Muara Angke Bridge has for several years served to link fishing villages on the Jakarta coast to the rest of the city.

But rising sea levels have seen the bridge regularly inundated, leading to traffic jams in the area. In response to the congestion, the city administration last year began building a second, higher bridge to replace it.

For residents like Agus Hendriko, this move was a no-brainer. “It’s actually a very good idea by the city to build this bridge because it’ll help reduce the congestion caused by the rising water levels,” he said on Tuesday.

What he can’t understand, however, is why officials have abandoned the project before its completion.

“They started building the new bridge at the end of 2010, but for whatever reason they haven’t seen it through,” he said.

“It’s very unfortunate because this is the only access road to the fish market, and we get lots of large trucks passing through, which causes heavy congestion in the evenings.”

It’s a similar story over in Cilincing, also in North Jakarta, where Marunda Bridge has been damaged by the container traffic to and from the Marunda industrial estate.

Ahmad Effendi, a resident, said the bridge had been repaired several times but was quickly damaged again each time.

“It’s very annoying that the city can’t build a good-quality bridge,” he said. “They know this is an industrial area that sees a lot of heavy trucks coming and going.”

The Jakarta Public Works Office insists it is addressing both problems. It says it has earmarked Rp 212 billion ($24.8 million) this year to fix three bridges in North Jakarta, including Marunda and Muara Angke, and several roads. The third bridge it plans to work on is North Pluit Bridge, which is also prone to flooding.

Novizal, head of the office’s bridge unit, said on Tuesday that work on the bridges had not been abandoned.

“The repairs are being carried over from last year because the projects receive multiyear funding,” he said. “Hopefully we can finish all the repairs this year.”

He blamed the poor quality of the repairs on Marunda Bridge on the steel latticework, which he said was no longer fit for use and would need to be replaced with a concrete structure. The budget for replacing the entire bridge has been set at Rp 40 billion.

Novizal said his office would also continue work on the new Muara Angke Bridge. “We completed half of it last year, so hopefully we can finish it all this year and open it to the public,” he said, adding the pending work would cost an estimated Rp 7 billion.

Repairs to North Pluit Bridge have been allocated Rp 15 billion, he said.

Novizal added another key project this year was the construction of a ramp for the planned Pulogebang bus terminal in East Jakarta.

“The actual terminal will be on the second floor of the building, so we need to build a ramp that buses can use to get up there,” he said.

Novizal said the terminal was expected to be completed in 2012 at a total cost of Rp 150 billion, also with multiyear financing.

Charges Dropped Against Boy on Trial Over $1 Phone Credit

The Jakarta Globe

A preliminary verdict handed down by the Central Jakarta Disctrict Court on Wednesday dropped the case against a 14-year-old boy on trial for allegedly stealing a Rp 10,000 ($1.17) cell phone credit voucher.

Presiding judge Tjokorda Rai Suamba decided to drop the charges against Deli Suhandi, a sophomore at a junior high school, because he considered the case investigation “defective.”

“During the investigation, the defendant was not accompanied by a lawyer, hence the investigation is deemed to be defective,” Tjokorda told the Jakarta Globe.

The judge said that even though the police investigation report had a letter attached and signed by the teenager stating that he had refused to be assisted by a lawyer, it was a violation of legal procedures.

“The letter should have been signed by his parents because he is still a minor, therefore, the case is defective,” he said.

Deli’s lawyer said that they were waiting for the prosecutor to respond to the sentence.

“The prosecutor has seven days to decide whether or not he will appeal the sentence and if he doesn’t file any appeals within that period, the case against Deli will be dropped,” Hendra said.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor Agam told the Jakarta Globe that he would appeal the preliminary verdict.

“It is clear in the police investigation report that Deli, the defendant, signed a statement letter stating that he declined to be assisted by lawyer,” Agam said.

“Therefore, we are going to file an appeals.”

Setara Issues Warning to Not Rush Intelligence Bill

The Jakarta Globe

Setara Issues Warning to Not Rush Intelligence Bill

A human rights watchdog has warned against rushing the passing of the intelligence bill and making revisions to antiterror laws simply because people are more aware of the capabilities of the Indonesian Islamic State movement.

The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy warned on Monday that even as the nation was in dire need of a well-rounded intelligence law, the bill needed thorough consideration and a number of crucial points — particularly pertaining to human rights — called for careful deliberation.

The bill is being debated by the House of Representatives. Among its main points is to give the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) the authority to preemptively arrest suspected terrorists before they carry out attacks.

Such wide-reaching powers have drawn criticism from rights groups and lawmakers, who say the bill’s provisions could be abused in the fight against the Islamic state movement known as the NII.

“To use the penetration of the NII in order to legitimize the passing of the intelligence bills and make considerable revisions to the antiterror law by giving more powers to the BIN is wrong,” Setara founder Hendardi said on Monday. “In truth, intelligence has great authority and scope not just at the BIN but also within the National Police, the Indonesian Military and our ministries.”

BIN’s duty is to collect information, analyze it and establish what kind of strategic measures need to be taken in relation to threats to the nation, Hendardi continued.

Ismail Hasani, a researcher at Setara, said the right to conduct intensive interrogations of suspects who were apprehended for unclear reasons should be taken out of the intelligence bill.

“A suspect will be interrogated intensively 24/7 and he or she will not be accompanied by a lawyer. Such arrests are essentially, secret,” Ismail said.

Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar had said recently that radicalism and increased bomb threats called for the swift passage into law of a draft intelligence bill.

“Threats are everywhere, from bomb terror to NII. Is this not making it urgently needed?” Patrialis said.

The NII, a banned organization of hard-line Muslims, has a goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in Indonesia.

Patrialis said the revival of terrorism and subversion by the NII was attributable to a lack of a strong legal foundation to support the work of intelligence personnel. Without an intelligence law, he said, agents could not work to their full potential.

Tubagus Hasanuddin, the deputy chairman of House Commission I, which oversees security affairs, has argued that the core problem is not lack of intelligence gathering but rather a lack of tolerance training for impressionable youth.

Hasanuddin, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker, told the Jakarta Globe that the ministries of education and religious affairs should move to shield students from falling under the influence of the NII to narrow the field of recruits for radicalism.

“The nature of the intelligence bill is repressive. It’s not that urgent to deliberate the bill just because of the NII cases,” he said.

Scant Progress on Freedom Of Information Law: ICW

The Jakarta Globe

Scant Progress on Freedom Of Information Law: ICW

Indonesia Corruption Watch on Sunday expressed distress at what it said was the slow implementation of the year-old freedom of information law.

According to the details of the Public Disclosure Act, ratified last May, each province must within two years establish a commission tasked with handling information requests from the public.

However, after one year, only eight out of 33 provinces have set up such information commissions, said Agus Sunaryanto, head of the investigative unit at ICW.

Agus, speaking at a discussion on the implementation of the law, known as the KIP, said a lack of funding was responsible for the slow progress.

He also said there needed to be a campaign to educate the public on the benefits and uses of the KIP law.

The measure is considered a breakthrough for governance reform in this nation. Indonesia is the seventh country in Asia to enact such a law.

It obliges all bodies funded by taxpayer money to regularly disclose and update information regarding their institutions, and to provide easy access to information for those who request it.

The eight existing provincial commissions are located in Central Java, East Java, West Java, Banten, Garontolo, Riau Islands, South Sulawesi and Lampung. But according to Agus, only four of those are operating effectively.

“Unfortunately, although there are eight provincial commissions for public information, there are only four that work properly by handling the public information,” Agus said.

“It works in Central Java, East Java, Banten and also Riau Islands province.”

ICW researcher Tama Satrya Langkun said provincial governments needed to make a commitment to provide the commissions with enough funding.

“Central Java for instance, although the Central Java Commission for Public Information has been working properly and the government has been responsive to responding to the public’s demand to establish [the commission], the regional government has reduced the funding for them from Rp 2 billion to Rp 1 billion [$234,000 to $117,000] in 2011,” he said.

The KIP also called for the central government to establish up a commission within one year of the issuing of the regulation. That body has already been established.

Religious Radio a Force to Be Reckoned With

The Jakarta Globe

Religious Radio a Force to Be Reckoned With

When Islamic hard-liners in Bekasi and Bogor were questioned recently about what influenced them to take up causes or attend demonstrations, most pointed toward an often overlooked medium: the radio.

Haryanto, a resident of Ciketing in Bekasi, said it was through the radio that he became aware of Murhali Barda, the former head of the Bekasi chapter of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). And it was through Murhali’s speeches on the radio that Haryanto felt compelled to attend the former FPI head’s criminal trial for inciting violence.

Murhali was found guilty of inciting an attack last September that culminated in the stabbing of two leaders of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) in Ciketing. He was sentenced to five months in prison in February.

“I do not know Murhali personally. I only know of him from the Dakta radio station,” Haryanto told the Jakarta Globe. “Every Sunday I’d listen to his program on Dakta. Through this program, I felt that I needed to support him as much as I could.”

Haryanto is just one of thousands of listeners of Islamic radio programs that at times carry information on where demonstrations in support of religious or moral causes are being held. Or which mosques will host preachers like Murhali.

Completing the News

Media analyst Iswandi Syahputra says many people who rely on television or social networking Web sites for their information underestimate the influence of radio.

According to the Alliance of Islamic Radio (ARIN), there are about 50 registered Islamic radio stations across Indonesia, about 30 of which are members of ARIN. The alliance itself was officially launched in February of last year.

Dhea Qotrunnada, who heads ARIN, recently told the Globe that Islamic radio stations in the country were established to augment and sometimes counter the news on Islam being carried in the mainstream press.

“The main purpose of our broadcasts is getting as many people as possible to stand together. Why should we stand alone? We would never be successful in striking down incomplete reports by mainstream media if we were to stand alone,” Dhea said.

“We air news that has a clear Islamic perspective. We need this to make up for the news being carried by mainstream media, which often discredits Islam. We also air nasyid [Islamic songs].”

Great Variety of Stations

Dakta Radio, which Haryanto likes to tune into, is based in Bekasi. It was established in 1992 and broadcasts news and speeches for what it claims are one million listeners in Greater Jakarta. But director Andi Kosala denied on Friday that it was an exclusively Islamic radio station.

“This is a news radio station that happens to have 40 percent Islamic content,” Andi told the Globe. “It needs to be understood that this is not an Islamic radio station.”

Asked why of all the Islamic preachers in the country Dakta Radio picked Murhali to host his own program, Andi said, “We used Murhali because we saw that he was competent. We did not know that he was an FPI leader.”

At Radio Nuris, an executive told the Globe that the station was established because its founders were concerned about young Indonesian straying from the path of Islam.

“We believed this was happening because of the strength of Western culture,” Rudianto said. “So we began to offer Islamic edutainment for young people, especially students and university students, with 100 percent Islamic values.”

Dadang Rahmat Hidayat, who chairs the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), said there were many religious radio stations, and not just Islamic ones.

“There are also Christian stations, like Petra FM,” Dadang said. “It needs to be understood, however, that there is not necessarily anything wrong with ‘radio dakwah’ [radio for preaching purposes] — as long as they do not provoke listeners to commit crimes.”

But that can sometimes be difficult to prevent.

“We do not have the equipment to monitor radio broadcasts,” Dadang said. “So we ask listeners to report anything they find offensive.”

The Forgotten Casualties of Jakarta’s On-Street Parking Ban

The Jakarta Globe

The Forgotten Casualties of Jakarta’s On-Street Parking Ban

Dedy Surya has worked as a parking attendant along Jalan Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta since 1975.

“It might seem like an easy job, and if you only do it occasionally then yes, it is,” he said on Friday.

“But if you have to do it day in and day out for a living, then it’s hard,” he added. “I only earn Rp 60,000 [$7] a day, but I can’t save any of it because my commute here costs Rp 12,000 and I have to give a Rp 30,000 cut to the police or transportation office.”

He said this “protection fee” — and the fact that he has had to keep paying it for more than 35 years — is what riles him the most about the city administration’s plan to ban on-street parking along Jalan Hayam Wuruk and Jalan Gajah Mada without offering alternative employment for the parking attendants.

“Thirty thousand isn’t a small amount of money for me, yet I’ve been paying it loyally every day, even on days when I don’t earn anything,” Dedy said. “So if they scrap parking here, will they ever offer us replacement jobs?”

The city says roadside parking outside the shops and restaurants along both streets takes up valuable road space and causes daily congestion. Authorities estimate traffic capacity could increase by an extra 1,800 cars an hour if the lanes used for on-street parking were freed up.

City officials have said the two streets have a combined on-street parking capacity of only 650 vehicles, while the available parking space in the buildings that line both roads is enough for more than 4,500 motorcycles and 6,200 cars.

Udar Pristono, head of the Jakarta Transportation Office, said on Friday that the prohibition would take effect on June 1. He said his office was erecting signs to inform motorists about the change.

“We’ll be posting officers along those streets to ensure that drivers no longer park there,” he said, adding that his office would maintain a 24-hour watch on the area. “Anyone found parking on the street will be ticketed,” he added. “If drivers can’t be found, their cars will be wheel-clamped.”

Udar said the campaign to inform motorists, building owners and parking attendants about the prohibition was being conducted throughout this month.

“I’m optimistic that this operation, which is ultimately about improving traffic flow in the area, will be successful,” he said.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, chairman of the nongovernmental Jakarta Transportation Council, welcomed the parking ban as a potentially effective solution to the chronic traffic congestion on the two streets.

“If after being implemented it turns out that the parking ban really helps alleviate traffic jams, then the policy should be extended to other streets with similar problems,” he said.

He also called on the transportation office to hike the on-street parking fee to discourage motorists from parking on the roadside, and prompt them to either use parking lots or forgo their cars altogether.

“If parking fees are raised, people will be inclined to use public transportation,” Azas said.

However, Ratmaji, a parking attendant who works outside the Central Jakarta District Court on Jalan Gajah Mada, said he was skeptical that the parking ban would be fully enforced on both streets.

“I don’t think they’ll enforce it in the vicinity of the courthouse,” he said. “The court doesn’t have its own parking lot, so if they do impose the parking ban here, where are court visitors supposed to park?”

Udar stressed that the entire street would be a no-parking zone, including outside the court. For buildings without their own parking lots, he said, visitors could use the “off-street parking available in many public places or shopping centers such as Gajah Mada Plaza and Glodok Plaza.”

Dede, a parking attendant on Jalan Hayam Wuruk, said the administration should evaluate its decision to prohibit on-street parking, arguing that it was not the only cause of traffic jams in the area.

“For reasons that I can’t fathom, police officers sometimes stop vehicles from passing through intersections here when the light is green,” he said.

“The city needs to see that this is also a factor in the traffic jams. Instead of banning parking here and taking away jobs from poor people like us, the city authorities need to come up with a better solution.”

Four Contest Winners Winging It to Old Trafford

The Jakarta Globe

Four Contest Winners Winging It to Old Trafford

Ever dreamed of watching Alex Ferguson give the hair-dryer treatment to Wayne Rooney or Rio Ferdinand in person?

That dream is becoming a reality, at least for four Indonesians set to travel to England to watch Manchester United play Blackpool on May 22 at Old Trafford.

Stefanus Nino Wahyu Saptoadi, Anom Prasetyo, Maria Priscillia and Gurkiren Singh were announced on Thursday as the winners of a quiz sponsored by Turkish Airlines and carried in the Jakarta Globe. The winners will be flown by Turkish Airlines to watch the match.

They were chosen at random from the pool of contestants who correctly answered three trivia questions about Manchester United football.

“I thought this was some sort of a con when I received a call from the Globe informing me that I won the quiz. But when I checked and saw that this was the real deal, I was so happy,” Stefanus Nino said.

“Actually, I don’t even remember when I took the quiz. I had completely forgotten about it,” he added.

Maria, 19, who said that she loved everything about the Red Devils, was ecstatic at the chance to see the team in action at its home stadium.

“I have been an MU freak for so many years,” she said.

“I am so excited to see MU live in the UK.

“I have been in touch with the other winners and I hope we’ll have a good time together there. It’s a dream to get a free ticket to watch MU live.”

Gurkiren said he only took the quiz for fun, and was surprised to learn that he had in fact won a free trip.

“I monitor the news, including the Jakarta Globe,” Gurkiren said. “When I saw that quiz, I tried my luck. I did not believe that I could win.”

Anom, a Surabaya resident, said words failed him. “I cannot express what I am feeling right now,” he said.

Final Hard-Liner Released From Jail After Attack on Christians

The Jakarta Globe

Final Hard-Liner Released From Jail After Attack on Christians

The last person jailed in relation to the brutal attack on members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church of Pondok Timur Indah in Bekasi late last year was released from prison on Friday.

Shalih Mangara Sitompul, a lawyer representing Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) member Aji Ahmad Faisal, 28, confirmed his client had been freed.

He had been convicted of stabbing religious leader Asia Sihombing during an attack in which Rev. Luspida Simandjuntak was beaten with a bamboo stick.

Aji, reportedly a struggling street singer and poet, was greeted by a number of supporters after he was released from prison.

“Aji is now back to the place where he comes from,” Shalih said. “Perhaps he will go back to be a street artist as he used to be.”

Human rights groups have accused the state of failing to uphold the law after a Bekasi court gave light sentences to the 13 Muslim hard-liners linked to the attack in September last year.

State May Ease Taxes on Low-Income Workers to Help Meet Daily Needs

The Jakarta Globe

State May Ease Taxes on Low-Income Workers to Help Meet Daily Needs

Camelia Pasandaran & Elisabeth Oktofani

The government is pushing to raise the cap on tax-exempt income in an effort to help workers take home more of their pay, the manpower and transmigration minister said on Wednesday.

Muhaimin Iskandar said the state was considering more than doubling the threshold on tax-exempt monthly income to Rp 2.6 million ($300) from the current Rp 1.32 million.

“This is to free [low-income] workers from the burden [of paying tax],” he said on Wednesday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, speaking at a Labor Day event on Sunday, said he had asked concerned ministries to recalculate the maximum level of income not subject to tax.

“I’ve already asked the Manpower and Transmigration Ministry to work with the Finance Ministry and the tax office to review the appropriate amount that should be subject to tax,” he said.

“Those who cannot afford to pay tax should be exempt from it. They only earn enough to meet their daily costs of living, so it would be unfair to tax them,” the president said.

Under current regulations, monthly income in excess of Rp 1.32 million, but below or equal to Rp 2.6 million, is subject to 10 percent tax. Those earning above this bracket pay 15 percent.

“The target is to double [the threshold]. But at the very least, the tax-exemption level could be raised 75 percent,” he said, adding that the tax directorate had yet to approve the proposal.

But Muhammad Isnur, from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH), was not so keen on the plan, saying it did not address the real problem. “The issue here is having a decent salary to meet daily needs,” he said.

The minimum wage in the capital is Rp 1.29 million, with many workers receiving much less.

Muhaimin said the government was also planning to revise the law governing outsourcing but needed time to negotiate with companies and workers.

Labor unions have long campaigned for the abolition of outsourcing, which allows companies to hire workers on a contractual basis and are thus not obliged to provide severance, health insurance or pensions.

The minister said the government was considering banning the practice, unless for additional work or jobs not integral to a company’s day-to-day operations. “But it should be supervised and guided,” he said.

“But again, we need to discuss it once more with business associations,” he said. “So far, I have received no complaints in response to [the plan].”

On Labor Day, Muhaimin also promised to improve the social security system for workers (Jamsostek), including extending health coverage to include heart disease.

Returning Migrants to Be Retrained

The Jakarta Globe

Returning Migrants to Be Retrained

The government is planning to provide training centers for the thousands of workers who have been repatriated from Saudi Arabia after overstaying their visas to work there illegally.

More than 2,000 workers, the last batch to be brought home by the government, arrived in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said the government was in the process of preparing 38 training centers for the former migrants, most of whom worked as domestics.

“This is basically a business skills training which can be an alternative means for them to make a living for themselves and their families,” he said. “Therefore, instead of looking for an informal job aboard, they can have a job in their home country,” he said.

Roostiawati, head of foreign cooperation at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, told the Jakarta Globe that the centers would be aimed at encouraging people to become entrepreneurs rather than job seekers.

She added that the centers would be established in districts where large numbers of the workers had come from, and would focus on using locally available commodities to spur business growth.

“Therefore, by establishing the training skill center making use of the local commodities, the migrant workers can use their skills to create their own jobs so they do not have to go abroad to work,” she said.

Muhaimin said that among other skills, the training program would include workshops on how to set up and operate livestock farms, clothing shops and beauty salons.

He declined to say when the centers would open.

Earlier, the government had arranged flights back to Indonesia for more than 2,000 workers who had overstayed their visas or who were found to have worked in Saudi Arabia illegally. Some had misused their hajj permits.