The Jakarta Globe

Weather Blamed for Caterpillar Plague

The Jakarta Globe

Fidelis E. Satriastianti & Elisabeth Oktofani

Unpredictable weather coupled with a decline in natural predators is responsible for a recent plague of caterpillars in parts of the country.


Though the phenomenon is centered largely in Probolinggo, East Java, smaller reported outbreaks in Central Java, West Java, Bali and, most recently, Jakarta have prompted fears of a widespread infestation.

But Aunu Rauf, an entomologist at the Bogor Institute of Agricultural (IPB), says there is no connection between the outbreaks in Probolinggo and those in the other areas.

“There are at least 120,000 types of caterpillars in the world, so those found in Bekasi [West Java] and Probolinggo would be different from each other,” he told the Jakarta Globe on Wednesday.

“I’m sure the ones in Tanjung Duren [West Jakarta], where people have claimed to have been ‘attacked’ by caterpillars, are also a different type.”

Since March, millions of hairy caterpillars have cropped up in at least five subdistricts in Probolinggo, invading fields and homes. They have also caused itchy rashes among residents.

The caterpillars have also destroyed more than 8,800 mango trees — the district’s main agricultural produce. However, the caterpillars in Bekasi were found largely in bushes, while those in Tanjung Duren were found on pine trees.

“Basically, in the life cycles of pests, it’s normal for them to increase in number at the start of the dry season — especially caterpillars,” Aunu said, adding that the country was currently in the transition period to the dry season.

“In the current case, however, their numbers exploded because of the prolonged rainy season last year that disrupted [the population growth of] natural predators, particularly birds and other insects.

“In addition, parasitoids, insects similar to wasps whose larvae live within caterpillars as parasites, are for some reason on the decline. Their role as the caterpillars’ natural enemy is very important because they lay their eggs inside the caterpillar, and when those hatch, the larvae eat up the caterpillar from the inside.”

Aunu said the outbreak in Probolinggo, coming 70 years after the last similar outbreak there, was remarkable only for the extent of the damage being caused to mango trees.

“These caterpillars have had a tremendous effect — not only economic, from eating all the mango leaves, but also social,” he said. “Because now the villagers are afraid to carry out their regular activities due to all these insects coming into their houses.”

Aunu said while it was good for people to be aware of the caterpillar phenomena, including in Tanjung Duren and Bekasi, he stressed it was normal for the caterpillar population to increase at this time of year and should not cause too much concern.

“If these caterpillars were the type that run around fields or enter homes instead of clinging to tree branches, then we would have to take action,” he said.

Hari Sutrisno, an entomologist from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said that as long as the caterpillars were not harming people, they should be left alone.

“There’s been quite a frenzy over these caterpillars, and it’s all a bit too much,” he said, adding that the reports from Bekasi were particularly exaggerated. “Caterpillars don’t claim lives.”

Hari said the best way to deal with the insects was to collect them for incineration rather than use pesticides on them.

“Another method is to blend dead caterpillars with water and spray it on the live ones,” he said. “The spray acts as a natural insecticide because caterpillars that die naturally usually contain a virus that’s deadly for the species. It’s a lot better than using pesticides, which can have a long-term impact.”

Aunu also cautioned against using pesticides. “Just pick them off the tree branches and get rid of them,” he said.

“Don’t use pesticides because you don’t know what other kinds of insects you’ll be killing that serve a function for the tree.”

In the Probolinggo case, Aunu said the caterpillar numbers were already declining because most of the insects had already turned into butterflies.

“The only way to deal with them is still through their natural enemies,” he said.

“To do this, put caterpillar pupae into a jar and see whether they become butterflies or wasps. If they turn into butterflies, then we need to kill them. But if you get a wasp, that means they need to be released because parasitoids are present and functioning.”

Darmuna, a resident of Tanjung Duren, said the problem was that the hairs of the dead caterpillars were being blown around by the wind and making people itchy.

He added that the outbreak was not a new problem, with a similar event taking place in 2007.

Sholeh, deputy head of a neighborhood unit in Tanjung Duren, suggested the best way to get rid of the pests would be to chop down the 29 pine trees along Jalan Sekretaris on which they were gathered. He also said the trees needed replacing because they were old and several had been uprooted during rainstorms.

“We expected the city administration to take our opinion seriously and take action on this case by chopping down the trees and replacing them with new ones,” he said. “Instead, they just sprayed the lower parts of the trees [with pesticide].

“Every day we have to deal with the hairs that make us itchy. We could chop the trees down ourselves, but it’d cost Rp 300,000 [$35] per tree and there are 29 of them. Besides, the administration already has a budget to chop down trees.”

Women Bike 605km in Honor of Kartini

The Jakarta Globe

Ten female cyclists will embark on an eight-day trek today to celebrate Kartini Day on April 21 in the national women’s rights pioneer’s hometown of Jepara, Central Java.


The cyclists, from the women’s group Srikandi, will cover the 605 kilometers between Jakarta and Jepara with stops in 15 districts and towns in West and Central Java.

Glenn Salmon, the cyclists’ coach, said on Tuesday that they had been preparing for the event for the past two months and were ready for the trip.

“They’ll cycle for around eight hours every day with an hour’s rest at lunchtime,” he said.

“On the fourth day, they’ll stop for a day in Cirebon [West Java]. The key for the success of this trip is to make sure that they eat and rest properly throughout.”

He added that the Srikandi cyclists would be accompanied by a medical team and mechanics to assist them along the way.

Lucy Iskandar, one of those taking part in the event, said that once in Jepara, the cyclists would deliver a donation of books and tree seedlings to the Semai Elementary School for children with special needs.

“We want to tell them how important it is to keep the environment green with fruit trees because, in addition to helping reduce pollution, fruit trees also produce healthy food,” she said.

“This is our way of encouraging the future generations to keep the world green.”

Linda Gumelar, the minister for women’s empowerment and child protection, said the Srikandi mission was a positive one and reflected the ambition of modern women to stay healthy and show concern for future generations and for the environment.

Toto Sugito, founder of the Bike2Work Community, Indonesia’s largest commuter cycling group and a supporter of the Jepara trek, said he expected the event to take place regularly every year with a growing number of participants. “We hope this inaugural trip will encourage other women to take an interest in cycling,” said Toto, who is also the head of the event.

Kartini Day, celebrated every year since 1964, falls on the birthday of Raden Ayu Kartini, a late-19th-century Javanese noblewoman who championed women’s rights, particularly greater access to education.

Another Indonesian Film to Feature International Porn Star

The Jakarta Globe

The latest Indonesian movie featuring an international porn star is set to hit the country’s screens at the end of the month, the producers said on Tuesday.


Iyan Widjaya, a publicist for the movie “Pocong Mandi Goyang Pinggul” (“Shrouded Corpse Bathing While Hip-Shaking”), said it would feature an appearance by US porn starlet Sasha Grey.

“Although this is an Indonesian movie, Sasha’s lines are in English and she plays the main role in the movie,” he told the Jakarta Globe.

“Basically, we’e ready to bring this movie to cinema screens on April 28 because it’s been passed by the LSF [Film Censorship Board].”

Iyan said the movie, produced by K2K Production, was set in Jakarta and Los Angeles, where Grey’s scenes were filmed over 10 days.

“Because there are also Indonesian actors in the movie, after we finished filming Sasha’s part, we continued production in Jakarta for a couple of weeks of shooting,” he said, adding the Indonesian actresses in it were Anisa Bahar and Baby Margaretha.

He said the producers would launch a contest for the public as part of efforts to promote the movie, with three lucky winners getting flight tickets to Los Angeles.

The movie is the latest in a growing list of Indonesian productions employing foreign porn stars to generate box-office hype. Previous cameos have been done by Japanese starlets Maria Ozawa aka Miyabi, Rin Sakuragi and Sora Aoi, as well as US porn queen Tera Patrick.

Iyan said “Pocong Mandi Goyang Pinggul,” directed by Yoyok Dumpling, went with Grey because she was “more prominent” than Miyabi, who is hugely popular in Indonesia.

Mysterious Case of Amnesia Has Police, Family Baffled

The Jakarta Globe

Lian Febriani, 26, vanishes without a trace on Thursday. Her family are at their wit’s end because the Transportation Ministry employee usually returns to the family home in Central Jakarta after work every day.


A day later, a woman wearing a full veil arrives at the At-Ta’awun Mosque in Cisarua, Bogor. She says her name is Maryam but cannot remember where she lives.

She has no identification on her but is carrying two Islamic-themed books under her arm. She tells the mosque’s caretakers she has no recollection of a past.

On Saturday, police officers contacted by the mosque question the woman and eventually ask her to write down a sequence of numbers familiar to her, hoping for a telephone number they can call.

After an intense 10 minutes of thinking, she comes up with a sequence. It is the number of Lian’s husband, Teguh.

Teguh informs the police that he knows nobody called Maryam, but says that his wife has been missing for two days.

Ever since that phone call, police in Bogor and Jakarta have been attempting to piece together the mystery of how Lian lost her memory and turned up in Cisarua with the name Maryam.

Cisarua Police Chief Adj. Comr. Iwan Wahyudi said on Monday that Lian did not recognize her husband or her in-laws when they came to see her but she remembered her baby.

She is now with her immediate family, who are trying to help her regain her memory.

Iwan said the police were looking into all possibilities and were searching the region for anyone who may have seen Lian.

“There are too many questions unanswered. It’s a puzzle,” he said. “The case is now in the hands of the Jakarta Police.”

He said that when he and his officers arrived at the At-Ta’awun on Saturday to question her, she appeared “empty.”

“She remembered nothing. She was attempting to remember but she couldn’t,” he added.

Separately, Edi Irawan, a security guard at At-Ta’awun, said the caretakers had tried their best to find out who the mysterious woman was after she walked into the mosque at about 4 p.m. on Friday and did not seem to want to leave.

“About an hour before she came to this mosque, there were five fully veiled women who got out of a car and prayed here,” Edi said. “After prayers, they looked as if they were searching for someone. They left a bit later. Not long after, Maryam came.”

Lian’s father, Lili Hambali, said on Monday that even though Lian was still unable to identify some of her family members, they were all happy that she was finally home.

He said Lian had been checked by a doctor and was found to be in good health aside from the amnesia. “ There was not a wound or mark on her body,” he added.

While the family did find the circumstances behind what happened to Lian odd, Lili said she was safe and sound now and that was what counted.

“Currently, we’re trying to focus on treating her and bringing back her memory,” he said.

“However, we are also trying to avoid bringing back memories of what happened to her when she disappeared.”

Indonesia Plans Boat Mission for Workers Stuck in Saudi

The Jakarta Globe

The government will send a ship to ferry home the nearly 3,000 remaining Indonesian workers who mostly have overstayed their visas in Saudi Arabia, an official said on Friday.


Roostiawati, head of foreign cooperation at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, said it would bring home 2,927 migrant workers, the last batch to be repatriated by the state.

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 illegally. Some had misused their hajj permits.

Out of work and with no means to return to their homeland, thousands of these workers have been living under the Kandara Bridge in Jeddah.

Roostiawati said the Labobar, a 3,245-capacity vessel, would set sail on Sunday to pick up the workers in Jeddah. It is expected to return to Jakarta in 25 days.

The Labobar is scheduled to leave Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok harbor on Sunday at 3p.m. and is expected back in the same port on around May 2 or 3.

She said the ship would be manned by a crew of 161 people, including medical staff.

Roostiawati said the government opted to charter a ship because it was “the most efficient way.”

“With the ship, we can pick them all up at once, and we can [process their immigration documents] on the ship. Therefore, they can go directly to their hometown once they arrive in Jakarta,” she said.

“For sure, we are going to provide them with meals three times a day and also [health care],” the ministry official added.

Manpower Minister Muhaimin Iskandar said on Friday that the government would be “not be selective in repatriating Indonesian workers living under the bridge in Jeddah.”

The minister said they would be brought home regardless of their offenses.

Many of the Indonesians in Jeddah had legally entered Saudi Arabia as migrant workers, but they later ran into problems with their employers.

Others arrived there with a hajj visa, issued for minor pilgrimages to Mecca, but illegally sought work in the country. They account for 30 percent of overstaying workers, the ministry said.

“We will also repatriate the people who went to Jeddah with a hajj visa,” Muhaimin said. “All the travel expenses will be paid by the government.”

He said his office and other concerned institutions would improve the placement of migrant workers abroad, especially in the Middle East.

Wimar Gone But Metro Does Not Pull Talk Show Over Tweet

The Jakarta Globe

Television news station Metro TV says the English-language show “Talk Indonesia” will remain on the air, after a co-host alleged it was being dropped over a critical tweet he had posted.


The show aired on Saturday as usual — but without Wimar Witoelar, a former presidential spokesperson for Gus Dur who appears to have been dropped from the show without a formal announcement.

The broadcaster previously said the show, hosted by former CNN anchor Dalton Tanonaka, actress Rahayu Saraswati and formerly Wimar, would be axed as part of a revamp of the station’s weekend lineup.

On Friday, however, Metro TV news director Tomi Suryopratomo said an evaluation had been completed and the decision had been made to keep “Talk Indonesia” on the air.

“This is the nature of television as a media,” Tomi said on Friday.

“We have to evaluate our program lineup. It’s not something unusual for the media, even CNN conducts reviews of its programs.”

Tomi had previously denied a claim by Wimar that the station was considering scrapping the show because of a Twitter message that Wimar wrote criticizing what he perceived as Metro TV’s skewed coverage of the Libya conflict.

Wimar claimed the station misconstrued the criticism — which questioned why Metro TV’s editorial team was supportive of Muammar el-Qaddafi following the air strikes by Western forces, when previously he had been considered a “bandit” — as being targeted at station owner Surya Paloh.

On Friday, Wimar welcomed Metro TV’s decision to retain the show.

“I never insulted Surya Paloh in my Twitter posts. You can audit them if you want, there’s nothing in my statements that insults him,” he said.

“There’s someone at Metro TV who doesn’t want me there, so they claimed that I insulted Suryo Paloh in my tweet.

“Instead of making false accusations like that, they could have just told me nicely they no longer wanted me to be part of the team. I’d have no objections to that.”

He added he had laughed when he found out “it was Surya Paloh’s request to keep airing ‘Talk Indonesia’ out of respect for the audience.”

However, Tomi said the show was not one of the station’s more popular programs.

“ ‘Talk Indonesia’ is one program that doesn’t generate high ratings because it’s a very segmented program,” he said.

“However, it was the programming department’s decision to evaluate and develop the program, including choosing who would be the guests on the program.”

“Talk Indonesia” has tackled hot news topics each week in English since being launched in November 2010.

Tomi previously said Metro TV was aiming to present more leisurely and less serious programs on the weekends.

Foreign Spouses Granted More Residency Rights

The Jakarta Globe

Amid cheers, elation and applause, the House of Representatives passed a new immigration law on Thursday that introduced sweeping changes for foreign spouses and children of mixed marriages.


Fahri Hamzah, deputy chairman of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, spoke of a “breakthrough” as the gavel was banged passing the bill.

House Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso called the new law “monumental,” while Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said the law was aimed at taking good care of citizens’ foreign spouses and children.

“We want to give protection to Indonesian citizens and their foreign relatives,” Patrialis said. “They are the children of Indonesia. Their [foreign] wives and husbands are part of our big family.”

The law, among other things, grants permanent residency to foreigners married to Indonesians and to their children, and allows foreign spouses to work in the country without sponsorship.

Patrialis said the law would officially become effective when ratified by the president — “30 days at the latest.”

Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari told the Jakarta Globe that the law did not address issues such as property ownership related to foreign spouses. These, she said, will be dealt with in the upcoming revision of the Agrarian Law.

“But this is not a small gain. People no longer need to extend their Kitas every year and could still stay here after a divorce, provided they have been married for at least 10 years. It’s more humane,” she said, referring to the current limited stay permit that has to be renewed annually.

Isabelle Mace Panggabean, 31, said she couldn’t believe the law had finally been passed. Half-French, Isabelle has been married to an Indonesian for five years and the couple have one child.

“I was afraid that this law would never get passed,” she said. “There are too many bills, and the immigration bill seemed to get less attention.”

She said that in the past, she had been forced to go through the complicated process of annual Kitas renewal and regretted she was not allowed to work.

“What if my husband falls ill? Then I need [a job] to take care of our child,” she said.

Juliani Wistarina Luthan, who has been married to a Japanese for 15 years, thanked both the government and the House for passing the “reformist” law. She said she was happy her husband would no longer need to extend his Kitas.

Julie Mace, a representative of the International Rainbow Alliance and the Indonesian Mixed Marriage Society, said she would wait for the implementation phase of the law before passing judgement. She expressed hope that related institutions such as the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration would strictly abide by the law, especially when it came to the rights of foreign spouses to work.

Mace also said the groups she represented would in the short term monitor the government’s steps in implementing the law.

“We will keep focusing on the government motions in producing the ministerial decrees and government regulations because the new law will not work effectively without those,” Mace said, adding that the relevant decrees and regulations should be issued within a year.

“In the long term, we want to increase awareness of this law across the country, so that all state officials know and understand there is a new immigration law,” she said. It will be very important to have these stakeholders involved, she added, because only then will the new policies be implemented smoothly.

Additional reporting by Elisabeth Oktofani

In Duri Pulo Schools, Space for Libraries Is More of a Problem than Finding Books

The Jakarta Globe
In Duri Pulo Schools, Space for Libraries Is More of a Problem than Finding Books

A school library is a luxury. Just ask the students and teachers of 10 state elementary schools in Duri Pulo in Central Jakarta.   

Situated on Jalan Setia Kawan III in Central Jakarta, these 10 schools — from SDN 1 Duri Pulo to SDN 10 Duri Pulo — are built within a single complex. Each school has 240 students, but not one of them has a proper, separate structure for a library.  

The problem? Lack of space and funding. In fact, space is so limited and funding so scarce that two of the schools — SDN 6 Duri Pulo and SDN 10 Duri Pulo — already have been forced to let classes share classrooms.  

Hetdina Tobing, a teacher at SDN 4 Duri Pulo, told the Jakarta Globe that all the school could manage was to empty out one classroom and use a portion of it as a makeshift library, with the remainder serving as the teacher’s lounge.  

This, Hetdina said, is being done by each of the schools in the cramped complex. 

“We had to sacrifice one classroom for this makeshift library. Therefore, first- and second-grade students now have to take shifts studying in one classroom — first grade in the morning and second grade in the afternoon,” Hetdina said.  

SDN 4 Duri Pulo has a collection of more than 1,000 books located in a 16 square meter room on the second floor of the SDN Duri Pulo school complex. 

Nurul Amri, the librarian at SDN 4 Duri Pulo, said other than purchasing books itself every year, the schools often receives book donations from companies, foreign embassies and nongovernmental organizations. 

As the book collection keeps  growing, Nurul said he hopes to someday place them in a proper library building. 

“I hope the students get a new library, butI know it’s impossible as we do not have space for it,” he said. 

“Even though ours is only a makeshift library, so many students come and visit during recess. They can’t visit every day because the library is so small that we are unable to accommodate many students. We give them a schedule so they can visit twice a week.”  

“Most of the students are interested in books with colorful pictures, such as science encyclopedias,” Nurul added. 

“Even if we do not have a proper library, it would be very good if we could get science comic books to add to our collection and stimulate our students.”  

The Kompas daily recently reported that Ministry of Education data shows at least 55 percent of elementary schools nationwide do not have libraries.  

Alan Mulyana, a fifth-grader at SDN 3 Duri Pulo, believes that reading can help him expand his knowledge. 

“My teacher told me books are a window to the world,” he said. 

“That’s why I love to read them.” 

“Despite the fact the book is purchased with the school operational aid from the central government, we also often get book donation from other parties, including novels, encyclopedias, books on Indonesian history book or Indonesian folklore. But again, problem is space and funding,” Nurul Amri said.  

Ahmadiyah Decree Triggers Violence: Amnesty Int’l

The Jakarta Globe

Amnesty International called on the government on Wednesday to revoke the decree that bans Ahmadiyah members from proselytizing, saying the regulation was one of the primary causes for an increase in religious violence in the country.


Saman Zia-Zarifi, director of the Asia-Pacific program at the Amnesty International, said the time had come for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to get serious about tackling religious violence in the country.

“I had an open and frank discussion with the National Police chief, Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and church groups in Indonesia,” Saman said. “We urge Indonesia to fulfill its obligation to protect its citizens, regardless of their religious beliefs, in line with the Indonesian Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“The 2008 joint ministerial decree needs to be revoked. The country should not intervene in people’s religious choices.”

The police, Saman added, needed to publicly reiterate their commitment to protecting the rights of all Indonesians, regardless of their religious beliefs.

“The Indonesian police must ensure the trials of those who commit violence in the name of religion are free from intimidation toward victims, witnesses and their lawyers,” he said.

Last month, the Religious Affairs Ministry held a national dialog on the minority Islamic sect, where the 2008 joint ministerial decree featured in discussions.

The Indonesia Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) declined to attend the event. They complained they had too little time to prepare and only received four seats at the conference.

The results of the dialog are expected to be used by the government to decide on the fate of the sect and the controversial 2008 decree.

Meanwhile, a regional leader of one of the groups accused of leading attacks on Ahmadiyah followers, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), said he did not condone violence against the group.

“Ahmadis are human beings. They have families,” Bambang Teddy, head of the FPI in Yogyakarta, said on Tuesday. “The way to diminish the influence of Ahmadiyah is not with violence.”

However, Bambang said, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono was running out of time to issue a decree banning the activities of Ahmadiyah in the province. As a special region, Bambang said, the sultan should be able to make a decision independent of the central government.

If the sultan did not respond soon, he said, the local branches of the FPI would coordinate with FPI headquarters, led by Habib Rizieq, who has previously advocated violence against the sect.

“I’m worried that a war could break out against Ahmadiah in Yogya. I don’t want Yogya to be unsafe,” Bambang said.

VP to Lead Monitoring Of  Funds For Schools

The Jakarta Globe
VP to Lead Monitoring Of  Funds For Schools

A committee will be set up to supervise the use and much-delayed distribution of school operational funds, the government said on Tuesday. 

Agung Laksono, the coordinating minister for people’s welfare, said there was a need to ensure that the School Operational Aid (BOS) was being effectively spent by district and municipal administrations nationwide. 

“Every year the BOS funding increases, therefore there’s a need to form an education committee, led by the vice president, to monitor the BOS distribution so that it can be used effectively,” he said. 

The government has allocated Rp 248.9 trillion ($28.6 billion) for the BOS this year, which will be paid out in four quarterly installments to 497 districts and cities by the central government. The regional administrations are then responsible for distributing the money to schools in their areas. 

However, National Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said 78 district and municipal administrations had to date still not released the first batch of funding, distributed at the start of the year, to schools. 

“Although the process to distribute the school funding has been slow, the government will still distribute the second batch of the BOS to the regional administrations as scheduled, including to the 78 districts and cities that have not distributed the funding to schools,” he said. 

“We have also warned the regional administrations not to be late in distributing this second batch. Hopefully the distribution [from the central government to the regions] will be finished by mid-April.” 

Nuh said the delinquent regional administrations would face sanctions for their failure to distribute the first batch of funding. 

“My ministry, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Finance Ministry are currently discussing the financial sanctions that will be imposed on the offending administrations,” he said. 

“The size of the sanctions will depend on how long they withheld the funding after the March 15 deadline.” 

Nuh said geographic obstacles were not appropriate excuses for the tardiness. 

“In terms of geography, the schools and the administration offices are usually not located too far apart,” he said.