I N T E R N A T I O N A L
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
16 Pages Number 19 10th year
Price: Rp 3.000,-
Friday, December 29, 2017
How to use first need water purifier
The First Need Deluxe water purifier is one of the few filters on the market today that filters down to 2 microns. This means that it filters out all viruses, crypto, and protozoa without the need for additional purification tablets like Chlorine Dioxide. The only downside to this filter is that it weights 15 oz, which is heavy for you ultralight backpackers. Besides that, this filter is just exceptional. The filter itself is a glass matrix and will last for 200 gallons or more. Check the specs on your existing filter. Chances are that it is only capturing beasties that are larger than 3 microns. If this is the case, you need to rethink your filtering strategy and add a purification step using Chlorine. While drinkable,
chlorinated water tastes chlorinated and kind of ruins that backcountry experience. The First Need has a very long hose as you can see in the picture above. This makes it easy to pump from streams that have rocky banks. The tip contains a fine mesh screen, called a pre-filter, that screens out suspended solids. A first need pouch can be used to carry the filter or as a water bag for gravity based filtering. Normally, I leave this bag at home and just carry the filter in one of the mesh pockets on the outside of my pack where it can drip dry. Water is pushed through the filter by pumping the handle. It is possible to backwash the filter in order to clear the glass matrix if it becomes clogged. There are a variety of extra attachments that you can add to the outflow point of the filter that let you carry it to CamelBak and Platypus hydration reservoirs, or Nalgene bottles.
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Friday, December 29, 2017 World Kids Museum give water tanks to the refugee in Rendang, Karangasem Bali Post/Wawan
NPO World Kids Museum goes to Rendang
Giving donation and held fun games
AMLAPURA - Japan World Kids Museum handed over donations to refugee post in UPDT Farming Department in Rendang Village, Karangasem on Thursday, December 28. The donation was received by the Coordinator of Logistic I Wayan Sudiarta. NPO World Kids Museum is a NPO who work on culture and arts promtion in Indonesia and International goodwill since 2011. The Head of Operation of the World Kids Museum Tomomi Sakura Ijuin and Sushi Owaki stated that the donation consist of two water tank plus ready to drink. In addition
to that, they also donated 70 water purifying devices in Karangasem from the total 140 donated by the company. “The donation is from 100 companies and people from Japan. We will spread the donations to other refugee places,” Sakura said. She hopes that the donations can help the refugee of Mount Agung. “We hope that the donations will help them and also can give them happiness during the disaster condition,” she explained. In the occasion, she also took the children in the refugee place to join a drawing game. They are very enthusiastic in joining the event. “As you can see, they are very
happy. We are doing a special Japanese game called FukuWarai. It is a game to create happiness dan smile for the children, “ Sakura said. The Head of Logistic, I Wayan Sudiarta express his gratitude to World Kids Museum for their donations. He stated that it is very helpful for the refugee. “We only can say thank you because it is very important to us. We need the water very much so it is very helpful,” he said. Approximately, more than 40.000 people have fled due to the eruption of Mount Agung. Now, there is 2,000 refugees are staying in UPDT Farming Department in Rendang.
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Vehicles of emergency services are parked near a supermarket after an explosion in St Petersburg, Russia December 27, 2017.
Putin says St Petersburg supermarket bombing was terrorism
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said a bomb blast in a St Petersburg supermarket on Wednesday was an act of terrorism, and that security forces whose lives were threatened by terrorist suspects should shoot to kill if necessary. Putin was speaking on Thursday at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin for Russian personnel who served in Syria. “You know that yesterday in St Petersburg a terrorist act was carried out,” Putin told the audience, referring to the explosion that injured 13 shoppers in a branch of the Perekrestok supermarket chain. Investigators have opened a criminal case into Wednesday
evening’s blast, which they said was caused by a homemade bomb packed with pieces of metal. Russian media reports said the bomb was hidden in a locker where shoppers leave their belongings. Putin said the FSB security service had recently prevented “another
attempted terrorist act.”He gave no details, but the Kremlin said earlier this month that a U.S. tipoff had helped thwart a planned attack on St. Petersburg’s Kazansky Cathedral. Putin also told the ceremony that the security situation in
Russia would be much worse if thousands of Russian citizens who fought with Islamic State in Syria had been allowed to return home. Putin said security forces should take no chances with their own lives if confronted by terrorist suspects. “I yesterday ordered the FSB director to act within the framework of the law when detaining these bandits of course, but if there is a threat to the life and
well-being of our employees ...to act decisively, not take any prisoners, and liquidate the bandits on the spot.”(rtr) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.
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Bali News
Friday, December 29, 2017
Arrival at airport increases, but occupancy remains low
DENPASAR - The arrival of tourists based on the air traffic arrival record indeed showed an increase. However, it is apparently not accompanied with an increase in hotel occupancy and derivative business namely recreation object. “Indeed it has increased but not as significant as the traffic at the airport,” said Inda Trimafo Yudha, Chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Recreation Park Entrepreneurs (PUTRI) of Bali on Wednesday (Dec. 27). Similar question is also raised among tourism business players.
They predicted that arriving tourists will only make Bali as their transit point to other regions. For example, they further travel to Komodo, Lombok and Labuan Bajo. There is also possibility of different guest character in terms of their purchasing power. Bali has a variety of accommodation categories, not just hotels. “Last December 23, I asked the ITDC, the hotel occupancy was about 40 percent. Meanwhile, the domestic traffic at the airport actually increased compared to last year, while international traffic is approximately the same. Well, we must make introspection again and the data should be reviewed and researched data where these guests go,” she explained. Actually, in previous years, one week before Christmas, hotel rooms were alaready fully booked. From November to a week before Christmas is indeed deserted. What happens today is that hotel occupancy has not been evenly distributed. She admitted the current recovered tourism condition has been able to cover its business operations. However, she is worried if there will be another turmoil. The first homework to be resolved is the mitigation in case the airport closes. “As a result of the first airport closure, we become more aware, discuss and review mitigation plan technically,” she said. She hoped if the airport is closed it will not make guests traumatic. If the previous incident recurred, his board has better readiness to handle guests. There are
several mitigation options planned namely provision of transportation to sea crossing. District government of Badung has also supported by providing funding support for future mitigation. The transportation provided is also from the navy on the request of the government. Sea transportation with a capacity of 2,000 is ready to take guests to Surabaya. The recent airport closure has forced tourism entrepreneurs to use their reserve funds to cover operating costs. “Well, we must bail out. The operating costs we use today are saving of the past but not all entrepreneurs have savings. As entrepreneurs and speculators, in one sense we have to innovate. So, we have already refurbished or rejuvenated our property,” she explained. Meanwhile, Operations Manager of Karangasem Water Palace, Ida Made Alit, when in Denpasar said that after the airport closure not long ago, tourist visit in the region decreased up to 60 percent. Financially, it is calculated to worth IDR 3 million per day with the visit rate of 30-40 people per day. By and large, the income of Water Park reached IDR15 million – IDR 20 million per day. However, from December 23, the visit began to increase. Domestic guests now reach 200 people while foreign guests reach 50-60 people. (kmb42)
Ngurah Rai International Airport
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To make deterrent effect, litterers to be sanctioned customarily Facial photo to be displayed
TABANAN - Munduk Temu village, Pupuan, has its own unique way to keep the environment clean from littering. Those who are caught littering will be subject to customary sanctions in accordance with the agreed perarem (appendix to customary village law). Not only that, the violators are also imposed with social sanctions in the form of photo display and announced in the village media. Headman of Munduk Temu, I Nyoman Wintara, said the agreement on sanctions for people who dispose of garbage is decided through consultation with local BPD, LPM, KPD together with three customary villages at Munduk Temu namely Kebon Jero village, chief of Munduk Temu as well as Anggasari on December 9, 2017. This rule aims to preserve the environment so that local wisdom and ecosystem at Munduk Temu village can be well maintained. “The agreement has been made in some items, and it has been completed with the minutes so as not to be violated,” he said. The pararem having been agreed includes that Munduk Temu villagers and other residents are prohibited from littering and hunting, luring and capturing birds as well as electrocuting and poisoning fish in the region of Munduk Temu. If the three points are violated, the violators will be subject to customary sanctions in the form of fines. The amount of fine is pursuant to the agreement in each of customary village. At Anggasari and Kebon Jero village, the residents and those from other residents found littering will be fined at IDR 100,000, while Munduk Temu village charges IDR 250,000. “In addition, there is also social sanction from administrative village in the form of displaying photos and announced at local village media,” said Wintara. Moreover, he added that against the violation to poison and electrocute fish in the river, each customary village will impose a fine of IDR 1 million. “This effort is also meant to maintain ecosystem so as not to be destroyed arbitrarily,” he explained. Apart from the application of sanctions, on the other hand, there is also a reward system. Local residents also participate in maintaining the environment, especially at Munduk Temu customary village. A reward is provided for those that dare to report and become a witness to the violators. They will be paid a fee of IDR 100,000. “Now, this pararem is still in dissemination phase and will be effective next March 2018,” he said. On that account, Winarta hoped the agreement can be obeyed by the residents of Munduk Temu village to maintain the sustainability of the existing ecosystem. (kmb28)
To restore water catchment of two lakes
Agriculture Agency plants thousands of Arabica coffees SINGARAJA - Entering rainy season, the Buleleng Agriculture Agency intensively does planting in a number of villages in Buleleng. One of them is at Dasong hamlet, Pancasari, Sukasada sub-district, on Wednesday (Dec. 27). At this village, the agency handed over 5,000 Arabica coffee seedlings. The target of this planting is to restore the watershed ecosystem of Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan.
This planting movement was initiated with a symbolic handover of Arabica coffee seedlings to local villagers. Delivery of these seedlings was attended by Division Head of Plantation, Nyoman Partayasa, representing the Head of the Buleleng Agriculture Agency, Nyoman Swatantra. Nyoman Partayasa said the thousands of coffee seedlings are the result of nurseries funded by
the Buleleng Regional Budget 2017. Location of the planting is at Dasong hamlet and it was selected because the area poses a water catchment area of Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan. Another reason is that within the past few years the coffee plants widely cultivated have been replaced with seasonal crops. As a result, there is no buffer to these catchment areas, and the plantation areas often erode to
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trigger environmental disturbances in the lake itself. “It is the follow-up of our program because this area belongs to water catchment area for both lakes. Moreover, there was a lot of coffee planted here but now has changed a lot. Therefore, we do the planting by degrees,” he said. According to him, Arabica coffee seedlings are planted on the land with a certain slant. They have dual functions namely as retention of wa-
ter and soil surface erosion so as to reduce siltation in Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan. Besides, Arabica coffee also has economic function to supplement farmer’s income. “Maybe, it is not now, but in the future the land on this high slope can prevent erosion and siltation in the lake. Hopefully, these seedlings can be maintained and provide results to supplement family’s economy,” he explained. (kmb38)
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Festive Season Promo At The Damai
In celebrating the spirit of love and togetherness this Christmas, The Damai Resort in North Bali is offering a 3-course set menu at only IDR 1,350,000 nett (USD 100.00) per person inclusive of a welcome cocktail. Usher in the New Year with a decadent 6-course New Year’s Eve dinner, at only IDR 2,000,000 nett (USD 150.00). The restaurant serves undeniably delicious dishes, born out of a unique collabora-
tion with a renowned chef, Jakob Mielcke of Mielcke & Hurtigkarl, Denmark. The Damai is located in the beautiful seaside town of Lovina, on a green hill overlooking the sea in the village of Kayu Putih. There are 15 Garden, Sea View and Pool Villas all elegantly furnished with a mix of Javanese and Balinese influence. For further information and reservations please send an email to reservation@thedamai.com. Jl. Damai,
Kayu Putih, Lovina, Singaraja Bali | Ph: +62 813 3843 7703 | www.thedamai.com. Damai means ‘peaceful’. Our only 15 villas are surrounded by magnificent Balinese parks and a beautiful market garden. They range in size from the intimate to the palatial, some have private pools and some do not. All are decorated with simple luxuries, that make you feel like in a home, not in a hotel.
Friday, December 29, 2017
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Friday, December 29, 2017
SOMETIMES, the best pieces can be found tucked away in the men’s section of a store (or site). And with the oversize and menswear-inspired trends skyrocketing onto the street style scene this season, it comes as no surprise that many of our favorite celebs have
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The 3 coolest pieces models borrow from the boys
turned directly to the source and have shopped men’s pieces in lieu of womenswear. Models Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Baldwin have all been spotted recently sporting loose-fitting oversize men’s pieces. However, as the girls prove, the
Bali News
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Friday, December 29, 2017
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‘Bali Is Safe’ campaign ineffective, hotel occupancy drops
items (whether it’s Bella’s jean jacket or Kendall’s T-shirt) can just as easily be reworked into our wardrobes. The result? A borrowed-from-the-boys ensemble that looks as cool as it is comfortable. Now that’s a wardrobe winwin. (net)
The Jeans “Every Woman’s After” Right Now
WHEN Levi’s says that a style of skinny jeans has been “taking closets by storm ever since we released it”, we’re all ears. That’s exactly what the subject of an email newsletter from the brand stated this week. Not only that, the subject line of the email was “Every woman’s after this jean.” Upon opening the email, we were pleased to find that we’re not the only ones that are big fans of Levi’s 501 Skinny Jeans, the ‘90s-inspired style we’ve been obsessed with ever since their release late last year. Not only do the jeans look authentically vintage, but they’re comfortable, flattering, and affordable, with prices ranging from $98 to $168. They’re not the typical skin-tight skinny jeans we’ve all come to know. The 501 Skinny Jeans are more of a straight-leg look that fashion girls have been quite fond of as of late. They’re also available in different inseams, which is genius (for obvious reasons). So the bottom line is, when Levi’s says that these are the jeans that everyone wants, we definitely believe them. (net)
AMLAPURA — After Bali tourism slumped, the biggest impact is felt by hoteliers and restaurateurs in Bali. Even though the ‘Bali Is Safe’ campaign is intensively conducted towards the end of 2017, in reality it is difficult to recover the situation to normal. In Karangasem, hotel occupancy rate dropped considerably. Moreover, as of this December, star-rated hotels such as Alila Manggis have very low occupancy rate namely 6 percent. This was conveyed by the Secretary of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of Karangasem, Wayan Kariasa, when met in Amlapura on Tuesday (Dec. 26). He said that in normal situations, the quietest occupancy rate in December usually reached 40 percent. In the meantime, the data of PHRI Karangasem show that out of 18 non-star-rated hotels, 3 hotels belong to time share and 5 star-rated hotels are in slumped condition. Moreover, other small hotels have long been closed, and already laid off their employees. When asked about tourist arrivals to Bali that have begun to increase, he admitted that in Karangasem region there is no significant development. The situation remains difficult for tourism in Karangasem. All this time, tourists that come to Bali are dominated by Europeans. In addition, there are Australian tourists of the elderly and Asian tourists. Most tourism markets of Bali issued travel warning to visit Bali. This caused a lot of tourists wishing to visit Bali cancelled during the Christmas and New Year holidays. “Although some countries have opened their travel warning, like Australia, this has not had an impact at all on the tourism of Karangasem,” explained Kariasa. Hotels having collapsed or closed are forced to lay off their employees temporarily. Mean-
while, some hotels can only pay half wages. Aside from the problem of small tourist arrivals, tourism entrepreneurs are also experiencing the same problems as other entrepreneurs, namely related to bad loans in some banks. Like the demands of the other entrepreneurs in general in Karangasem, he also requested the abolition of interest and the delay of principal payments until the situation is back to normal. “Not to mention, many of our employees have loans in the bank by pledging their appointment certificate. Due to situation is like this, they are also difficult to meet the obligations. Besides, they also have difficulty to pay premium of BPJS Health and Employment,” he said. He hoped that Mount Agung will calm down and the situation returns to normal soon because currently the tourism business in Karangasem has been severely slumped. If this continues over the next few months, the difficult situation will have an increasingly widespread impact on employee layoff that further increases unemployment in Karangasem. On the other hand, Regent of Karangasem, I Gusti Ayu Mas Sumatri, claimed to have tried to restore the trust of tourists that Bali is safe. Moreover, President Joko Widodo with almost all his ministers has come to Bali and convinced the world that a vacation to Bali is safe. These efforts are being intensively undertaken by central government with local governments and private sector. Revocation of travel warning by several countries seems to have become the impact of this effort. Although it currently does not have impact on Karangasem, he is confident in the near future in keeping with the weakening activities of Mount Agung, the Bali tourism, especially Karangasem, will soon recover. (kmb31)
IBP/kmb
Even though the ‘Bali Is Safe’ campaign is intensively conducted towards the end of 2017, in reality it is difficult to recover the situation to normal.
The decline occurred both on passengers, motorcycles as well as vehicles.
IBP/kmb
Christmas and New Year holidays
Vehicle traffic to Bali decreases
NEGARA — Compared to last year, the traffic of people and vehicles coming to Bali via Ketapang-Gilimanuk Harbor on this Christmas and New Year decreased. As the data compiled from ASDP Ketapang, the decline occurred both on passengers, motorcycles as well as vehicles.
Although classified to show a daily increase when compared to normal days, overall it actually decreased when compared to condition in 2016. Precisely the traffic coming out of Bali through Gilimanuk Harbor showed an increase in terms of percentage during this Christmas and New Year. Until Wednesday morning (Dec. 27), the data of passenger traffic coming into Bali through Ketapang Harbor for a week reached 248,676 people. It decreased 8 percent compared to last year’s traffic reaching 271,233 people. Likewise, motorcycle that entered Bali showed a decline of 22 percent. This year, there were 12,938 motorcycles, while last year amounted to 16,532 motorcycles. The decline also occurred for vehicles consisting of private cars, buses and trucks. When compared to a year ago, the number of vehicles decreased by 4 percent or about a thousand more units from 31,432 units to 30,129 units this year. Operations Manager of Gilimanuk Harbor, Heru Wahyono, when asked for his confirmation last Wednesday justified the decline of both passengers and
vehicles entering Bali during this Christmas and New Year holiday compared to last year. But he added the holiday period remains to leave until the New Year and possibly there will be an increase. “Perhaps, it can happen because visitors are still waiting for the moment of the New Year and travel to Bali after celebrating Christmas,” explained Heru. So, there is still time left up to Saturday (Dec. 30), where vehicles coming into Bali may increase. Meanwhile, the traffic of passengers and vehicles out of Bali even increased. The data during a week to Wednesday morning (Dec. 27) showed an increase of 8,923 people or 4 percent for the number of passengers, an increase of 1,574 motorcycles or five percent from the previous year and 3 percent for vehicles. Previously (in 2016), the number of vehicles reached 35,912 units and the rose to 36,053 units. The ASDP harbor authority predicted the peak of outgoing traffic from Bali through Gilimanuk Harbor occurred on January 1 to January 4. “We are going to alert during the four days, reflecting on the previous experience of the New Year related to the vehicles of domestic tourists going to Bali and going back to Java,” explained Heru. He ensured the number of vessels is sufficient. Currently, the vessel operated amounts to 32 units. The ASDP has also alerted 16 spare vessels that can be operated any time if there is a constrained vessel. (kmb26)
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Friday, December 29, 2017
Bali News
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Friday, December 29, 2017
International
Give assurance to tourists, Badung prepare crisis center
MANGUPURA — Although it had lost the moment after the eruption of Mount Agung, the target of tourist visit to Bali as much as 5.6 million has been met. Of this number, they are still dominated by tourists from China followed by Australia and Europe. According to Chairman of the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) of Badung, Ray Suryawijaya, the target of Bali this year has been reached as many as 5.6 million. He said that central government indeed previously targeted to reach 6 million tourists visiting Bali. However, it is difficult to achieve because it lost the moment from September to December. “If this did not happen, the tourist visit may have exceeded the target of 6.5 million. Currently, the number of Chinese tourists is almost 2 million or nearly 30 percent of them are visiting Bali. With this year’s achievement, next year the target of tourist visit to Bali will be 7 million and 17 million to Indonesia,” he said amid the work program 2018 in Kuta on Wednesday (Dec. 27). With the revocation of travel warning by Chinese government, it is very optimistic that there will be an increase in Chinese tourists traveling to Bali especially before next Chinese New Year. He is confident that Chinese tourists will flood Bali after the government assured Chinese government where if there is closure of the airport, Bali is ready. “We are very excited. This is a result of our effort to convince them. We had a meeting with them for few times and China is ready to come as long as there is warranty when the airport is closed,” he concluded. In the meeting with tourism stakeholders, other than discussing the issue of tourism promotion, there was also a discussion on disaster mitigation. In this case, Badung district will create a crisis center to provide certainty for tourists during the disaster. According to him, in dealing with disaster, it would be nice if every district / city and the province have a crisis center. He said the crisis center is indeed an international standard. If something happens in the district or province itself, it will be able to move quickly. “Technically, it will involve all the agencies and all stakeholders in the structure of the crisis center,” he said. He explained if Mount Agung erupts and the airport is closed, tourists spending holidays in Bali will be given certainty. If they want to stay and return to hotel beforehand, they will be given a free one-night stay. After that, they will be given a special price. If they want to continue the trip to nearest airport, they will be provided with free transport. “To provide excellent services during airport closure, we will also set up a 24-hour operation post at the airport,” he admitted. Meanwhile, Head of the Badung Tourism Office, Made Badra, said the decree on the establishment of crisis center has now been issued. This serves as one of the legal aspects how will be the involvement of related agencies including industrial players to jointly overcome disaster in case of the airport closure. Today, the funds prepared by Badung district government are worth IDR 8.5 billion for disaster mitigation activities. “This will be done in accordance with international operating procedural standards, related to distribution, communications, transportation including banquets to affected tourists,” he explained. (kmb23)
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Taiwan president says China military causing regional instability
REUTERS/Jung Yeon-Je/Pool
Oh Tai-Kyu, head of a special task force for investigating the 2015 South Korea-Japan agreement over South Korea’s “comfort women” issue, speaks during a briefing on his investigation at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea December 27, 2017.
Antara Foto/Nyoman Budhiana via REUTERS
Workers wearing super hero costumes to attract tourists, sweep up garbage at Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia December 27, 2017 in this photo taken by Antara Foto.
Relying on tourism, environmental maintenance becomes priority
DENPASAR — Bali relying on tourism should not ignore its environment especially concerning the sanitation of coastal, lakes and river environment. It is necessary to make monitoring programs from relevant agencies such as the Environment Agency (DLH) and community awareness programs. Thus, the declaration of Bali Goes Green is not only limited to a jargon. “The maintenance budget of rivers, lakes and beaches needs to be allocated to DLH as in the Public Works Agency that has road maintenance budget. Moreover, rivers, lakes and beaches are the places for Hindu religious activities such as melis,” said Chairman of the Commission III of the Bali House of Representatives, I Nengah Tamba, via telephone amid the visit of Commission III to Yogyakarta on Wednesday (Dec. 27). According to Tamba, the existing ecosystem such as the river, lake and beach in Bali must be maintained with the concept of Tri Hita Karana to make it clean and sustainable. As for the budget, it is necessary to make adjustments because there are rivers or beaches located across the districts / municipality. Therefore, DLH Bali is asked to make coordination. “At least in 2019, DLH Bali must make a study. DLH directly maps out the existing potential. If this program works, simply involve the community,” explained this Democratic Party politician.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Commission III of the Bali House of Representatives, I Ketut Kariyasa Adnyana, said there must be a budget to maintain sanitation of rivers, lakes and beaches. It is important for the continuity of Bali as the icon of tourism sector. All the three are now haunted by pollution due to waste. Commission III even immediately drafted the regional regulation initiative on environmental business services to address the issue. “There should be a budget for monitoring, for community awareness programs and so forth if wishing to create Bali Goes Green as the icon of tourism,” explained this PDI-P politician. When interviewed separately, Head of the Bali Environmental Agency, Gede Suarjana, said that DLH has been focusing more on the activities of water quality supervision and monitoring. Meanwhile, the maintenance activities are carried out by other agencies such as the Watershed Management Institute, Bali-Penida River
Agency and the Public Works Agency. “We will monitor, for example, if someone throws garbage. Then, we set the status of the quality of rivers and water classes,” he said. Related to the rivers in Bali, continued Suarjana, one of the 22 district-crossing rivers is categorized into severely polluted namely the Tukad Mati. Furthermore, Tukad Badung in terms of quality belongs to moderately polluted and the remaining lightly polluted. Related to the lakes, they generally experience silting, contamination and are threatened by water weeds. Meanwhile, the beaches in Bali face a very serious abrasion threat and almost occur in all tourism areas. The abrasion happens almost 87.1 km of the coastline totally spread along 430 km. In the meantime, the coast is indicated abrasion is almost 181.7 km. “It is necessary to make zoning for the lake utilization, including the zoning on the beach to minimize it,” he said. (kmb32)
South Korea says ‘comfort women’ deal flawed, but Japan insists on no change
SEOUL - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday that a 2015 agreement with Japan over South Korean “comfort women” was seriously flawed after Japan said any attempt to revise it could damage relations. A South Korean panel set up to investigate the deal concluded on Wednesday that it failed to meet the needs of the thousands of girls and women forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels, many of them Korean, euphemistically termed “comfort women” by Japan. The announcement threw ties into doubt as both countries, strong U.S. allies, seek to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes. “The agreement cannot solve the comfort women issue,” Moon said, calling the deal a “political agreement that excludes victims and the public” and violates general principles in international society, according to a Blue House statement. A Japanese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Japan had conveyed its position to South Korea through diplomatic channels following Moon’s remarks, reiterating Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s comment on Wednesday that any
attempt to change the deal would be “unacceptable” and make relations “unmanageable”. Asked if Moon meant to declare the deal null and void, Blue House spokesman Park Soo-hyun said it was “inappropriate” for him to use the term at this point, adding the government would present its “final position”. Under the 2015 deal, Japan apologised to victims and provided 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) to a fund to help them. The two governments had agreed the issue would be “irreversibly resolved” if both fulfilled their obligations. Moon pledged to normalise relations and work toward “futureoriented cooperation” with Japan. Japan’s Nikkei business daily on Thursday quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as telling people close to him that the agreement “will not be changed by even one millimetre”.
“Regardless of the Japanese government’s stance, we take the investigation results seriously and humbly,” South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Roh Kyu-deok told a news briefing, adding Seoul would formulate follow-up measures as soon as possible that could help the victims “regain honour and heal the wounds in their hearts”. Japan and South Korea, which share a bitter history including Japanese colonisation, are key to international efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes that it pursues in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The comfort women issue has been a regular cause for contention between Japan and neighbours China and North and South Korea since the war. Japan colonised the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and occupied parts of China before and after the war. In 2014, the U.N. Human Rights Committee asked Japan to clarify the “comfort women” euphemism, with an independent expert on the panel calling for it to be replaced by “enforced sex slaves”. (rtr)
TAIPEI - China’s frequent military activity is causing regional instability, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday, adding that the island’s forces have been keeping a close eye on what they are up to. China considers self-ruled and democratic Taiwan to be its sacred territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring what it views as a wayward province under Chinese control. China has taken an increasingly hostile stance towards Taiwan since Tsai, from the island’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won presidential elections last year. Beijing suspects her of pushing for the island’s formal independence, a red line for China. Tsai says she wants peace with the mainland, but that she will defend Taiwan’s security and way of life. China’s air force has carried out 16 rounds of exercises close to Taiwan in the past year or so, Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a white paper this week. China’s military threat was growing by the day, it warned. Beijing has repeatedly said its drills, which have also taken place in the disputed South China Sea and the Sea of Japan, are routine and not aimed at any third party. Tsai, speaking to senior military officers in Taipei, said the island wanted peace but could “not have a single day without combat preparedness”. “In this period of time, the frequent military activities of mainland China in East Asia have already affected safety and stability in the region to a certain extent,” Tsai said. “Our country has always been a contributor to safety and stability in the region, this is why the national army has to keep an eye on movements of the Chinese military and take appropriate actions when needed to guarantee the safety of the country and region.” China has warned Taiwan against “using weapons to refuse reunification” and its state media has given high profile to images of Chinese jets flying close to the island. Tension rose this month when a senior Chinese diplomat threatened that China would invade Taiwan if any U.S. warships made port visits there. Taiwan is well equipped with mostly U.S.-made weapons, but has been pressing Washington to sell more advanced equipment. The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, to China’s distaste. (rtr)
12
International
Friday, December 29, 2017
World stocks climb as copper rally points to strong economy
Global stocks edged higher on Wednesday, shrugging off faltering oil prices and reports of soft iPhone X demand, as a rally in copper buoyed expectations for a strong year for the global economy in 2018. Copper prices rocketed to multi-year highs, pushing the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, up 0.22 percent. The metal, used in construction and machinery, is seen as a proxy for global growth.
REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
A boy is seen near the construction site of a future urban project of Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid in downtown Beirut, Lebanon December 27, 2017. fell 0.6 percent to $59.61 per barrel and Brent was last at $65.86, down 0.9 percent on the day. U.S. economic news sent mixed signals. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index registered at levels below consensus for December, while the National Association of Realtors reported pending home sales higher than economists had forecast for November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.09 points, or 0.11 percent, to 24,774.3, the S&P 500 gained 2.12 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,682.62 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.09 points, or 0.04 percent, to 6,939.34. DOLLAR DIPS, BONDS RALLY The dollar fell 0.23 percent against a basket of major currencies as commodity-linked
currencies gained and as traders bet improved global growth would spur major central banks to begin reducing monetary stimulus in 2018. Though stocks inched up, there was an undercurrent of nervousness in the market that pushed some investors into government bonds, pushing their yields lower. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 15/32 in price to yield nearly 2.413 percent, from 2.467 percent late on Tuesday. “The buying has been strong since the early morning,” said Thomas Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies in New York, as investors rebuilt positions in bonds after they under-performed earlier this month. “Geo-political risks have notched a little
higher, supporting rates markets,” said Mizuho’s head of rates Peter Chatwell, referring in particular to a renewal in tensions around North Korea. The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country’s ballistic missile program on Tuesday after the U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea last week. “The North Korean statement that U.N. sanctions are an act of war is, as tends to be the case, an exaggeration, but nevertheless, the market has no choice but to price it. Some safe-haven positioning is a natural reaction,” said Chatwell.(rtr)
DENPASAR - Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) is going to celebrate the moment of the New Year’s Eve in Bali. Based on information circulating, JK is scheduled to arrive on the Island of the Gods on Friday (Dec. 29). Before celebrating the New Year with family, this second person in Indonesia will also make a working visit to Karangasem. When confirmed on Wednesday (Dec. 27), Chief of PR and Protocol Bureau, Regional Secretariat of Bali Province, I Dewa Gede Mahendra Putra, justified that JK planned for a holiday to celebrate the New Year in Bali. To welcome the vice president, coordination meetings will be held on Thursday at the governor’s office. “Well... there is a meeting but closed. We personally do not know about the rundown of his agenda in Bali,” he said. The arrival of JK to Bali had previously been revealed by the Cabinet Secretary, Pramono Anung, when giving a press statement in the limited meeting of President Joko Widodo at Werdhapura, Sanur, on December 22. According to Anung, JK and his family planned a holiday in Bali on December 29, 2017 to January 1, 2018. The arrival of JK is to further convince the world that Bali is still safe to be visited despite the eruption of Mount Agung. It is especially intended to the countries having issued travel ban, travel warning and travel advisory to come to Bali. The dangerous radius is only until 8-10 km from the crater of Mount Agung. Besakih re-opened Apart from the planned visit of JK, the surprising policy was actually issued by the Deputy Governor of Bali who is also the Head of Operations Management Board (MO) of Besakih Temple, Ketut
Sudikerta. He instructed to open the operation of Besakih Temple whereas the temple is 7.08 km from the peak of Mount Agung. “Even though the operating
follow the instructions from the authorities,” he said in an internal meeting related to the sustainability of Besakih Temple operation in the deputy governor’s meeting on
alert level of Mount Agung was set to level IV (warning) on November 25, 2017. It is closed for tourism activities and worship because Besakih belongs to disaster-prone area (KRB). However, it is now decided to be re-opened after considering the development of Mount Agung and based on the approval of President Joko Widodo to revoke
activities have been re-opened, I remain to ask the management officers and general public in the temple area to remain vigilant and
Wednesday (Dec. 27). According to Sudikerta, the operation of Besakih Temple has been previously closed since the
the emergency response status of the disaster in the limited meeting at Werdhapura, Sanur. Deputy Operations Manager of
Its poll showed that 26 of 48 industry associations were more upbeat than they were at the end of 2016 and more than two- thirds expected firms in their sector to produce more next year than this. “Despite the protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and prospect of Brexit, investment in Germany rose this year and will strengthen further in
2018,” said IW in a statement. Only two sectors were pessimistic - the food industry, which is worried about tougher competition and higher costs, and sections of the cooperative banking sector which are suffering from low interest rates and margins. The IW said 24 of the 47 industry associations which gave investment estimates, expect higher spending levels from their
member companies. The main factor holding back firms is a shortage of skilled labour, a long-standing concern in Germany. “The production prospects in the German economy could be better if more skilled workers were available,” said IW Director Michael Huether. Most economists expect the German economy to grow for the
5
ninth consecutive year in 2018. Earlier this month, the Ifo institute forecast 2.6 percent growth for next year, following an expected expansion of 2.3 percent for this year. A separate survey of 820 mostly family-owned businesses, showed that 69 percent expected improvements in their operating business next year, up from 59 percent a year ago.(rtr)
Besakih Temple attraction, I Wayan Ngawit, will run the instruction and coordinate with the Bureau of Welfare to issue an official announcement. Meanwhile, Spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, stated that Besakih Temple belongs to a dangerous radius. “The distance of Besakih Temple
to the top of Mount Agung is about 7.08 km. So, the temple is included in the sectoral area of 10 km,” he explained. (kmb32)
Indian tourists to Bali up 55 percent in number
German firms optimistic for 2018, worker shortage main brake
BERLIN - More than half of Germany’s industry associations have shrugged off worries about U.S. protectionist policies and Brexit, and are more positive about their situation than they were a year ago, a survey showed on Wednesday. The main factor holding firms back in Europe’s biggest economy is a shortage of skilled labour, the IW economic institute in Cologne said.
Friday, December 29, 2017
JK to celebrate New Year in Bali
BUSINESS
“The rally in copper supports expectations that 2018 is going to be a strong year for synchronized global growth,” said Greg McKenna, chief strategist at AxiTrader. Copper rose 1.32 percent to $7,219 a tonne, its highest in nearly four years, on expectations of robust demand from top consumer China in 2018. The metal could also be getting a boost from expectations that U.S. lawmakers will turn their attention to infrastructure spending after signing a massive tax overhaul into law last week, said Tom Stringfellow, chief investment officer at Frost Investment Advisors. Shares in Asia, Europe and the United States managed to advance slightly, adding to a strong calendar year of gains despite reports of lackluster demand for Apple Inc’s iPhone X, mixed U.S. economic data and a stalled recovery in oil prices. Trading during the holiday-shortened week was thin, with many traders and investors away ahead of New Year’s Day. MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares closed 0.24 percent higher. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended the day up 0.03 percent. Emerging market stocks rose 0.51 percent. Apple ultimately rose 0.02 percent, one day after shares posted their worst single-day percentage fall since Aug. 10. The drop came after Taiwan’s Economic Daily cited unidentified sources as saying Apple would slash its sales forecast for its flagship phone in the current quarter. Also weighing on stocks, oil failed to sustain a rally that sent it to multi-year highs a day earlier on supply concerns. U.S. crude
Bali News
International
Indian tourist pose in Besakih Temple
IBP/kmb
DENPASAR - The number of Indian tourists to Bali increased 55 percent to 222,516 in the first 10 months of this year from 143,464 in the same period last year. “Most of them flew in to Bali directly from India with only 1,400 as passengers of tourist boats,” head of the provincial office of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) I Gede Nyoman Subadri said. He said Indian tourists are the fourth largest in number visiting Bali after China, Australia and Japan or 4.43 percent of the total number of 5.02 million foreign tourists visiting Bali in the first 10 months of the year. The number of foreign tourists visiting Bali rose 23.2 percent from 4.07 million in the same period last year. I Gede Nyoman Subadri said the number of tourists from 8 of 10 main countries of origin rose with a decline recorded only from Australia and Malaysia. India recorded the second highest increase after China
from which the number rose 57.06 percent, followed by South Korea 26.77 percent, Germany 19.18 percent, the United States 18.39 percent, Britain 15.39 percent, Japan 12.27 percent and France 10.09 percent. I Gede Nyoman Subadri attributed the increase in number of tourists from India to direct flights between Indoensia especially Bali and India. AirAsia Indonesia has opened new route between Denpasar, Bali and Calcutta, India early October 2017 to meet growing number of Indian tourists to Bali. Earlier or in May, 2017, the airline serves its first flight between Bali and Bombay of India at the same time with the opening of its new route between Bali and Tokyo. Meanwhile, the Badung district administration is set to chalk up 7 million foreign holiday makers in the the largest of the suburban regions of Greater Denpasar. The regency of Badung covers Bali`s
most heavy tourist regions, including Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua, Canggu, Uluwatu, Badung, and Mengwi. “I am optimistic the target could be reached in 2018 as until mid December this year the number of foreign visitors already reached 5.8 million,” head of the Badung Tourism Office I Made Badra said in Mangupura on Thursday. To ensure that the target could be reached the district administration would organize a tourism promotion visit to the United States in Jan. 22-28 next year holding an exhibition in the city of New York and meetings with local tourism organizers. In February a similar visit is planned to Australia. The visit is planned to the United States as U.S. tourists are big spenders with spending averaging US$1,800 per visit each , the same as tourists from Europe. Spending by Indian tourists averages US$1,500 per visits each. (ant)
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Friday, December 29, 2017
W
International
RLD
Climate change cases predicted to make a legal splash in 2018
NEW YORK - A clutch of high-profile legal cases over responsibility for the effects of climate change will be fought out in courtrooms next year as claims stack up against both governments and some of the world’s biggest oil and energy companies.
a decision likely early next year. Elsewhere, a January judgment is expected in a case brought by Greenpeace Nordic and environmental group Nature and Youth against Norway, which they claim has breached its pledge to combat climate change by granting oil and gas exploration rights.
Lawsuits in the United States brought by young activists and several Californian cities are most likely to make waves, but legal action by a Peruvian farmer in Germany and Greenpeace in Norway could also cause ripples, said lawyers and academics. “There is a trend towards more litigation around climate change, and probably the lack of political action in the United States may increase that trend,” said Sophie Marjanac, a London-based lawyer at non-profit environmental law group ClientEarth. “Where there’s an abdication of leadership on climate action, I think the courts will have a greater role to play,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Lawyers and campaigners are closely watching the looming legal battles they say could set the stage for fresh claims against major oil and industrial companies, and pressure governments to ramp up action on climate change. With U.S. President Donald Trump and his cabinet members named as defendants, the Juliana v. United States case brought by 21 young activists from Oregon is set to be one of the most closely followed in 2018. In the federal case, scheduled for trial in February, the plaintiffs hope to establish that the government’s climate change policies have failed to protect their constitutional right to live in a habitable environment. The case remains locked in legal limbo, however, as the government tries to block it from proceeding. Lawyers and academics say Juliana builds on the groundbreaking Urgenda case brought by hundreds of Dutch citizens in 2015, which saw the government ordered by a district court to accelerate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. However, that outcome is now being appealed, with
HISTORY REPEATING? Some lawyers and researchers say claims seeking specific damages from energy and industrial companies for actions that may have contributed to climate change could have a bigger impact than constitutional cases. A successful ruling against a heavyweight corporate could potentially unleash a wave of similar claims, say case watchers, who reference long-running fights against tobacco, asbestos and pesticide manufacturers over harm to human health. At least seven Californian cities and counties have brought lawsuits against major fossil fuel companies. San Francisco and Oakland are seeking billions of dollars to help protect against rising sea levels they blame on climate change. “Why should taxpayers and impacted communities alone bear the growing costs of climate impacts when fossil fuel companies have played an outsized role in making the problem worse?” said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, after Santa Cruz city and county both filed lawsuits this month. Tracy Hester, a lecturer at the University of Houston Law Center, said such claims could “redefine the rules of the game”. “They’re essentially not trying to bring a global claim that’s going to lock up all these issues in one court... they’re different in that they’re seeking damages,” he said. Trump’s move to pull out of the Paris climate change accord and roll back environmental regulations means campaigners are increasingly resorting to litigation, as they did under former President George W. Bush, said case watchers. (rtr)
Ghanaian artist Joseph Awuah-Darko poses as Agbogbloshie electronical waste dumpsite in Accra on November 29, 2017. Joseph is the founder of Agbogblo.Shine Initiative, an organisation that advocates the use of design thinking to galvanize social change in Agbogbloshie to stop climate change. With the project, he also seeks to repurpose e-waste and scrap to create upcycled furniture.
CRISTINA ALDEHUELA / AFP
International
Friday, December 29, 2017
11
Govt to evaluate airport train operation
REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel, December 27, 2017.
Israel passes disputed law muzzling police on high-profile probes
JERUSALEM - Israel’s parliament ratified on Thursday a law barring police investigators from going public with their findings, in what opposition lawmakers saw as a bid to soften scrutiny of corruption probes against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The so-called Recommendations Bill, approved in the final reading by a vote of 59-to-54, prevents police from announcing whether they have found enough evidence for an indictment before prosecutors decide whether or not to press such charges. Netanyahu is a suspect in two cases. In one, he is alleged to have meddled in the media industry. The other concerns gifts he received from wealthy businessmen. He denies any wrongdoing. Opposition lawmakers have said that the bill, tabled by Netanyahu’s rightist Likud party, was designed to dampen public anger over the investigations, which has fuelled weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv and calls for the premier’s ouster. Netanyahu defended the bill on Dec. 3 as “intended to prevent publication of police recommendations
which would leave a cloud over innocent people, something that happens every day”. In 60 percent of cases where police recommend criminal charges, prosecutors decided not to indict, Netanyahu noted. But the prime minister also called for the bill to be amended so it did not apply to the criminal investigations against him. The final draft stipulated that the law would not be in effect regarding investigations that predate its ratification. That has done little to mollify the opposition. “This law came about only because of the investigations against Netanyahu,” Avi Gabbay, head of the centre-left Zionist Union party, told Israel’s Army Radio. “We don’t know what investigations might be conducted in the future (against him).” Israeli media had reported that police could go public with recommendations to indict Netanyahu as soon as early January, and a Dec. 23 TV poll found that 60 percent to 63 percent of the public would want him to resign over such recommendations. (rtr)
TANGGERANG - The government and the airport railway operator PT Railink Indonesia are evaluating the Soekarno-Hatta Airport train service operation after its initial commercial run on Tuesday. The director general of the railway services of the Transportation Ministry Zulfikri said on Wednesday that the evaluation focused on the train`s services, tariff, and infrastructure. “There are two types of services, those in the station and aboard the train. First, we will see the departure and arrival time; then ticket selling, which has met its standard of services,” he stated. However, Zulfikri has called on the railway operator to evaluate the requirements of passengers who buy tickets offline because not all of them have email accounts. “The evaluation should also be adjusted to the current users`
needs. For example, passengers from the Sudirman station could ignore the email requirement, and only put phone numbers,” he added. Emails or phone numbers, he pointed out, are necessary to give passengers timely information about any delays or cancellation. Zulfikri has asked Railink to adjust the departure and arrival timings of the train with flight schedules, as passengers would need more time to reach terminals 1, 2 or 3 of the Soekarno Hatta Airport. About the railway tariff, Zulfikri said it would be a flat fare but if the number of passengers from the nearest Batu Ceper and Duri Station soared, the fare might be evaluated later. Meanwhile, Railink`s president director Heru Kuswanto noted that the train has free wi-fi for passengers, but it is yet to operate optimally. (and)
Four suspects in health equipment corruption case declared law fugitives MEDAN - The Binjai Prosecution Office has declared law fugitives four suspects in alleged corruption of health equipment of a state hospital in Binjai, North Sumatra. The four suspects identified as TD, MS, CPT and SYA, were charged with embezzling Rp14 billion in budget fund for the procurement of head equipment of the Djoelham Hospital of Binjai in 2012. Head of the Law Information Section of the North Sumatra High Prosecution Office Sumanggar Siagian, said here on Thursday the whereabouts of the four suspects are not known. They were declared law fugitives as they were not cooperative and their whereabouts are unknown, Sumanggar said. “They have failed to appear after being summoned several times by special criminal investigators,” he said.
Earlier the Binjai Prosecution Office already named seven other suspects in the alleged corruption of health equipment worth Rp3.5 billion of the same hospital . The suspects included MS, former director of the hospital, SYA, an official in charge of making commitment, CPT, former head of ULP of the hospital, SHD , former chairman of the Working Group for the procurement of Goods and Services, BA, head of the Branch of stateowned pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma of Medan, TD, Director of PT Mesarinda Abadi and FNC, Director of PT Petan Daya. The suspects were charged with markup of the prices of health equipment causing a loss of Rp3.5 billion in state fund, based on the audite report of the North Sumatra`s branch of the Supreme Audit Board (BPKP). (ant)
President Jokowi
IBP/net
Fund for education should be evaluated: President Jokowi
BOGOR - Endowment fund for education, which can be a bridge to improve the quality of Indonesian human resources, should be evaluated, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) remarked. “The fund for education must be managed properly and productively in an effort to improve Indonesian human resources,” Jokowi stated here on Wednesday. The president affirmed that the Indonesian human resources should improve continuously to enable it to become a competitive and a developed country. The fund has reached more than Rp31 trillion and will continue to improve in the future. Therefore, the use of fund should be evaluated, starting from the recruitment process of the scholarship recipients. “We should map strategic areas that need improvement,” the president remarked. The use of fund should
be able to catch up with sectors that are left behind. In terms of place of learning, the government should observe the superiority of destination countries of scholarship recipients. “The superiority of destination countries should be studied by scholarship recipients,” he added. The president stated that the fund could be used for research, which encourages the nation`s competitiveness and energy, anticipates technology, and develops digital economic and other productive researches. “The results of research do not accumulate in the library,” the president noted. The president stated that the use of fund should also be able to improve the skills of Indonesian workers. “I hope the scholarship program can be given to the workers to improve their skills. As a result, they can become more professional using their good skills,” Jokowi explained. (ant)
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Destination
Friday, December 29, 2017
International
Friday, December 29, 2017
International
Comanche confirmed as Sydney-Hobart winner after protest
Nicolas ASFOURI / AFP
Taking Selfie at the Black Bamboo Tower SINGARAJA - Fog was descending on Wanagiri village, Sukasada, Buleleng, when we arrived and soon it started to drizzle and cool air swept in, even though it was high noon. Although the weather was not ideal for taking pictures, we were enthusiastic about taking selfies at the Black Bamboo Tower. This location is one of eight selfie attractions in the customary hamlet of Bhuana Sari, in Wanagiri Village. The iconic Black Bamboo Tower stands on the edge of a cliff by the side of the road with Lake Bunyan and verdant hills as a backdrop. Operator of Bhuana Sari customary hamlet, Ketut Darma, said that bamboo belonging to the local customary village was used to make the iconic selfie attraction and that three security guards are on duty everyday to ensure the security of the increasing number of visitors who come to Black Bamboo Tower. “On a quiet day we get about 30-40 visitors but on holidays there is a 80 percent increase in the number of people who come to take pictures here. According to the customary hamlet’s agreement, visitors are charged IDR 15,000 per person to take as many pictures as they want”, explained Darma.
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Black Bamboo Tower is not the only selfie attraction at Bhuana Sari customary hamlet. There are four other selfie spots along 15 meters of this road each offering a different style and which support one and other. There are plans to build another one soon so that more visitors can be accommodated. “Security is guaranteed. Yesterday, a sub-district police chief investigated the location and determined that it was safe”, said Darma. Asah’s hamlet Panji, Ketut Suwena, said that all of the selfie attractions that have been developed over th past 7 years in Wanagiri Village are actually located in protected forest areas. However, the local villages submitted a request to the National Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) asking that they be allowed to utilize this area. So far, the BKSDA has granted one selfie tourist attraction per customary hamlet. Wanagiri village has 4 customary hamlets namely; Bhuana Sari, Yeh Ketipat, Asah Panji Kaja, and Asah Panji Kelod. “In short, of the eight selfie attractions in Wanagiri village, only the ones at Bhuana Sari customary hamlet have been granted permission by the BKSDA. The others have no agreement with the customary
village’s selfie-site management group”, said Suwena. According to Suwena, the BKSDA has limited the number of selfie-sites to four and has stipulated that such sites should not be managed by individuals or private groups as this could lead to jealousy. This limit is also meant to prevent a saturation of such sites as this could create chaos as lead to possible security risks. “Let the BKSDA determine the limits on such buildings including how far they can jut out off the cliff, how they should be designed and so forth. So far only Bhuana Sari has been given the ok from the BSKDA”, explained Suwena. Division Head of Tourist Destinations for the Bali Tourism Office, Ida Bagus Adi Laksana, said he strongly supports local people creating selfie tourist attractions adding that management issues should be resolved through discussions. Each village should also have clear guidelines so as to prevent the mushrooming of such sites. “Hopefully such guidelines can be made clear by governing bodies that will be established under village authorities. Management groups should be involved”, he said. (kmb)
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This file photo taken on October 15, 2017 shows shows first-placed Roger Federer of Switzerland (L) and second-placed Rafael Nadal of Spain reacting as they hold their trophies after the men’s singles final match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai.
Ferderer plans to keep expectations in check for 2018
SYDNEY - Roger Federer did not know what to expect when he touched down in Australia in 2017. The then 17-times grand slam champion was 35 and coming back from a first surgery-enforced absence to the sport he dominated for more than a decade from his maiden Wimbledon title in 2003. The six months off, however, appeared to be positively cathartic as he provided arguably the major talking point of the tennis circuit by reviving a career that pundits thought could be over with the injury. He beat Rafa Nadal in an epic final to win his fifth Australian Open crown and then clinched his eighth on the grass courts of southwest London to finish the year with seven titles and the world number two ranking. However, Federer, who begins his 2018 campaign at the combined teams Hopman Cup tournament in
Perth, recognises that while expectations this year might be a little higher, he was trying to ensure they did not get out of control. “Expectations are higher but at the same time I try to remind myself just don’t think its normal and realistic to aim for the same things I did this year in 2017,” he told reporters after he arrived in Australia. “I’ve got to try and keep it cool. Try my best and see what happens but the preparation has been good so far. “We’ll see how things go.” Federer previously used the Kooyong invitational tournament to warm up for the Australian Open
but returned to the Hopman Cup last year to team up with compatriot Belinda Bencic, where the pair finished second in their group. “Obviously looking ahead to Melbourne, I really hope that Hopman Cup’s going to give me everything I need here,” Federer said of starting the season in Perth, where he and his 20-year-old partner will face Japan, Russia and the U.S. in group play. “It worked out perfectly this year, (winning) at the Australian Open. “Of course, that’s a good omen.” (rtr)
REUTERS/Steve Christo
Yachts LDV Comanche and InfoTrack compete at the start of the annual 630 nautical miles (1166 kilometres) Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on Sydney Harbour.
Rondo tallies 25 assists for highest total in 21 years
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LOUISIANA - New Orleans point guard Rajon Rondo dished out an NBA season-high 25 assists on Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets to become the first player to reach the total in 21 years. Rondo delivered the 25 assists in just 30 minutes
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MELBOURNE - Australian super-maxi LDV Comanche was awarded line honours for the Sydney to Hobart bluewater classic on Thursday after an international jury imposed a one-hour penalty on Wild Oats XI following a protest. Wild Oats smashed the race record when it crossed the line at Constitution Dock in Hobart at 9.48 pm (1048 GMT) on Wednesday after taking one day, eight hours, 48 minutes and 50 seconds to complete the 630-nautical mile (1,170 km) race. Comanche, which had led for much of the race before both boats stalled in fickle winds on the River Derwent, finished just over 26 minutes later. Comanche, however, had protested about a near collision between the two super-maxis when Wild Oats completed a tack about 15 minutes after the start in Sydney harbour. The jury upheld the protest on Thursday and imposed a one-hour penalty on the Mark Richards-skippered Wild Oats, which had won the race eight times before. “Wild Oats XI had to keep clear, failed to keep clear while tacking, Oats did not do turn,” race organisers said. “Decision is penalised by one hour. Comanche is line honours winner.” It was the first time a yacht had been stripped of line honours since Rothmans in 1990. “I didn’t expect to protest in order to win the race, it was all about our actions to avoid a collision and the fact that was necessary,” Comanche owner Jim Cooney said. “I feel the rules are there to protect people’s lives and if we can’t rely on that then there is a difficulty in the sport. “It’s a great relief that all the effort of the crew the support crew and my family was vindicated, so it was a relief that we did deserve the win.” Richards had told reporters earlier on Thursday he would have taken a 720-degree turn penalty at the time of the incident if they thought they were in the wrong. “Everyone is a genius in hindsight,” Richards said after the decision when asked if he regretted not taking the turn penalty at the time. “We had spoken about ... but that was the decision we made and you have to live with it.” (rtr)
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Rajon Rondo #9 of the New Orleans Pelicans in action against the Brooklyn Nets at the Smoothie King Center on December 27, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
to help the Pelicans top the Nets 128-113. Jason Kidd was the last player to achieve 25 assists back in 1996. The record for most assists in a single NBA game is held by Scott Skiles, who tallied 30 in 1990. Rondo, who joined the Pelicans on a one-year deal in the off-season, put his passing skills on full display in helping four New Orleans players score more than 20 points on Wednesday. The 31-year-old Rondo had a previous career-best of 24 assists. (rtr)
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Mourinho gripe over City spending fails to move Wenger
Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk during the warm up before the match
Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Van Dijk most expensive defender after $100M Liverpool move
Liverpool is breaking the world transfer record for a defender by signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in a $100 million move. Following Liverpool’s long-running pursuit of the 26-year-old Netherlands center back, Southampton announced on Wednesday that it accepted the record fee ahead of the January transfer window opening. “Delighted and honored to have agreed to become a Liverpool FC player,” Van Dijk wrote on Instagram alongside a picture holding a jersey of the club he will join on Jan. 1. “Today is a proud day for me and my family as I join one of the biggest clubs in world football! “I can’t wait to pull on the famous red shirt for the first time in front of the Kop and will give everything I have to try and help this great club achieve something special in the years to come.” The transfer fee of 70 million pounds ($94 million) could reach 75 million pounds ($100 million) depending on Van Dijk’s achievements at Liverpool. The scale of the investment signals Liverpool’s determination to plug leaks in the defense that have seen the team fall 17 points behind leader Manchester City into fourth place in the English Premier League. Liverpool is devastating going forward, with the “Fab Four” attack of Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah helping the team amass a 46-goal haul that only City has eclipsed. But Juergen Klopp’s team has conceded 23 goals in 20 games — more than any rival in the top five — including three in last week’s 3-3 draw at Arsenal after a two-goal lead was thrown away. The Van Dijk deal eclipses the previous highest amounts paid for defenders who are rarely in contention for the top awards in football dominated by
goal-scorers. English Premier League leader Manchester City paid around 50 million pounds each for Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker in the summer transfer window. While Van Dijk becomes the world’s most expensive defender, Neymar still holds the title of the game’s costliest player after joining Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for 222 million euros in August. “There is a dearth of top-class center backs throughout world football hence why so many clubs wanted (Van Dijk) and the transfer fee is so high,” former Liverpool center back Jamie Carragher told broadcaster Sky Sports. “People will look at the transfer (fee) that normally strikers go for, but as with any transfer fee if he performs well and does his job it will be worth it.” That, according to Carragher, will require Van Dijk helping the 18-time English champions end a trophy drought that stretches back to the 2012 League Cup. Van Dijk hoped to join Liverpool in August after handing in a transfer request but Southampton stood its ground and forced the Anfield club to apologize for its conduct in pursuing a deal. Van Dijk, though, will become the sixth player to leave Southampton for Liverpool in less than four years when the transfer is completed next week. “I will always be indebted to the club for giving me the opportunity to play in the Premier League and despite a difficult last few months I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Saints and have made friends for life at the club,” said Van Dijk, who joined Southampton from Celtic in 2015 for a reported 13 million pounds. Van Dijk is joining a team fighting on three fronts. The FA Cup campaign opens next week with a Merseyside derby against Everton, and the Champions League resumes in February with a last-16 meeting with Porto. (ap)
Jose Mourinho’s gripe about Manchester City’s spending power met little sympathy in north London with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger saying he had learned to deal with his club’s inability to compete with the financial elite for more than two decades. Manchester United manager Mourinho said this week he needed additional funds -more than the 300 million pounds ($402.54 million) they club has spent since he took over -- to be able to challenge runaway Premier League leaders City. “I have been in that position for 21 years so I will not start to complain now. There is always one team, sometimes four, who were richer than I was, so I learnt to cope with that and to deal with that,” Wenger told the British media. “What is most important is you deal with your own situation as well as you can and, yes, Manchester City are richer than us, Chelsea are richer than us and Manchester
United are richer than us, but I believe we have to find a way to be successful.” Arsenal broke their transfer record in the close season when they signed French striker Alexandre Lacazette for a reported fee of 46.5 million pounds. The French manager also brought in striker Alexis Sanchez for 35 million pounds in 2014 and midfielder Mesut Ozil for 42 million pounds in 2013. Despite those big-name signings, Wenger has faced criticism from Arsenal fans for his transfer policy but he stressed the need for managers to get the most out of their resources. “Your job is to take the best out of your team, the potential of your team, and nobody can really measure that. You have to be objective enough to analyse that, and to do as well as you can.” Arsenal, who last won the league in 2004, are sixth in the table on 34 points from 19 games and take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Thursday. (rtr)
Silverware more important than scoring records for Kane
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane is happy to shatter scoring records but believes that winning silverware with the London club would represent a more significant achievement than any personal landmark. The England international scored a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over South-
ampton to eclipse Alan Shearer’s 22-year-old record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year, taking his tally to 39 for 2017. Kane also became Europe’s most lethal marksman of the year as he took his total in all competitions in the calendar year for club and country to 56, lifting him ahead
of Lionel Messi, who hit 54 for Barcelona and Argentina in the past 12 months. Asked if team honours meant more than personal glory, Kane said: “Yeah, for sure, 100 percent. I’ve always said team trophies are what I want to achieve.” Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League, 21 points behind runaway
MILAN - AC Milan alleviated their crisis when Patrick Cutrone gave them a 1-0 extra-time win over neighbours Inter Milan in their Coppa Italia quarter-final on Wednesday. Milan’s third-choice goalkeeper Antonio Donnarumma, the older brother of regular keeper Gianluigi, played a key part on his debut for the club. Gianluigi Donnarumma was ruled out with an injury on Wednesday morning and second-choice Marco Storari, 40, pulled out during the warm-up. Both teams had lost their last two Serie A games and big-spending Milan were in crisis mode after dropping to 11th
in the table, sixteen points behind third-placed Inter. Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso said the match was as important as a World Cup final after seeing his side lose three out of six games in all competitions since he replaced Vincenzo Montella in the hot seat. Inter thought they had gone ahead midway through the first half when Donnarumma turned Ivan Perisic’s effort into his own goal but the referee disallowed the goal for offside after consulting the video replay system (VAR). Inter captain Mauro Icardi set up a golden chance for Joao Mario on the
hour but the Portugal international, who has struggled this season, saw his effort brilliantly saved by Donnarumma at point-blank range. Donnarumma also made a double save from Perisic and Antonio Candreva in the 87th minute while Milan themselves squandered a golden opportunity, Giancomo Bonaventura sending a diving header over an open goal. Milan finally broke the deadlock in the 104th minute as Cutrone was left unmarked in the penalty area to sweep home from Suso’s cross, before getting booked for a shirtless celebration. (rtr)
REUTERS/Antonio Bronic
Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
leaders Manchester City. They face Italian side Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League in February and host Wimbledon in the FA Cup third round next month. “We’ve got a good chance to win the FA Cup. In the Champions League we’ve shown we can beat the best and we’ve got to see how
far we can go in that. “Obviously in the Premier League we’re in a fight for the top four and we’ve got to see how high we can get. There’s a lot to play for and for me it’s about winning trophies.” Tottenham face bottom side Swansea City in the league on Jan. 2. (rtr)
Milan alleviate crisis with extra-time cup win over Inter
AC Milan’s Patrick Cutrone in action with Rijeka’s Simon Sluga as he misses a chance to score
Burnley manager Sean Dyche and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho
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REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
Tottenham’s Harry Kane celebrates with the match ball after the match
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Mourinho gripe over City spending fails to move Wenger
Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk during the warm up before the match
Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
Van Dijk most expensive defender after $100M Liverpool move
Liverpool is breaking the world transfer record for a defender by signing Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in a $100 million move. Following Liverpool’s long-running pursuit of the 26-year-old Netherlands center back, Southampton announced on Wednesday that it accepted the record fee ahead of the January transfer window opening. “Delighted and honored to have agreed to become a Liverpool FC player,” Van Dijk wrote on Instagram alongside a picture holding a jersey of the club he will join on Jan. 1. “Today is a proud day for me and my family as I join one of the biggest clubs in world football! “I can’t wait to pull on the famous red shirt for the first time in front of the Kop and will give everything I have to try and help this great club achieve something special in the years to come.” The transfer fee of 70 million pounds ($94 million) could reach 75 million pounds ($100 million) depending on Van Dijk’s achievements at Liverpool. The scale of the investment signals Liverpool’s determination to plug leaks in the defense that have seen the team fall 17 points behind leader Manchester City into fourth place in the English Premier League. Liverpool is devastating going forward, with the “Fab Four” attack of Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah helping the team amass a 46-goal haul that only City has eclipsed. But Juergen Klopp’s team has conceded 23 goals in 20 games — more than any rival in the top five — including three in last week’s 3-3 draw at Arsenal after a two-goal lead was thrown away. The Van Dijk deal eclipses the previous highest amounts paid for defenders who are rarely in contention for the top awards in football dominated by
goal-scorers. English Premier League leader Manchester City paid around 50 million pounds each for Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker in the summer transfer window. While Van Dijk becomes the world’s most expensive defender, Neymar still holds the title of the game’s costliest player after joining Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona for 222 million euros in August. “There is a dearth of top-class center backs throughout world football hence why so many clubs wanted (Van Dijk) and the transfer fee is so high,” former Liverpool center back Jamie Carragher told broadcaster Sky Sports. “People will look at the transfer (fee) that normally strikers go for, but as with any transfer fee if he performs well and does his job it will be worth it.” That, according to Carragher, will require Van Dijk helping the 18-time English champions end a trophy drought that stretches back to the 2012 League Cup. Van Dijk hoped to join Liverpool in August after handing in a transfer request but Southampton stood its ground and forced the Anfield club to apologize for its conduct in pursuing a deal. Van Dijk, though, will become the sixth player to leave Southampton for Liverpool in less than four years when the transfer is completed next week. “I will always be indebted to the club for giving me the opportunity to play in the Premier League and despite a difficult last few months I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Saints and have made friends for life at the club,” said Van Dijk, who joined Southampton from Celtic in 2015 for a reported 13 million pounds. Van Dijk is joining a team fighting on three fronts. The FA Cup campaign opens next week with a Merseyside derby against Everton, and the Champions League resumes in February with a last-16 meeting with Porto. (ap)
Jose Mourinho’s gripe about Manchester City’s spending power met little sympathy in north London with Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger saying he had learned to deal with his club’s inability to compete with the financial elite for more than two decades. Manchester United manager Mourinho said this week he needed additional funds -more than the 300 million pounds ($402.54 million) they club has spent since he took over -- to be able to challenge runaway Premier League leaders City. “I have been in that position for 21 years so I will not start to complain now. There is always one team, sometimes four, who were richer than I was, so I learnt to cope with that and to deal with that,” Wenger told the British media. “What is most important is you deal with your own situation as well as you can and, yes, Manchester City are richer than us, Chelsea are richer than us and Manchester
United are richer than us, but I believe we have to find a way to be successful.” Arsenal broke their transfer record in the close season when they signed French striker Alexandre Lacazette for a reported fee of 46.5 million pounds. The French manager also brought in striker Alexis Sanchez for 35 million pounds in 2014 and midfielder Mesut Ozil for 42 million pounds in 2013. Despite those big-name signings, Wenger has faced criticism from Arsenal fans for his transfer policy but he stressed the need for managers to get the most out of their resources. “Your job is to take the best out of your team, the potential of your team, and nobody can really measure that. You have to be objective enough to analyse that, and to do as well as you can.” Arsenal, who last won the league in 2004, are sixth in the table on 34 points from 19 games and take on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Thursday. (rtr)
Silverware more important than scoring records for Kane
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane is happy to shatter scoring records but believes that winning silverware with the London club would represent a more significant achievement than any personal landmark. The England international scored a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over South-
ampton to eclipse Alan Shearer’s 22-year-old record of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year, taking his tally to 39 for 2017. Kane also became Europe’s most lethal marksman of the year as he took his total in all competitions in the calendar year for club and country to 56, lifting him ahead
of Lionel Messi, who hit 54 for Barcelona and Argentina in the past 12 months. Asked if team honours meant more than personal glory, Kane said: “Yeah, for sure, 100 percent. I’ve always said team trophies are what I want to achieve.” Tottenham are fifth in the Premier League, 21 points behind runaway
MILAN - AC Milan alleviated their crisis when Patrick Cutrone gave them a 1-0 extra-time win over neighbours Inter Milan in their Coppa Italia quarter-final on Wednesday. Milan’s third-choice goalkeeper Antonio Donnarumma, the older brother of regular keeper Gianluigi, played a key part on his debut for the club. Gianluigi Donnarumma was ruled out with an injury on Wednesday morning and second-choice Marco Storari, 40, pulled out during the warm-up. Both teams had lost their last two Serie A games and big-spending Milan were in crisis mode after dropping to 11th
in the table, sixteen points behind third-placed Inter. Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso said the match was as important as a World Cup final after seeing his side lose three out of six games in all competitions since he replaced Vincenzo Montella in the hot seat. Inter thought they had gone ahead midway through the first half when Donnarumma turned Ivan Perisic’s effort into his own goal but the referee disallowed the goal for offside after consulting the video replay system (VAR). Inter captain Mauro Icardi set up a golden chance for Joao Mario on the
hour but the Portugal international, who has struggled this season, saw his effort brilliantly saved by Donnarumma at point-blank range. Donnarumma also made a double save from Perisic and Antonio Candreva in the 87th minute while Milan themselves squandered a golden opportunity, Giancomo Bonaventura sending a diving header over an open goal. Milan finally broke the deadlock in the 104th minute as Cutrone was left unmarked in the penalty area to sweep home from Suso’s cross, before getting booked for a shirtless celebration. (rtr)
REUTERS/Antonio Bronic
Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith
leaders Manchester City. They face Italian side Juventus in the last 16 of the Champions League in February and host Wimbledon in the FA Cup third round next month. “We’ve got a good chance to win the FA Cup. In the Champions League we’ve shown we can beat the best and we’ve got to see how
far we can go in that. “Obviously in the Premier League we’re in a fight for the top four and we’ve got to see how high we can get. There’s a lot to play for and for me it’s about winning trophies.” Tottenham face bottom side Swansea City in the league on Jan. 2. (rtr)
Milan alleviate crisis with extra-time cup win over Inter
AC Milan’s Patrick Cutrone in action with Rijeka’s Simon Sluga as he misses a chance to score
Burnley manager Sean Dyche and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho
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REUTERS/Eddie Keogh
Tottenham’s Harry Kane celebrates with the match ball after the match
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Friday, December 29, 2017
International
Comanche confirmed as Sydney-Hobart winner after protest
Nicolas ASFOURI / AFP
Taking Selfie at the Black Bamboo Tower SINGARAJA - Fog was descending on Wanagiri village, Sukasada, Buleleng, when we arrived and soon it started to drizzle and cool air swept in, even though it was high noon. Although the weather was not ideal for taking pictures, we were enthusiastic about taking selfies at the Black Bamboo Tower. This location is one of eight selfie attractions in the customary hamlet of Bhuana Sari, in Wanagiri Village. The iconic Black Bamboo Tower stands on the edge of a cliff by the side of the road with Lake Bunyan and verdant hills as a backdrop. Operator of Bhuana Sari customary hamlet, Ketut Darma, said that bamboo belonging to the local customary village was used to make the iconic selfie attraction and that three security guards are on duty everyday to ensure the security of the increasing number of visitors who come to Black Bamboo Tower. “On a quiet day we get about 30-40 visitors but on holidays there is a 80 percent increase in the number of people who come to take pictures here. According to the customary hamlet’s agreement, visitors are charged IDR 15,000 per person to take as many pictures as they want”, explained Darma.
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Black Bamboo Tower is not the only selfie attraction at Bhuana Sari customary hamlet. There are four other selfie spots along 15 meters of this road each offering a different style and which support one and other. There are plans to build another one soon so that more visitors can be accommodated. “Security is guaranteed. Yesterday, a sub-district police chief investigated the location and determined that it was safe”, said Darma. Asah’s hamlet Panji, Ketut Suwena, said that all of the selfie attractions that have been developed over th past 7 years in Wanagiri Village are actually located in protected forest areas. However, the local villages submitted a request to the National Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) asking that they be allowed to utilize this area. So far, the BKSDA has granted one selfie tourist attraction per customary hamlet. Wanagiri village has 4 customary hamlets namely; Bhuana Sari, Yeh Ketipat, Asah Panji Kaja, and Asah Panji Kelod. “In short, of the eight selfie attractions in Wanagiri village, only the ones at Bhuana Sari customary hamlet have been granted permission by the BKSDA. The others have no agreement with the customary
village’s selfie-site management group”, said Suwena. According to Suwena, the BKSDA has limited the number of selfie-sites to four and has stipulated that such sites should not be managed by individuals or private groups as this could lead to jealousy. This limit is also meant to prevent a saturation of such sites as this could create chaos as lead to possible security risks. “Let the BKSDA determine the limits on such buildings including how far they can jut out off the cliff, how they should be designed and so forth. So far only Bhuana Sari has been given the ok from the BSKDA”, explained Suwena. Division Head of Tourist Destinations for the Bali Tourism Office, Ida Bagus Adi Laksana, said he strongly supports local people creating selfie tourist attractions adding that management issues should be resolved through discussions. Each village should also have clear guidelines so as to prevent the mushrooming of such sites. “Hopefully such guidelines can be made clear by governing bodies that will be established under village authorities. Management groups should be involved”, he said. (kmb)
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This file photo taken on October 15, 2017 shows shows first-placed Roger Federer of Switzerland (L) and second-placed Rafael Nadal of Spain reacting as they hold their trophies after the men’s singles final match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament in Shanghai.
Ferderer plans to keep expectations in check for 2018
SYDNEY - Roger Federer did not know what to expect when he touched down in Australia in 2017. The then 17-times grand slam champion was 35 and coming back from a first surgery-enforced absence to the sport he dominated for more than a decade from his maiden Wimbledon title in 2003. The six months off, however, appeared to be positively cathartic as he provided arguably the major talking point of the tennis circuit by reviving a career that pundits thought could be over with the injury. He beat Rafa Nadal in an epic final to win his fifth Australian Open crown and then clinched his eighth on the grass courts of southwest London to finish the year with seven titles and the world number two ranking. However, Federer, who begins his 2018 campaign at the combined teams Hopman Cup tournament in
Perth, recognises that while expectations this year might be a little higher, he was trying to ensure they did not get out of control. “Expectations are higher but at the same time I try to remind myself just don’t think its normal and realistic to aim for the same things I did this year in 2017,” he told reporters after he arrived in Australia. “I’ve got to try and keep it cool. Try my best and see what happens but the preparation has been good so far. “We’ll see how things go.” Federer previously used the Kooyong invitational tournament to warm up for the Australian Open
but returned to the Hopman Cup last year to team up with compatriot Belinda Bencic, where the pair finished second in their group. “Obviously looking ahead to Melbourne, I really hope that Hopman Cup’s going to give me everything I need here,” Federer said of starting the season in Perth, where he and his 20-year-old partner will face Japan, Russia and the U.S. in group play. “It worked out perfectly this year, (winning) at the Australian Open. “Of course, that’s a good omen.” (rtr)
REUTERS/Steve Christo
Yachts LDV Comanche and InfoTrack compete at the start of the annual 630 nautical miles (1166 kilometres) Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on Sydney Harbour.
Rondo tallies 25 assists for highest total in 21 years
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LOUISIANA - New Orleans point guard Rajon Rondo dished out an NBA season-high 25 assists on Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets to become the first player to reach the total in 21 years. Rondo delivered the 25 assists in just 30 minutes
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MELBOURNE - Australian super-maxi LDV Comanche was awarded line honours for the Sydney to Hobart bluewater classic on Thursday after an international jury imposed a one-hour penalty on Wild Oats XI following a protest. Wild Oats smashed the race record when it crossed the line at Constitution Dock in Hobart at 9.48 pm (1048 GMT) on Wednesday after taking one day, eight hours, 48 minutes and 50 seconds to complete the 630-nautical mile (1,170 km) race. Comanche, which had led for much of the race before both boats stalled in fickle winds on the River Derwent, finished just over 26 minutes later. Comanche, however, had protested about a near collision between the two super-maxis when Wild Oats completed a tack about 15 minutes after the start in Sydney harbour. The jury upheld the protest on Thursday and imposed a one-hour penalty on the Mark Richards-skippered Wild Oats, which had won the race eight times before. “Wild Oats XI had to keep clear, failed to keep clear while tacking, Oats did not do turn,” race organisers said. “Decision is penalised by one hour. Comanche is line honours winner.” It was the first time a yacht had been stripped of line honours since Rothmans in 1990. “I didn’t expect to protest in order to win the race, it was all about our actions to avoid a collision and the fact that was necessary,” Comanche owner Jim Cooney said. “I feel the rules are there to protect people’s lives and if we can’t rely on that then there is a difficulty in the sport. “It’s a great relief that all the effort of the crew the support crew and my family was vindicated, so it was a relief that we did deserve the win.” Richards had told reporters earlier on Thursday he would have taken a 720-degree turn penalty at the time of the incident if they thought they were in the wrong. “Everyone is a genius in hindsight,” Richards said after the decision when asked if he regretted not taking the turn penalty at the time. “We had spoken about ... but that was the decision we made and you have to live with it.” (rtr)
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Chris Graythen / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
Rajon Rondo #9 of the New Orleans Pelicans in action against the Brooklyn Nets at the Smoothie King Center on December 27, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
to help the Pelicans top the Nets 128-113. Jason Kidd was the last player to achieve 25 assists back in 1996. The record for most assists in a single NBA game is held by Scott Skiles, who tallied 30 in 1990. Rondo, who joined the Pelicans on a one-year deal in the off-season, put his passing skills on full display in helping four New Orleans players score more than 20 points on Wednesday. The 31-year-old Rondo had a previous career-best of 24 assists. (rtr)
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Climate change cases predicted to make a legal splash in 2018
NEW YORK - A clutch of high-profile legal cases over responsibility for the effects of climate change will be fought out in courtrooms next year as claims stack up against both governments and some of the world’s biggest oil and energy companies.
a decision likely early next year. Elsewhere, a January judgment is expected in a case brought by Greenpeace Nordic and environmental group Nature and Youth against Norway, which they claim has breached its pledge to combat climate change by granting oil and gas exploration rights.
Lawsuits in the United States brought by young activists and several Californian cities are most likely to make waves, but legal action by a Peruvian farmer in Germany and Greenpeace in Norway could also cause ripples, said lawyers and academics. “There is a trend towards more litigation around climate change, and probably the lack of political action in the United States may increase that trend,” said Sophie Marjanac, a London-based lawyer at non-profit environmental law group ClientEarth. “Where there’s an abdication of leadership on climate action, I think the courts will have a greater role to play,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Lawyers and campaigners are closely watching the looming legal battles they say could set the stage for fresh claims against major oil and industrial companies, and pressure governments to ramp up action on climate change. With U.S. President Donald Trump and his cabinet members named as defendants, the Juliana v. United States case brought by 21 young activists from Oregon is set to be one of the most closely followed in 2018. In the federal case, scheduled for trial in February, the plaintiffs hope to establish that the government’s climate change policies have failed to protect their constitutional right to live in a habitable environment. The case remains locked in legal limbo, however, as the government tries to block it from proceeding. Lawyers and academics say Juliana builds on the groundbreaking Urgenda case brought by hundreds of Dutch citizens in 2015, which saw the government ordered by a district court to accelerate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. However, that outcome is now being appealed, with
HISTORY REPEATING? Some lawyers and researchers say claims seeking specific damages from energy and industrial companies for actions that may have contributed to climate change could have a bigger impact than constitutional cases. A successful ruling against a heavyweight corporate could potentially unleash a wave of similar claims, say case watchers, who reference long-running fights against tobacco, asbestos and pesticide manufacturers over harm to human health. At least seven Californian cities and counties have brought lawsuits against major fossil fuel companies. San Francisco and Oakland are seeking billions of dollars to help protect against rising sea levels they blame on climate change. “Why should taxpayers and impacted communities alone bear the growing costs of climate impacts when fossil fuel companies have played an outsized role in making the problem worse?” said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, after Santa Cruz city and county both filed lawsuits this month. Tracy Hester, a lecturer at the University of Houston Law Center, said such claims could “redefine the rules of the game”. “They’re essentially not trying to bring a global claim that’s going to lock up all these issues in one court... they’re different in that they’re seeking damages,” he said. Trump’s move to pull out of the Paris climate change accord and roll back environmental regulations means campaigners are increasingly resorting to litigation, as they did under former President George W. Bush, said case watchers. (rtr)
Ghanaian artist Joseph Awuah-Darko poses as Agbogbloshie electronical waste dumpsite in Accra on November 29, 2017. Joseph is the founder of Agbogblo.Shine Initiative, an organisation that advocates the use of design thinking to galvanize social change in Agbogbloshie to stop climate change. With the project, he also seeks to repurpose e-waste and scrap to create upcycled furniture.
CRISTINA ALDEHUELA / AFP
International
Friday, December 29, 2017
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Govt to evaluate airport train operation
REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a graduation ceremony for Israeli Air Force pilots at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel, December 27, 2017.
Israel passes disputed law muzzling police on high-profile probes
JERUSALEM - Israel’s parliament ratified on Thursday a law barring police investigators from going public with their findings, in what opposition lawmakers saw as a bid to soften scrutiny of corruption probes against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The so-called Recommendations Bill, approved in the final reading by a vote of 59-to-54, prevents police from announcing whether they have found enough evidence for an indictment before prosecutors decide whether or not to press such charges. Netanyahu is a suspect in two cases. In one, he is alleged to have meddled in the media industry. The other concerns gifts he received from wealthy businessmen. He denies any wrongdoing. Opposition lawmakers have said that the bill, tabled by Netanyahu’s rightist Likud party, was designed to dampen public anger over the investigations, which has fuelled weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv and calls for the premier’s ouster. Netanyahu defended the bill on Dec. 3 as “intended to prevent publication of police recommendations
which would leave a cloud over innocent people, something that happens every day”. In 60 percent of cases where police recommend criminal charges, prosecutors decided not to indict, Netanyahu noted. But the prime minister also called for the bill to be amended so it did not apply to the criminal investigations against him. The final draft stipulated that the law would not be in effect regarding investigations that predate its ratification. That has done little to mollify the opposition. “This law came about only because of the investigations against Netanyahu,” Avi Gabbay, head of the centre-left Zionist Union party, told Israel’s Army Radio. “We don’t know what investigations might be conducted in the future (against him).” Israeli media had reported that police could go public with recommendations to indict Netanyahu as soon as early January, and a Dec. 23 TV poll found that 60 percent to 63 percent of the public would want him to resign over such recommendations. (rtr)
TANGGERANG - The government and the airport railway operator PT Railink Indonesia are evaluating the Soekarno-Hatta Airport train service operation after its initial commercial run on Tuesday. The director general of the railway services of the Transportation Ministry Zulfikri said on Wednesday that the evaluation focused on the train`s services, tariff, and infrastructure. “There are two types of services, those in the station and aboard the train. First, we will see the departure and arrival time; then ticket selling, which has met its standard of services,” he stated. However, Zulfikri has called on the railway operator to evaluate the requirements of passengers who buy tickets offline because not all of them have email accounts. “The evaluation should also be adjusted to the current users`
needs. For example, passengers from the Sudirman station could ignore the email requirement, and only put phone numbers,” he added. Emails or phone numbers, he pointed out, are necessary to give passengers timely information about any delays or cancellation. Zulfikri has asked Railink to adjust the departure and arrival timings of the train with flight schedules, as passengers would need more time to reach terminals 1, 2 or 3 of the Soekarno Hatta Airport. About the railway tariff, Zulfikri said it would be a flat fare but if the number of passengers from the nearest Batu Ceper and Duri Station soared, the fare might be evaluated later. Meanwhile, Railink`s president director Heru Kuswanto noted that the train has free wi-fi for passengers, but it is yet to operate optimally. (and)
Four suspects in health equipment corruption case declared law fugitives MEDAN - The Binjai Prosecution Office has declared law fugitives four suspects in alleged corruption of health equipment of a state hospital in Binjai, North Sumatra. The four suspects identified as TD, MS, CPT and SYA, were charged with embezzling Rp14 billion in budget fund for the procurement of head equipment of the Djoelham Hospital of Binjai in 2012. Head of the Law Information Section of the North Sumatra High Prosecution Office Sumanggar Siagian, said here on Thursday the whereabouts of the four suspects are not known. They were declared law fugitives as they were not cooperative and their whereabouts are unknown, Sumanggar said. “They have failed to appear after being summoned several times by special criminal investigators,” he said.
Earlier the Binjai Prosecution Office already named seven other suspects in the alleged corruption of health equipment worth Rp3.5 billion of the same hospital . The suspects included MS, former director of the hospital, SYA, an official in charge of making commitment, CPT, former head of ULP of the hospital, SHD , former chairman of the Working Group for the procurement of Goods and Services, BA, head of the Branch of stateowned pharmaceutical company Kimia Farma of Medan, TD, Director of PT Mesarinda Abadi and FNC, Director of PT Petan Daya. The suspects were charged with markup of the prices of health equipment causing a loss of Rp3.5 billion in state fund, based on the audite report of the North Sumatra`s branch of the Supreme Audit Board (BPKP). (ant)
President Jokowi
IBP/net
Fund for education should be evaluated: President Jokowi
BOGOR - Endowment fund for education, which can be a bridge to improve the quality of Indonesian human resources, should be evaluated, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) remarked. “The fund for education must be managed properly and productively in an effort to improve Indonesian human resources,” Jokowi stated here on Wednesday. The president affirmed that the Indonesian human resources should improve continuously to enable it to become a competitive and a developed country. The fund has reached more than Rp31 trillion and will continue to improve in the future. Therefore, the use of fund should be evaluated, starting from the recruitment process of the scholarship recipients. “We should map strategic areas that need improvement,” the president remarked. The use of fund should
be able to catch up with sectors that are left behind. In terms of place of learning, the government should observe the superiority of destination countries of scholarship recipients. “The superiority of destination countries should be studied by scholarship recipients,” he added. The president stated that the fund could be used for research, which encourages the nation`s competitiveness and energy, anticipates technology, and develops digital economic and other productive researches. “The results of research do not accumulate in the library,” the president noted. The president stated that the use of fund should also be able to improve the skills of Indonesian workers. “I hope the scholarship program can be given to the workers to improve their skills. As a result, they can become more professional using their good skills,” Jokowi explained. (ant)
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International
Friday, December 29, 2017
World stocks climb as copper rally points to strong economy
Global stocks edged higher on Wednesday, shrugging off faltering oil prices and reports of soft iPhone X demand, as a rally in copper buoyed expectations for a strong year for the global economy in 2018. Copper prices rocketed to multi-year highs, pushing the MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 47 countries, up 0.22 percent. The metal, used in construction and machinery, is seen as a proxy for global growth.
REUTERS/Jamal Saidi
A boy is seen near the construction site of a future urban project of Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid in downtown Beirut, Lebanon December 27, 2017. fell 0.6 percent to $59.61 per barrel and Brent was last at $65.86, down 0.9 percent on the day. U.S. economic news sent mixed signals. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index registered at levels below consensus for December, while the National Association of Realtors reported pending home sales higher than economists had forecast for November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28.09 points, or 0.11 percent, to 24,774.3, the S&P 500 gained 2.12 points, or 0.08 percent, to 2,682.62 and the Nasdaq Composite added 3.09 points, or 0.04 percent, to 6,939.34. DOLLAR DIPS, BONDS RALLY The dollar fell 0.23 percent against a basket of major currencies as commodity-linked
currencies gained and as traders bet improved global growth would spur major central banks to begin reducing monetary stimulus in 2018. Though stocks inched up, there was an undercurrent of nervousness in the market that pushed some investors into government bonds, pushing their yields lower. Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 15/32 in price to yield nearly 2.413 percent, from 2.467 percent late on Tuesday. “The buying has been strong since the early morning,” said Thomas Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies in New York, as investors rebuilt positions in bonds after they under-performed earlier this month. “Geo-political risks have notched a little
higher, supporting rates markets,” said Mizuho’s head of rates Peter Chatwell, referring in particular to a renewal in tensions around North Korea. The United States announced sanctions on two North Korean officials behind their country’s ballistic missile program on Tuesday after the U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea last week. “The North Korean statement that U.N. sanctions are an act of war is, as tends to be the case, an exaggeration, but nevertheless, the market has no choice but to price it. Some safe-haven positioning is a natural reaction,” said Chatwell.(rtr)
DENPASAR - Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) is going to celebrate the moment of the New Year’s Eve in Bali. Based on information circulating, JK is scheduled to arrive on the Island of the Gods on Friday (Dec. 29). Before celebrating the New Year with family, this second person in Indonesia will also make a working visit to Karangasem. When confirmed on Wednesday (Dec. 27), Chief of PR and Protocol Bureau, Regional Secretariat of Bali Province, I Dewa Gede Mahendra Putra, justified that JK planned for a holiday to celebrate the New Year in Bali. To welcome the vice president, coordination meetings will be held on Thursday at the governor’s office. “Well... there is a meeting but closed. We personally do not know about the rundown of his agenda in Bali,” he said. The arrival of JK to Bali had previously been revealed by the Cabinet Secretary, Pramono Anung, when giving a press statement in the limited meeting of President Joko Widodo at Werdhapura, Sanur, on December 22. According to Anung, JK and his family planned a holiday in Bali on December 29, 2017 to January 1, 2018. The arrival of JK is to further convince the world that Bali is still safe to be visited despite the eruption of Mount Agung. It is especially intended to the countries having issued travel ban, travel warning and travel advisory to come to Bali. The dangerous radius is only until 8-10 km from the crater of Mount Agung. Besakih re-opened Apart from the planned visit of JK, the surprising policy was actually issued by the Deputy Governor of Bali who is also the Head of Operations Management Board (MO) of Besakih Temple, Ketut
Sudikerta. He instructed to open the operation of Besakih Temple whereas the temple is 7.08 km from the peak of Mount Agung. “Even though the operating
follow the instructions from the authorities,” he said in an internal meeting related to the sustainability of Besakih Temple operation in the deputy governor’s meeting on
alert level of Mount Agung was set to level IV (warning) on November 25, 2017. It is closed for tourism activities and worship because Besakih belongs to disaster-prone area (KRB). However, it is now decided to be re-opened after considering the development of Mount Agung and based on the approval of President Joko Widodo to revoke
activities have been re-opened, I remain to ask the management officers and general public in the temple area to remain vigilant and
Wednesday (Dec. 27). According to Sudikerta, the operation of Besakih Temple has been previously closed since the
the emergency response status of the disaster in the limited meeting at Werdhapura, Sanur. Deputy Operations Manager of
Its poll showed that 26 of 48 industry associations were more upbeat than they were at the end of 2016 and more than two- thirds expected firms in their sector to produce more next year than this. “Despite the protectionist policies of U.S. President Donald Trump and prospect of Brexit, investment in Germany rose this year and will strengthen further in
2018,” said IW in a statement. Only two sectors were pessimistic - the food industry, which is worried about tougher competition and higher costs, and sections of the cooperative banking sector which are suffering from low interest rates and margins. The IW said 24 of the 47 industry associations which gave investment estimates, expect higher spending levels from their
member companies. The main factor holding back firms is a shortage of skilled labour, a long-standing concern in Germany. “The production prospects in the German economy could be better if more skilled workers were available,” said IW Director Michael Huether. Most economists expect the German economy to grow for the
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ninth consecutive year in 2018. Earlier this month, the Ifo institute forecast 2.6 percent growth for next year, following an expected expansion of 2.3 percent for this year. A separate survey of 820 mostly family-owned businesses, showed that 69 percent expected improvements in their operating business next year, up from 59 percent a year ago.(rtr)
Besakih Temple attraction, I Wayan Ngawit, will run the instruction and coordinate with the Bureau of Welfare to issue an official announcement. Meanwhile, Spokesman of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, stated that Besakih Temple belongs to a dangerous radius. “The distance of Besakih Temple
to the top of Mount Agung is about 7.08 km. So, the temple is included in the sectoral area of 10 km,” he explained. (kmb32)
Indian tourists to Bali up 55 percent in number
German firms optimistic for 2018, worker shortage main brake
BERLIN - More than half of Germany’s industry associations have shrugged off worries about U.S. protectionist policies and Brexit, and are more positive about their situation than they were a year ago, a survey showed on Wednesday. The main factor holding firms back in Europe’s biggest economy is a shortage of skilled labour, the IW economic institute in Cologne said.
Friday, December 29, 2017
JK to celebrate New Year in Bali
BUSINESS
“The rally in copper supports expectations that 2018 is going to be a strong year for synchronized global growth,” said Greg McKenna, chief strategist at AxiTrader. Copper rose 1.32 percent to $7,219 a tonne, its highest in nearly four years, on expectations of robust demand from top consumer China in 2018. The metal could also be getting a boost from expectations that U.S. lawmakers will turn their attention to infrastructure spending after signing a massive tax overhaul into law last week, said Tom Stringfellow, chief investment officer at Frost Investment Advisors. Shares in Asia, Europe and the United States managed to advance slightly, adding to a strong calendar year of gains despite reports of lackluster demand for Apple Inc’s iPhone X, mixed U.S. economic data and a stalled recovery in oil prices. Trading during the holiday-shortened week was thin, with many traders and investors away ahead of New Year’s Day. MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares closed 0.24 percent higher. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended the day up 0.03 percent. Emerging market stocks rose 0.51 percent. Apple ultimately rose 0.02 percent, one day after shares posted their worst single-day percentage fall since Aug. 10. The drop came after Taiwan’s Economic Daily cited unidentified sources as saying Apple would slash its sales forecast for its flagship phone in the current quarter. Also weighing on stocks, oil failed to sustain a rally that sent it to multi-year highs a day earlier on supply concerns. U.S. crude
Bali News
International
Indian tourist pose in Besakih Temple
IBP/kmb
DENPASAR - The number of Indian tourists to Bali increased 55 percent to 222,516 in the first 10 months of this year from 143,464 in the same period last year. “Most of them flew in to Bali directly from India with only 1,400 as passengers of tourist boats,” head of the provincial office of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) I Gede Nyoman Subadri said. He said Indian tourists are the fourth largest in number visiting Bali after China, Australia and Japan or 4.43 percent of the total number of 5.02 million foreign tourists visiting Bali in the first 10 months of the year. The number of foreign tourists visiting Bali rose 23.2 percent from 4.07 million in the same period last year. I Gede Nyoman Subadri said the number of tourists from 8 of 10 main countries of origin rose with a decline recorded only from Australia and Malaysia. India recorded the second highest increase after China
from which the number rose 57.06 percent, followed by South Korea 26.77 percent, Germany 19.18 percent, the United States 18.39 percent, Britain 15.39 percent, Japan 12.27 percent and France 10.09 percent. I Gede Nyoman Subadri attributed the increase in number of tourists from India to direct flights between Indoensia especially Bali and India. AirAsia Indonesia has opened new route between Denpasar, Bali and Calcutta, India early October 2017 to meet growing number of Indian tourists to Bali. Earlier or in May, 2017, the airline serves its first flight between Bali and Bombay of India at the same time with the opening of its new route between Bali and Tokyo. Meanwhile, the Badung district administration is set to chalk up 7 million foreign holiday makers in the the largest of the suburban regions of Greater Denpasar. The regency of Badung covers Bali`s
most heavy tourist regions, including Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Jimbaran, Nusa Dua, Canggu, Uluwatu, Badung, and Mengwi. “I am optimistic the target could be reached in 2018 as until mid December this year the number of foreign visitors already reached 5.8 million,” head of the Badung Tourism Office I Made Badra said in Mangupura on Thursday. To ensure that the target could be reached the district administration would organize a tourism promotion visit to the United States in Jan. 22-28 next year holding an exhibition in the city of New York and meetings with local tourism organizers. In February a similar visit is planned to Australia. The visit is planned to the United States as U.S. tourists are big spenders with spending averaging US$1,800 per visit each , the same as tourists from Europe. Spending by Indian tourists averages US$1,500 per visits each. (ant)
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Friday, December 29, 2017
Bali News
International
Friday, December 29, 2017
International
Give assurance to tourists, Badung prepare crisis center
MANGUPURA — Although it had lost the moment after the eruption of Mount Agung, the target of tourist visit to Bali as much as 5.6 million has been met. Of this number, they are still dominated by tourists from China followed by Australia and Europe. According to Chairman of the Regional Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD) of Badung, Ray Suryawijaya, the target of Bali this year has been reached as many as 5.6 million. He said that central government indeed previously targeted to reach 6 million tourists visiting Bali. However, it is difficult to achieve because it lost the moment from September to December. “If this did not happen, the tourist visit may have exceeded the target of 6.5 million. Currently, the number of Chinese tourists is almost 2 million or nearly 30 percent of them are visiting Bali. With this year’s achievement, next year the target of tourist visit to Bali will be 7 million and 17 million to Indonesia,” he said amid the work program 2018 in Kuta on Wednesday (Dec. 27). With the revocation of travel warning by Chinese government, it is very optimistic that there will be an increase in Chinese tourists traveling to Bali especially before next Chinese New Year. He is confident that Chinese tourists will flood Bali after the government assured Chinese government where if there is closure of the airport, Bali is ready. “We are very excited. This is a result of our effort to convince them. We had a meeting with them for few times and China is ready to come as long as there is warranty when the airport is closed,” he concluded. In the meeting with tourism stakeholders, other than discussing the issue of tourism promotion, there was also a discussion on disaster mitigation. In this case, Badung district will create a crisis center to provide certainty for tourists during the disaster. According to him, in dealing with disaster, it would be nice if every district / city and the province have a crisis center. He said the crisis center is indeed an international standard. If something happens in the district or province itself, it will be able to move quickly. “Technically, it will involve all the agencies and all stakeholders in the structure of the crisis center,” he said. He explained if Mount Agung erupts and the airport is closed, tourists spending holidays in Bali will be given certainty. If they want to stay and return to hotel beforehand, they will be given a free one-night stay. After that, they will be given a special price. If they want to continue the trip to nearest airport, they will be provided with free transport. “To provide excellent services during airport closure, we will also set up a 24-hour operation post at the airport,” he admitted. Meanwhile, Head of the Badung Tourism Office, Made Badra, said the decree on the establishment of crisis center has now been issued. This serves as one of the legal aspects how will be the involvement of related agencies including industrial players to jointly overcome disaster in case of the airport closure. Today, the funds prepared by Badung district government are worth IDR 8.5 billion for disaster mitigation activities. “This will be done in accordance with international operating procedural standards, related to distribution, communications, transportation including banquets to affected tourists,” he explained. (kmb23)
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Taiwan president says China military causing regional instability
REUTERS/Jung Yeon-Je/Pool
Oh Tai-Kyu, head of a special task force for investigating the 2015 South Korea-Japan agreement over South Korea’s “comfort women” issue, speaks during a briefing on his investigation at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea December 27, 2017.
Antara Foto/Nyoman Budhiana via REUTERS
Workers wearing super hero costumes to attract tourists, sweep up garbage at Kuta Beach, Bali, Indonesia December 27, 2017 in this photo taken by Antara Foto.
Relying on tourism, environmental maintenance becomes priority
DENPASAR — Bali relying on tourism should not ignore its environment especially concerning the sanitation of coastal, lakes and river environment. It is necessary to make monitoring programs from relevant agencies such as the Environment Agency (DLH) and community awareness programs. Thus, the declaration of Bali Goes Green is not only limited to a jargon. “The maintenance budget of rivers, lakes and beaches needs to be allocated to DLH as in the Public Works Agency that has road maintenance budget. Moreover, rivers, lakes and beaches are the places for Hindu religious activities such as melis,” said Chairman of the Commission III of the Bali House of Representatives, I Nengah Tamba, via telephone amid the visit of Commission III to Yogyakarta on Wednesday (Dec. 27). According to Tamba, the existing ecosystem such as the river, lake and beach in Bali must be maintained with the concept of Tri Hita Karana to make it clean and sustainable. As for the budget, it is necessary to make adjustments because there are rivers or beaches located across the districts / municipality. Therefore, DLH Bali is asked to make coordination. “At least in 2019, DLH Bali must make a study. DLH directly maps out the existing potential. If this program works, simply involve the community,” explained this Democratic Party politician.
Meanwhile, Secretary of Commission III of the Bali House of Representatives, I Ketut Kariyasa Adnyana, said there must be a budget to maintain sanitation of rivers, lakes and beaches. It is important for the continuity of Bali as the icon of tourism sector. All the three are now haunted by pollution due to waste. Commission III even immediately drafted the regional regulation initiative on environmental business services to address the issue. “There should be a budget for monitoring, for community awareness programs and so forth if wishing to create Bali Goes Green as the icon of tourism,” explained this PDI-P politician. When interviewed separately, Head of the Bali Environmental Agency, Gede Suarjana, said that DLH has been focusing more on the activities of water quality supervision and monitoring. Meanwhile, the maintenance activities are carried out by other agencies such as the Watershed Management Institute, Bali-Penida River
Agency and the Public Works Agency. “We will monitor, for example, if someone throws garbage. Then, we set the status of the quality of rivers and water classes,” he said. Related to the rivers in Bali, continued Suarjana, one of the 22 district-crossing rivers is categorized into severely polluted namely the Tukad Mati. Furthermore, Tukad Badung in terms of quality belongs to moderately polluted and the remaining lightly polluted. Related to the lakes, they generally experience silting, contamination and are threatened by water weeds. Meanwhile, the beaches in Bali face a very serious abrasion threat and almost occur in all tourism areas. The abrasion happens almost 87.1 km of the coastline totally spread along 430 km. In the meantime, the coast is indicated abrasion is almost 181.7 km. “It is necessary to make zoning for the lake utilization, including the zoning on the beach to minimize it,” he said. (kmb32)
South Korea says ‘comfort women’ deal flawed, but Japan insists on no change
SEOUL - South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Thursday that a 2015 agreement with Japan over South Korean “comfort women” was seriously flawed after Japan said any attempt to revise it could damage relations. A South Korean panel set up to investigate the deal concluded on Wednesday that it failed to meet the needs of the thousands of girls and women forced to work in Japan’s wartime military brothels, many of them Korean, euphemistically termed “comfort women” by Japan. The announcement threw ties into doubt as both countries, strong U.S. allies, seek to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes. “The agreement cannot solve the comfort women issue,” Moon said, calling the deal a “political agreement that excludes victims and the public” and violates general principles in international society, according to a Blue House statement. A Japanese foreign ministry spokeswoman said Japan had conveyed its position to South Korea through diplomatic channels following Moon’s remarks, reiterating Foreign Minister Taro Kono’s comment on Wednesday that any
attempt to change the deal would be “unacceptable” and make relations “unmanageable”. Asked if Moon meant to declare the deal null and void, Blue House spokesman Park Soo-hyun said it was “inappropriate” for him to use the term at this point, adding the government would present its “final position”. Under the 2015 deal, Japan apologised to victims and provided 1 billion yen ($8.8 million) to a fund to help them. The two governments had agreed the issue would be “irreversibly resolved” if both fulfilled their obligations. Moon pledged to normalise relations and work toward “futureoriented cooperation” with Japan. Japan’s Nikkei business daily on Thursday quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as telling people close to him that the agreement “will not be changed by even one millimetre”.
“Regardless of the Japanese government’s stance, we take the investigation results seriously and humbly,” South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Roh Kyu-deok told a news briefing, adding Seoul would formulate follow-up measures as soon as possible that could help the victims “regain honour and heal the wounds in their hearts”. Japan and South Korea, which share a bitter history including Japanese colonisation, are key to international efforts to rein in North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes that it pursues in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The comfort women issue has been a regular cause for contention between Japan and neighbours China and North and South Korea since the war. Japan colonised the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945 and occupied parts of China before and after the war. In 2014, the U.N. Human Rights Committee asked Japan to clarify the “comfort women” euphemism, with an independent expert on the panel calling for it to be replaced by “enforced sex slaves”. (rtr)
TAIPEI - China’s frequent military activity is causing regional instability, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday, adding that the island’s forces have been keeping a close eye on what they are up to. China considers self-ruled and democratic Taiwan to be its sacred territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring what it views as a wayward province under Chinese control. China has taken an increasingly hostile stance towards Taiwan since Tsai, from the island’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, won presidential elections last year. Beijing suspects her of pushing for the island’s formal independence, a red line for China. Tsai says she wants peace with the mainland, but that she will defend Taiwan’s security and way of life. China’s air force has carried out 16 rounds of exercises close to Taiwan in the past year or so, Taiwan’s defence ministry said in a white paper this week. China’s military threat was growing by the day, it warned. Beijing has repeatedly said its drills, which have also taken place in the disputed South China Sea and the Sea of Japan, are routine and not aimed at any third party. Tsai, speaking to senior military officers in Taipei, said the island wanted peace but could “not have a single day without combat preparedness”. “In this period of time, the frequent military activities of mainland China in East Asia have already affected safety and stability in the region to a certain extent,” Tsai said. “Our country has always been a contributor to safety and stability in the region, this is why the national army has to keep an eye on movements of the Chinese military and take appropriate actions when needed to guarantee the safety of the country and region.” China has warned Taiwan against “using weapons to refuse reunification” and its state media has given high profile to images of Chinese jets flying close to the island. Tension rose this month when a senior Chinese diplomat threatened that China would invade Taiwan if any U.S. warships made port visits there. Taiwan is well equipped with mostly U.S.-made weapons, but has been pressing Washington to sell more advanced equipment. The United States is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, to China’s distaste. (rtr)
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Friday, December 29, 2017
SOMETIMES, the best pieces can be found tucked away in the men’s section of a store (or site). And with the oversize and menswear-inspired trends skyrocketing onto the street style scene this season, it comes as no surprise that many of our favorite celebs have
Fashion
International
The 3 coolest pieces models borrow from the boys
turned directly to the source and have shopped men’s pieces in lieu of womenswear. Models Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, and Hailey Baldwin have all been spotted recently sporting loose-fitting oversize men’s pieces. However, as the girls prove, the
Bali News
International
Friday, December 29, 2017
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‘Bali Is Safe’ campaign ineffective, hotel occupancy drops
items (whether it’s Bella’s jean jacket or Kendall’s T-shirt) can just as easily be reworked into our wardrobes. The result? A borrowed-from-the-boys ensemble that looks as cool as it is comfortable. Now that’s a wardrobe winwin. (net)
The Jeans “Every Woman’s After” Right Now
WHEN Levi’s says that a style of skinny jeans has been “taking closets by storm ever since we released it”, we’re all ears. That’s exactly what the subject of an email newsletter from the brand stated this week. Not only that, the subject line of the email was “Every woman’s after this jean.” Upon opening the email, we were pleased to find that we’re not the only ones that are big fans of Levi’s 501 Skinny Jeans, the ‘90s-inspired style we’ve been obsessed with ever since their release late last year. Not only do the jeans look authentically vintage, but they’re comfortable, flattering, and affordable, with prices ranging from $98 to $168. They’re not the typical skin-tight skinny jeans we’ve all come to know. The 501 Skinny Jeans are more of a straight-leg look that fashion girls have been quite fond of as of late. They’re also available in different inseams, which is genius (for obvious reasons). So the bottom line is, when Levi’s says that these are the jeans that everyone wants, we definitely believe them. (net)
AMLAPURA — After Bali tourism slumped, the biggest impact is felt by hoteliers and restaurateurs in Bali. Even though the ‘Bali Is Safe’ campaign is intensively conducted towards the end of 2017, in reality it is difficult to recover the situation to normal. In Karangasem, hotel occupancy rate dropped considerably. Moreover, as of this December, star-rated hotels such as Alila Manggis have very low occupancy rate namely 6 percent. This was conveyed by the Secretary of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) of Karangasem, Wayan Kariasa, when met in Amlapura on Tuesday (Dec. 26). He said that in normal situations, the quietest occupancy rate in December usually reached 40 percent. In the meantime, the data of PHRI Karangasem show that out of 18 non-star-rated hotels, 3 hotels belong to time share and 5 star-rated hotels are in slumped condition. Moreover, other small hotels have long been closed, and already laid off their employees. When asked about tourist arrivals to Bali that have begun to increase, he admitted that in Karangasem region there is no significant development. The situation remains difficult for tourism in Karangasem. All this time, tourists that come to Bali are dominated by Europeans. In addition, there are Australian tourists of the elderly and Asian tourists. Most tourism markets of Bali issued travel warning to visit Bali. This caused a lot of tourists wishing to visit Bali cancelled during the Christmas and New Year holidays. “Although some countries have opened their travel warning, like Australia, this has not had an impact at all on the tourism of Karangasem,” explained Kariasa. Hotels having collapsed or closed are forced to lay off their employees temporarily. Mean-
while, some hotels can only pay half wages. Aside from the problem of small tourist arrivals, tourism entrepreneurs are also experiencing the same problems as other entrepreneurs, namely related to bad loans in some banks. Like the demands of the other entrepreneurs in general in Karangasem, he also requested the abolition of interest and the delay of principal payments until the situation is back to normal. “Not to mention, many of our employees have loans in the bank by pledging their appointment certificate. Due to situation is like this, they are also difficult to meet the obligations. Besides, they also have difficulty to pay premium of BPJS Health and Employment,” he said. He hoped that Mount Agung will calm down and the situation returns to normal soon because currently the tourism business in Karangasem has been severely slumped. If this continues over the next few months, the difficult situation will have an increasingly widespread impact on employee layoff that further increases unemployment in Karangasem. On the other hand, Regent of Karangasem, I Gusti Ayu Mas Sumatri, claimed to have tried to restore the trust of tourists that Bali is safe. Moreover, President Joko Widodo with almost all his ministers has come to Bali and convinced the world that a vacation to Bali is safe. These efforts are being intensively undertaken by central government with local governments and private sector. Revocation of travel warning by several countries seems to have become the impact of this effort. Although it currently does not have impact on Karangasem, he is confident in the near future in keeping with the weakening activities of Mount Agung, the Bali tourism, especially Karangasem, will soon recover. (kmb31)
IBP/kmb
Even though the ‘Bali Is Safe’ campaign is intensively conducted towards the end of 2017, in reality it is difficult to recover the situation to normal.
The decline occurred both on passengers, motorcycles as well as vehicles.
IBP/kmb
Christmas and New Year holidays
Vehicle traffic to Bali decreases
NEGARA — Compared to last year, the traffic of people and vehicles coming to Bali via Ketapang-Gilimanuk Harbor on this Christmas and New Year decreased. As the data compiled from ASDP Ketapang, the decline occurred both on passengers, motorcycles as well as vehicles.
Although classified to show a daily increase when compared to normal days, overall it actually decreased when compared to condition in 2016. Precisely the traffic coming out of Bali through Gilimanuk Harbor showed an increase in terms of percentage during this Christmas and New Year. Until Wednesday morning (Dec. 27), the data of passenger traffic coming into Bali through Ketapang Harbor for a week reached 248,676 people. It decreased 8 percent compared to last year’s traffic reaching 271,233 people. Likewise, motorcycle that entered Bali showed a decline of 22 percent. This year, there were 12,938 motorcycles, while last year amounted to 16,532 motorcycles. The decline also occurred for vehicles consisting of private cars, buses and trucks. When compared to a year ago, the number of vehicles decreased by 4 percent or about a thousand more units from 31,432 units to 30,129 units this year. Operations Manager of Gilimanuk Harbor, Heru Wahyono, when asked for his confirmation last Wednesday justified the decline of both passengers and
vehicles entering Bali during this Christmas and New Year holiday compared to last year. But he added the holiday period remains to leave until the New Year and possibly there will be an increase. “Perhaps, it can happen because visitors are still waiting for the moment of the New Year and travel to Bali after celebrating Christmas,” explained Heru. So, there is still time left up to Saturday (Dec. 30), where vehicles coming into Bali may increase. Meanwhile, the traffic of passengers and vehicles out of Bali even increased. The data during a week to Wednesday morning (Dec. 27) showed an increase of 8,923 people or 4 percent for the number of passengers, an increase of 1,574 motorcycles or five percent from the previous year and 3 percent for vehicles. Previously (in 2016), the number of vehicles reached 35,912 units and the rose to 36,053 units. The ASDP harbor authority predicted the peak of outgoing traffic from Bali through Gilimanuk Harbor occurred on January 1 to January 4. “We are going to alert during the four days, reflecting on the previous experience of the New Year related to the vehicles of domestic tourists going to Bali and going back to Java,” explained Heru. He ensured the number of vessels is sufficient. Currently, the vessel operated amounts to 32 units. The ASDP has also alerted 16 spare vessels that can be operated any time if there is a constrained vessel. (kmb26)
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Bali News
Friday, December 29, 2017
Arrival at airport increases, but occupancy remains low
DENPASAR - The arrival of tourists based on the air traffic arrival record indeed showed an increase. However, it is apparently not accompanied with an increase in hotel occupancy and derivative business namely recreation object. “Indeed it has increased but not as significant as the traffic at the airport,” said Inda Trimafo Yudha, Chairperson of the Association of Indonesian Recreation Park Entrepreneurs (PUTRI) of Bali on Wednesday (Dec. 27). Similar question is also raised among tourism business players.
They predicted that arriving tourists will only make Bali as their transit point to other regions. For example, they further travel to Komodo, Lombok and Labuan Bajo. There is also possibility of different guest character in terms of their purchasing power. Bali has a variety of accommodation categories, not just hotels. “Last December 23, I asked the ITDC, the hotel occupancy was about 40 percent. Meanwhile, the domestic traffic at the airport actually increased compared to last year, while international traffic is approximately the same. Well, we must make introspection again and the data should be reviewed and researched data where these guests go,” she explained. Actually, in previous years, one week before Christmas, hotel rooms were alaready fully booked. From November to a week before Christmas is indeed deserted. What happens today is that hotel occupancy has not been evenly distributed. She admitted the current recovered tourism condition has been able to cover its business operations. However, she is worried if there will be another turmoil. The first homework to be resolved is the mitigation in case the airport closes. “As a result of the first airport closure, we become more aware, discuss and review mitigation plan technically,” she said. She hoped if the airport is closed it will not make guests traumatic. If the previous incident recurred, his board has better readiness to handle guests. There are
several mitigation options planned namely provision of transportation to sea crossing. District government of Badung has also supported by providing funding support for future mitigation. The transportation provided is also from the navy on the request of the government. Sea transportation with a capacity of 2,000 is ready to take guests to Surabaya. The recent airport closure has forced tourism entrepreneurs to use their reserve funds to cover operating costs. “Well, we must bail out. The operating costs we use today are saving of the past but not all entrepreneurs have savings. As entrepreneurs and speculators, in one sense we have to innovate. So, we have already refurbished or rejuvenated our property,” she explained. Meanwhile, Operations Manager of Karangasem Water Palace, Ida Made Alit, when in Denpasar said that after the airport closure not long ago, tourist visit in the region decreased up to 60 percent. Financially, it is calculated to worth IDR 3 million per day with the visit rate of 30-40 people per day. By and large, the income of Water Park reached IDR15 million – IDR 20 million per day. However, from December 23, the visit began to increase. Domestic guests now reach 200 people while foreign guests reach 50-60 people. (kmb42)
Ngurah Rai International Airport
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International
To make deterrent effect, litterers to be sanctioned customarily Facial photo to be displayed
TABANAN - Munduk Temu village, Pupuan, has its own unique way to keep the environment clean from littering. Those who are caught littering will be subject to customary sanctions in accordance with the agreed perarem (appendix to customary village law). Not only that, the violators are also imposed with social sanctions in the form of photo display and announced in the village media. Headman of Munduk Temu, I Nyoman Wintara, said the agreement on sanctions for people who dispose of garbage is decided through consultation with local BPD, LPM, KPD together with three customary villages at Munduk Temu namely Kebon Jero village, chief of Munduk Temu as well as Anggasari on December 9, 2017. This rule aims to preserve the environment so that local wisdom and ecosystem at Munduk Temu village can be well maintained. “The agreement has been made in some items, and it has been completed with the minutes so as not to be violated,” he said. The pararem having been agreed includes that Munduk Temu villagers and other residents are prohibited from littering and hunting, luring and capturing birds as well as electrocuting and poisoning fish in the region of Munduk Temu. If the three points are violated, the violators will be subject to customary sanctions in the form of fines. The amount of fine is pursuant to the agreement in each of customary village. At Anggasari and Kebon Jero village, the residents and those from other residents found littering will be fined at IDR 100,000, while Munduk Temu village charges IDR 250,000. “In addition, there is also social sanction from administrative village in the form of displaying photos and announced at local village media,” said Wintara. Moreover, he added that against the violation to poison and electrocute fish in the river, each customary village will impose a fine of IDR 1 million. “This effort is also meant to maintain ecosystem so as not to be destroyed arbitrarily,” he explained. Apart from the application of sanctions, on the other hand, there is also a reward system. Local residents also participate in maintaining the environment, especially at Munduk Temu customary village. A reward is provided for those that dare to report and become a witness to the violators. They will be paid a fee of IDR 100,000. “Now, this pararem is still in dissemination phase and will be effective next March 2018,” he said. On that account, Winarta hoped the agreement can be obeyed by the residents of Munduk Temu village to maintain the sustainability of the existing ecosystem. (kmb28)
To restore water catchment of two lakes
Agriculture Agency plants thousands of Arabica coffees SINGARAJA - Entering rainy season, the Buleleng Agriculture Agency intensively does planting in a number of villages in Buleleng. One of them is at Dasong hamlet, Pancasari, Sukasada sub-district, on Wednesday (Dec. 27). At this village, the agency handed over 5,000 Arabica coffee seedlings. The target of this planting is to restore the watershed ecosystem of Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan.
This planting movement was initiated with a symbolic handover of Arabica coffee seedlings to local villagers. Delivery of these seedlings was attended by Division Head of Plantation, Nyoman Partayasa, representing the Head of the Buleleng Agriculture Agency, Nyoman Swatantra. Nyoman Partayasa said the thousands of coffee seedlings are the result of nurseries funded by
the Buleleng Regional Budget 2017. Location of the planting is at Dasong hamlet and it was selected because the area poses a water catchment area of Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan. Another reason is that within the past few years the coffee plants widely cultivated have been replaced with seasonal crops. As a result, there is no buffer to these catchment areas, and the plantation areas often erode to
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trigger environmental disturbances in the lake itself. “It is the follow-up of our program because this area belongs to water catchment area for both lakes. Moreover, there was a lot of coffee planted here but now has changed a lot. Therefore, we do the planting by degrees,” he said. According to him, Arabica coffee seedlings are planted on the land with a certain slant. They have dual functions namely as retention of wa-
ter and soil surface erosion so as to reduce siltation in Lake Buyan and Lake Tamblingan. Besides, Arabica coffee also has economic function to supplement farmer’s income. “Maybe, it is not now, but in the future the land on this high slope can prevent erosion and siltation in the lake. Hopefully, these seedlings can be maintained and provide results to supplement family’s economy,” he explained. (kmb38)
Founder : K.Nadha, General Manager :Palgunadi Chief Editor: Gugiek Savindra Editors:Agus Toni, Daniel Fajry, Mawa, Sueca, Sugiartha, Yudi Winanto Denpasar: Dira Arsana, Giriana Saputra, Subrata, Sumatika, Asmara Putra. Bangli: Suasrina, Buleleng: Dewa kusuma, Gianyar: Manik Astajaya, Karangasem: Budana, Klungkung: Dewa Farendra. Jakarta: Nikson, Hardianto, Ade Irawan. NTB: Agus Talino, Izzul Khairi, Raka Akriyani. Surabaya: Bambang Wilianto. Office: Jalan Kepundung 67 A Denpasar 80232. Telephone (0361)225764, Facsimile: 227418, P.O.Box: 3010 Denpasar 80001. Bali Post Jakarta, Advertizing: Jl.Palmerah Barat 21F. Telp 021-5357602, Facsimile: 021-5357605 Jakarta Pusat. NTB: Jalam Bangau No. 15 Cakranegara Telp. (0370) 639543, Facsimile: (0370) 628257. Publisher: PT Bali Post
Festive Season Promo At The Damai
In celebrating the spirit of love and togetherness this Christmas, The Damai Resort in North Bali is offering a 3-course set menu at only IDR 1,350,000 nett (USD 100.00) per person inclusive of a welcome cocktail. Usher in the New Year with a decadent 6-course New Year’s Eve dinner, at only IDR 2,000,000 nett (USD 150.00). The restaurant serves undeniably delicious dishes, born out of a unique collabora-
tion with a renowned chef, Jakob Mielcke of Mielcke & Hurtigkarl, Denmark. The Damai is located in the beautiful seaside town of Lovina, on a green hill overlooking the sea in the village of Kayu Putih. There are 15 Garden, Sea View and Pool Villas all elegantly furnished with a mix of Javanese and Balinese influence. For further information and reservations please send an email to reservation@thedamai.com. Jl. Damai,
Kayu Putih, Lovina, Singaraja Bali | Ph: +62 813 3843 7703 | www.thedamai.com. Damai means ‘peaceful’. Our only 15 villas are surrounded by magnificent Balinese parks and a beautiful market garden. They range in size from the intimate to the palatial, some have private pools and some do not. All are decorated with simple luxuries, that make you feel like in a home, not in a hotel.
Friday, December 29, 2017
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16 Pages Number 19 10th year
Price: Rp 3.000,-
Friday, December 29, 2017
How to use first need water purifier
The First Need Deluxe water purifier is one of the few filters on the market today that filters down to 2 microns. This means that it filters out all viruses, crypto, and protozoa without the need for additional purification tablets like Chlorine Dioxide. The only downside to this filter is that it weights 15 oz, which is heavy for you ultralight backpackers. Besides that, this filter is just exceptional. The filter itself is a glass matrix and will last for 200 gallons or more. Check the specs on your existing filter. Chances are that it is only capturing beasties that are larger than 3 microns. If this is the case, you need to rethink your filtering strategy and add a purification step using Chlorine. While drinkable,
chlorinated water tastes chlorinated and kind of ruins that backcountry experience. The First Need has a very long hose as you can see in the picture above. This makes it easy to pump from streams that have rocky banks. The tip contains a fine mesh screen, called a pre-filter, that screens out suspended solids. A first need pouch can be used to carry the filter or as a water bag for gravity based filtering. Normally, I leave this bag at home and just carry the filter in one of the mesh pockets on the outside of my pack where it can drip dry. Water is pushed through the filter by pumping the handle. It is possible to backwash the filter in order to clear the glass matrix if it becomes clogged. There are a variety of extra attachments that you can add to the outflow point of the filter that let you carry it to CamelBak and Platypus hydration reservoirs, or Nalgene bottles.
e-mail: info_ibp@balipost.co.id online: http://www.internationalbalipost.com. http://epaper.internationalbalipost.com.
Friday, December 29, 2017 World Kids Museum give water tanks to the refugee in Rendang, Karangasem Bali Post/Wawan
NPO World Kids Museum goes to Rendang
Giving donation and held fun games
AMLAPURA - Japan World Kids Museum handed over donations to refugee post in UPDT Farming Department in Rendang Village, Karangasem on Thursday, December 28. The donation was received by the Coordinator of Logistic I Wayan Sudiarta. NPO World Kids Museum is a NPO who work on culture and arts promtion in Indonesia and International goodwill since 2011. The Head of Operation of the World Kids Museum Tomomi Sakura Ijuin and Sushi Owaki stated that the donation consist of two water tank plus ready to drink. In addition
to that, they also donated 70 water purifying devices in Karangasem from the total 140 donated by the company. “The donation is from 100 companies and people from Japan. We will spread the donations to other refugee places,” Sakura said. She hopes that the donations can help the refugee of Mount Agung. “We hope that the donations will help them and also can give them happiness during the disaster condition,” she explained. In the occasion, she also took the children in the refugee place to join a drawing game. They are very enthusiastic in joining the event. “As you can see, they are very
happy. We are doing a special Japanese game called FukuWarai. It is a game to create happiness dan smile for the children, “ Sakura said. The Head of Logistic, I Wayan Sudiarta express his gratitude to World Kids Museum for their donations. He stated that it is very helpful for the refugee. “We only can say thank you because it is very important to us. We need the water very much so it is very helpful,” he said. Approximately, more than 40.000 people have fled due to the eruption of Mount Agung. Now, there is 2,000 refugees are staying in UPDT Farming Department in Rendang.
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Vehicles of emergency services are parked near a supermarket after an explosion in St Petersburg, Russia December 27, 2017.
Putin says St Petersburg supermarket bombing was terrorism
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said a bomb blast in a St Petersburg supermarket on Wednesday was an act of terrorism, and that security forces whose lives were threatened by terrorist suspects should shoot to kill if necessary. Putin was speaking on Thursday at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin for Russian personnel who served in Syria. “You know that yesterday in St Petersburg a terrorist act was carried out,” Putin told the audience, referring to the explosion that injured 13 shoppers in a branch of the Perekrestok supermarket chain. Investigators have opened a criminal case into Wednesday
evening’s blast, which they said was caused by a homemade bomb packed with pieces of metal. Russian media reports said the bomb was hidden in a locker where shoppers leave their belongings. Putin said the FSB security service had recently prevented “another
attempted terrorist act.”He gave no details, but the Kremlin said earlier this month that a U.S. tipoff had helped thwart a planned attack on St. Petersburg’s Kazansky Cathedral. Putin also told the ceremony that the security situation in
Russia would be much worse if thousands of Russian citizens who fought with Islamic State in Syria had been allowed to return home. Putin said security forces should take no chances with their own lives if confronted by terrorist suspects. “I yesterday ordered the FSB director to act within the framework of the law when detaining these bandits of course, but if there is a threat to the life and
well-being of our employees ...to act decisively, not take any prisoners, and liquidate the bandits on the spot.”(rtr) News can also be heard in “Bali Image” at Global Radio FM 96.5 from 9.30 until 10.00 am. Listen to Global Radio FM at http:// globalfmbali.listen2myradio.com or live video streaming at http:// radioglobalfmbali.com and http:// ustream.tv/channel/global-fm-bali.