The people have spoken, check out their vote: 86 for kerosene, 12
for gas and two out of 100 abstained in the impromptu ballot casting of a
community in Cipayung,East Jakarta. They live not very far from their President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whom they might have voted for, maybe even for the
second time last year. Their voting last Sunday was a light moment amid
continuing reports of exploding 3 kilogram liquid petroleum gas cansisters. The
smiling residents displaying their marked ballots reminded us of the victims, including
toddler Rido Januar, whose medical expenses the President himself ordered the
state to cover.
Not everyone can just show up at the State Palace. In a bid to
stop the list of victims from growing, the government said it had begun withdrawing 9 million canisters after a tiresome
blame game, which even encouraged consumers to ensure that canisters and
regulators were up to standard. Former vice president Jusuf Kalla met with
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday, saying he felt “morally
responsible” for initiating the LPG conversion program when in office. The
program aimed to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, and simultaneously led to a
rise in the price of kerosene — and now the poor are left with the choice of
expensive, scarce kerosene, the scary canisters — or a return to fi rewood. Kalla,
now the chair of the Indonesian Red Cross, reportedly discussed ways to improve
the program.
Demands of fi xing the basics will continue to hound our leaders.
So while we hope for signs of a lively economy, say, higher car sales at the
Indonesia International Motor Show, which ends today at the Kemayoran
Fairgrounds, all of those new models will end up stuck in the daily, open air
showrooms that are our roads. What of the monorail plan? The train to and from
the airport? Negotiations and deals are still ongoing, but fi rst, the law on the
necessary land clearance for the route to the airport, says Coordinating Economic
Minister Hatta Rajasa.
At least, for those able to use private cars, a heartening ruling
came from the Supreme Court this week – that you should be compensated for the
loss of your vehicle if it vanishes from a parking lot. The historic ruling, under
Indonesian law, is not a binding jurisprudence. It was a victory for citizens
Anny R. Gultom and Hontas Tambunan, who struggled for almost 10 years against a
parking service company after their car dissapeared in a Central Jakarta
parking lot. But hope we must have: that the words at the back of your parking
ticket that make one feel utterly helpless — that the company is not liable for any
of your losses when parking — may not be legally binding after all.
Small legal victories bring relief to everyone, as we witness the
trials of the big scale suspected corruptors — the latest involving the case of
the mysterious tape of a suspected case broker. The Attorney General’s Office
on Thursday said it had never received a recording supposed to prove that
businessman Anggodo Widjojo bribed deputies of the antigraft body into halting
investigations into his brother’s business.
The report was just one of today’s discouraging signs of the fi
ght against graft, as remaining leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission,
or the KPK, are showing a lack of steam while the public demands that it takes over
crucial graft cases. They have indeed taken a heavy battering since their chief
was convicted of murder, but millions depend on them for the hope of ending the
impunity of our kleptomaniacs.
* * *
The grass is always greener on the other side, especially compared
to Sidoarjo in East Jakarta, site of the Lapindo mud disaster. At least there
are visible signs of accountability at BP. Its CEO was replaced this week even
as the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico managed to be curbed, albeit not permanently.
Here, the mining fi rm controlled by businessman Aburizal Bakrie,
now chairman of the Golkar Party, was declared not guilty by the Supreme Court
for the gushing of mud which started in May 2006, following its drilling
operation. Despite various efforts, new fountains of mud have continued to spew
smelly, hot mud that has already buried, engulfed and displaced thousands of residents.
Protests have mainly involved victims and a few supporters, but
recent voices of support for the victims have come from unexpected sources: the
famed poet Sitor Situmorang and former education minister Daoed Jusuf.
Both in their 80s, they rejected their nomination for the Achmad
Bakrie Award, an honor named after Aburizal’s late father, an industrial
pioneer. “It is against my conscience,” said Daoed, who said he had painted
scenes evoking the muddy tragedy. They were the latest to reject the award
following a number of predecessors.
On faith issues, these are tense days in Kuningan, West Java,
where lower ranking offi cials and many other people feel they have offi cial
backing to harass members of the local Ahmadiyah sect. The Religious Affairs
Minister has reiterated that they are offi cially not Muslims as they claim to be, while the group continues to practice its
belief.
In Bekasi, just east of our grand capital, some Christians may
still be holding Sunday mass in the open air, with no clear sign of when they
can build or complete their churches. Are we going to let the voices of a
tyrannic majority drown out our conscience, and the protection of all citizens as stated by the Constitution?
—
Ati Nurbaiti
