INDONESIA DIGEST Indonesia's complex Issues in a Nutshell By: Ms. Wuryastuti Sunario Published by: TBSC-Strategic Communication No.: 19.07 - Dated: 10 July 2007 In this issue:
MAIN FEATURE: EU 'MISINFORMED' ON INDONESIA'S PRESENT AIR SAFETY, SAYS ICAO CHIEF NEWS AND BACKGROUND: 1. Tourism and Transportation: Indonesia and ICAO join hands to enhance Aviation Safety 2. The Economy, Trade and Industry: US Offers Indonesia Debt-for-Nature Swap 4. Politics and Security: Australia renews travel warning despite Indonesian Police arrest of Top JI Terrorist Leaders -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAIN FEATURE: EU 'MISINFORMED' ON INDONESIA'S PRESENT AIR SAFETY, SAYS ICAO CHIEF by Tuti Sunario for Indonesia Digest The EU is "misinformed" on present Airline Safety conditions in Indonesia, concluded ICAO President of Council, Roberto Kobeh Gonzales, after inspection of Garuda Indonesia Maintenance Facility (GMF) in Jakarta Thursday, 6 July. ICAO's President, Gonzales assessed that "There is nothing wrong with the air safety management in Indonesia", although EU had imposed a ban on Indonesian airlines to fly to Europe, quoted Bisnis Indonesia on 7 July. On 28 June, EU Transport Commission recommended that the EU ban all Indonesian airlines flying to Europe and Europeans from flying Indonesian airlines, on grounds of safety. To correct the misinformation, Gonzales recommends that the Indonesian government take the road of negotiation to solve the impasse caused by the EU ban. The government should clarify transparently to EU on Indonesia's air safety present conditions in order to prevent further misinformation, and to allow other countries outside EU to receive more accurate information on the Indonesian airline industry. Gonzales said that he trusted the serious commitments made by Indonesia to improve the airline industry, because measures that had been taken so far, he considered "were accurate". Prior to inspecting the GMF hangar Gonzales said that he was assured that all involved in Indonesia's airline safety are committed to increase air safety in the country and of the airline industry. On Friday, 6 July, EU Ambassador to Indonesia, Jean Breteche, handed over a letter from the EU confirming that the Union has adopted recommendations made by its Air Safety Commission, which will come into force starting 6 July. The letter mentions that all Indonesian airlines are prohibited to fly into any EU country and that accordingly, EU has informed all its citizens not to use Indonesian airlines anywhere in the world. "I know Indonesia has been making a lot of efforts to improve the safety of planes since the beginning of the year, and I hope we can reverse this decision as soon as possible," EU ambassador to Indonesia Jean Breteche said Friday in Jakarta, as reported by the Jakarta Post. Indonesia urges EU to send audit team and reverse its ban soonest Based on the latest communications and request from the Indonesian Government, EU promised to send an inspection team to Indonesia to assess the latest situation. But Breteche said that the first opportunity to have the ban lifted would come in three months' time as the decision was effective for a period of three months. Indonesia, however, urges that EU reverses its rules before the three months, as soon as it received confirmation from this audit team. In the press conference, Director General for Air Communications, Budhi Suyitno, informed that Indonesia would not take any retaliatory measures, despite the fact that the Indonesian Government considers the EU ban was made unilaterally, disregarding reciprocity and without the Union having made its own audit. Instead, the Indonesian government has invited the EU delegation to send a team to verify for themselves the exact air safety conditions at present, rather than rely their ban on secondary sources. (see also Indonesia Digest 18.07). Budhi Suyitno said the ban was unfair and claimed the Commission had never given Indonesia a proper opportunity to give its side of the story. "We object to the decision, especially if it was only made on account of administrative reasons," Budhi said. Breteche, on his side, vehemently denied Budhi's allegations, saying that the commission had given Indonesia ample opportunities to present its case. "We tried to consult with Indonesia a long time ago. We sent two letters, one on April 2 and one on May 21, to ask for information from the authorities. But there was no reply." European air safety experts arrived at their conclusions on the state of Indonesian airline safety -- which was the reason why the Commission issued the ban -- based mainly on the latest reports and information from Indonesia's air safety authorities, as well as some from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Breteche said, as quoted by the Jakarta Post. Japan and Australia satisfied with Garuda Indonesia Safety Audit Meanwhile, Garuda Indonesia Operations Director, Ari Sapari, informed that Japan has ascertained not to follow the EU ban, and Japan has not issued a warning to its citizens from flying Indonesian airlines. Garuda's Branch Manager in Tokyo received this confirmation from the Japanese Government on 4 July, since as ICAO member Japan refers to ICAO rulings, and ICAO has not issued such ban. Satisfied with the results of a safety audit on a Garuda Indonesia airplane, Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau (CAB) announced last week that the carrier was allowed to operate in the country. After a day-long audit Friday, the CAB inspection team concluded that Garuda was committed to complying with Japan's airline security and safety regulations. The CAB said there was no reason for the Japanese government to ban its citizens from flying with Garuda, wrote Jakarta Post. Garuda has daily flights from to Tokyo via Denpasar and Jakarta and flies four times a week from Jakarta to Osaka. Last year, 387,571 passengers flew on Garuda to Japan, while 157,183 have traveled on the same routes since the beginning of this year. Garuda spokesperson Pudjobroto said the airline was planning to reopen its Nagoya route, which was closed in 2004 following the impact of the second Bali bombing on the travel industry. Along similar lines, confirmation was given by Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, based on findings of Australia's own audit team. John Howard said that the Australian government was satisfied with Garuda Indonesia's safety precautions. Press Comments: In its latest edition, Balidiscovery.com editorial emphasized that despite recent mishaps, Indonesian airlines, including Garuda, do not hold the dubious distinction of causing a record number of air fatalities. A visit to a website tracking airline fatalities show a large number of other international air carriers have much more lethal histories, including American Airlines, China Airlines, Air India, Japan Airlines, Korean Air, Pan Am, Saudi Arabia Airlines, Thai Airways and United Airlines. . Other statistics that explore fatalities per flown air mile would similarly show that, on a whole, Indonesian airlines do not merit being singled out as anything approaching cavalier on matters of aviation safety. . The far-reaching decision to generalize and label all Indonesian carriers as "unsafe" apparently was done by the "Eurocrats" in Brussels at a distance without the aid of a direct audit. Jean Breteche, the EU Ambassador to Jakarta, admitted as much in the Jakarta Post this week, saying that the decision to impose "blacklisting" was done after the Indonesian aviation authorities failed to respond to two letters inviting them to air consultations. This statement suggests that the current aviation warning has more to do with pique than any concrete information on the true status of Indonesian aviation, says balidiscovery.com. Meanwhile, Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia, Nicolas Van Dam, after meeting President Yudhoyono, promised to convince other European countries on recent measures taken by the Indonesian government to ensure Indonesia's air safety, because the Ambassador said, the ban has very wide implications especially on Indonesia's tourism development. Off-the Beaten Track villages bracing for empty tourist peak season In the interim, Director General for Tourism Marketing, Thamrin Bachri informed the industry that the large European tour operators had informed him that based on EU ban, they have ceased accepting new bookings for Indonesia tours until the end of August, and were rerouting those groups already on the road. Already Indonesia's outlying areas are bracing themselves for a drastic fall in tourist arrivals in the next three months, - normally the tourist peak season, - and villagers must now seek whatever alternative jobs are available to patch up their meager income to be able to provide food and education for their families (Jakarta, 10 July 2007) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS AND BACKGROUND: 1. Tourism and Transportation: Indonesia and ICAO join hands to enhance Aviation Safety The Indonesian government and the International Aviation Organization (ICAO) signed a joint declaration in Bali on Monday, 2 July, to enhance aviation safety in the country, wrote Prodita Sabarini for the Jakarta Post. After the signing, ICAO Council President, Roberto Kobeh Gonzales said, Indonesia's civil aviation problems stemmed from the massive expansion that the local industry has seen in the past five years, which had put heavy pressure on regulators trying to keep pace with the demands of a rapidly expanding market. Gonzales said that Indonesia needed to show it had a strong political will to improve its aviation sector. "Indonesia must act quickly and decisively to regain the confidence of the world's aviation community and the traveling public," he said on the sidelines of Indonesia's Strategic Summit on Civil Aviation Services. Indonesia is one of the ICAO Council's 190 contracting states. Under the joint declaration, the government will strengthen the Transportation Ministry's Directorate General of Civil Aviation's safety oversight capabilities. To achieve that, Director General for Civil Aviation Budi Mulyawan Suyitno said that the government is increasing the budget for safety to Rp 900 billion next year, from Rp 500 billion this year. The government will also comply with ICAO rules that require member states to establish safety management programs for all players involved, including traffic service providers, aerodrome and aircraft operators as well as maintenance organizations, reports the Jakarta Post. 2. The Economy, Trade and Industry: US Offers Indonesia Debt-for-Nature Swap Abdul Khalik for the Jakarta Post reports that The United States has agreed to include Indonesia in a debt-for-nature swap that will involve US$19.6 million of the country's debt to the U.S. being used to finance tropical forest conservation programs. The U.S. Embassy here said in a statement that under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA), a portion of Indonesia's debt could be reduced and re-directed to finance conservation of the country's tropical forest, considered as one of the world's largest and most diverse. "The U.S. Treasury Department will provide a provisional allocation of $19.6 million for the treatment of eligible debt. Initial discussions toward an agreement are expected to begin in the coming weeks," the embassy said. It added that once concluded, the swap package for Indonesia would be one of the largest under the TFCA. Indonesian Forestry Minister M.S. Kaban welcomed the U.S. announcement as a beginning of a bold measure to conserve the country's forest. "This is good news," he said during a meeting with representatives from the U.S. Embassy. The embassy said the U.S. government welcomed Indonesia's participation in the program as it recognized the country's forests as some of the most significant and biologically diverse in the world. Foreign Ministry director for American affairs Harry Purwanto also hailed the announcement, saying Indonesia's proposal for the debt swap had paid off. "We submitted proposals for debt swaps to several countries, and the proposal to the U.S. was one of them. We hope more countries agree to our proposals," he told The Jakarta Post. With outstanding sovereign foreign debt of $74.1 billion, Indonesia must pay around $7.8 billion a year on the interest and principal. The embassy said that to date, 11 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America had entered into debt-for-nature agreements under the TFCA. "These agreements will generate more than $135 million to conserve important tropical forest in these countries over the course of 10 to 25 years," it said. The embassy said the program might be expanded to include coral reefs, often referred to as the rain forest of the sea. This year, the Indonesian government has earmarked Rp 4.1 trillion ($454 million) from the Forestry Ministry's rehabilitation fund and the state budget to rehabilitate damaged forest throughout the country. Indonesia is estimated to have lost 72 percent of its approximately 123.35 million hectares of ancient rain forest, and half of what remains is threatened by commercial logging, frequent forest fires and land clearance for palm oil plantations 3. Politics and Security Australia renews travel warning despite Indonesian Police arrest of Top JI Terrorist Leaders Just when Indonesia seemed to have unraveled the controversy surrounding the EU ban om Indonesian airlines to fly to Europe on account of doubts on their safety, now Australia comes up with another travel advisory to Indonesia, reinforcing its travel warning for Australians not to visit Indonesia for fear of renewed terrorist attacks here. According to ABC News of 9 July, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT) of Australia has updated its travel advisory for the region yesterday as it continues to advise people to reconsider travelling to the region, but now reinforces the terrorist threat. Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says Jemaah Islamiah military squad leader Abu Dujana called for more attacks when he was arrested recently. "Abu Dujana (the) terrorist leader who was arrested at the end of last month, has made continual calls since his arrest for further terrorist attacks and it's a reminder that that problem is not resolved in Indonesia," he said. "There is a continuing flow of reporting from Indonesia about possible terrorist attacks. "We think it's timely to remind people of that, not to become complacent. "I think people have allowed Indonesia to slip out of their minds. "Despite the excellent work of the Indonesian authorities in recent times, this remains a problem" said Downer, quoted by ABC News. Indonesian Police captured Top Terrorist leaders, who will be tried in Court Indonesia, however, remains unfazed. In response, the Indonesian Police announced that no imminent terror activities had been detected, and that, therefore, the public should remain calm. For despite Australia's recent travel warnings on terrorist attacks in Indonesia, so far none has been substantiated. On the contrary, the Indonesian Police should be given kudos and trust for its success and ability to pick out and capture top terrorist leaders from among the teeming population of Java, preventing them from making other fatal attacks. Their capture, the Police assured was also due to information received from the general public, implying that Indonesia's majority population does not agree with terrorism, especially since many Indonesians had themselves become victims of terrorists attacks. In the above statement, Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer was referring to the arrests of JI leaders Abu Dujana and Zarkasih by Indonesian Police. Over the weekend of 10 June, the Indonesian Police announced that they had succeeded in capturing the country's most wanted terrorist - Abu Dujana, head of the military wing of the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist network. Dujana was among at least three people arrested in weekend raids across Central Java, Police said. Although at first the Police insisted that they had captured one named Yusron, later, lab identifications confirmed that Yusron was an alias used by alleged terrorist Abu Dujana. Dujana was shot in the leg when attempting to evade capture. Indonesian authorities explained that Dujana had replaced Bali bombings mastermind Noordin M Top, a Malaysian national, as the country's most wanted fugitive. The weekend arrests followed a series of raids in March, where authorities uncovered a huge stash of hundreds of kilograms of explosives, weapons and chemicals in the province. Police also found charts detailing JI's new structure. Dujana had been sought in connection with several deadly bomb attacks, including the 2004 Australian embassy blast and a car bombing at the JW Marriot hotel in Jakarta a year earlier. According to Reuters, Abu Dujana, said to head JI's armed wing, was shown on a tape saying that religious figure Abu Bakar Ba'asyir once led the group. Another terrorist suspect arrested was Zarkasih. The head of the police's Special Detachment 88 anti-terror unit, Brig. Gen. Surya Dharma Salim, said that Zarkasih was among seven detained terror suspects originally thought to be aides to Dujana. He said Zarkasih went by several aliases, including Mbah (Javanese for Grandfather), Zuhroni, Oni and Abu Irsyad. Surya alleged Zarkasih was in charge of all JI operations and activities in Indonesia. These activities, according to the officer, included hiding convicted terrorist Ali Gufron in Legian, Bali; helping the still on the run Noordin M. Top and the deceased bomb-maker Azahari bin Husin carry out the 2003 JW Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta; and planning the robbery of a Poso city administration building in Central Sulawesi, which netted around Rp 480 million (US$52,876). Police believe Indonesia's Public is the most effective Intelligence Following the above arrests, an anti-terror expert called for a nationwide movement against terror that urges the public to be on the alert for terror suspects. "The public are the most effective intelligence," said Ansjaad Mbai, head of the anti-terror desk at the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, reported the Jakarta Post. He said that, unfortunately, most often the public was unaware of the patterns of terrorists' activities - which include moving to new places, getting new identity cards, working as vendors at night - thus failing to report them to the authorities. Ansjaad said ideology-based movements such as Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which seeks to establish an Islamic state in Southeast Asia, could never be eliminated thoroughly and public alertness was the most useful way of keeping the terrorists' space limited. "The organization is weak for the moment with the recent arrests, but there are always replacements. We could capture all the figures, but still the ideology will linger the way it has since rebel movements wishing to create an Islamic state in Indonesia emerged decades ago," he told The Jakarta Post. He added that the movement was deep in society and could be easily detected and tackled if there was quality public awareness and people paid attention to the photographs of terrorists. Although Police arrested seven terrorist suspects, among whom top JI leaders Abu Dujana and Zarkasih, but Noordin M. Top, believed to be the mastermind of the bomb attacks, is still fugitive. "So if you see strange and suspicious activities by newcomers in your area, report them. Officials at the district and sub-district levels should be the most alert with this," Ansjaad said. He also asked the public to be active in countering radical agitation in society, including in the media or the Internet. American terrorism analyst Sidney Jones said JI was re-organizing itself regularly with new replacements and active proselytizing. "JI is a very large organization. With Noordin still on the run, it's still a dangerous group because Noordin has weapons although the scale of attacks it might launch wouldn't be as massive as they once were due to internal splits," the director of the International Crisis Group for Southeast Asia was quoted as saying by detik.com news portal. The Indonesian Police assures the public that they continue to monitor those areas suspected to be favoured hideaways of terror suspects, as well as monitor possible new attacks that were earlier planned, as divulged by the most recently captured terrorists, reports the Jakarta Post. For your comments or further inquiries, please e-mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
