Anyone missing an engine cover?

I heard Indonesian air travel is in bad shape. Now we can say it is falling apart.

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Workers found a piece of a wing from a passenger jet on the runway at Indonesia's main airport and investigators are trying to determine which plane it fell from, officials said Wednesday.

The 10-foot piece of wing was found Tuesday at Jakarta's Sukarno-Hatta international airport, said Yurlis Hasibuan, a senior air transportation official.

"It has been identified as a side engine cover, but we do not yet know which plane it came from," he said.

The wing piece was found on a runway used by planes on domestic flights as well as some cargo planes flying internationally, he said.

Last month, a similar-sized piece of wing fell from a jetliner minutes after it took off from the same airport.

The Boeing 737, which was operated by a local airline, landed safely but the incident added to safety concerns about commercial aviation in Indonesia.

The country suffered a series of accidents earlier this year that killed more than 120 people, leading the European Union to ban all the country's airlines from landing there.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration downgraded the nation's rating to its lowest category.

Will the airline who lost the part come forward? I'm betting not.

A developing nation trying to become a force in its region and even the world, doesn't want to be known as having a broken down transportation system. In these days of globalization, officials and business people still have a need for travel. If they fear for their safety when flying, money won't flow as rapidly as it would to nations where flying entails few risks.

Linked to- Adam, Blue Star, Bright & Early, Leaning Straight Up,

Indonesia disappearing act

First it was a lake in Chile, now it's islands in the South Pacific.

JAKARTA (AFP) - Indonesia has lost 24 of its more than 17,500 islands due to natural disasters and environmental damage, a minister said Thursday according to the Antara news agency.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi said four islands disappeared when the massive tsunami devastated Aceh on December 26, 2004, the state-run agency reported.

Twenty other islands in Sumatra's Riau province and in the Seribu island group in Jakarta Bay had also vanished due to exploitation and environmental damage, Numberi said.

Consequently, Indonesia's total tally of islands has fallen from 17,504 to 17,480 and the new figure reported to the United Nations, he said.

"Scientists have even predicted that Indonesia could lose at least 2,000 islands by 2030 if the government fails to anticipate it and take preventive measures," the minister was quoted as saying.

The new figures come as Indonesia is set to host a major UN climate change conference on the resort island of Bali next week.

Yes blame everything on global warming and climate change. Do experts realize how dumb they sound when they do this? Global warming can't do everything.

Indonesia is hit on a regular basis by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other disasters. With so much seismic activity in the region, I'd be looking there for the probable cause.

Linked to- Perri Nelson, Pirate's Cove, Populist, Yankee Sailor,

Thorns

From the Financial Times-

Indonesia’s often prickly relations with Singapore have hit another thorny patch as Jakarta has shelved defence co-operation and extradition agreements that the countries signed six months ago.

Separately, Indonesia’s business competition supervisory commission, the KPPU, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that investigators had found “strong indications” that Temasek, Singapore’s state investment fund, had violated Indonesia’s anti-monopoly laws.

The developments follow moves by Indonesia earlier this year to ban sand and, briefly, granite exports to Singapore. The island state has also expressed concern at Indonesia’s failure to prevent forest and peat fires from smothering it with polluting haze for long periods.

Jakarta-based analysts believe that creeping xenophobia, particularly among legislators, is driving Indonesian policy.

Hassan Wirajuda, Indonesia’s foreign minister, said on Tuesday that the defence agreement would be put aside until “the situation is conducive to proceed”. Since the agreement was signed as a package with the extradition treaty, the latter will not go into effect either.

Legislators complained that Indonesia was ceding sovereignty to Singapore by allowing the tiny country access to sea and air space for military exercises.

Indonesia, a nation of 234 million people, feeling threatened by a country of 4.5 million people, is just silly. Even economically based on GDP, Indonesia outpaces the smaller Singapore.

As for Tempasek, they own a large share of Indonesia's two biggest cellular companies. Is that really anti-competition? How did Tempasek acquire their stake? I'm assuming none of happened overnight, or in the months since the treaty ratified.

Bottom line- I think Indonesia is acting both irrationally based on some unfounded jealousy for Singapore. If Indonesia wants to continue growing as a power in both the region and the world, they need to put things in proper perspective so far as their neighbors go. What does a tiger have to fear from a fly?

Linked to- Right Voices, Right Wing Nation, Stuck on Stupid, Third World County,

Virginity test

From Reuters-

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A plan to carry out virginity tests on female high school students in a district in Indonesia's West Java province has been dropped after a public outcry, media reports said.

The head of Indramayu district, Irianto Syafiuddin, is reported to have made the proposal for virginity tests after a video showing two high school students having sex circulated via mobile phones.

"Because many people oppose it, we cancelled (the plan)," Syafiuddin was quoted as saying by online news service Detik.com.

Syafiuddin could not immediately be contacted, but according to media reports he will look for an alternative way to prevent students from engaging in pre-marital sex.

Students, parents and activists viewed the planned virginity tests on thousands of high school students in the district as a violation of human rights, the Jakarta Post said.

"We can't accept this idea. It's unfair as the porn video was just an isolated case," a female student, Gita, was quoted as saying by the Post.

Many in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, place high value on virginity, although pre-marital sex is not uncommon among the younger generation.

Remaining celibate till one is married, is the preferred course.(And what dear wife and I did till we married in 1989. TFM the last of the 28-year-old virgins. Tells you how ugly I am but the wife disagrees) However it should be up to the individual, and a test while I don't think is a human rights violation, is an abuse of power by government officials. Why not test boys too? We all know the reason but female students do deserve privacy and the ability to choose how they conduct their sex lives without the interference of government.

Note- If someone wants to argue then that if I were to be consistent I would then have to be pro-choice, I'd admit they have a point. I'm admittedly ambivalent in regards to the abortion issue. As a parent, I'm pro-life and think the taking of a human life to be disgusting. On the other hand, I prefer government staying out of people's lives as much as possible. In other words, I'd rather not talk about it(Don't tell my wife. LOL, she is very pro-life.) and let others debate whether abortion should be legal or illegal.

Linked to- Blue Star, Outside the Beltway, Pursuing Holiness, Third World County,

Malacca Pirates

No we're not talking about a professional sports team but this news.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Armed pirates attacked a Malaysian barge in the Malacca Strait and kidnapped two Indonesian crew, in the first high sea abduction in the busy waterway in more than two years, a global maritime watchdog said Tuesday.

The incident late Monday marked the third pirate attack in the strait this year, but the first since July 2005 in which ship crew were kidnapped, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

The barge was carrying steel billets from Malaysia's northern state of Penang to Belawan in Indonesia when it was raided by some 10 gun-toting pirates, Choong said.

They destroyed all communication equipment on board before fleeing with the ship master and chief engineer, both Indonesian, he said. Another six Indonesian crew were unharmed, he said, adding that the vessel is now in Belawan for investigation.

The strait is notorious for robberies and hijackings, but the number of attacks has fallen since Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, which share the waterway, launched coordinated maritime and air patrols in recent years to curb piracy.

Some 65,000 vessels pass through the Malacca Strait each year, carrying half the world's oil and more than a third of its commerce.

The Malacca Straits is one of the most travelled and most visited shipping channels in the world. Approximately twenty to twenty-five percent of the world's sea trade pass through these waters.

Pirates are a perennial nuisance in that part of the world. They can still be found in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and The Philippines. When all is said and done, pirates pose nothing but a local threat.

The greatest in these straits would be a terrorist. The sinking or venting of a large oil tanker, could have catastrophic consequences.(The waters are as shallow as 25m) Some people dismiss the threat, terrorists like Bin Laden prefer dramatic targets. How about a strike lets say close to Singapore? Singapore has a population of over 4.5 million people, and has a very busy port. A terrrorist attack near there would be certain to gain the dramatic television coverage many terrorists seek along with death and destruction.

Bottom line- Terrorists can attack anywhere, that's why a defensive strategy is unlikely ever to work. There are just many vulnerable spots in the world.

Linked to- Adam, Amboy Times, Big Dog, Outside the Beltway, Pirate's Cove,

Herbs and Spices

From AP-

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Marijuana possession should remain a crime in Indonesia, but chefs who use the herb as a traditional way to season curries should not be arrested, the country's vice president told local reporters.

Cooks in parts of Indonesia — a nation that executes drug traffickers — say they use tiny amounts of crushed marijuana leaves or seeds as a spice in certain dishes.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Vice President Yusuf Kalla said there was "no way" Indonesia would legalize or decriminalize marijuana as some countries in western Europe have done.

"It is all right to use it as a food seasoning, but it should not be fully legalized," Kalla was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.

Kalla did not address the problems such a stance might pose to police tasked with arresting marijuana users. Officers have never previously cracked down on the use of marijuana in the kitchen or said the practice was a particular problem.

I believe some loosening in current drug laws is long overdue. AP is correct in noting how difficult it would be to differentiate between marijuana use for food and for personal use. It leaves the question of whether one is breaking the law in the hands of police and prosecutors and therefore can either lead to honest mistakes by law enforcement at best and abuses by the same in worst case scenarios. With the draconian drug laws currently in effect in Indonesia, I wouldn't want to be risking my life over something I'm either eating or serving to others.

Linked to- Amboy Times, Outside the Beltway, Pursuing Holiness, Webloggin,

Dead man on rails

Some news from Indonesia. I wonder why a lavatory attendant didn't notice anything earlier? Because one less bathroom to clean made his job easier. Then this is a state owned railroad, we all know how efficent government employees are. In any case, RIP Edy Haryanto.

Linked to- Jo, Pirate's Cove, StikNstein

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A dead passenger traveled unnoticed for at least half a day on an executive passenger train, an Indonesian newspaper reported Friday.

Anxious family members found the body of Edy Haryanto, 55, sitting in a locked lavatory on Thursday afternoon, more than a day after he had boarded with a group of friends in the central Javanese town of Tegal, the Warta Kota newspaper reported.

His family became worried when Haryanto didn't get out at the station in Jakarta at the end of the 6-hour journey and his cell phone went unanswered.

The body traveled back and forth between Tegal and Jakarta before a janitor told the family he had been unable to clean one lavatory because the door was locked, the report said.

The cause of the death was not immediately clear, but Haryanto had recently suffered a stroke, it said.

Dina Nurhandayani, the man's 29-year-old daughter, said she planned to file a complaint of negligence with the state-owned train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia.