February 23, 2016 edition

The Jakarta provincial government has begun cleaning up the vice-ridden Kalijodo area. On Thursday last week, they sent the first warning letter, ordering all people living on the land of that former green area to move out. On the same day, tens of police officers, assisted by the members of the military, conducted a raid against thugs, searching for weapons. It was a sign of the end of a red-light district that has a history dating way back during the Dutch colonial days.

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February 16, 2016 edition

Nine National Police investigators combed through the files of hundreds of former patients in the medical records room of Cipto Mangunkusumo Kencana Hospital (RSCM Kencana) in Central Jakarta two weeks ago. Aided by some of the medical staff, they were searching for data on 14 people who underwent kidney transplants from 2013 to 2015 at RSCM Kencana, the country's largest state-run hospital.
The search was part of an investigation into suspected illegal trading of human kidneys. "It took eight hours for the investigators to find the needed documents," said Adj. Sr. Comr. Arie Darmanto, who heads the National Police human-trafficking crime unit, last week. "Those data are the key."

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February 9, 2016 edition

When President Joko Widodo broke ground and thereby symbolically indicated the start of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train project construction three weeks ago, the required operational licenses still had not been issued. The transportation ministry was reluctant to issue the routing permit because the contracting consortium had demanded a government guarantee. The situation was further complicated when a number of landowners refused to sell their lands on which the tracks would lie. To make matters worse, there were more requests for additional stations to be built along the way.
The obstruction from the transportation authority was not the only one. Finance Minister Bambang P.S. Brodjonegoro made it clear right from the start there would be no financial guarantee from the state on the project. This is why the spotlight is now on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno, who has been the most ardent supporter of what is increasingly a controversial project.

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February 2, 2016 edition

Five automobiles stopped along Jalan Kesatrian IX in Matraman, East Jakarta, on Sunday night two weeks ago. Three or four people exited each vehicle, dressed like office workers. They walked towards the entrance to a narrow alleyway, about 50 meters from where they had parked. They left the car engines idling. There was a person behind the wheel of each car, ready to make a speedy getaway.
The arrival of those outsiders aroused the suspicions of residents of Kesatrianthe area better known as Berlan. They were not dressed like the locals, most of whom were resting for the night. "Hey, what are you doing here? Where are you going?" said one neighborhood watchman. This shout sounded like an alert for other residents to come outside.Yelled at in that way, the group of outsiders panicked and returned to their respective vehicles. One of them who was too slow to get back in their vehicle was kicked by one resident. "Go! Get out of here!" said one neighborhood watchman, recounting the incident, last week.

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January 26, 2016 edition

ALDI Tardiansyah, a security guard at the Jalan Thamrin Starbucks caf in Central Jakarta, was surprised when the man in front of him suddenly grabbed his right hand and tried to give him a bear hug that Thursday morning two weeks ago. Aldi's surprise turned to shock when he spotted a bomb attached to the man's midsection. "He then pushed the button on that bomb and I heard a very large explosion," Aldi recounted to Tempo at his home in Bogor last week.
Although he managed to take a step back to avoid being hugged by a total stranger, Aldi was nevertheless thrown by the blast. His body went crashing into a glass wall of the caf. He injured his left hand and shards of glass embedded his body. Aldi saw the caf filled with black smoke and customers running out of the building. After helping three customers to leave the premises, 17-year-old Aldi, who had only started his security guard job two weeks earlier, finally fell unconscious. He was later taken to Abdi Waluyo Hospital in nearby Menteng area.

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January 19, 2016 edition

Last week's attack in the middle of Jakarta should be seen as a wakeup call for the authorities. We may have been lulled by the six-year hiatus of bombings that were a feature between 2000 and 2009. In reality, however, the signs were all there to see. The comings and goings of radical Islamic elements in and out of Syria, their increasingly assertive campaigns on social media and most recently the discovery of a plot to carry out attacks on Christmas and New Year. The fact that only two fatalities resulted from last week's terror attack should also not be a reason for complacence. Responding to written questions posed by Tempo English, Sidney Jones, executive director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict and longtime student of radical Islam in the region, believes that, "We could be in for a period of more intensive terrorist activity."

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January 12, 2016 edition

For over two months, scheduled video meetings between officials of the State Electricity Company (PLN) and the Electrical Power Construction Program Implementation Unit (UP3KN)never took place. These meetings were last held at the end of last October. After that, they were never held again because PLN failed to respond to invitations from the UP3KN. "We still don't know why," said one official from the government-run utility company three weeks ago.
Video communication between the UP3KN and officials in charge of the 35,000 MW electricity generator acceleration project used to be held at least once a week, usually on a Tuesday or a Wednesday. "Meetings like this are practical and easy," said the official.

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