News in short..,

The Jakarta Post, Fri, July 10 2015

Big catch: Soldiers seize one ton of marijuana in Medan, North Sumatra on Friday. The soldiers foiled an attempt to smuggle the 765 packages of marijuana to Solo after they were tipped off by a cargo service company.


Mt. Raung eruption still disrupting Bali flights,

Dozens of domestic and international flights from I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar, Bali, have been suspended because of the eruption of Mount Raung in East Java.

Co-general manager of PT Angkasa Pura I at the airport I Gusti Ngurah Ardika said in Kuta on Friday that the airport was closed for all flights on Thursday and this was extended until 9:30 a.m. on Friday

“We are still compiling the number of flights that cannot operate this Friday because of the mountain’s eruption. We predict dozens of flights will be cancelled or rescheduled,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said that 28 domestic and international flights were cancelled on Thursday and 15 domestic and international flights were suspended or rescheduled.

He said ash from the mountain’s eruption had reached the airport runway.

He added that his team would coordinate with all airlines serving Bali to handle the thousands of passengers that could not fly as a result of the airport’s closure


Indonesia to Reinforce Border Areas Amid S. China Sea Tension..,

Jakarta. Indonesia has announced plans to build more military posts in border areas to safeguard the archipelago’s sovereignty and territorial integrity — especially in areas facing the South China Sea.

National Development Planning (Bappenas) Minister Andrinof Chaniago said he was working with the Defense Ministry on a comprehensive defense plan to be presented to President Joko Widodo, and that the border reinforcements would be part of it.

“Our meeting [with the Defense Ministry] today was to agree on a plan of action for protecting Indonesia’s national interests and the nation’s territory in border areas,” Andrinof said on Friday.

Andrinof added that he had suggested to form a joint research team with officials from the Bappenas and Defense Ministry to implement the plan, which would include building military bases in Tanjung Datuk, West Kalimantan; on North Kalimantan’s Tarakan Island; and on the Natuna Islands, which are part of Riau Islands province and are located off the northwest coast of Kalimantan, close to waters claimed by China.

“We will then report our findings to President Jokowi and he will be the one to decide [on the course of action],” Andrinof said, referring to Joko by his popular nickname. “But we hope the plan can be implemented in the near future.”

Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu said he supported the initiative, adding that border areas should be the nation’s top priority as they can be contested by neighboring countries.

In May last year, Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry had to interfere as Malaysia had started construction of a lighthouse in the Tanjung Datuk border area. Construction was halted after negotiations.

“Building a military post [in areas like Tanjung Datuk] is a good idea. We must protect our natural resources, especially our maritime resources,” Ryamizard said. “The Defense Ministry fully supports the plan. We don’t want to see another dispute over our border areas like in the Sipadan and Ligitan case.”

Sipadan and Ligitan are two small islands located off the east coast of Kalimantan that were the subject of a decades-long dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia. The International Court of Justice ultimately decided to hand both islands to Malaysia in 2002.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, sparking increasingly tense conflict with countries like Vietnam and the Philippines. Indonesia, not formally involved in the territorial dispute, has so far been pushing for a diplomatic solution.


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