Jokowi, in Rare Tirade, Threatens to Fire Officials Over Cargo Delays at Tanjung Priok

Jakarta Globe, Jun 17, 2015

President Joko Widodo telling officials and reporters what’s what, during a visit to
 Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port on Wednesday. The president threatened to fire
 officials responsible for the notorious delays in moving cargo through the port.
(Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo gave an uncharacteristic outburst during an inspection of Jakarta’s Tanjung Priok Port on Wednesday, threatening to fire officials responsible for the lengthy delays in moving containers through the port.

“The process takes too long because the people handling it don’t want to move fast,” he told an entourage of officials and reporters.

He noted that Tanjung Priok’s dwell time, or the amount of time a container spends at the port before moving on, was an average of 5.5 days – the longest in Asia, he said. He also said some items took up to a month to clear customs and excise.

Joko added he was well aware of the legendary delays at the port, which handles two-thirds of Indonesia’s international trade, from his experience running a furniture export business, and threatened to fire any officials responsible for the problem.

“Let it be known that if things get [even more] difficult, I can fire the director general, the people on the ground, even the minister. If that’s how you work that’s [what will happen],” he said.

He did not specify which director general or minister he was referring to. The director general of customs and excise is Agung Kuswandono, whose office falls under the purview of the Finance Ministry, headed by Bambang Brodjonegoro. The trade and transportation ministries, which also have a hand in operations at the port, are headed respectively by Rachmat Gobel and Jonan Ignasius.

Joko said it was apparent that no one involved in the process – from loading and unloading containers to clearing them through customs – understood their duties or responsibilities, and chastised the officials around him for glossing over the problems.

“Don’t say everything’s fine. The reality is that [Indonesia] is lagging far behind. So who? Customs or trade? Who should I be speaking to?” he said, repeating the question seven more times.

There was no response from any of the officials.

“Which agency takes the longest time [processing] exports and imports?” the president went on. “There’s gotta be one. So I’m asking again, which one? Fess up, and we’ll fix it.”

Again there was no response.

Joko said the average dwell time at Tanjung Priok should be brought down to 4.7 days if Indonesia was to be competitive with Singapore and Malaysia.

“I want this port to be faster, more efficient, to give the best import and export services, because our business is the service business,” he said.

Beijing bans rare animal delicacies at official dinners

Want China Times, Xinhua 2013-12-10

A selection of dishes at a restaurant in Zhengzhou, Henan province. (Photo/CNS)

China's central authorities on Sunday published a regulation that explicitly ruled out dishes containing shark fins, bird nests and wild animal products in official reception dinners.

The document, jointly issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, detailed regulations of the use of public funding on receptions by local authorities to receive visiting Party or governmental officials.

Shark fins, bird nests and products of rare wild animals are popular materials in luxury dinners in China.

FRUGAL RECEPTIONS

Officials on business tours should arrange their own meals according to relevant expenditure standards and the local hosts are allowed to provide only one reception dinner if needed, the regulation said.

The regulation said cigarettes and up-market liquors are not allowed to be served at official dinners and such receptions should not be held in private clubs or upscale places.

It is also prohibited to organize conference and activities at tourist attractions or commercial entertainment venues and government funds should not be used to cover officials' personal recreational visits, according to the documents.

Moreover, officials below provincial level should not live in suite rooms on their business trips, it said.

Local hosts are also banned from giving cash, negotiable securities, souvenirs or local products as gifts for the officials.

The regulation reiterated the requirements that no welcoming ceremony, banners or carpets should be arranged in receiving officials at airports and stations and the number of the officials' team should be strictly controlled.

The use of government vehicles and police cars in reception activities should also be kept within a reasonable level, it said.

TIGHTENED SUPERVISION

The regulation said public spending on official receptions should be listed as a separate item in the authorities' budgets and relevant information should be made open for the public's supervision.

Disciplinary and supervisory agencies are told to strengthen supervision over the use of government funds on such activities and officials who violated the rule should be held accountable.

In addition to simplicity and transparency, the document stated that traditions of relevant ethnic minority groups should also be well respected.

According to the document, the new rules are to promote frugality, oppose extravagance and enhance the anti-corruption drive among Party and governmental authorities.

The new regulation will also be applied to state-owned enterprises, state-owned financial institutions and state-sponsored organizations.

FURTHER REFORMS

In addition to strict rules, the document also features reform efforts to curb extravagance in official receptions, said a statement by the Government Offices Administration on Sunday.

The regulation has mapped out reforms in the administrative system of official receptions and a system of centralized management of the resources for the reception expenses, the statement said.

Moreover, the statement said rules in the new regulation are practical, making the enforcement much easier.

Lin Jiabin, an analyst with the social development division of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said the new regulation is expected to put a halt to the lavishing on official reception banquets as the rules are very detailed and practical.

However, he also urged further improvement to the systems for the administration of financial and fiscal expenditures to ensure the long-term enforcement of the anti-extravagance drive.

Local authorities tend to offer excessive reception for visiting officials as part of their ostentation displays, and the root for such problems lies in the loopholes with relevant systems, said Lin Shuanglin, director of the public finance research center of Peking University.

Such practices have caused huge waste and fueled the lavish life styles among some officials, said Xie Chuntao, a professor with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing.

As the new regulation has clearly defined the limits and restrictions in relevant activities, it is expected to generate positive effects to the frugality campaign, Lin Shuanglin said.

Indonesia receives more cruise ship calls

Antara News, Thu, May 26 2011

According the ministry`s statistical data, Indonesia received 140 calls with 135,608 passengers in 2009; and 213 calls with 127,674 passengers in 2010.

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The number of international cruise ship calls at Indonesia`s harbors has increased significantly over the past three years, an official said.

"Indonesia has become a favorite of world cruise operators, as indicated by the number of cruise ship calls which has gone up over the past three years," the tourism and culture ministry`s marketing director general, Sapta Nirwandar, said here Wednesday.

According the ministry`s statistical data, Indonesia received 140 calls with 135,608 passengers in 2009; and 213 calls with 127,674 passengers in 2010.

In 2011, the country received 189 calls, a decrease, but the number of the passengers was significantly up to 135,608 passengers.

"World cruise operators have shifted to the latest generation cruise ships, namely mega cruise such as `Oasis of the Seas` which can carry 6,360 passengers and 2.165 crew members on board," Sapta said.

Another mega cruise, "Rhapsody of The Seas" belonging to Royal Caribbean International and having a capacity to accommodate 2,435 passengers and 765 crew members, once called at the Lombok harbor recently.

He believed that Indonesia has a better chance to become a world cruise destination with the usage of mega cruise ships.

"However, it is also a challenge for us to prepare adequate facilities and infrastructure," he said.

For that purpose, the ministry will organize a seminar on "Cruise Development of Indonesia: How to Meet The Challenge of The Increasing Tonnage and Capacity of The Cruise Ships" at Sapta Pesona building, here on May 30, 2011.

Speakers of the seminar will include foreign and domestic cruise management consultants, operators and practitioners as well as seaport administrators in Indonesia.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry has set itself the target of 7.7 million foreign tourist arrivals this year.

The number of domestic tourists this year was also expected to increase to 237 million from 234 million in 2010.

Editor: Heru

Navy grants ferry to Sangihe administration

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 01/31/2011

The Indonesian Navy granted on Monday a ferry to the Sangihe islands administration, North Sulawesi, to help resolve its protracted sea transportation problems.

Indonesian Navy chief Adm. Seoparno handed over the ferry to the administration, witnessed by among others North Sulawesi Governor Sarundajang.

Sangihe islands deputy regent Jabes Gaghana said the ferry would be used to transport people from Tahuna to Manado and back.

Whistleblower aims to expose dark side of Japanese whaling

'Mr Whale' alleges widespread criminality among former colleagues on mother ship of Japanese whaling fleet

guardian.co.uk, Justin McCurry in Tokyo, Monday 14 June 2010 19.03 BST

'Mr Whale' wearing his Kyodo Senpaku whaling fleet uniform. Photograph: Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert/Greenpeace

He once wielded a knife on the deck of a Japanese whaling ship, slicing apart the behemoths of the ocean in the name of "scientific research", while much of the rest of the world looked on in horror.

Now, as Japan pushes to overturn the 24-year ban on commercial whaling, the former whaler has come forward with allegations of widespread criminality among the men with whom he spent months in the freezing waters of the Antarctic.

Sent every winter to slaughter the mammals for research that Japan says is vital to our understanding of whale populations, the crewmen are instead seizing and selling prized cuts of meat to earn extra cash and, in at least one case, earn many more times their annual salary, says the whaler-turned-whistleblower.

He refers to himself only as "Kujira-san" (Mr Whale), a precaution necessitated by a genuine fear for his safety. But the personal risks will be worthwhile, he says, if it means the world learns the truth about the dark side of Japan's whaling industry.

"Even before we arrived in the Antarctic Ocean," he says of a recent expedition, "the more experienced whalers would talk about taking whale meat home to sell. It was an open secret. Even officials from the Institute of Cetacean Research [a quasi-governmental body that organises Japan's whaling programme] on the ship knew what was happening, but they turned a blind eye to it."

Kujira, who worked aboard the Nisshin Maru mother ship, saw crew members helping themselves to prime cuts of whale meat and packing them into boxes they would mark with doodles or pseudonyms so they could identify them when the vessel reached port. "They never wrote their real names on the boxes," he said.

Some whalers would take home between five and 10 boxes, he said, while one secured as many as 40 boxes of prime meat that fetches ¥20,000 (about £148) a kilo when sold legally. One crew member built a house with the profits from illicitly sold whale meat, he said. "Another used the money he earned to buy a car," he said. "They were careful to select only the best cuts, like the meat near the tail fin. I never dared challenge them."

Kujira paints an unpleasant picture of life at sea, although he is reluctant to divulge details for fear of revealing his identity.

Newcomers are badly treated by more experienced whalers, fuelled by a machismo culture that is disappearing from other parts of the fishing industry. "The treatment of junior crew has improved a lot elsewhere over the last 40 years," he said. "But the industry seems to be trapped in time."

He contradicted Japan's claims that the industry, which reportedly required government subsidies of almost $12m in 2008-09, is highly efficient. The fleet would sometimes catch more whales than necessary, he said, strip them of their most expensive parts and throw what was left overboard.

"I didn't think of the embezzlement at first. I just couldn't stand the waste. A lot of meat was being thrown away because we kept catching whales even after we'd reached our daily quota. I decided I had to tell someone what was happening."

Oddly, perhaps, for someone with his professional background, he sought help from Greenpeace. In 2008, the organisation launched a secret investigation into embezzlement by the crew of the Nisshin Maru, during which two activists, Junichi Sato and Toru Suzuki, intercepted a box containing 23kg of whale meat – worth about ¥350,000 – at a warehouse in Japan that they later presented as evidence.

After initially agreeing to act on their claims, prosecutors dropped the case and instead, Sato and Suzuki were arrested and charged with theft and trespassing.

Last week, prosecutors demanded an 18-month prison sentence for the "Tokyo Two", who were held without charge for 23 days and interrogated while strapped to chairs without their lawyers present. A ruling is expected in the next few months.

Kujira's allegations come as the International Whaling Commission [IWC] prepares to meet next week in Morocco to discuss a proposal that could end the moratorium on commercial whaling in return for whaling nations agreeing to smaller quotas. In the run up to the meeting, Japan has reverted to its preferred tactic of using aid to sway small islands and even landlocked nations to vote with it in the 88-member body.

Under the IWC moratorium, Japan is permitted to catch just under 1,000 whales – mainly minke – in the name of scientific research. Meat from the cull is sold on the open market and the profits used to fund future whaling expeditions.

Japan denies allegations of vote-buying, but has acknowledged that it invests heavily in the fishing industries of some IWC allies, and pays the expenses of delegates from poorer countries.

Kujira says Greenpeace's investigation has forced whaling crews to change their ways. "I heard from my sources that the theft of whale meat has stopped because of the media attention. But dozens of younger crewmen have left the fleet because they can no longer steal whale meat. They only joined the fleet because they knew they could make lots of money at the end of each trip. It was the only perk of a very tough job. The older whalers are just hanging on for their pensions."

The Institute of Cetacean Research has insisted that crew members take home only small quantities of whale meat as a reward for spending months working in some of the world's most inhospitable waters.

Kujira is trying to generate interest among Japan's media, which are reluctant to criticise the country's research culls while it defends itself against mounting international criticism of the annual slaughter.

Although he no longer works for the fleet, Kujira adds that he will continue to campaign behind the scenes, at great risk to his own safety, until the Japanese public learn the truth about the industry: "I dread to think what the other whalers would do to me if they knew who I was. They could do anything they wanted to me. I would be living in fear of my life."

A whale tale

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is bitterly divided over Japan's research whaling programme.

The country slaughters about 950 mainly minke whales every year in the name of scientific research, but critics say the culls are commercial whaling in disguise, since the meat is sold on the open market.

Under a proposal submitted by IWC chairman Cristian Maquieira, Japan would be permitted to resume commercial whaling for 10 years, but would have to adhere to strict quotas "significantly lower" than current ones.

One estimate says the move could spare more than 5,000 whales over the next decade. Two other whaling nations, Iceland and Norway, would also be able to take part in the experiment. The three nations have killed 35,000 whales since the IWC ban went into effect in 1986.

They would have to agree to other conditions, such as the presence of observers on ships, DNA registers of slaughtered whales and market sampling to detect illegal whaling.

Campaigners fear the proposal could lead to a return to large-scale commercial whaling and say the IWC should be forcing whaling nations to end the culls altogether.

There are large numbers of minke whales in the north Atlantic and western north Pacific, but the proposal would also permit limited catches of fin and sei whales, both listed as endangered.

The move is under discussion and would require the support by 75% of the IWC's 88 members to pass. Despite allegations of vote buying, Japan is currently some way short of acquiring the votes it needs.

Allegations: The Yushin Maru ship captures a whale. Japan has been accused of bribing small countries with cash and prostitutes to help end the ban on whaling

Related Articles:

Ocean giants

Japan 'gave cash and call girls to rig whaling vote' in bid to end 24-year ban

Australia to mount legal bid against Japan whaling

Whale population in Indonesia decreases

Sperm whale faeces offset CO2 emissions

Sperm whales may put a gentle (and unwitting) brake on climate change

Officer: I Saw Susno Take the Bribe Over Fish Farm

Jakarta Globe, Farouk Arnaz, May 09, 2010

Susno Duadji arriving at National Police headquarters in this file photo.
(JG Photo/Safir Makki)

A middle-ranking police officer said on Sunday he witnessed former National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji take a bribe from suspected major case broker Sjahril Djohan in December 2008.

“I saw it,” former narcotics detective Adj. Sr. Comr. Syamsurizal Mokoagouw told the Jakarta Globe. “I bumped into Sjahril at Susno’s house on Jalan Abu Ferin in Fatmawati [South Jakarta]. I was there to report to Susno prior to my departure for the Netherlands on a methamphetamine-smuggling investigation.”

Syamsurizal added police have summoned him as a witness in the probe into the alleged Rp 500 million ($55,000) bribe.

“I told the investigators everything I saw,” he said. “I’m willing to testify against Susno, and I’m not afraid of anything because what I’ve said is true.”

He said he saw Sjahril hand Susno a brown paper bag, but did not see its contents. Sjahril is alleged to have bribed Susno on behalf of the co-owner of a fish farm who was seeking a police probe into his business partner for embezzlement.

“Since the case came to light, I’ve understood that the money was a bribe,” Syamsurizal said.

According to copies of police dossiers obtained by the Globe three weeks ago, Sjahril, who was declared a suspect in mid-April, told investigators he had personally handed over the bribe to Susno at the latter’s home in December 2008.

Sjahril said that Syamsurizal had happened to be there. Sjahril said he was acquainted with the officer from his stint as a consultant at the National Police’s Narcotics Directorate in East Jakarta, where Syamsurizal served between 2006 and 2008.

Sjahril, according to the dossiers, said the money came from Haposan Hutagalung, a lawyer representing a Singaporean businessman identified only as Mr Hoo. Hoo had previously pressed charges against his business partner, Anwar Salamah, for allegedly embezzling 11 million Singapore dollars from their joint-venture arowana farm in Riau.

“Mr Hoo felt the police investigators were ineffective, so Haposan sought my help to speed things up,” Sjahril said. “I was close to Susno, so I used that relationship to help Haposan.”

Susno is scheduled for questioning at police headquarters this morning as a witness after failing to appear last Thursday.

“I’ve given my explanation to this allegation on my personal Web site, www.susnoduadji.com,” he told the Globe on Sunday. “Check it out there.”

In his statement, Susno reiterates his innocence and denies ever taking a bribe from Sjahril.

“It is impossible that I took a bribe because the [arowana] case remains in limbo even now,” the site says. “The prosecutors say their dossier on it is not yet complete.” Susno adds that one of his superiors was a stakeholder in the farm, but does not elaborate.

Susno also says on his site that he will show up for questioning today but will demand details of the case before proceeding with the questioning.

A police source working on the case told the Globe earlier that police were close to arresting Susno on charges of bribery, no matter the outcome of his questioning.

Related Article:

Susno evades questioning while police reveal new case

NGO calls for probe into fishery mafia

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 05/04/2010 10:06 AM |

JAKARTA: An NGO calls for the Judicial Mafia Taskforce and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to start looking into widespread corruption in the fisheries sector.

Kiara (People’s Coalition for Fishery Justice) secretary general M. Riza Damanik said time is high for law enforcers to bust corrupt practices at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry.

He added that rife corruption at the ministry had been publicly reported by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the KPK, which conducted an integrity survey in various ministries.

Riza said corruption occurred in the form of budget inefficiencies, abuse of permits and illegal levies at ports. In a case of abuse of permits, many local companies employ more foreign workers than the maximum 30 percent of total staff.

“The audit agency found that of the 1, 947 fishing vessel crew members it audited, 1,619, or 82 percent, were foreigners. How could that happen?” Riza said. — JP

Two officials found guilty in patrol boat graft case

Bagus Budi Tama Saragih, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta| Thu, 02/04/2010 2:02 PM

The Corruption Court found Djoni Anwir Algamar and Tansean Parlindungan Malau, two former Transportation Ministry officials, guilty of corruption in a graft case Thursday and sentenced them to three years and two and a half years in prison respectively.

The graft case involved the procurement of 20 patrol boats by the ministry in 2007 worth Rp 300 billion (US$32.4 million).

The court previously convicted Dedy Suwarsono, the director of PT Bina Mina Karya Perkasa, the ministry's partner in the procurement, and sentenced him to four years in prison.

Dedy allegedly paid lawmaker Bulyan Royan of the Reform Star Party (PBR) Rp 480 million and paid Rp 685 million to ministry officials, including Djoni and Malau, as the ministry's head of the project committee.

Bulyan was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment last year.

Seaport workers rally against illegal levies

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 01/17/2010 12:08 PM

Hundreds of Jakarta seaport workers staged a protest on Sunday, demanding that authorities crack down on illegal levies in the port.

The workers held their demonstration in the complex of Jakarta International Container Terminal, North Jakarta.

Workers coordinator Ilhamsyah said the illegal levies had burdened drivers of container trucks.

"A driver can pay Rp 30,000 ((US$3.2) just for illegal levies in the terminal," he said.

He also demanded that facilities for drivers such as rest room and canteen be improved.

Government supplier gets seven years for procurement bid fiasco

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/11/2009 5:52 PM  

The Corruption Court on Wednesday sentenced government supplier David Kurniawan Wiranata to seven years in prison for his role in a graft case involving the procurement of fishing tools for fishermen affected by the 2006 tsunami in West Java. 

The court also demanded the defendant pay Rp 250 million (US$21,700) or serve an additional six months in jail should he fail to pay the fine. 

David will also have to pay Rp 1.1 billion in compensation to the state or spend an additional three years in jail if he cannot return the money to the state. 

A panel of judges said that defendant, who was director of fishing company PT Buntala Bersaudara Darmaja, had been proven to have violated Article 2 of the 1999 Corruption Law and the 2003 presidential decree stipulating a minimum requirement of three companies in any bid. 

"The defendant made personal gains of up to Rp 776.6 million from the procurement bid, while receiving another Rp 1.15 billion from another company, PT Yendi Nesa Prima," presiding judge Teguh Hariyanto said. 

He added David had given Rp 570 million in bribes to West Java Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Agency officials Asep Hartiyoman and Ade Kusuma to secure the bid. 

David said he would file an appeal, while the prosecutors have yet to decide.(ewd)