October 20, 2015 edition

On his way to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said's cellular phone rang. An aide of President Joko Widodo was calling with important news. That very morning, on Tuesday two weeks ago, the President summoned Sudirman to the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. Sudirman cancelled his flight without even knowing what they would discuss.
Upon arriving at the Palace, Sudirman headed straight to Jokowi's office. "Sudirman was surprised to see Jim Bob there," said one energy and mineral resources ministry official with knowledge of the meeting last Tuesday. Jim Bob, of course, is the nickname of James R. Moffett, chairman of Freeport-McMoRan, the parent company of Freeport Indonesia. The energy ministry official said Moffett had arrived at the Palace in the morning. Flying in on a private jet, he arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport at 7:30am.

Read More

More Cover Story articles in other editions

October 13, 2015 edition

Although Sofyan Djalil, Indonesia's minister of national development planning, rushed to Tokyo on Sunday evening, September 27, he failed to meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Japanese leader was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Instead, on Tuesday at the end of September, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga met with Sofyan. The envoy bore news from President Joko Widodo: the Indonesian government had made a decision regarding the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway project. However, since the government preferred a fully business-to-business arrangement that does not involve any state funding, Indonesia would forgo the Japanese proposal. China's offer seemed more suitable.

Read More

October 6, 2015 edition

Joshua Oppenheimer*
When The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence were released, I had high hopes that these two films would be useful for the reconciliation process in Indonesia. With The Act of Killing, I wanted to invite the audience to see a history that is different from what we read in the school textbooks. With The Act of Killing, I wanted us to deconstruct the New Order's black propaganda that justified the mass killings in 1965 and even celebrated them as being heroic.

Read More

September 29, 2015 edition

The positive trend on digital economics has caught the attention of President Joko Widodo. This lucrative business has been expanding in the past few years and is expected to continue growing in line with the increasing numbers of Internet users with their smart-phones. The Indonesian E-Commerce Association (idEA) recorded at least US$12 billion worth of online commerce in 2014. This has led the President to urge Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara to prepare the necessary steps to ensure Indonesia can benefit from the rapid growth of online businesses.
Rudiantara himself is optimistic that digital transcations in Indonesia can reach US$137 billion or eight to nine percent of national gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020. "We must establish the rules of the game so Indonesia can benefit from it," he said. Rudiantara shared his views on this new economic phenomenon with Tempo reporters Akbar Tri Kurniawan and Ursula Florence at his residence in Jakarta last week. Excerpts:

Read More

September 22, 2015 edition

Satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) downloaded by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) was shocking. A large amount of forested areas in Riau which had seen forest fires over the past three years are located in concession areas held by large companies.
One of them is Satria Perkasa Agung, which is affiliated with Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Groupthe parent company of the largest group of paper companies in Indonesia, and an umbrella for the Sinar Mas Group. "In 2014 alone, the licensed controlled forest area of Satria Perkasa covered 1,000 hectares," said Riko Kurniawan, Director of Walhi in Riau, last week. This is about 2.5 percent of total forested area in Riau which burned down last year. This company's licensed area in Serapung village, Kuala Kampar, Pelalawan Regency, has again caught fire, along with another 4,000 or so hectares of peat land.

Read More

September 15, 2015 edition

FLANKED by the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Darmin Nasution, who will be the point-man for the government's agenda to kick-start the lethargic economy, along with economic ministers, President Joko Widodo last week unveiled the government's economic policy package. Intended to unblock structural and regulatory obstacles to accelerate priority development programs, the first of three packages is seen by analysts as being high on expectations but low on implementation.

Read More

September 8, 2015 edition

Tens of investigators from the National Police's Criminal Investigation Unit forced their way into the offices of Pelabuhan Indonesia II (Pelindo II) in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, two Fridays ago. Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso, led the team that came with armed guards.
After showing a search warrant, police spread to several floors of the state-owned company. This included the office of Pelindo II CEO Richard Joost Lino on the seventh floor. The search ended just before midnight.

Read More

Independent journalism needs public support. By subscribing to Tempo, you will contribute to our ongoing efforts to produce accurate, in-depth and reliable information. We believe that you and everyone else can make all the right decisions if you receive correct and complete information. For this reason, since its establishment on March 6, 1971, Tempo has been and will always be committed to hard-hitting investigative journalism. For the public and the Republic.