These are the big companies causing the haze disaster in Indonesia

Koran Opini - October 25, 2015

KoPi – The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), a social organisation concerned with the environment, has released a list of big companies causing the forest and land fires in Indonesia.

The list from Walhi represents the results of an analysis of forest and land fires in regions hit by the haze disaster including Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West and Central Kalimantan.

Walhi national campaign coordinator Edo Rakhman says that the majority of hotspots are in concession lands owned by big companies. "In HTIs [industrial timber estates] 5,669 hotspots, palm oil plantations 9,168", explained Edo.

Edo showed a list of large companies involved the burning of forests and land. Included on the list are three subsidiary companies in Central Kalimantan belonging to Sinar Mas and 14 belonging to Wilmar International.

In Riau, there are six subsidiary companies owned by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), six by Sinar Mas, six by APRIL, one by Simederby, one by First Resources and one by Provident.

In South Sumatra meanwhile, there are eight subsidiary companies owned by Sinar Mas, 11 owned by Wilmar, four by Sampoerna, three by PTPN, one by Simederby, one by Cargil and three by Marubeni.

The fires in West Kalimantan involve six subsidiary companies belonging to Sinar Mas and six owned by RGM/APRIL. In Jambi Sinar Mas and Wilmar both have two subsidiary companies.

According to the National Space and Aviation Agency (Lapan) website for the period January-September 2015, there were 16,334 hotspots compared with 36,781 in 2014. The forest and land fires are causing people to suffer acute repertory problems with 20,471 cases in Jambi, 15,138 in Central Kalimantan, 28,000 in South Sumatra and 10,010 in West Kalimantan.

According to Airlangga University sociologist Novri Susan, the forest fires and haze disaster is not just some event without a cause, but in fact represents a conflict between people and corporations.

"People must put pressure on the Jokowi [President Joko Widodo] administration to hand down firm sanctions against companies and provide compensation to people who have fallen victim to the haze. If necessary, all [these companies should] be frozen until the haze problem is resolved".

Notes

Palm-oil company Wilmar International is owned by Martua Sitorus listed by Forbes in 2009 as the 2nd richest person in Indonesia. Sinar Mas is owned by former Suharto crony Eka Tjipta Widjaja, who was 2nd on Forbes list in 2012. Indonesian based Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) is the world's third-largest paper producer. Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd or APRIL is a Singapore based pulp and paper company. Palm oil First Resources Ltd is publicly listed in Singapore. Sampoerna, Indonesia's second largest cigarette producer owned by the politically connected Sampoerna family was sold to US tobacco giant Philip Morris International in 2005. PTPN is the state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara. Minneapolis-based Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Marubeni Corp is Japan's fifth-largest trading company.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Inilah daftar perusahaan penyebab musibah asap.]

Source: http://koranopini.com/nasional/nasionalnews/inilah-daftar-perusahaan-penyebab-musibah-asap.

Activists say state defense program signals return to Suharto's New Order

Sindo News - October 18, 2015

Jakarta – The Youth Coalition for Indonesia rejects the government's plan to recruit 100 million state defense cadres that has been concaved by the Ministry of Defense (Kemenhan).

Indonesia Without Militarism (ITM) spokesperson Surya Antara believes that with the establishment of the Defending the State program the country will return to an authoritarian system as was practiced during the New Order dictatorship of former President Suharto.

"This kind of nationalism was practiced during the era of Suharto's New Order regime. What's the urgency of the state defense [program], we're not under attack by any countries", said Surya during a discussion titled "State Defence for What?" at the Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) on Jl. Diponegoro in Central Jakarta on Sunday October 18.

According to Surya, the justification for the state defense program, to increase the spirit of nationalism, is wrong. This is because the nationalism being socialised in the program will create subjective interpretations by the government.

Moreover the Indonesian nation is not in a state of war as is being experience by other countries. "And in other countries they have already begun to abandon (state defence). It's as if we're at total war, yet in democratic terms Indonesia is open", he said.

Surya is in fact concerned that the government's desire to recruit state defence cadres will silence the democratic system that is developing in Indonesia. He worries that the state defence recruitment will be used by the state to restrict freedom of speech and at the same time exploit the Indonesian people.

"There is concern that this state defense [program] is to extinguish the flame of resistance in society, to silence the public's participation in highlighting the state's [poor] performance, which will generate a paradigm of don't make a noise, don't demonstrate, don't reject the government", he said in conclusion.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Bela Negara Dinilai Bisa Kembalikan Rezim Orde Baru.]

Source: http://nasional.sindonews.com/read/1054081/14/bela-negara-dinilai-bisa-kembalikan-rezim-orde-baru-144516241.

New Order style censorship being used to limit data on forest fires

Tempo.co - October 18, 2015

Parliza Hendrawan, Palembang – The bad old practices of the New Order dictatorship of former President Suharto are still being applied in some government agencies in Indonesia.

This time round they came down hard on the South Sumatra Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), which plays a vital role in forest and land fires.

"There was a government agency that asked us to restrict the circulation of information about the weather, hot spots, visibility and the ISPU [Standard Air Pollution Index] levels", said Indra Purna, the information and data section chief of the Kenten Climatology Station in the South Sumatra city of Palembang, when speaking with Tempo on Saturday October 17.

According to Indra, the external agency put pressure on the BMKG to restrict information provided to the media with a specific intent and for particular interests. He was not prepared however to name the agency trying to enforce this censorship of information ala the New Order.

Yet, said Indra, who is a graduate of the Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology Institute, such data is essential for industry, aviation, transportation and educational institutions.

The BMKG, said Indra, has never bowed down to external pressure saying that his position requires him to be honest with whoever requires the most up-to-date information, including journalists.

In addition to this, they cannot hide the weather conditions, smoke density levels and the number of hot spots because these things can be seen with the naked eye and felt by people's in their daily lives.

Indra said he was happy to be involved in dealing with the forest fires and haze because he can share his knowledge and experience with others.

He is convinced that his knowledge will grow and society's understanding will spread. "It's saddening when a certain party only takes action after there are victim and financial losses arise", he said.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Ada yang Tekan BMKG Agar Tak Sebar Data Kebakaran Hutan.]

Source: http://nasional.tempo.co/read/news/2015/10/18/173710494/ada-yang-tekan-bmkg-agar-tak-sebar-data-kebakaran-hutan.

Police order recall and burning of magazine on 1965 communist purge

Tempo.co - October 18, 2015

Abdul Azis, Jakarta – The editor of the magazine Lentera (Beacon), Bima Satria Putra, says that the police have asked them to recall the October 10 issue of the magazine from circulation.

According to Bima, the October 10 issue of the magazine, which is produced by the student editorial board of the Satya Wacana Christian University Faculty of Social and Communication Studies, focused on commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1965 mass killings.

In that edition the Lentera editorial board took up the issue of the purge of Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) sympathisers in an around the Central Java city of Salatiga.

"We produced 500 copies, which were not only distributed on the Satya Wacana Christian University campus, but also to the Salatiga community, the Salatiga administration and organisations in [the Central Java cities of] Solo, Semarang and Yogyakarta", said Bima when contacted by Tempo on Sunday October 18.

Bima related how several days earlier on Friday October 16 they received a negative reaction to the magazine from the mayor, police and the military. "They protested the content of the magazine", he said.

The protests from the many different parties ended in the student press institute leaders being interrogated by police on October 18. They were subsequently asked to halt the distribution of the magazine so that all copies could be collected and burnt. "They asked for all copies of the magazine to be burnt", said Bima.

Not only that, Bima said that as a flow on effect of the circulation of the issue police issued a strong warning and reprimand to the campus. The police stated that the magazine did not have a publishing license, was not in accordance with prevailing legislation and was not suitable to be distributed to the public.

"We know that they did indeed make an issue over the [publishing] license, but the PKI content was also used as justification to recall the magazine from distribution", said Bima.

Earlier, Bima explained that although the Press Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Pers) in Jakarta, the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and the Indonesian Student Press Association (PPMI) offered assistance, for various reasons the editors decided to hand the magazine over to police.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Beritakan Kasus 1965, Majalah Lentera Ditarik lalu Dibakar.]

Source: http://nasional.tempo.co/read/news/2015/10/18/063710644/beritakan-kasus-1965-majalah-lentera-ditarik-lalu-dibakar.

Citing Israel as an example, Ryacudu champions national defence program

Tribune News - October 12, 2015

Jakarta – Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu has reaffirmed his commitment to realising a national defence movement.

This will moreover be demonstrated through an education program for movement trainers in 45 regencies in Indonesia. Through the Training and Education Board, On October 19 the Ministry of Defence will be promoting a national defense education and training program for 4,500 selected cadre across these regencies.

There will be 100 cadres chosen from more than 500 regencies in Indonesia that will be brought together in the 45 regencies. The program, said Ryacudu, will be a pilot project to train cadre as trainers, which will be followed up by proclamation of the national defence movement on January 1, 2016.

"The cadres will be fashioned to create an Indonesia that is strong in the midst of the complexity of various forms of concrete threats", said Ryacudu at his office in Central Jakarta on Monday October 12.

According to Ryacudu, this movement is important because he sees Israel as a benchmark where with a total population of only around 7 million it is able to withstand attacks from Palestine. This kind of defense has only been able to be realised because all citizens have consciousness of the need to defend the state.

The former army chief of staff imagines that similar conditions could be put into effect in Indonesia. With a total population of 250 million or more, he believes that the fatherland has a huge potential to defend the state.

If just half of the population is able to mentally digest the importance of national defense then it is certain that Indonesia's defense forces will not be disparaged.

"We have 100 million of the population that has the potential to become national defense cadre. Imagine if 100 million Indonesian citizens had the personal capacity to defend the state, it would be the same as having 100 million soldiers", he said.

Ryacudu hopes that the cadreisation process will be a success and the national defense movement will be able to proceed. The target over the next 10 years is for half the population or 100 million Indonesians to join the program. Ryacudu however insists that the program will have no relationship with military conscription as applied in other countries.

In order to ensure its success, the Ministry of Defence has already drafted a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with other ministries such as the Ministry of Culture and Education (Kemendikbud).

In order to put state defense into practice as an element of the education curriculum, this will be done by cultivating an attitude of state defence early on in the Indonesian nation.

"This program is not military conscription, but the cultivation of a consciousness of national defense. So we are preparing to develop individual discipline, from which will emerge group discipline, which will develop into a consciousness of national defence", said the minister.

The implementation of this movement, according to Ryacudu, is in accordance with Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution pertaining to the rights and obligations of citizens in national defense.

The supervisors of the state defence cadres will be made up of local government personnel and social and religious figures from around the country. Because of this therefore, Ryacudu will also bring in Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) in order to take advantage of local governments in the fatherland.

"So later on regional governments will cooperate with local Kodam [regional military commands] and Kodim [district military commands]. In the initial stage we can call on governors and regents to get things warmed up. What's important is how to synchronise citizen's minds, namely to love the state", he said.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Contoh Israel, Ryamizard Komitmen Realisasikan Gerakan Nasional Bela Negara.]

Notes

Ryamizard Ryacudu is a former army general known for his hardline stance on separatism and xenophobic remarks and criticism of rights activists. In 2001 he praised the killing of prominent Papuan independence leader Theys Eluay, saying the Kopassus (Special Forces) soldiers who murdered him were "heroes". He is a close ally of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri and as army chief of staff during her presidency oversaw military operations in Aceh and Papua resulting in countless civilian casualties.

Source: http://m.tribunnews.com/nasional/2015/10/12/contoh-israel-ryamizard-komitmen-realisasikan-gerakan-nasional-bela-negara.

The success of former TNI generals in the world of business

CNN Indonesia - October 5, 2015

Abraham Utama, Jakarta – A new life begins after 50. This is what has been the case for a number of retired Indonesian military (TNI) generals, because shedding their official military uniforms has not necessarily meant ending their careers.

Soon after officially taking up the status of a civilian after reaching 58 years of age, these former senior military officials have been actively courted by conglomerates that place them in senior positions in their companies.

Since the reform process began in 1998 at least three out of six former TNI commanders have become senior business leaders in companies. Former TNI commander retired General Endriartono Sutarto for example currently holds the post of president commissioner with the Pundi Bank.

Soon after retiring in 2006, Sutarto was chosen to become the president commissioner of the state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina. After leaving Pertamina, according to the Pundi Bank website, in March 2010 Sutarto became the chairperson of the nomination and remuneration committee with the bank established in 1993. Five months later, he was promoted to chair Pundi Bank's auditing committee.

Former TNI chief retired Admiral Agus Suhartono also followed in Sutarto's footsteps. Suhartono currently holds the post of president commissioner with PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam, a state-controlled coal mining company headquartered in Tanjung Enim, South Sumatra.

After hanging up his military uniform, former coordinating minister for legal, political and security affairs retired Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto became an independent commissioner with the company PT Adaro. It was only after he was selected as coordinating minister for legal, political and security affairs in 2009 that Suyanto resigned from the coal mining company owned by business tycoon Edwin Soeryadjaya [the son of Indonesia's national car company PT Astra's founder William Soeryadjaya].

This year, after retiring from public office, Suyanto returned to the world of business. According to the PT Bursa Efek Indonesia (the Indonesian Stock Exchange self regulatory organisation) website, on March 17 Suyanto drafted a statement declaring he was ready to be appointed as president commissioner and independent commissioner with the company PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical.

According to his curriculum vitae uploaded to the PT Chandra Asri website, Suyanto was once a commissioner with the PT Lestari Asri Jaya, a company that manages industrial timer estates and is affiliated with the Barito Pacific Group owned by [former Suharto crony and timber tycoon] Prajogo Pangestu.

In fact it is not just former TNI commanders that have taken up careers in the world of business after retirement. Former Army Chief-of-Staff retired General Subagyo Hadi Siswoyo, according to a PT Berau Coral Energy general shareholders meeting dated June 29, 2013 was appointed as a commissioner with the company.

A year later in July 2014, Siswoyo resigned from PT Berau Coral Energy. And early this year was appointed by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo as a member of the presidential advisory board.

The career of former Army Special Forces (Kopassus) commander retired General Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has been a little different. He established his own company PT Toba Sejahtera, which is active in the coal, mining, oil a gas, electricity generation and forestry and timer sectors.

PT Toba Sejahtera, a subsidiary company of PT Toba Bara Sejahtera, appointed the former TNI armed forces chief of general staff retired Lieutenant General Suaidi Marasabessy as executive director.

Retired Lieutenant General Kiki Syahnakri, who ended his military service as army deputy chief-of-staff, currently holds the post of president commissioner with the Artha Graha Bank.

When speaking with CNN Indonesia in mid-September, Syahnakri said that he once held the post of commissioner with the company PT International Timber Corporation Indonesia Kartika Utama.

"After the TNI AD's [army] businesses were restructured, there were several former senior military officers who became commissioners in companies whose shares were once owned by the [army's] Kartika Eka Paksi Foundation", said Syahnakri in Jakarta.

The Kartika Eka Paksi Foundation referred to by Syahnakri was established by retired army officers during the era of former president Suharto. The foundation's name was taken from the army slogan "Kartika Eka Paksi", which means "Unmatchable Bird with Noble Goals".

Trusted by corporations

The tendency of former senior TNI officers to be active in various companies is not strange in Syahnakri's view. Although according to Syahnakri, out of the many senior TNI officers that have retired only a small number have chosen a career in the business world.

"Those that have become commissioners can be counted on one hand. This is because there is trust on the part companies", said Syahnakri.

The phenomenon of generals holding senior company positions has not just happened in Indonesia. Syahnakri cites the example of former Australian defense chief Sir Peter John Cosgrove.

Cosgrove, who is currently the liaison between Australia and the British crown with the status of governor general, was once part of the management of the Australian airline company Qantas.

"The former Singaporean army chief of staff also become a CEO (chief executive officer) in various companies", said Syahnakri.

Nevertheless, Imparsial (Indonesian Human Rights Watch) executive director Poengky Indarti questions the reason why companies have placed former senior TNI offices in vital positions in their businesses.

"Is it true that they have skills in accordance with the fields that are embraced by the companies? Or are they in fact being used by companies to smooth the way for business through particular channels such as securing the acquisition of land or facilitating the procurement of licensees", said Poengky.

If such suspicions are correct, said Poengky, then this truly is unprofessional. "Why are retired generals with combat skills being recruited as commissioners in mining companies. Once there who are they waging war with?", asked Poengky.

Syahnakri believes that there are two things that make companies consider employing retired senior TNI officers, namely discipline and leadership.

So for these generals then, a new life does indeed begin at 58. (agk)

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Kisah Sukses Jenderal-jenderal TNI di Dunia Bisnis.]

Source: http://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20151004181459-20-82708/kisah-sukses-jenderal-jenderal-tni-di-dunia-bisnis/.

Activists call on military to return to the barracks

Aktual.com - October 5, 2015

Muhammad Kemal Macharani, Jakarta – Scores of activists from the movement Indonesia Without Militarism (ITM) held a protest action in front of the State Place in Central Jakarta.

The action, which started at 2.07pm, was in the form of a statement and calls for reforms to the TNI (Indonesian military), particularly given that over the last few years indications of a rise in militarism and the politics of the New Order dictatorship of former President Suharto have become very apparent.

According to the group, this has been demonstrated by the many cases of violence involving the TNI.

"The military as an institution should be focusing on the problems of national defence only", said one of the action coordinators, Surya Anta, in a speech on Jl. Merdeka in Central Jakarta on Monday October 5.

Surya said that the military should not get involved in or get into issues that are under the jurisdiction of the civilian sphere, whether it be the political, social, cultural or other areas.

All the more so because today President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo called on the TNI not to offend the ordinary people during a speech commemorating the 70th anniversary of the TNI in Cilegon, Banten.

"The TNI has never been one with the people, the TNI must return to the barracks, reject militarism, is it appropriate for the TNI to sign memorandums of understanding [with civilian institutions]", said Surya in conclusion.

The action was limited to participants taking turns to give speeches. (Zaenal Arifin)

Notes

In recent months the TNI has signed a number of memorandums of understanding (MoU) with non-military institutions which pro-democracy activists worry could open the door for the military to once again become involved in civilian affairs. Besides agreements that allow military deployment to guard public infrastructure such as railway stations, harbors and airports, the list includes a deal with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to recruit former soldiers as prison guards and an agreement with the National Population and Family Planning Board (BKKBN) to involve the military in family planning programs.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Aktifis Minta Militer Kembali ke Barak.]

Source: http://www.aktual.com/aktifis-minta-militer-kembali-ke-barak/.

Palu government to apologies to families of victims of 1965 killings

Tempo.co - October 4, 2015

Riky Ferdianto, Jakarta – The Palu municipal government in Central Sulawesi will issue an official apology to families of the victims of the 1965 mass killings. The move is being taken to resolve the process of reconciliation for families of victims.

"This nation needs to learn to acknowledge past mistakes", said Palu mayor Rusdy Mastura when he attended a launch of the book "Sulawesi Bears Witness" at the Goethe Institute in Jakarta on the evening of Thursday October 3.

Mastura stated that the apology will be officially issued on October 28 through a municipal regulation. Creating such a legal basis is necessary in order to restore the rights of the families of the victims based on the authority of the regional government.

"We don't need to wait for the central government to take a position. As mayor I think there's nothing wrong in issuing such a regulation", he said.

Mastura conceded that the decision will not be rather unpopular in the eyes of some sections of the community and several social groups and political parties have even made an issue over the decision.

This reaction however can be gradually resolved through a dialog which has a vision of the future. "We'll only be marking time if there are still frictions with what occurred in the past", he said.

The chairperson of the group Solidarity for the Victims of Human Rights Violations, Nurlaela Lamasoitudju, believes that that the decision is a step forward.

From the results of their monitoring in Palu city and the regencies of Sigi, Donggala and Parigi Moutong, there are at least 1,210 victims who to this day are still haunted by traumatic experiences.

They are the families of victims who were accused of being involved with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). In 1965 their property was seized and their social and political rights revoked. "The families of the victims hope for only one thing, an acknowledgement and apology", she said.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Palu Meminta Maaf kepada Keluarga Korban 1965.]

Source: http://nasional.tempo.co/read/news/2013/10/04/078519105/palu-meminta-maaf-kepada-keluarga-korban-1965.

President Widodo hopes G30S/PKI communist rebellion won't happen again

Kompas.com - October 1, 2015

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is certain that past incidents such as the rebellion by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) will not be repeated in Indonesia. Nevertheless, he is calling on all parties to be on guard against the emergence of movement groups such as this.

"Don't let there be a lack of vigilance, even though I'm sure the incident will be repeated, and I hope that the G30S/PKI [September 30/PKI] affair will not happen again in our land", said Widodo after inspecting a Pancasila Efficacy Day event at Crocodile Hole monument in East Jakarta on Thursday October 1.

Widodo also took the opportunity to explain that he would not be apologising to PKI family members and denied rumours that have been circulation about government plans to apologise to former PKI members.

"There hasn't been any consideration of apologising, up until this point there hasn't been any thinking in that direction", he said.

On Wednesday September 30, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung stated that they know the identity of the individual that has been spreading slander against President Widodo. Anung believes that the slanderer had created a great deal of unease by saying that Widodo would apologies to the families of former PKI members.

Anung revealed that the individual's identity was discovered thanks to cooperation with the national police. The slanderer allegedly circulated a series of messages on Tuesday September 29 saying that Widodo would meet with PKI family members and former members of the PKI affiliated women's organisation Gerwani at the Bung Karno Sports Stadium in Jakarta.

Anung said no legal proceedings have been yet taken against the slanderer and that proceedings will only be considered if the slanderer does not stop their actions.

[Translated by James Balowski for the Indoleft News Service. The original title of the report was Jokowi Yakin Pemberontakan seperti PKI Tak Akan Terjadi Lagi.]

Source: http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2015/10/01/10350071/Jokowi.Yakin.Pemberontakan.seperti.PKI.Tak.Akan.Terjadi.Lagi.