VZCZCXRO7684
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #3422/01 3401032
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061032Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2372
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0183
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3748
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0141
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3818
RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE 3277

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 013422 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/IET, OES/IET, AND OES/ETC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TPHY TBIO EINV ETRD ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA ESTH HIGHLIGHTS - SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 2006 
 
¶1. Summary:  On November 22, following three years of 
bilateral negotiations, the Government of Indonesia (GOI) 
welcomed home forty-eight orangutans from Thailand. 
Minister of Health Dr. Siti Fadilah Supari announced plans 
on November 13 to make Indonesian villages self sufficient 
in health care services and disaster relief.  On November 
13, USDA Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth and Ministry of 
Forestry (MOF) Secretary General Boen Purnama signed a 
Letter of Intent on cooperation in sustainable forest 
management.  In separate incidents in November and August 
2006, wild elephants damaged Sumatra farms and palm oil 
plantations in an attempt to find food.  Mount Merapi became 
active again on November 21, producing hot clouds, lava 
falls, and tremors.  On October 18, the Ministry of 
Environment urged the Jakarta city administration to stop 
activities associated with the controversial "Jakarta Bay 
Project."  On September 11, Health Minister Supari issued a 
ministerial decree lowering consumer prices for more than 
450 drugs. On September 9, a trash slide at the Bantar 
Gebang dumpsite in the Jakarta suburb of Bekasi, killed 
three people and injured others.  On September 19, the 
Ministry of Forestry announced that a research team 
discovered new species in Cendrawasih Bay and the Fak-Fak- 
Kaimana locality in Papua Province.  On September 12-13, the 
U.S. Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS) program 
jointly sponsored with several Indonesian organizations a 
two-day Coastal Community Resilience workshop in Jakarta. 
Indonesia hosted the Sixth Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) 
meeting on September 6-8 in Yogyakarta.  End Summary. 
 
Lost Orangutans Returned Home 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. On November 22, following three years of bilateral 
negotiations and extensive lobbying on the part of 
environmental organizations, the GOI received forty-eight 
orangutans (Pongo Pygmaeus) from Thailand.  The orangutans 
were victims of illegal trafficking, and the Chiang Mai 
Night Safari had forced the endangered animals to perform in 
shows.  Seven of the repatriated orangutans reportedly have 
contracted hepatitis.  The Indonesian Air Force provided a 
military aircraft, modified to meet biosecurity and 
biosafety standards, for the orangutan's return flight. 
First Lady Kristiani Herawati Yudhoyono and several high- 
ranking officials, including Minister of Forestry M.S. 
Kaban, State Minister of Environment Rachmat Witoelar and 
Thailand's Ambassador to Indonesia Atchara Sariputra greeted 
the orangutans at Halim Perdana Kusumah airport in Jakarta. 
Once in Indonesia, the GOI flew the orangutans to Nyaru 
Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Center in Central 
Kalimantan Province to undergo quarantine and rehabilitation 
before they are released into the wild.  Indonesia's 1990 
Conservation Law forbids individuals to catch, own or sell 
endangered animals, alive or dead.  Violators can receive a 
maximum sentence of five years in jail and a fine of Rp. 100 
million (USD 11,000).  However, wildlife experts say that 
limited enforcement of the law has allowed illegal trade in 
endangered species to continue. 
 
Ministry of Health Announces Village Health Program 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3. On November 13, in commemoration of the 42nd National 
Health Day, Minister of Health Dr. Siti Fadilah Supari 
announced plans to introduce a nationwide program to make 
villages self sufficient in providing health care services 
and disaster relief.  President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 
will launch the "Desa Siaga" program in Lumajang Regency, 
East Java Province in December 2006.  Under the program, 
each village will have at least one health center 
(Poskesdes) and one community development program 
(Gerbangmas).  The program will encourage the villages to 
conduct simple surveillance of contagious diseases; provide 
basic medical and disaster relief services; promote health, 
nutrition and sanitation; and supply health alerts for 
emerging disease outbreaks.  President Yudhoyono also will 
officially announce plans to create Regional Centers for 
Health Crisis and Natural Disaster Management in nine 
provinces in December, including North Sumatra, South 
Sumatra, DKI Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, South 
Kalimantan, Bali, North Sulawesi, and South Sulawesi. 
 
U.S. Forest Service and MOF Sign Letter of Intent 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
JAKARTA 00013422  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶4. U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Chief Dale Bosworth visited 
Indonesia November 13-16 to view forest rehabilitation 
programs and USAID environmental programs and hold 
consultations with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry 
(MOF).  During his visit, Bosworth and MOF Secretary General 
Dr. Boen Purnama signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) on 
sustainable forest management.  The LOI formalizes a desire 
by both parties to continue their long-standing cooperation 
on forest conservation, which includes previous agreements 
in 1992 and 1998.  Under the LOI, the USFS and MOF agreed to 
cooperate in promoting protection, conservation and 
sustainable use of forest resources and to strengthen the 
capacity of sustainable forest management in Indonesia. 
 
Elephants Strike Back in Jambi and Riau 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  During the last week of November 2006, press reports 
indicated that a group of wild elephants destroyed hundreds 
of hectares of palm oil trees in Tebo regency, Jambi 
Province as they charged through neighboring farms and palm 
oil plantations in an attempt to find food.  Forest and land 
fires had destroyed much of the elephants' natural habitat. 
In August 2006, elephants also damaged local farms in four 
villages and 145 hectares of palm oil plantation in 
Pelelawan Regency, Riau Province.  Pelawan Regency officials 
estimate that damages may run as high as Rp. 200 million 
(USD 22,000).  Nuchalis Fadli, Coordinator of Human-Elephant 
Conflict Prevention of World Wild Life Riau, explained that 
since 2003 the cumulative encroachment by villagers, and 
fires, has seriously eroded the elephants' habitat. 
 
Mount Merapi Still a Threat to Yogyakarta Area 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. On November 21, Mount Merapi became active again, 
producing nine hot clouds, and dozens of lava falls and 
tremors.  At the same time, cold lava flowed close to 
residential sections of the Jambu Subdistrict of Kapuhardjo 
Village, Sleman-Yoyakarta.  Head of the Mount Merapi Section 
of the Volcano Research and Technology Development Agency 
(BPPTK) Subandriyo blamed high rainfall for triggering the 
renewed activity.  He also noted that the eruption process 
is likely to continue and warned citizens to remain alert to 
possible new flows.  The Meteorology and Geophysical Agency 
(BMG) predicted that rainfall in Yogyakarta and surrounding 
areas would increase further by the end of November 2006, 
potentially triggering additional volcanic activity. 
 
Trouble for Controversial Jakarta Bay Project 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. On October 18, Hermien Rosita, the Deputy Assistant 
Minister for Environmental Assessment at the Ministry of 
Environment, urged the Jakarta city administration to stop 
the controversial Jakarta Bay Project and respect an ongoing 
Supreme Court examination of an environmental impact 
analysis prepared on the project.  The Ministry and 
environmental activists argue that the reclamation project 
will cause flooding, pollution, the destruction of 
fisheries, mangrove areas and coral reefs, and the 
displacement of thousands of residents living in coastal 
areas.  The project originates from Presidential Decree 
52/1995 and Jakarta Regional Regulation (PERDA) No. 6/1999 
in which the GOI recommends using an approximately 10.4 mile 
stretch of the north Jakarta coastline to build industrial 
parks, office buildings and accommodations for up to 1.2 
million residents.  Environmentalists argue that existing 
waste volume already overburdens municipal waste management 
systems.  The city plans to use land sales and private 
sector sources to fund this project. 
 
GOI Decreases Generic Medicines Prices 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. On September 11, Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari 
issued Ministry of Health (MOH) Decree 720/2006 aimed at 
sharply lowering consumer prices of 458 drug items starting 
October 1.  For example, the decree lowered the price of a 
cholesterol-lowering drug previously offered at USD 25 for 
30 tablets to USD 3 for the same quantity.  Previously, MOH 
Decree 487/2006 mandated decreases in the price of an 
additional 85 common generic drugs.  The MOH considers the 
price reductions to be an important step toward improving 
basic health services, especially in public health service 
 
JAKARTA 00013422  003 OF 003 
 
 
centers (puskesmas), by making drugs more affordable.  Both 
the Ministry of Health and the Indonesia Pharmaceutical 
Association (GP Farmasi) agreed to the new drug prices. 
According to GP Farmasi head Anthony Sunaryo reducing drug 
prices according to the decree would be one of the 
organization's "commitments to the people." However, Sunaryo 
expressed the hope that the Government would consider 
reducing the 10 percent value added tax applied to drug 
sales. 
 
Killer Trash Claims Three Victims 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶9. On September 9, a trash slide at the Bantar Gebang 
dumpsite in the Jakarta suburb of Bekasi killed three people 
scavenging at the site and injured others.  The sanitary 
landfill receives 6,000 tons of waste from Jakarta daily.  A 
report from the Bekasi Office of Environmental Management in 
April 2006 showed that the Bantar Gebang dumpsite has nine 
zones, but only three were active and refuse in each zone 
was already piled 3-6 meters above the 12-meter standard. 
This overflow significantly heightens the possibility of 
future dump slides.  The Head of DKI Jakarta Sanitation 
Office, Mr. Rama Budi, announced that the deaths were 
accidental and stated that the dumpsite management, PT 
Patriot Bangkit Bekasi, will assume responsibility for the 
tragedy. 
 
Joint Expedition Finds New Species in Papua 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. On September 19, the Ministry of Forestry announced that 
a joint government, university, and NGO research team found 
hundreds of new species in Cendrawasih Bay and the Fak-Fak- 
Kaimana locality in Papua Province.  Team leader Dr. Mark 
Erdmann noted that the team found at least 1,200 fish and 
600 live corals, around 50 percent of which are apparently 
heretofore unidentified species and therefore new to the 
scientific world.  The expedition included personnel from 
the Directorate General for Forest Protection and Nature 
Conservation, Conservation International Indonesia, 
University of Negeri Papua (UNIPA), the Office of 
Cendrawasih National Park, the Office of Natural Resources 
Conservation of Papua II, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature. 
 
IOTWS Coastal Resilience Workshop 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶11. On September 12-13, the U.S. Indian Ocean Tsunami 
Warning System (IOTWS) program launched the Indonesian 
component of a regional Coastal Community Resilience 
initiative at a workshop jointly sponsored by the Indonesian 
Society for Disaster Management and International Federation 
of Red Cross/Indonesian Red Cross.  Forty-five community 
representatives and disaster management specialists 
representing 35 different organizations participated.  The 
program aimed to integrate disaster preparedness and coastal 
resources management into a single field guide for training 
across the region.  Several international and Indonesian 
NGOs, donor organizations, GOI and United Nations 
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 
representatives indicated they plan to use the guide in 
their disaster preparedness training efforts in coastal 
communities across Indonesia. 
 
AFP Meeting in Yogyakarta 
------------------------- 
 
¶12. Indonesia hosted the Sixth AFP meeting on September 6-8 
in Yogyakarta.  Approximately 140 participants from the 
international donor community attended the meeting.  Topics 
of discussion covered illegal logging, forest and land 
fires, reforestation, and land rehabilitation.  The Forest 
Faculty from Gajah Mada University proposed new 
reforestation in Gunung Kidul (located southwest of 
Yogyakarta).  The US Government committed a $20,000 grant 
for the program.  Japan will host the seventh AFP meeting. 
 
PASCOE