2) Australian army chief to meet Indonesian military leaders after spat
3) In Papua, sexual harassment often occurs in women journalists
—————————————————
1) Poor Ethics and Governance Result in Unsustainable Forest Practices: Activist
Burning peatland forest in Ketapang district, West Kalimantan. United States-based environmental group Mighty Earth says Papua is the latest victim of unsustainable forest management practices after rampant deforestation left very few remaining trees in Sumatra and Kalimantan. (Photo courtesy of Greenpeace International)
By : Ratri M. Siniwi | on 6:25 PM February 02, 2017
Jakarta. Being home to the third largest rainforest in the world, Indonesia has always been watched closely by environmental groups concerned over deforestation.
Massive forest clearing in various parts of the country has been responsible for critical watershed conditions, major declines in endemic wildlife populations and habitat degradation.
According to United States-based environmental group Mighty Earth, Papua is the latest victim of unsustainable forest management practices after rampant deforestation left very few remaining trees in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Forest burning in Papua came into the spotlight last year when South Korean company Korindo cleared thousands of hectares of forest for palm oil concessions.
"First, the forest concessions in Sumatra were exploited. Then it moved to Kalimantan – all gone. Then a number of forest concessions moved to the eastern side of Indonesia, particularly Papua, with some measuring up to a million hectares,"
Bustar Maitar, the activist group's director for Southeast Asia, said on Wednesday (01/02).
His statement came up during a discussion on timber certification and its importance by the Dr. Sjahrir Foundation, which supports education, social welfare and the environment.
Bustar said the lack of urgency with the national mandatory timber legality assurance system, known as SVLK, is mainly due to a lack of ethics by industry players and poor governance by the authorities.
"It's a question of ethics when it comes to implementing policies [such as the SVLK] introduced by the government, as well as the environmental prerequisites [set by the certification]," he explained.
The activist added that Indonesian industry players should avoid the mindset that commodity certifications were being pushed by international demand to make the country uncompetitive in the global market.
"This might be true, but if we want to compete [in the global market], we must improve our standards. It would not just be for the global market, but it is to improve the value of our timber and to add to international recognition," Bustar said.
According to the Association of Indonesia Forest Concession Holders, the export volume of legal timber has been increasing every year, with 17.46 million tons recorded in 2016 from 15.73 million in the previous year.
However, the domestic market shows is more likely to source illegal timber due to a lack of education and the mindset Bustar mentioned.
"If it's not certified, it should be illegal," he said.
—————————————————————
2) Australian army chief to meet Indonesian military leaders after spat
- Posted 05 Feb 2017 14:45
JAKARTA: Australian army chief Angus Campbell will meet Indonesian military leaders in Jakarta on Wednesday, after defence cooperation was suspended last month over "insulting" teaching material found at an Australian base.
Campbell is due to meet Indonesian military (TNI) chief, Gatot Nurmantyo and army chief of staff Mulyono, TNI spokesman Wuryanto said.
Indonesia's military chief declared the rupture in military ties after an Indonesian officer found "offensive" teaching material while on a language training course in Australia late last year.
Nurmantyo said that the material "discredited the TNI, the nation of Indonesia and even the ideology of Indonesia", referring to material concerning East Timor and "Papua needing to be independent", as well as mocking the country's founding principles, known as Pancasila.
Both governments moved quickly to try to cool tensions and Indonesia's chief security minister, Wiranto, later said only cooperation related to the military's Australia-based language training programme had been suspended.
Australian media said Campbell would discuss the findings of an investigation by the defence department into the issue after Indonesia had sought assurances over the training material.
TNI spokesman Wuryanto declined to comment on the agenda for Wednesday's talks. A spokesman for Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne confirmed the visit but also declined to comment further on the talks.
The countries have extensive military cooperation, which ranges from counter-terrorism cooperation to border protection.
But they have had a rocky military relationship in recent years. Australia stopped joint training exercises with Indonesian special forces (Kopassus) after accusations of abuses by the unit in East Timor in 1999 as the territory prepared for independence.
Ties resumed when counter-terrorism cooperation became imperative after the 2002 nightclub bombings on the resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
Indonesia most recently suspended military ties in 2013 over revelations that Australian spies had tapped the mobile telephone of then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
(Reporting by Agustinus Beo Da Costa and Harry Pearl in SYDNEY; Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Nick Macfie)
- Reuters
———————————————
3) In Papua, sexual harassment often occurs in women journalists
Jubi | News Portal Papua No. 1,
Minggu, 05 Februari 2017 — 10:31
Jayapura, Jubi - In addition to the issue of freedom of the press is still cause for concern in Papua, Papuan women journalists face other problems that are not less alarming. Sexual harassment often override these women journalists after reporting.
This fact was discovered by eight journalists from eight media based in Jakarta, Makassar and Solo that since 29 January to 3 February 2017 visit to Papua to get the facts on the ground related to press freedom in Papua. Eight journalists have joined the Media Freedom Committee Indonesia (MFCI).
"It usually happens after my coverage. Sources covered starting to wonder through short messages (SMS). The initial question is usually about things that are reasonable. But the next question began to lead on matters of a personal nature and finally smelled of sexual abuse," Adi said Marsela, one of eight journalists who visited Papua in konsferensi Press held at aone, Jakarta, Saturday (02/04/2017).
He continued, cases of sexual harassment such as this are often taken for granted by women journalists.
"The journalist chose not to report a sexual abuse to the authorities," he said.
Another problem found by eight journalists are journalists regeneration. Media companies is difficult to recruit new journalists.
"Radar Timika never recruit journalists recently, in the first day there are thirty who joined the training, on the second day was reduced to 12 people, and on the third day is no more coming," said Palupi Auliani, journalists involved in the project MFCI in Timika ,
The business model is unhealthy effect on the independence of the media.
"For example in Timika, the media revenues sourced from Freeport and its subsidiaries and local governments," added Palupi.
For additional information, Press Freedom Index compiled Press Council in 2015 mentions Papua province in a state of somewhat free with a score of 63.88. The province of West Papua province recorded as less free with chord 52.56. (*)
———————————————
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.