[Marinir] Indonesia Digest No: 07.05 ; 22-02-'05

[YapHongGie]

INDONESIA DIGEST
 Indonesia's complex Issues in a Nutshell
 By: Ms. Wuryastuti Sunario
Published by: TBSC-Strategic Communication
No.: 07.05 - Dated: 22 February 2005

In this issue:

MAIN FEATURE:

DECEMBER KILLER QUAKE CREATED GIANT CANYONS ALONG SEABED

News and Background:

1.      Tourism and Transportation:
Culture and Tourism, Cabinet Department with Portfolio

2.      The Economy, Trade and Industry:
Investments boost 2004 Economic growth to 5.13%

3.      Politics and Security:
TNI's Army, Navy and Air Force new Chiefs of Staff installed

4.      Law and Good Governance:
Yogyakarta establishes One-stop Licensing Office
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MAIN FEATURE:

DECEMBER KILLER QUAKE CREATED GIANT CANYONS ALONG SEABED
The first images released by the British Navy of the seabed at the epicenter
of last December's killer earthquake showed massive canyons and ridges left
by the collision of two of the earth's plates, disclosed Agence France
Presse.
The Royal Navy's HMS Scott, that conducted research in Indonesian waters off
the coast of Aceh during January, has taken underwater sonar readings to try
to find out how the earthquake unfolded and produced the giant waves that
killed nearly 300,000 people in 11 countries.

The ship's officers presented the readings in the form of coloured digital
mapping at the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office in Somerset, England, that
indicated that there was a large landslide some 100m high by 2km in length.

HMS Scott's Commanding Officer Steve Malcolm said, initial assessments by
scientists indicated that two of the earth's tectonic plates, (the Indian
plate and the Burma Plate, which is part of the Eurasian plate), clashed
together, causing a ridge on the seabed which forced sea water to travel
upwards to form the devastating tsunami on December 26.

The survey will provide the "base map" for future extensive research into
the process of how earthquakes work and how they produce tsunamis.

The depth of the water in the area of the epicenter varies between 200m and
5000m, all of which is within the HMS Scott's capability, scientists say.

The epicenter of the quake, which measured a massive 9.0 on the Richter
scale, was located some 150 km. south west of the Indonesian province of
Aceh, and lies within the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone. The survey
will thus fall under the definition of Marine Scientific Research under the
UN Convention on Law of the Sea.

 Scientists from Southampton Oceanography Centre and the British Geological
Survey were working with the crew on the Scott since January 26.

The images show bands of colour representing different seabed depths due to
ridges and canyons in the seabed structure. Those in blue are some 4300m
deep (canyons) while those in red are shallower at around 1000m deep
(ridges).

The naval staff said they believed that after the collision of the plates,
high ridges in the structure of the seabed crumbled to form a "canyon".

The images show the "canyon" created from the landslide movement in blue.
Commander Malcolm described this movement as like "scree sliding down the
side of a quarry".
Geologist, Russell Wynn, further added that one yet unanswered question
remaining is, why is it that the quake had occurred at that particular
point, but that after-quakes occurred far up north, whereas, directly south
of the epicenter the area seemed almost unaffected. Will this area south of
the last quake then become the epicenter of the next quake? If so, then this
conjecture will decide where sensors for the early warning system should be
located. This is one grey area in the research of the ocean bed, said Dr.
Wynn, where scientists have so far no information.
"Power of tsunami earthquake heavily underestimated"

Meanwhile, Maggie McKee, writing for the NewScientist.com news service,
reports that researches analyzing long-period seismic waves discovered that
the Sumatra tsunami was three times more powerful than first thought. The
finding could upgrade the quake to the second strongest ever recorded and
explain why the tsunami caused such great damage across the ocean in Sri
Lanka and India, McKee said.

The report continues: "Now, seismologists Seth Stein and Emile Okal at
Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, US, have scrutinised
seismograms taken from 7 stations around the world in the week or so
following the earthquake. They looked for the longest-period waves
possible - those lasting about 3200 seconds (53 minutes).

"We found, to our surprise, that there was three times more energy out there
than at the 300-second period," Stein told New Scientist. "It was colossal."
The new work reclassifies the earthquake on the logarithmic Richter scale at
magnitude 9.3 - second only to the 9.5-magnitude quake recorded in Chile in
1960.

Built-up pressure in "subduction" zone
The Asian earthquake occurred at the eastern edge of the Indian Ocean where,
over millions of years, the Indian tectonic plate has been disappearing
beneath the Burma plate. This "subduction" zone had been locked for perhaps
200 years before the built-up
pressure was finally released in the slippage of 26 December.

The Burma plate rebounded upwards by about 10 metres at the quake's
epicentre - setting the deadly tsunami waves in motion. And the process
continued along the border between the two plates, causing the earth to
rupture along the fault line - running from south to north. But
seismologists are not sure exactly where the rip stopped.

Some think the rupture only made it through the southern third of the
1200-kilometre-long zone that was rocked by aftershocks. "But if the
earthquake is three times more powerful then previously believed, that's
telling you the fault area is three times
bigger," says Stein. "We think the entire aftershock zone ruptured." The
northern two-thirds of the zone may have taken longer to slip, which is why
its energy was released in longer-period waves.

But he warns that smaller earthquakes could still occur, perhaps spawning
localised tsunamis. Furthermore, other locked sections of the fault -
further to the south, near Java, for example - could still rupture
catastrophically.

If the rupture did indeed occur along the whole length of the aftershock
zone, it could explain why some distant regions were so devastated by the
tsunami. While the lower third of the zone directed tsunami waves to the
southwest, the upper portion has a
different orientation and sent waves due west - straight towards hard-hit
Sri Lanka and southern India. However, other factors, such as the topography
of the sea floor, may also explain why the waves gathered so much force in
those regions".

Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush Sr. visit Aceh
In a related development, former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W.
Bush Sr., special representatives of President Bush for the restoration of
the tsunami afflicted region, endorsed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan,
arrived in Medan North Sumatra, Sunday, 21 February. In Medan, the VIP's
were personally greeted by President Bambang Yudhoyono at the airport, who
briefed them on the latest situation and actions taken in efforts at
restoring the earthquake and tsunami stricken province of Aceh.  President
Yudhoyono was on the return leg from his sixth visit to Aceh after the
disaster.

Later, Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton continued their flight to Banda Aceh to
survey the most stricken areas in the province. "Unbelievable", remarked
former president George Bush.  "What we saw on Television is only a fraction
of what we witness here today" said former president Bill Clinton. Both
shook their heads in disbelief at the damage caused by both the earthquake
and the tsunami. Talking to evacuees, Bill Clinton said that he believed
restoration would take between 3 - 5 years before Aceh fully recovers.
Replying to the questions from the press, Bill Clinton said that the people
of the United States had collected US$ 400 million, while the US Government
is committed to aid stricken areas around the Indian Ocean with US$ 950
million, in addition to assistance already given in the form of
transportation and clean water. "We have earlier met the President of
Indonesia. Although he is newly in office, I see that he and the Indonesian
officials have managed this disaster reasonably well", remarked George Bush.
On his side, President Yudhoyono, told the press that he had informed both
former US presidents on the plans for the restoration of the disaster area,
and ensured that Indonesia will manage all aid in a transparent and
accountable manner. He also believed that both dignitaries seemed confident
with Indonesia's capabilities in the management of this immense disaster.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization is reported to have confirmed that
no epidemic diseases have broken out in Aceh post-tsunami, as earlier
feared.
(Sources: AFP, NewScientist.com, Media Indonesia, Bisnis Indonesia,
Metro TV) (Tuti Sunario)
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News and Background:
1.      Tourism and Transportation:

Culture and Tourism, a Cabinet Department with Portfolio

A Presidential Decree issued at the end of January, has raised Indonesia's
national institution for Culture and Tourism (from its former level of
Ministry without portfolio) to a fully operational Cabinet Department,
confirmed Jero Wacik, Minister for Culture and Tourism.

The Department now counts 11 top positions at echelon 1. These are in line
positions as follows: for Culture: the Directorate General for Cultural
Values, the Arts and Films, and the Directorate General for History and
Archaeology. For Tourism, they are the Directorate General for Tourist
Destinations Development, and the Directorate General for Marketing. Other
positions in top management are the Secretary General and Inspector General
and 4 Senior Advisors to the Minister.

Names for the above positions, are, however, not yet disclosed. It is as yet
not clear when exactly the staffing of the new Department of Culture and
Tourism are to be announced.

Minister Jero Wacik also mentioned that a top national meeting has been
called by President Yudhoyono to be held at Tampaksiring, Bali, on 26 and 27
February, that has Tourism as its main agenda. The meeting will be attended
by 8 Cabinet Ministers in areas related to tourism development, and will be
attended by leaders of the private sector.

Meanwhile, from Medan, Ben Sukma, Chairman of ASITA, the Association of
Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies, has urged the government to correct
Indonesia's tourism image overseas. If before the tsunami disaster last
December, potential tourists shunned Indonesia for fear of terrorist
attacks, now Indonesia, and especially the provinces of Aceh and adjacent
North Sumatra are feared for being prone to natural disasters. When nothing
is done to correct this image, then Indonesia will surely disappear from the
world's tourism horizon.

2.      The Economy, Trade and Industry:

Investments boost 2004 Economic growth to 5.13%

After years of stagnant investments, finally in 2004, foreign and domestic
investments have managed to boost Indonesia's economy to 5.13%. This is
beyond the target of 5%. Investments contribution was around 3%, at par with
consumption, which was the only growth engine during Indonesia's deep
economic crisis.

This fact raises the hopes that the national economic target growth of 5.5%
for 2005 may well be within reach, said Head of the National Statistics
Board, Choiril Maksum.

Adjusted data of growth in 2002 is 4.38% from the earlier 4.25%; for 2003
growth has been adjusted to 4.88% from the earlier 4.51%.

GDP growth in the last quarter of 2004 was 6.65%, caused by growth in almost
all sectors, except in mining and exploration. Best performers were
transportation and communications, which grew 12.7%, construction at 8.17%,
and finance, rentals and company services at 7.72%, reported Maksum.

Meanwhile, Bisnis Indonesia reports that the Investment Coordinating Board
disclosed that the Board had approved US$ 872.1 million in foreign
investments during January 2005, up a massive 235% compared to the same
month last year, from US$260.2 million to a value of US$ 872.1 million last
month. Whereas, total domestic investments approved amounted to Rp. 1.887
trillion, up 66.7% from last year's January Rp. 1.637 trillion.

Sectors most attractive to foreign investors are in trading and repairs;
metal, machineries and electronics; textiles and other services. While,
local investors preferred to invest in foodstuffs; electricity, gas and
water projects; chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and textiles.

By province, most preferred provinces are West Java, the Riau Islands and
West Kalimantan for foreign investors, and West Java, Banten, Central
Kalimantan and the Riau province for domestic investors.

The approved projects are expected to add a total of 25,000 employments.

3.      Politics and Security:

TNI's Army, Navy and Air Force new Chiefs of Staff installed

President Yudhoyono on Friday formally installed Indonesia's new Chiefs of
Staff for the Indonesian Army, the Navy and the Air Force, replacing former
Army Chief of Staff, General Ryamizard Ryacudu, Navy Chief of Staff Admiral
Bernard Kent Sondakh, and Air Force Chief of Staff, Marshall Chappy.Hakim
respectively.

The three incoming dignitaries, installed by Presidential Decision No.
06/TNI/2005, are Lieut.General Djoko Santoso for the Army, Rear Admiral
Slamet Soebijanto for the Navy and Rear Air Marshall Djoko Suyanto for the
Air Force. Djoko Suyanto was promoted to Air Chief Marshall.

The decision precedes the change of the TNI Commander, which, until today is
still held by General Endirartono Sutarto. General Sutarto, meanwhile, has
already proposed to the President a number of names to succeed him.
According to the law, the Indonesian Military Joint Forces Commander must be
an incumbent, or a former but still active, Chief of Staff of any of the
Forces.

Lieut. General Djoko Santoso former position was Deputy Chief of Staff of
the Army, and he also held the post of Deputy Chief of Operations for the
Aceh tsunami disaster.

 Admiral Slamet Soebijanto's last position held was Deputy Governor of the
National Defense Institute, and was formerly Commander of the Eastern Fleet.
Air Marshall Djoko Suyanto is known as one of Indonesia's best fighter
pilots. His last position held was Assistant for Operations of the
Indonesian Air Force.


4.      Law and Good Governance:

Yogya to establishes One-stop Licensing Office

The municipality of Yogyakarta, situated in the central part of the island
of Java - though separate from the Province of Central Java,- plans to
provide better public services. A one-stop licensing services housed in one
building is in the offing, where people may obtain any license needed,
easily under one roof. Permits provided here range from businesses operating
license, housing construction permits to any kind of activity within the
municipality, said Yogyakarta mayor Herry Zudianto earlier this week.

"In so doing, we hope to provide the community with much-improved public
services," said mayor Zudianto, adding that the office is due to start
operations soon this year.


The Special Province of Yogyakarta, under leadership of its Governor, Sultan
Hamengkubowono X, aims to grow into an important city for trade and services
through adherence to the principles of good governance.


For your comments or further inquiries, please e-mail to:
tbsc-strategy at indo.net.id