Indonesia is still yet to capitalize on the economic potential of its marine environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi told a seminar in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“We are still restricted by a land-based approach which emphasizes the potential of utilizing land for profit,” the Minister said, adding that such an mindset did not suit Indonesia’s natural archipelagic nature. (more…)
AAP
Australian villa owners say Bali’s property market is more resilient than that in their own country, as the global financial crisis worsens.
The island’s villa market has experienced exponential growth in recent years amid record tourism numbers, with villas in prime locations going for up to $US3 million ($A4.62 million) off-the-plan.
Asia-based expatriates seeking a holiday home cum rental property have driven the buying. With foreigners banned from bank financing, they pay cash, giving Bali some insulation from the credit crunch hurting other markets, property agents said. (more…)
In just over ten years, Indonesia has transformed from a centralised authoritarian regime under Suharto to a decentralised multi-party democracy.
With parliamentary elections approaching in April and a presidential poll later in the year, what are the issues, challenges and expectations of the world’s largest Muslim population?
Anita Barraud of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) travels to four very different parts of Indonesia where 240 million people are preparing for their general election. (more…)
Benito Lopulalan
A line of minibuses is parked at the port of Labuan Bajo, a small town that serves as the regional capital of the West Manggarai district of Flores Island, in East Nusa Tenggara Province. The afternoon sun heats up the asphalt that covers the area. People walk from the buses through the gate of the port, carrying their bags. Others sit talking, sheltering from the heat under the shade of mango trees. The sky and the sea share a calm shade of blue. (more…)
By Lucy Williamson
BBC News, AcehÂ
A museum commemorating the victims of the 2004 Asian tsunami has opened in the Indonesian province of Aceh.
It has been designed as a symbolic reminder of the disaster, as well as an educational centre.
It will also serve as an emergency disaster shelter in case the area is ever hit by a tsunami again.
Aceh was home to more than half the 240,000 people who died in the disaster. The outpouring of aid which followed was the largest in history. (more…)
Sunita Sue Leng, Contributor, Borobudur, Central Java
The best time to visit Borobudur Temple is at dawn. That is when Central Java’s magnificent World Heritage monument is enveloped in cool mist and peace.
That is when you will be able to climb the ancient stones in near solitude and be rewarded with a view of the candi’s rotund stupas - 72 in total - rising majestically out of the mist with the first rays of the sun. (more…)
Titania Veda
The capital city of West Kalimantan Province that bears the same name is renowned for its tales of specters and the supernatural and is also the only site in Indonesia where, twice a year, like a phantom, the noon sun does not produce a shadow, as it lies precisely on the line of the equator, at zero degrees latitude. (more…)
Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The administration is currently mulling over a plan to establish an additional Transjakarta bus shelter in the Old Town part of West Jakarta, as part of efforts to order chaotic traffic in the area.
“We will review the newly proposed plan within a month,” head of road traffic division at the city transportation agency, M. Akbar, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday. (more…)
Indonesia’s Minister for the Environment has approved a decree that will allow the conversion of carbon-rich peatlands for oil palm plantations, reports The Jakarta Post.
Rachmat Witoelar said that oil palm plantations will only be established in areas where peat is less than 3 meters (10 feet) deep. Conversion will require an environmental impact analysis (Amdal). (more…)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A group of scientists are developing more accurate drought and harvest forecasts for Indonesia using tree rings, historic rice production figures and sea surface temperature data.
Indonesia is one of the world’s most populous nations and a major producer of rice, cocoa, coffee and tobacco. (more…)