New data published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reveals that the overall 2023 air pollution levels in Jakarta were arguably the worst since 2019. Despite improvements between 2020 and 2022, the rise of pollution in 2023 is a notable setback. Over 29 million people …
A recent report prepared by the University of Indonesia predicts that almost 12,000 to 3 1,000 people in the country will die of AIDS by the turn of the century. A poor medical surveillance system and resistance to use of contraceptives are aggravating the situation. There are conflicting reports about …
Large tracts of tropical peat forests will be cleared to make way for rice-fields, horticulture and plantations as part of a huge rice development project initia-ted by the government. The short-sighted and ill-planned project, aimed at boosting the government's popularity, totally ignores the grave consequences on environment and the local …
nigeria and the Ogonis had brought to the world's attention one outrage; the remote province of Irian Jaya in Indonesia is highlighting another. Replace Royal Dutch Shell ( Down To Earth , Vol 4, No 14) with Freeport Indonesia, and the elements of the drama remain the same: a long …
Riots erupted recently in the towns surrounding the American-owned Freeport McMoRan copper and gold mine in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. An estimated 6,000 tribals attacked Freeport's offices in three towns. The episode followed soon after the company announced its plans to expand the mine. Freeport has long been the target of …
The world's largest gold mine, operated by a us-based company in Timika, a mining town of Irian Jaya in the easternmost island of Indonesia, has been closed following largescale riots which broke out on March 15. The company, Freeport McMoran, confirmed the precautionary shutdown of operations. The company has been …
The government's decision to change the way of distributing urea aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in rice production, has boomeranged. There is wide-spread food shortage and some rural areas are facing the threat of malnutrition. Indonesia's rice farms. ravaged by wrong -policies It all began with the government deciding to promote …
What do red-knobbed hornbills of Indonesia have in common with the -rain forest of Sulawesi? A 16t, it seems. They help in maintaining and regenerating the rain forests of the region while depending upon it. "The hornbills are the farmers of the Sulawesi forest," says Margaret Kinnaird of the 'Wildlife …
Environmental reasons have weighed heavily in the decision of the usbased Overseas Private Investment Corporation (opic) to terminate us $100 million worth of political risk insurance on one of world's biggest copper-gold mining projects on the Indonesian island of Irian Jaya. Freeport is the company which faces the threat of …
Envirocoal may just prove to be a rich find for Indonesia. This extremely clean burning coal from Borneo mined by P T Adaro, an Indonesian and Australian company, has a low content of sulphur and ash and is a relatively cheap fuel that is environment friendly. The coal contains just …
FOUR hundred enthusiasts from all over the world hailed bamboo as "regenerable steel and degradable plastic" at the recently concluded 4th International Bamboo Congress held from July 19-22, 1995, at Bali, Indonesia. The participants gathered at the Agung Rai Museum of Arts which housed the academic activities of the Congress. …
Primitive men still exist in this modern era. In Indonesia a tribe has been discovered which still dwells in trees and actually practices cannibalism. The tribesmen were spotted in tree houses in the easternmost island of Indonesia, Irian Jaya. The area is called Merauke and it borders Papua New Guinea …
A gigantic "tree-felling" scam has recently been unearthed in Indonesia. The government is furning against some forestry companies which, it claims, have used a e self-assessitrilent system to avoid paying the mandatory fees. This has resulted 3 in largescale fraud in the industry; the companies have used loopholes to cheat …
A downturn in rice production has caused a scare in Indonesia. As the country celebFates the 50th anniversary of its independence, a prolonged drought and a marauding pest called the 'brown hopper' are forcing the country to import rice for the third time in 5 years. The major debate now …
Indonesia's National Family Planning Board has opened a 24-hour AIDS telephone information line -- the AIDS/HIV Information and Consultancy Service -- for Jakarta residents. According to the daily Jakarta Post, the line will provide expert advice and a recorded message giving information on the dangers of the dreaded disease and …
September will see a long pursued dream bear fruit, with President Suharto of Indonesia inaugurating the world's biggest flower park, Taman Bunga Nusantara (tbn). The final touches are being given to the sprawling 30-hectare park in the west Javan town of Cianjur, 80 km southeast of Jakarta. The park will …
As part of the recent orgy of self-recrimination, the World Bank has in a confidential document admitted its goof-ups in Indonesia. A "project completion report" for the Bank-funded Kedung Ombo 61-metre-high dam in central Java, completed in 1989, points to the "highly defective" resettlement plans: 72 per cent of the …
Indonesia is excited over the development of a new strain of cocoa. The locally- developed strain has twin benefits: it makes far tastier chocolate, and is also resistant to a disease that has wrecked havoc on a greater part of the country's cocoa crop. Elated industry spokesmen foresee bigger cocoa …
SINCE Rachel Carson's Silent Spring , written in 1962, tried to wake the world to the damage pesticides can do both to human health and the environment, the limitations of chemical pesticides have been well documented. Five million people we poisoned by pesticides, of which some 40,000 die each year. …
Firms owned by the Indonesian government will have a 49 per cent stake in 2 forest concessions of Barito Pacific Timber, according to an agreement reached in September between the government and the timber giant. The government, in turn, will renew Barito's permits for logging. Indonesian officials are euphoric over …
President Suharto of Indonesia is under fire for allegedly diverting $189 million intended for the forestry ministry's rainforest preservation programme to the state-owned aircraft maker, Industri Pesawat Terbang Negara, as an interest-free loan. Suharto now faces a legal challenge from 11 Indonesian environmental groups who plan to take their case …
