Plastic Bag Charge Too Low To Have Any Impact,

Sniffs Mayor
Ganug Nugroho Adi and Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta/Makassar |
Archipelago | Tue, March 08 2016, 9:04 AM
The administration of Surakarta, Central Java, has withdrawn from a national policy
that requires modern retailers to charge customers for plastic bags, deeming the
initiative unlikely to cut plastic bag consumption.
Surakarta Mayor FX Hadi Rudyatmo said that the charge, at Rp 200 (2 US cents) per
bag, was too low to serve as a deterrent, as is intended.
The plastic bag policy will not change peoples habits, especially because plastic
bags are sold for only Rp 200. If the price were set at Rp 20,000 per bag, people
would choose to bring their own bags, Rudy said at Surakarta city hall on Monday.
The Jakarta administration has also withdrawn from the program, and will instead
enforce a 2013 bylaw on waste management, which Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja
said was sufficient to reduce plastic waste.
The policy was issued by Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya on
National Waste Awareness Day through a circular, and stipulates that retailers must
not give plastic bags to customers for free, but must charge at least Rp 200 for each
bag.
An agreement between the Indonesian Retailers Association (Aprindo) and city
administrations was recently signed in Makassar, South Sulawesi, also on National
Waste Awareness Day.

When the initiative was launched, the Surakarta administration said it had been
encouraging people to take their own non-plastic bags when shopping. If modern
shops still provided paid plastic bags, Rudy said, the plastic reduction policy would
be meaningless.
He went on that the administration would cooperate with the Surakarta branch of the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), as well as micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) to produce shopping bags from non-plastic and recycled
materials such as recyclable paper, rattan, natural fibers and coconut leaves.
The mayor is also considering asking private companies, through their corporate
social responsibility (CSR) programs, to participate in the plan.
We will sit down and discuss programs to produce recycled shopping bags, Rudy
said.
Separately, Surakarta Kadin chair Sri Haryanto said that businesspeople in the city
would support the efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags, adding that Kadin was
engaged in discussions with a number of MSMEs to produce environmentally
friendly shopping bags.
I think such programs could benefit MSMEs. We hope they will come up with
creative products to increase the choices available, Sri said.
Meanwhile, modern retailers in Surakarta are ready to comply with Rudis
instructions.
Alfamart regional spokesperson Firly Firlandia said the company had applied the
policy according to the circular issued by the environment ministry.

Responding to the mayors instruction to ignore the policy, however, Firly said that
Alfamart would fully support the instruction, but added that the management would
first wait for an official letter from the city administration regarding the matter.
We are in support of reducing plastic waste. Doing so is in the interests of everyone.
However, before implementing the [mayors] instruction, we first need a legal basis,
for example a mayoral regulation or a circular from the city administration. We need
something official, Firly said.
Surakarta produces 260 tons of garbage every day, 20 percent of which is plastic, and
only 10 percent recyclable.
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Jokowi Reaffirms Support For Palestine

At OIC Summit, Appoints Honorary Consul
Liza Yosephine, thejakartapost.com, Jakarta | National | Mon, March 07 2016, 12:50
PM

Warm welcome: President Joko Jokowi Widodo greets Palestinian President

Mahmoud Abbas at the start of their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit on Palestinian issues in Jakarta
on Sunday.(Associated Press/Dita Alangkara)
President Joko Jokowi Widodo has reiterated the countrys support for a two-state
solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Speaking in his remarks during the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC)
Summits opening ceremony, the President referred to a statement conveyed by the
late president Sukarno in 1962, in which he said: As long as the independence of the
Palestinians has not been handed over to the Palestinians, Indonesia will stand against
the Israeli occupation.

We, the people of Indonesia, will consistently uphold that promise, said Jokowi,
who chairs the summit, which will end on Monday.
To realize Indonesias commitment, President Jokowi on Monday officially appointed
an honorary consul for Palestine, ahead of the opening of the Indonesian consulate in
Ramallah.
In his opening remarks, the President announced that Indonesia had appointed Maha
Abou Susheh as the Indonesian honorary consul for Palestine. In the near future, he
added, Indonesia would inaugurate the Indonesian Honorary Consulate in Ramallah,
Palestine.
The OIC Summit is set to produce two documents, a resolution and a Jakarta
Declaration, which contains an agreed set of principles and concrete steps OIC
member countries will take to achieve peace and reconciliation in Palestine.
Jokowi said Indonesia continued to stand together with its OIC fellow members in the
pursuit of a resolution on the issue of Palestine.
The President brought to the attention of the summit participants the struggle
experienced by the Palestinian people, particularly his concerns related to policies
deemed biased and illegal, as well as Israelis collective sanctions that continued to
create hardships for Palestinians.
Citing examples, Jokowi said the access of Muslims to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
was very limited and that the humanitarian condition of Palestinians continued to
worsen.
Jokowi said the international community's tolerance of the continued illegal

occupation by Israel had reached its limit. He called on unity among members of the
international community, especially OIC members.
The President said that the existence of the OIC was aimed at supporting the struggle
of Palestinians. He further said that Monday's summit, themed "United for a Just
Solution", emphasized the importance for all OIC members to be part of the solution
and not the problem.
"If the OIC cannot become part of the solution for Palestine, then the existence of the
OIC becomes irrelevant," Jokowi said.
Jokowi also conveyed in his speech the Islamic world's call for support from the UN.
(ebf)(+)
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US Investors Show Interest

in Three Sectors in Indonesia
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Business | Thu, March 10 2016, 9:43 AM
A number of US investors have expressed interest in investing in the countrys
creative economy and cold storage and health service sectors with planned investment
of Rp 263 billion (US$20 million).
Their interest was expressed through the Indonesia Investment Promotion Center
(IIPC) , a representative office of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) in
New York.
The investors are interested in building animation studios in Indonesia by working
together with local partners in Batam, Bandung and Yogyakarta, BKPM chief
Franky Sibarani said recently.
One US investor has considered entering Indonesias cold storage business with an
investment of about Rp 66 billion (US$5 million).
The company will first build processing plants in Sumbawa, and continue in Alor,
Serang and Sorong. These processing plants will process seafood before it is
marketed to retailers in the US, Franky explained.
For health services, US firms will open weight-loss businesses at two potential
locations, namely Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara and Bintan in Riau Islands.
Currently, the firms are mostly engaged in selling organic spices.
Elsa Noviliyanti, IIPCs executive in New York, said she would continue to
communicate extensively with US investors.

Regarding the creative economy, we have met with the investors and talked about
the next investment stage, Elsa said.
The US is one of Indonesias priority countries for investment. According to data
from the BKPM in 2015, the realized value of US investment reached $893 million,
comprising 261 projects, most of them in the mining sector.
Throughout 2015, BKPM received investment commitments worth $4.6 billion from
US investors for 76 projects.
The IIPC New York together with RI representatives and the US marketing officer
are going to oversee the process to make sure that their commitment to invest in
Indonesia can be realized as soon as possible, Elsa said.
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/10/us-investors-showinterest-three-sectors-indonesia.html#sthash.AQpMvOoe.dpuf

NTT Police Nab Protected Turtle Shells Supplier

The Jakarta Post, Manggarai | Archipelago | Tue, March 08 2016, 7:31 AM
East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Police officers nabbed on Monday a supplier of
endangered Hawksbill sea turtle shells, which sell for Rp 8 million (US$608) to Rp
20 million each.
Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Julens Abraham Abast said the perpetrator was
caught carrying 335 turtle shells.
Julens said that as the turtle was listed as an endangered species, the perpetrator
would be charged according to the 1990 law on natural resources, conservation and
ecosystem and could face five years imprisonment.
The technical division head at NTT Natural Resources Office, Maman Surahman,
said turtle shell sales had been increasing recently as the shells could be made into
accessories. There has to be continuous patroling and familiarization about the
turtles importance to the marine ecosystem, Maman said.
A fisherman, Lambertus Sarong, said that he never had heard of a regulation that
banned the capture of protected species.
We dont know which species are protected and which are not, he said.
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/08/islands-focus-nttpolice-nab-protected-turtle-shells-supplier.html#sthash.F7EoqJ82.dpuf

Papua Police Destroy Marijuana From PNG

Nethy Dharma Somba, thejakartapost.com, Jayapura, Papua | Archipelago | Thu,
March 10 2016, 7:09 PM

Dangerous substance: Packages of confiscated crystal meth are shown at a press

conference in Jakarta recently. The Papua Police narcotics unit destroyed 2.2
kilograms of marijuana smuggled from Papua New Guinea at a event in Jayapura,
Papua, on Thursday. (Tempo)
The Papua Police narcotics unit destroyed 2.2 kilograms of marijuana smuggled from
Papua New Guinea at an event in Jayapura, Papua, on Thursday.
The marijuana was confiscated in separate operations that took place from Feb.4 to
16, during which seven suspects were arrested.
Today we destroyed 2.2 kg of marijuana, the evidence confiscated in the operations,
and handed over seven suspects in the cases to prosecutor offices, the Papua Polices
narcotics unit deputy chief, Adj.Sr.Comr.JS Napitupulu, said on Thursday.
Jayapura has become a popular place for the distribution of marijuana from Papua
New Guinea, and in many cases, it is bartered with electronic goods, fuel and stolen
motorcycles. Marijuana is smuggled via both land and sea routes in border areas.
Police and military personnel guarding the Indonesian-Papua New Guinea border in
Skouw Wutung continue to carry out security patrols and surveillance to minimize
marijuana smuggling attempts, said Napitupulu.
Skouw Wutung is located 40 kilometers east of Jayapura.

The head of the Papua Narcotics Agency (BNN), Jackson Lapalongan, said the
agency had intensified efforts to disseminate information on the dangerous impacts of
narcotics in schools to prevent the spread of the harmful substances as the young
generation in Papua had become the main target of marijuana distribution.
Without preventive measures, our young generation will be destroyed by drugs.
They will destroy the future of our children, he said in Jayapura. (afr/ebf)
- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/10/papua-police-destroymarijuana-png.html#sthash.jgivK849.dpuf

India to launch heat wave programs in

vulnerable cities
Katy Daigle, Associated Press, New Delhi | World | Thu, March 10 2016,
8:09 AM

Be prepared: In this Saturday, June 1, 2013, file photo, a young Indian

covers his face to protect from the heat as he walks on a dried bed of the
River Tawi on a hot summer day in Jammu, India. India is launching
programs to protect people from extreme heat in two high-risk cities, after
a devastating heat wave killed at least 2,500 people across the country
last year. (AP/Channi Anand, file )

Indian officials are launching a program to protect people from extreme heat in two
high-risk regions, after a devastating heat wave killed at least 2,500 people across the
country last year.

Already, India experiences severe heat waves almost every year. With climate change
bringing higher temperatures, the country and its 1.25 billion people are bracing for

even more challenging summers that will dry up forests, destroy crops, wipe out farm
animals and kill hundreds if not thousands of people if they are not prepared.

"India is getting hotter, and it is killing people," said Anjali Jaiswal, India director for
the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council, which is helping local
leaders and officials adopt the program.

It will be launched over the next week in Bhubaneshwar and three other cities in the
eastern state of Orissa, as well as in the western temple town of Nagpur and four
nearby cities where temperatures last year hit a sweltering 47 degrees Celsius (117
Fahrenheit), the NDRC said Wednesday.

It was rolled out in Ahmadabad in 2013, three years after some 1,200 people died
from heat-related causes in the western city. Last year, after introducing seven-day
weather forecasts, extra water supplies and cool-air shelters, only 20 people died in
the city from the heat.

But altogether, the cities involved cover only about 11 million people not even 1
percent of the country's population.

"If you want to save lives you have to be prepared," Jaiswal said, calling on other
Indian cities and regions to also adopt heat wave plans. "When it comes to protecting
communities and people, it takes leadership."

The cities involved in the program will now spend months preparing for summer by
educating children about heat risk, stocking hospitals with ice packs and extra water,
and training medical workers to identify heat stress, dehydration and heat stroke.
Many of those killed across the country last year, including more than 1,700 in the
southern state of Andhra Pradesh, were day laborers, construction workers and
farmers so poor they could not take a day off despite the heat.

Cities also plan to offer extra water supplies, cool-air shelters and afternoon breaks
for workers.

The Indian Meteorological Department has revamped the way it forecasts

temperatures and how it reports those forecasts to the country, to help officials plan
for extreme events.

India's heat wave risk is exacerbated by its dwindling water resources, with
increasingly erratic monsoon rains unable to deliver enough water to replenish
heavily tapped rivers and plummeting groundwater reserves.

Experts have warned that by 2030, India will face an extreme water crisis. By that
time, they say, the country will have only half the water supply necessary for
agriculture, industry and people's needs.

"The monsoon was low last year, so we are worried about water availability when the
temperatures start to rise," Jaiswal said.

- See more at: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/03/10/indialaunch-heat-wave-programs-vulnerablecities.html#sthash.hsmC5Qr0.dpuf