Gas development remains govt focus

Rangga D Fadillah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 05/18/2011 1:53 PM | Body and Soul

Commenting on Indonesia's declining oil production, Vice President Boediono has reaffirmed the government's commitment to promoting natural gas as the main energy source to fuel economic growth in the future.

"Last year I mentioned that gas was our future. That remains our basic policy. The government obviously has a strong interest in keeping this on track and will continue to closely monitor its progress," he said before the official opening of the 35th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Annual Convention and Exhibition in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The government, he continued, would continuously facilitate "gradual moves toward economic pricing for domestic gas uses" and direct negotiations between gas producers and consumers to tackle problems on pricing.

"However, we know that the key issues are more than this. The critical step is how to accelerate the development of gas infrastructure," Boediono said.

He promised that the government would speed up the completion of gas pipelines in Java and the construction of floating storage and re-gasification units (FSRU) in Sumatra and Java.

"One unit in Jakarta area is expected to be ready by as early as 2012," he said.

Indonesia hosts Asia Pacific broadband development forum

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 04/29/2011 10:09 AM | Business

Indonesia is hosting the Asia Pacific Broadband Development Forum at the Gran Melia Hotel in Jakarta, forum organizer, global telecommunication device and network solution provider PT ZTE Indonesia says.

Leading telecommunications network operators from South Asia and Middle Eastern countries are among participants at the two-day forum that began Thursday.

“We are glad we can host such an important forum, and it will enable participants to share experiences and knowledge amongst themselves,” ZTE Indonesia managing director Fan Xiaoyong said Thursday, as quoted by kontan.co.id.

The first day of the forum featured a tour of three wireline facilities owned by state telco, Telkom — DWDM at Telkom headquarters, GPON and ODN at FX Plaza and an IPTV demonstration at Telkom's multimedia office.

On the second day of the forum, participants will take part in a workshop on Fiber optics (FTTX) and Internet Protocol Television development (IPTV) and LTE technology (mobile communications technology beyond 3G).

Papua community welcomes development acceleration plan

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 02/16/2011 11:44 AM | Archipelago

Papuan community leader and city councilor Athanasius Allo Rafra has welcomed the government plan to establish a taskforce in March in a bid to accelerate development in Papua and West Papua provinces.

"I support the establishment of the taskforce because the development of Papua and West Papua has progressed at a snail's pace," Allo Rafra said Wednesday as quoted by Antara.

The taskforce (UP4B) would work to make sure the development of the provinces is conducted in line with government and community priorities.

Allo lamented that budget allocations in both provinces had been squandered because of unclear guidelines on development priorities.

“It isn’t clear where the priorities lie, whether it is in infrastructure, education, health or other sectors,” he said.

Allo said he hoped the taskforce would perform a similar function as the taskforce that helped Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam and Nias provinces to recover after the earthquake and tsunami.

He called on the central government to strictly supervise all development activities in Papua and West Papua to avoid misuse of the state budget.