[Kabar-indonesia] Jakarta News: Election Census; Baby-Sitter Explosion; SMS Hoaxer

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

5 JP Jakarta Reports:

- City to hold census for election

- Police after SMS hoaxer

- Community center helps locals 
  wage real war on drugs

- Baby-sitter demand explodes 
  in capital

- 'Public clean water will get worse'

The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

City to hold census for election

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With Jakarta due to hold its first-ever direct gubernatorial election
next year, the city administration is planning to conduct a new census
to determine the number of eligible voters in the city.

Scheduled for next month, the census will involve officials from all
levels of the administration.

The City Population and Civil Registry Agency said the results of the
August census would still be considered a temporary list of voters
before being approved by Governor Sutiyoso in March next year, ahead
of the September election.

"The mechanism (of the census) is that we will print out the results
of the 2004 census conducted by the Home Ministry and said them to
village chiefs, before distributing the information to neighborhood
unit heads. They will then check the data against the real
population," agency head Abdul Kadir told Antara.

Abdul said only residents with ID cards issued by the city
administration would be listed as voters in the upcoming election.
Anyone staying in the capital for longer than six months is eligible
for an ID card.

"We will announce the final list of voters at the office of Jakarta's
chapter of General Election Commission three days before the election.
People who are not on the list will still be able to vote by showing
their identity cards," he said.

As of May, according to the agency, Jakarta's population stood at
about 7.5 million.

However, many, including Sutiyoso, have said the population of Jakarta
reaches about 10 million at night and 12 million during weekdays.

More than two million people commute to Jakarta every day to work,
coming from Bogor, Depok, Tangerang and Bekasi.

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The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Police after SMS hoaxer

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police have questioned 19 people allegedly involved the
hoax text message warning of an earthquake that was sent around the
capital last week.

"We are going to question these people to find the mastermind behind
the rumor meant to cause panic," city police chief Insp. Gen. Adang
Firman said Tuesday.

He said one of the witnesses had told investigators that they had
received the SMS from Japan.

"We need to confirm the allegation. If it was coming from Japan, then
from which part of Japan?" Adang said.

Investigation team head Adj. Sr. Comr Rahmat Wibowo told The Jakarta
Post that the witnesses were from different professions.

"We got their names after receiving reports from the public, who had
complained about the SMS hoax," he said.

Rahmnat added that the police were yet to name a suspect because they
were still interviewing the 19 people.

"We might develop the investigation by asking for help from the
Information and Communications Ministry, which has detailed data on
cellphone users in Indonesia," he said.

He said anyone who was proved to have masterminded the hoax would
charged under the Criminal Code with "spreading rumors to cause public
panic".

"If convicted the could face 10 years in prison," he said.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said the
police, assisted by state telecommunications company PT Telkom, have
now set up a program to track down SMS hoax senders, although he
declined to discuss its specifics.

The SMS saying official sources claimed an 8.8 magnitude earthquake
was about to hit Jakarta was spread last Tuesday. The hoax made many
Jakartans panic and stop their activities -schools sent the students
home, while companies in high-rise buildings took a long break because
their workers were afraid to return to their offices.

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The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Community center helps locals wage real war on drugs

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

photo: Fight club: Teenagers practice martial art Jujitsu, one of many
activities run at the community center. Ika Krismantari

It used to be a dingy slum, where drug dealers operated unfettered by
either the police or anyone else.

But now the same dealers who used to control the streets risk facing
the wrath of the residents if they show their faces in the area. Local
teenagers mob them and mothers spray them with water.

Megi Budi, 43, a resident of Bonang subdistrict in Central Jakarta,
said it had taken some time to change the attitudes of his neighbors
toward drugs.

Megi established a community house to help his neighbors prepare for
their own war on drugs.

"We have seen the changes and outcomes after we built this learning
house. Changes for the better," Megi said.

>From the late 1970s to the early 2000s, Bonang was notorious as a safe
haven for drug dealers. Many of the area's young people were victims
of the trade. Overdoses and other drug-abuse related deaths were
common.

In 2002 Megi decided that enough was enough. The neighborhood needed a
place where the residents could gather safely and discuss solving the
problem.

He then went to see sociologist Imam B. Prasodjo, who lived nearby at
the time. It was the first of many meetings, but in April 2003 the
Proklamasi Community Learning House, named after the monument that
stands near Bonang, was established.

"Since opening, we have held routine activities every week for
residents, not only for mothers and father but also for their
children," Megi said.

Among the activities available are sports, computer lessons, Koran
recitals for Muslim residents, management training, graphic design
lessons, math courses, aerobics classes and handicraft making.

"At the activities, residents gather together. As time went by (after
we started) we had an unwritten pledge to fight drugs in the area,"
Megi said.

Megi said that the house had contributed two important elements to
fighting the drug problem. First, the house and its activities had
drawn people together, particularly teenagers, who are more
susceptible to drug abuse. Now families spent more time together, he
said.

The center had also facilitated the establishment of a
self-surveillance mechanism among residents to help protect their
relatives from drugs.

"Things are changing now for the better, said Edo S., a community leader.

The center also helped reduce the unemployment level in the
neighborhood, one of the prime causes of the drug problem, as the
lessons in handicraft making and business management gave residents
more job options.

Bonang is a low-income subdistrict with 5,200 residents, 50 percent of
which are unemployed and lack education.

"Thanks to the learning house, our children are receiving additional
skills that raise their chances of getting jobs," Edo said.

Rian, 23, who resigned from his job as a security officer six months
ago, was taught sablon (screen printing) at the learning house.

"I have received orders from the neighborhood for 30 shirts for next
Independence Day," he said.

Megi said one of the root causes of drug abuse was poverty. If
residents could not find jobs, they would be in danger of dealing or
using drugs, he said.

"We cooperate with several companies near our area. We ask them to
train and recruit our people," Megi said. One such company is the
Koran Tempo newspaper, which has hired several residents.

Juariah, a 72-year-old who has lived in the area for almost 50 years,
said the community center had had a great impact on the area.

"We are grateful for this learning house. Our children now spend most
of their time doing useful things, despite once being involved in
drugs," she said.

"I could not have imagined that we would reach this stage. We started
with only 15 people and now we have more than 500," Megi said.

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The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Baby-sitter demand explodes in capital

JAKARTA: Baby-sitter agencies in the capital said Tuesday that they
were having difficulties keeping up with the demand in the city for
child-minding services.

"People have been calling us and booking sitters if we have any, but
it's difficult to recruit new baby-sitters these days," an executive
at baby-sitter agency Yayasan Cinta Nanda, Wahyuni, was quoted by
Antara as saying.

The agency usually recruits five to 10 sitters a month, who receive
basic training before going out to work. But this number is not enough
to meet the demand in Jakarta, Wahyuni said.

She added that baby-sitting was a profession with a relatively high
degree of difficulty as it requires dealing with various personalities
and the behavior of children, parents and other family members.

"The biggest difficulty for baby-sitters is to adapt to the babies'
parents and other people in the house. It takes great patience to be a
successful baby-sitter," she said.

Wahjuni said she believed many young people preferred to work overseas
as baby-sitters rather than at home because they could earn higher
salaries.

Yus, who works for another agency, said she received requests for
sitters not just from Jakarta but from other provinces, adding that
demand was normally higher ahead of the Islamic holiday Idul Fitri,
which falls in October this year.

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The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
    
'Public clean water will get worse'

Officials and city councillors were angered by the sale of 49 percent
of water company PT Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja)'s shares. Although the
France-based company said the decision was made in an attempt to
improve its management, many were skeptical. The Jakarta Post asked
two activists their views on the matter.

Azas Tigor Nainggolan, is chairman of the Jakarta Resident's Forum in
JL. Kalimalang, East Jakarta. He lives with his family in the Matraman
area in East Jakarta:

(Governor) Sutiyoso's administration named Palyja and Thames PAM Jaya
as water operators for Jakarta because the two firms, with their huge
funds and professionalism, pledged to make giving better service to
customers a priority.

The story then changed when the administration and the City Council
rejected their demands to increase water tariffs in the city a few
months ago.

Selling 49 percent of their shares to investors sent the sign that
Palyja had given up operating their business Jakarta.

It might be a way to minimize potential financial losses if the
administration continues to reject the water tariff increase. I also
predict that Palyja will not extend its business in the city after
2008.

Selling the shares also means that the business matters more than
public service. There is no investor interested in buying the shares
offered by Palyja without seeing their benefits.

Once this happens, public clean water will further worsen.

The administration and City Council must seriously study Palyja's
move. They must know the exact reasons for the share sale. The
administration must also prepare alternatives from now on for
substitute operators. Let's give it back to the city operator company
(PT PAM Jaya).

Slamet Daryoni, is the executive director of the Jakarta chapter of
the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) in Bukit Duri, South
Jakarta. He lives with his family in Bekasi:

We have long opposed the privatization of the water company in Jakarta
because it becomes business-oriented and means the public does not
have a basic right: access to clean water.

Our recent study in certain areas in Jakarta showed that residents who
were customers of the water operators had to allocate 30 percent of
their monthly income just to get clean water. They had to buy water
from water vendors due to the poor quality of tap water.

I suspect that Palyja wants to wash its hands of the responsibility to
upgrade pipe infrastructure. During its eight years of operation, the
company has only improved about four percent of the pipe
infrastructure from the previous of 48 percent to 52 percent. It shows
their lack of seriousness to increase the number of residents who can
enjoy clean water.

I hope the water operators and the city administration can take
responsibility for their failure to provide residents with access to
clean water.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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