RUSDI'S fortunes fell along with the price of rubber. After inheriting his small plantation from his elders, the farmer from Rantau village, Bengkayang regency, West Kalimantan, finally gave up. He sold the estate to an oil palm company. "I sold out in the middle of this year," he told Tempo two weeks ago.

Rusdi used the proceeds from the sale to buy two Dongfeng brand diesel engines for pumping water at a gold mine in the village. He decided to change jobs, following in the footsteps of many of his friends and neighbors who had been tempted to hunt for gold. Unfortunately for Rusdi, he found no gold concentrate in the first shaft he dug. He started to lose money.

The meeting with Industry Ministry officials at the Hotel Santika Surabaya two weeks ago became a forum for Sukhyar to air his complaints. Sukhyar, the director-general of minerals and coal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, shared his views on the mining permit process for constructing a smelter, which he saw as far from perfect.

OIL tanks were neatly arranged in rows along an alley in Sumengko village, Bojonegoro regency, East Java. Dozens of red trucks with Pertamina logos lined up to be filled with automotive diesel oil. The fuel was later distributed to public gas stationsalso with Pertamina logosin Bojonegoro, Tuban and Lamongan regencies.

The Tax Court Office on the ninth floor of the Finance Ministry complex two weeks ago was swarmeing with people, including several prominent officials. Among those present at the trial of Asian Agri subsidiary Inti Indosawit Subur were Taxation Director General Fuad Rahmany, Presidential Working Unit for Supervision and Control (UKP4) Deputy Chief Mas Achmad Santosa, Judicial Commission member Jaja Ahmad Jayus and the Finance Ministry inspector general. Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Deputy Chief Bambang Widjojanto also showed up.

Aviation
Airfare Ceiling increased

The government will raise the airfare ceiling rate by10 percent. The legal umbrella for the new rate will be signed by Transportation Minister Evert Ernest Mangindaan this week.

The first instance of volcanic ash paralyzing a modern commercial jet was in 1982. Captain Eric Moody was strolling through the cabin of British Airways Flight 9 as the plane soared over the waters southwest of Java when he was called to the flight deck. Opening the door to the cockpit, Moody was met with "puffs of smoke" and a blast of "St. Elmo's fire" according to a 2010 BBC interview with the retired pilot. Volcanic ash had stopped all four of the plane's engines, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing in Jakarta.