June 21, 2016 edition

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Chairman Agus Rahardjo listened to a question posed by Junimart Girsang, a member of the House of Representatives (DPR) law commission. At the meeting on Wednesday last week, the KPK was asked to explain its handling of some cases.
After the legislators questioned the purchase of the Sumber Waras Hospital land by the Jakarta government, a case in which the KPK had just stopped its preliminary investigation, Junimart moved on to the bribery case over the land reclamation just off the coast of North Jakarta. "We received information that Rp30 billion from land reclamation developers were given to the Friends of Ahok group through Sunny and Cyrus," said the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician. "I don't know if the KPK has questioned Sunny or Cyrus."

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June 14, 2016 edition

When the deputy chairman of the House of Representatives' (DPR) budget council, Said Abdullah struck the gavel at a meeting inside the legislature building last week, a compromise appeared within reach. Said and other members of the budget council agreed that the target of non-tax receipts (PNBP) from the oil and gas and coal sectors needed to be reduced. "What more can be done? It cannot be improved on any further," said Said after the decision was made.
It was decided at the meeting that the amount of non-tax state receipts for mining in the amended draft national budget (RAPBN-P) should be lowered to Rp30.1 trillion-down from the initial target set at the start of the year, which was Rp40.8 trillion. In the financial note to the 2016 draft state budget, the executive branch had set a non-tax receipts target from general mining at just Rp16.54 trillion. This is much less than the figure agreed on by the budget council. The reason cited was that business in this sector was sluggish. "Prices are down and demand is also down," said Minerals and Coal Director-General Bambang Gatot Ariyono.

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June 7, 2016 edition

In conjunction with the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to Russia in mid-May, state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina named Russian oil company Rosneft the winner of the tender to build the Tuban refinery in East Java. This decision has raised questions because the government had already signaled that it would likely appoint Saudi Aramco, a Saudi oil company, to work on the project.
Despite being a new player in Indonesia's petroleum business, this giant Russian oil and gas company was able to convince the government and Pertamina to make it their partner. In addition to building a refinery with a production capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, the company will cooperate with Pertamina to explore oil fields in Russia. Pertamina was promised it can take 35,000 barrels per day from oil wells with reserves of 200 million barrels.

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May 31, 2016 edition

Two months before he retires, National Police Chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti is busy answering questions about who his successor will be. The former East Java provincial police chief is also accused of lobbying for an extension of his term of office.
Badrodin said he was troubled by charges that he desperately sought to stay on in his current job. The decision whether to extend his term or have him replaced is entirely up to the President. "To me, this position is a mandate," he said.

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May 24, 2016 edition

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators showed Agung Podomoro Land CEO Ariesman Widjaja a one-page summary of the financial records of 13 projects run by Muara Wisesa Samudra, an Agung Podomoro Land subsidiary, on May 2. The records showed work expenditures listed as additional contributions for Jakarta Bay land reclamation projects. The subsidiary holds a land reclamation license for Island G, which measures 161 hectares and is better known as Pluit City.
With lawyer Adardam Achyar on his side, Ariesman answered the questions after the KPK had named him a suspect in a bribery case involving a Jakarta provincial regulation draft on land reclamation. An investigator interrogated Ariesman for eight hours at the KPK Building in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

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May 17, 2016 edition

Reactions appearing on social media, as observed on an iPad, upset President Joko Widodo. One of the things that upset him most was the comment that the Jokowi administration-which is just over a year old-has suddenly become repressive, much like a reincarnation of Suharto's New Order rule.
On Thursday last week, the President summoned some of his closest aides, those working inside and outside the Presidential Palace. He asked for an assessment of the public's true reaction to the instruction he had given two days earlier. "Some of the authorities were seen as being excessive in interpreting the President's order," said presidential spokesman Johan Budi Sapto Pribowo.

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May 10, 2016 edition

Suriyansah, 34, was welcomed home with a simple celebration. His family was elated after he was released by the Abu Sayyaf group in the southern Philippines. The neighbors were invited to his house in Kendari last week to give thanks to God. Sinonggi, a Kendari dish made from sago flour, was served. They also served sticky rice and clam soup. "These are all my favorite food," said Suriyansah.
When he arrived in the city of his birth after a layover in Jakarta, Suriyansah was welcomed by his sobbing 69-year-old mother Sumiya. In Jakarta, he took part in more welcoming events. After being released as a hostage in Sulu Province, Suriyansah was flown to Zamboanga by helicopter. From Zamboanga, Suriyansah was flown to Tarakan in Kalimantan, then on to Jakarta.

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