May 12, 2015 edition
Cover Story
WHEN he spoke at the swearing-in ceremony of echelon 1 and 2 officials at his office last week, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said repeated his complaint, namely regarding one of his staff by the name of Said Didu. He apparently did not get the position of director-general of minerals and coal following the ministry's recent reorganization, following the final evaluation by a team headed by President Joko Widodo himself. "Yet Said Didu was ranked at the top," said Sudirman.
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National
News Capsule
Economy
Market Pulse
National
Sutan Implicates Colleagues
CHAIRMAN of the House of Representatives' Energy Commission for 2009-2014, Sutan Bhatoegana, received a luxurious Toyota Alphard SUV from an oil and gas contractor. A Duta Motor employee, Dewi Handayani, claimed the black Alphard type G was paid by the director of Dara Transindo Eltra, Yan Achmad Suep. Dara is a company operating as an agent for oil and gas production or drilling facilities. "Pak Yan paid US$1,500 in down payments, or around Rp13.2 million," said Dewi. She served as a witness in Sutan Bhatoegana's trial at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday last week. Aside from allegedly illegally accepting the Alphard car, Sutan stands accused of accepting Rp50 million from former Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik, and US$200,000 from ex-head of the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Task Force (SKK Migas) Rudi Rubiandini. Sutan has also been charged with accepting bribes totaling US$140,000 from then secretary-general of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Waryono Karno. At the trial on Monday last month, Sutan's attorney, Budi Nugroho, stated his objection to the charges. According to Budi, the public prosecutor should have included the names of leaders and members of the House Commission VII for 2009-2014 who shared in the US$140,000. "The structure of Commission VII is collective and collegial," said Budi.
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Economy
A Half-baked Cure For The Economy
Last week, the market opened with a somber mood, given the many ominous signals investors have to deal with. For one, almost out of the blue, the Brent oil price jolted analysts, touching above US$70 per barrel, up 55 percent from its January price of around US$45 per barrel. Many analysts are wondering: is the cheap-oil era so short-lived?
Another worrying development, Greece's negotiations with its creditors have practically reached a dead end. Its expulsion from the EU and the euro is more likely now. Such an exit, which might happen within the following weeks, will cause a quake with unpredictable magnitude across the globe.
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Interview
HAVING observed media development in Indonesia, Jim Nolan feels that democracy in this country may be backtracking. He is of the view that freedom of expression has been restricted, following the government's closure of 22 websites, considered to be extremist. This, according to Nolan, a lawyer and legal expert with the Asia-Pacific branch of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), affects Indonesia's reputation as a beacon of free press in ASEAN.
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Memoar
The Legian Bali resort, the Darmawangsa in Jakarta, the Aman at the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Capella in Singapore and the Setai Hotel in Miami-all high-profile luxury resorts, lauded for their sense of style and place and all were designed by the same Indonesian artist, Jaya Pratomo Ibrahim. Jaya was the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Award at the First Hotel Design Awards in Singapore last March. The local press noted that in his trademark soft-spoken manner, upon hearing the news, his first reaction was, "Why me?"
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Asean & Beyond
The recent execution of convicted Australian drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran along with six other inmates from Nigeria, Brazil and Indonesia has led to tensions-once again-between Jakarta and Canberra, which recalled its ambassador to Indonesia following the executions. Tempo English contributor Edward Stephens met with Professor Greg Barton from the Australia-Indonesia Center in Melbourne, Australia, last week to gain his insight on the up-and-down relations between the two countries. Barton has conducted research on Indonesian politics and society for over 20 years. He is also the international director for the Global Terrorism Research Center. Excerpts:
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Environment
Smoke billows up from the charred stumps of trees that were burned to the ground just a few hours ago. Flames can still be seen licking at the branches of a fallen acacia tree. The sky is clear, and residents of Sumber Jaya village, Siak Kecil district, Bengkalis regency, Riau, are not overly concerned about the wildfire raging just five kilometers away.
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Law
Sammaniyah' is derived from name of the Sufi teacher, Muhammad ibn 'Abdul Karim al-Madani al-Syafi'i (1130-1189), who was known by the name of Al-Sammani. Born in Medina, Saudi Arabia, to the Quraisy family, Al-Sammani was believed by his disciples to have lived in the house of Abu Bakar al-Siddiq, one of Prophet Muhammad's closest friends.
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Outreach
THE Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has an ambitious plan for next year: raising the budget for the development of renewable energy by 10 times. "The future of Indonesia's development depends on seeking and building renewable energy. We can no longer rely solely on fossil fuel energy, which is bound to become scarce," said Dadan Kusdiana, director of the ministry's section on bio-energy.
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Opinion
THE formation of a joint task force by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the police and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) is a betrayal of the objectives of the KPK, established 14 years ago. At that time, the KPK was set up to eliminate corruption because the AGO and the police were seen to be nests of corruptors. At least, that was the opinion of the public through surveys of their perception on corruption. That was the reason why the KPK was formed as a super-body.
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Indicator
INDONESIA hands down the death penalty for murderers and drug dealers. It is a policy that the majority of the Indonesian public seems to support. Despite a global outcry over the execution of eight drug traffickers in recent weeks, the majority of respondents to last week's Tempo poll support the government's position.
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Letters
OLX Objects
WE object to the Tempo article entitled Decline and Fall on page 25 of the April 27 -3 May 2015 edition. You wrote there Tusks and stuffed and mounted rare animals are even being offered online through Facebook, the Kaskus and OLX online trade fora... Olx.co.id is an open, online classified ad website under a user-generated content principle. We object to what was written as we are running a business that tries to do the right thing.
We state this clearly on our website page http://olx.co.id/larangan/. It states that all users of the olx.co.id website are prohibited from selling any illegal goods or services. These illegal items include: Plants and animals protected under Government Regulation No. 7/1999 and other regulations (and includes animal body parts such as tusks, claws, and skins.)
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Tempo Talks
Improving Connectivity, Boosting Cooperation
This year, Indonesia and India mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. However, the ties between the two nations have existed much longer, predating the establishment of the Republic of Indonesia and the Republic of India. These connections span social, cultural, religious, economic, and trade aspects. But do those close ties of the past have any bearing on the present relationship? Why is there no direct flight between the capitals of the two countries?
Indian Ambassador to Indonesia and Timor-Leste, Sandeep Chakravorty, shares his views on this matter at TEMPO TALKS.
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