

 Situated about a kilometer from the coast, Kapuk Muara has been occupied for more than 15 years by migrants from Madura, Central and West Java.

 Most residents make their living as street vendors or factory workers or taking outsourced safety helmet orders.

 Before 1999, kampongs in the area were considered underdeveloped and categorized as slums.
 After being included in several official programs for poverty alleviation — including the Kampong Improvement Program —  things are slowly picking up.

 “We may still be living in a poor neighborhood, but at least we take pride in the physical condition of our environment,” Dati said.

 Almost 80 percent of the houses are semipermanent with cement floors and brick-and-timber walls, but the emerald green leaves that trail down over the concrete have made a world of difference.

 Even the poorest of the poor there try to keep up with the program, lovingly tending their plants.

 “I first received several plants for free from the district administration. Later on I bought empty pots and planted some more on my own,” said 80-year-old widow Lindahwati, a regular recipient of government cash aid for the poor.

 The North Jakarta municipal administration funded a neighborhood improvement program to the tune of Rp 60 million.

 Each household received two to three pot plants and was later on required to plant medicinal herbs.
 “It took a while before we saw the results of the improvement program. And as soon as people here felt the benefits, they tried harder to maintain this condition,” Dati added.

 Five years on, the dirty and run-down neighborhood  is a brighter and more attractive place to live.
 There may be a long way to go before house values in the area go up, but the improvement program has mobilized residents around the powerful idea that they are responsible for their surroundings.

 Kampong improvement expert Johan Silas argues that kampongs should be maintained to balance
commercial and modern urban development.

 They also maintain the ethnic ambience and character of individual areas of the city.

Man found dead with bug killer

 TANGERANG: A man was found dead at his house in Cipondoh Indah housing complex, Tangerang municipality, Monday.

 Police found a refill bottle for a commonly available household insecticide near the body of Sandi, 29, which was lying on the floor in the living room.

 The victim’s older brother, Kwo Kon Kwee, came to the house at about 11 a.m., but no one answered the door.

 Kwee asked neighbors to force the door open.

 They found Sandi’s body and a note saying he had been distressed after receiving no word from his wife, Lee In, who was in Malaysia for medical treatment. The two were married early this month.

 First Insp. Yuliamsyah, Cipondoh Police chief of detectives, said the investigation into the alleged suicide was ongoing. — JP

Waste management observes holiday

 BEKASI: As of Sunday, the volume of daily waste disposed of at Bantar Gebang dump in Bekasi during the Idul Fitri holiday was half the usual 6,000 tons.

 Dump supervisor Afif told Antara that was only to be expected. “Many families leave the city, so we don’t collect as much garbage.”

 Trucks, bulldozers and other heavy machinery at the dump remained idle Sunday.

 “We expect everything to return to normal Monday,” Afif said.

 The dump mainly takes garbage from households and markets in Jakarta. However, many Bekasi residents have complained of garbage piling up in their neighborhoods because there were no pick-ups during the holiday. — JP

‘New governor must prioritize population control’

The campaign teams of the gubernatorial candidates are trying to get people into the election spirit by canvassing support for  key issues. But very few Jakartans know who the candidates are or what they stand for. The Jakarta Post asked some people what they expected from the candidates.

 Elyas El Aviv, 25 works for an advertising agency. He lives in Rawasari, Central Jakarta:

 I do not plan to vote in the next gubernatorial election. Not that I don’t care, I just think that all the individuals who are running are qualified for the job.

 The most popular one currently is (deputy governor) Fauzi Bowo. I find his constant self-promotion a bit sleazy. He has used every available means, like the giant posters of himself he has put up all over town.

 I had no idea who he was, but the barrage of news items and publicity shots have made him quite popular now.

 The next governor should tackle urban problems like traffic congestion and the high jobless and crime rates.

 The new governor should be able to communicate to people living outside Jakarta that the city is not a dreamland and that many of the people who live here also have it tough.

 Adika Anindita Tama, 17, is a high school student. He lives with his family in Rawamangun, East Jakarta:
 I am enthusiastic about voting next year. I know a little about the candidates but the information provided by the media is far from enough to help me decide who to vote for. 

 Anyway, it’s still a year away.

 The candidate who wins my vote must have a good understanding of the needs of the people. He should have a clear vision, particularly for welfare programs.

 The new governor also needs to prioritize population control. 

— The Jakarta Post

Checking contractors’ expenses

ASEAN, China negotiate, face new challenges

Makmur Keliat, Jakarta

What has China achieved in its relations with ASEAN in the last 15 years? It might be far-fetched to call its achievements remarkable.

 But there are a number of reasons for saying so. In the field of security cooperation, for instance, China has  agreed to the establishment of a code of conduct in the South China Sea.

 The country also has acceded to sign the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC). Policymakers in Beijing have attached much importance to the regional norms of peaceful conflict resolution strongly upheld by ASEAN.   

 In the field of economic cooperation, significant changes have been taking place as well. This can be seen from the agreement on establishing China-ASEAN Free Trade (CAFTA). It is worth noting that China and ASEAN have planned to fully realize the CAFTA in the year 2011. The signing of CAFTA has pressured Japan and South Korea to have similar free trade agreements with ASEAN.

 Related to this, China, by utilizing the mechanism of ASEAN+3, is trying to promote the idea of an East Asia Free Trade Area (EAFTA).

 Though in the context of the ASEAN+3 mechanism, EAFTA has been categorized as a medium to long-term recommendation, meaning there is no hurry to realize it, China has taken the initiative to launch a feasibility study on it.  

 Serious efforts also have been made by China to strengthen financial cooperation in the region. China has attempted to sign bilateral swap arrangements (BSA) with all member countries of ASEAN. With a view to providing financial assistance for countries facing short-term liquidity crisis, the total amount China has pledged to support the BSA facilities is estimated to be US$20.5 billion. 

 By actively supporting the idea of an Asian Bond Initiative, China also has shown great interest in evolving regional capacity to meet the need for financial resources in the long term. It seems China is fully aware of ASEAN’s urgent need to strengthen regional financial facility.

 That is why ASEAN has deliberately taken the initiative to engage China in strengthening regional financial arrangements in East Asia. The above achievements are sound evidence of China’s remarkable achievements in its relationship with ASEAN in the last 15 years.

 In the long term, China’s objective appears to be to encourage ASEAN to be part of East Asia or alternatively to drive East Asia as an integral part of ASEAN. While the first option would be like
the process of East Asian-ization of ASEAN, the second one would be akin to the process of ASEAN-ization of East Asia.

 Actually China is fully aware that it cannot develop without East Asia, neither can East Asia prosper without China. This suggests two things:

 First, China presumes the process of integrating ASEAN, China and East Asia is occurring and unavoidable.

 Second, whether we like it or not, it is not in China’s best interests to hold up the process. If possible, China would even like to speed up the process.

 Accordingly there are three main questions ASEAN needs to answer in its response to the process.
 The first is related to the problem of institutionalizing the process. It makes more sense for ASEAN to choose the ASEAN-ization of East Asia rather than the East Asian-ization of ASEAN. The reasons are obvious.

 The former option provides ASEAN with greater space and opportunity to socialize the importance of the ASEAN way to China.

 However, this option makes it necessary for ASEAN to strengthen its institutional capacity in dealing with the issue of East Asia Community (EAC) building activities. Otherwise the centrality of ASEAN in the entire process of such community building activities will never become a reality.   

 The second problem is related to pace. The question here is how fast does the process need to be carried out? Establishing a time frame might not be the right answer to this question.

 The main reason lies in the fact that ASEAN itself has an ambition to realize the idea of an ASEAN Community. ASEAN, therefore, needs to be much more careful about considering the offers made by China, South Korea, and Japan on the EAC’s establishment. They may give short term benefits but could dilute the realization of an ASEAN community.

 The third problem is related to the dynamic of a strategic environment at international level. ASEAN needs to be aware that its increased and closer interaction with China could cause other countries to be envious.

 It may even send a signal that China is trying to get the status as a hegemonic power in the region. The question then is how can ASEAN and China erase such an impression? In so far as the issue is concerned, ASEAN has tried to manage it by attempting to develop the idea that the identity of East Asia should not be understood geographically.

 This can clearly be seen in the decision to hold the  East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur last year, through which Australia, India and New Zealand were invited to join.

 But this may be insufficient to erase the suspicion. In this regard it might be useful for ASEAN to think about holding an ASEAN-U.S. Summit regularly.

 The writer is the Executive Director of Center for East Asia Cooperation Studies (CEACoS), University of Indonesia.

Can Russians be trusted to deliver reliable energy?

Michael Richardson, Singapore

As oil exports start to flow to India and other parts of Asia from a new field near the Russian Pacific coast, can the region count on Russia as a reliable supplier of energy?

 Russia is important because it is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas and the second biggest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia. It also has the potential to become an even bigger supplier to other countries, including those in oil-short Asia.

 The energy outlook for Asia and the Pacific will unfold a bit further when Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradhov arrives in Beijing next month on a scheduled visit.

 He will do so amid signs that Moscow is seeking to enhance its power in Asia by offering to meet an increasingly large portion of the region’s rapidly growing demand for energy.

 However, it is China that seems most likely to become the main partner and beneficiary of Russia’s Asia-Pacific strategy. This will cause consternation in Japan just when its new leader, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is trying to reassert Japanese influence in the region.

 The United States, too, will be concerned that the energy security of its key Asian ally is being undermined while China is being promised much bigger long-term supplies of Russian oil and gas.

 Europe is also likely to worry that future Russian energy sales in Asia will be at the expense of supplies to the European Union. Japan’s ties with Russia are bedeviled by an unsettled territorial dispute that dates back to the end of World War II.

 By contrast, China and Russia closed a long chapter of Cold War enmity in 2004 when they resolved remaining issues and signed a border treaty. Political, military, trade and investment ties are expanding fast and  Fradkov will be aiming to make them stronger still when he visits Beijing.

 Both Russia and China have said they want to counter-balance the power of the U.S. and its allies.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pointedly told a group of Western journalists and academics last month that relations with China were at their best ever, and that conditions were now in place for keeping them at this level for a long time. He added that Russia plans a massive increase in its energy exports to Asia by selling 30 percent of its oil and gas to the region in 10 – 15 years, compared with 3 percent today.

 Is this an attempt by Moscow to use Asia as a bargaining chip in its dispute with Europe over the terms on which Russia supplies vast quantities of gas to the continent and gains access to its energy industry?

Perhaps in part. But Putin himself noted that economic activity was moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific and that Russia, which has about two thirds of its territory in Asia, wanted to take advantage of this.

 Several recent developments suggest that Russia is serious about strengthening ties with Asia, chiefly with China, and using its abundant energy reserves as leverage to gain greater economic and political influence.

 Last month, two multibillion-dollar oil and gas fields being brought into production by mainly foreign producers off Sakhalin Island in Russia’s far east ran foul of Russian regulators.

 This is widely seen as part of an attempt by Russian state-owned oil, gas and pipeline construction monopolies to take control of energy reserves and distribution networks in Siberia and the Pacific coast in preparation for government directed sales to favored customers in Asia.

 For the ExxonMobil-led Sakhalin-1 project, this happened just as its first oil exports were starting. Japan’s new leader, Abe, has warned that forced contract changes or delays in the second of these projects, known as Sakhalin-2, will have “negative repercussions on the whole of our relations with Russia.”

 Japan’s electricity utilities have signed long-term contracts with this Shell-led project on Sakhalin Island, which is immediately north of Japan, to deliver gas equal to about 10 percent of Japan’s total needs, starting in 2008.

 Mitsui and Mitsubishi, two of the country’s largest trading companies, own 25 percent and 20 percent respectively of the project.

 Meanwhile, China, too, is keen to lock in pipeline supplies of both oil and gas from Russia, which has the world’s biggest natural gas reserves and the eighth largest oil reserves.

 Last year, China imported nearly 13 million tons of crude oil from Russia, or just over 10 percent of total imports. This ratio has been rising steadily since 1999, when imports of Russian oil were negligible.

 Russia is now China’s fourth main source of foreign oil, after Angola, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Sales would be growing even faster if they did not have to rely so much on Russian rail transport, which is expensive.

 Putin indicated that building new oil and gas pipelines to China over the next few years would intensify shipments.

 This sounds like music to Chinese ears. But Russia has a history of failing to deliver on some of its energy promises. Oil sales to China in 2006 are unlikely to be more than 11 million tons, four million tons less than projected. Many of the oil and gas reserves believed to be in Siberia have yet to be proven.

 And Moscow still has not made it absolutely clear whether the pipeline being extended eastwards from Taishet in Siberia will first carry oil into China, or to Japan and other customers via an outlet on the Pacific coast. At this point, however, China appears to be the likely winner.

 The writer, a former Asia Editor of the International Herald Tribune, is a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore.

Poverty and peace

 HS Dillon, you have done it again writing a fantastic, courageous, thought provoking article, How poverty relates to peace, in The Jakarta Post, Oct. 16.

 Read this with another story, Indonesia is not a poor country on page 6, under “Other opinion” in the same edition — the decade-old Indonesian monetary crisis is summed up in two simple articles.

 Well, I never believed there was a real monetary crisis in Indonesia. It was a man-made, and manmishandled series of crises (or opportunities?) out of which 100s richly benefited at the cost of millions of Indonesians.

 All are aware that most of the capital flight during 1997-1999 was Indonesian money and only a small portion of it foreign capital. And it is common knowledge that the money is very much there, in hard cash.

 With such a huge amount of Indonesian money parked in front of our eyes, see how the safe-keeper has progressed and prospered during the last decade, with construction and businesses booming everywhere, expansion of airport(s), buildings, bridges, land-reclamation, hosting international summits and conferences, deploying state-of-the-art security systems, and what not — no dearth of capital for any developmental and/or innovative activity/project!

 Fair enough, the money that came in unsolicited was well-kept with full legality and responsibility, well-deployed and very efficiently managed, of course. It was totally a win-win situation for both the depositor and the recipient. No issue about it.

 Imagine, Indonesia managing to bring back a good part of the Indonesian money that flew from its shores during that crisis period and subsequent years. Would there be any need for us to travel to the other side of the earth soliciting investments into this rich country?

 In my opinion, it is never too late to start doing the right thing, or start moving in the right direction. We should immediately start evolving a strategy, invent a methodology and mechanism to bring back at least 50 percent of the lost capital, which fortunately for us, is still very much there, in front of our eyes!

 If we don’t have a mechanism to punish the embezzlers and bring them to book, let us go ahead and embrace them, paving the way to bring back their money into Indonesia — the focus should be just to get the capital flowing back, which is rightfully Indonesia’s. There need not be any kind of feeling in doing this, malu-malu (being ashamed), ego, the thought of what-will-others-think, defeatist attitude or whatever.

 In order to achieve it, come on, let us start looking for the Muhammad Yunus of Indonesia to invent the right strategy and implement it. Who knows, his name could be HS Dillon.

RANGA NATHAN
Jakarta