Archive for December, 2007
The government has renewed calls for ships and boats not to set sail in the next few days following warnings of extreme weather and high waves from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).
Sea transport director general at the Transportation Ministry Effendi Batubara told Detik.com on Wednesday the no-sail warnings were valid throughout this week and could be renewed.
The ministry issued its first warnings two weeks ago.
In bad weather warnings issued on Tuesday, BMG said three- to five-meter-high waves could hit several parts of Indonesia because of seasonal monsoon winds expected to last until the end of this year.
“Ships and boats should not set sail in the next two days because they might be swept away by high tides,” Eko Prasetyo, a meteorology and geophysics expert with the BMG office in Surabaya, told Antara on Wednesday.
He said the Java Sea would be hit by waves as high as three and five meters, while the Makassar Strait and Bali Sea might see waves with heights between 0.5 and 3.5 meters.
BMG said waters in the southern part of Sumatra and in the south of Nusa Tenggara could be hit by up to four-meter-high waves, while the waters to the south of East Java might see 0.5 to 2.5-meter waves.
The agency said the predicted waves would likely be caused by the West Monsoon wind, a seasonal wind that occurs when atmospheric pressure is high across the Asian continent and low across Australia.
Eko said mariners should also stay alert for severely low tides, which might hamper ships from harboring and loading.
He said waters in Surabaya’s Tanjung Perak harbor receded to minus-170 centimeters on Wednesday and were predicted to rise only by 10 centimeters the following day.
Effendi said they would keep monitoring BMG’s reports, but reminded sailors and fishermen to stay alert because there had recently been several serious sea accidents.
On Dec. 23, a tugboat pulling a coal barge was overturned near Bali as it sailed from South Kalimantan to Cilacap, Central Java.
In September, the BMG also warned vessels against sailing in the Indian Ocean, including waters around the Mentawai islands and the coastal areas of West Sumatra, due to extreme weather.
Passenger ferries plying the Mentawai-Padang route continue to operate despite the warning, but no accidents have been reported.
The Indonesian archipelago boasts the largest area of territorial waters in the world.
Indonesia has 5.8 million square meters of sea territory, or three-quarters of its total area. Its shorelines, which stretch for some 81,000 kilometers, are the second longest worldwide after Canada.
While Indonesia is a maritime nation, its sea transportation remains a public concern, because many vessels are poorly equipped and apply minimum safety procedures in the face of bad weather warnings.
One of the most noted sea tragedies was the sinking of the Senopati Nusantara ferry in the Java Sea on Dec. 30, 2006, after it was reportedly hit by dangerous waves.
This accident claimed the lives of more than 300 passengers. It is believed that defective lifeboats were among the causes of the great number of fatalities. (lln)
Source: The Jakarta Post
December 28th, 2007
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Malang, East Java
Entrepreneurs say they need assistance to relocate their businesses out of Sidoarjo regency, which has been badly affected by a mud volcano that shows no sign of drying up.
The director of the Malang branch of the central bank, Ridho Hakim, said that the enterprises, which mainly supply goods to Surabaya, are based in the towns of Malang, Pasuruan, Probolinggo and Lumajang.
Access to and from Surabaya has been cut off by the mud, and businesses have experienced huge losses. Some 12 firms are estimated to have lose about Rp 40 billion (approximately US$4.4 million)
Since Mar. 29, the mud has continued to gush from a drilling site owned by Lapindo Brantas Inc., which is partially controlled by the family of Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie. The mud has affected almost 13,000 families and covered 350 hectares of farmland, as well as residential areas, infrastructure, schools and commercial centers.
Considered among the worst disasters of its type, the debate continues on how far Lapindo is responsible, and on how much of the financial burden the central government should shoulder.
Most enterprises have shifted their markets from Surabaya to other parts of Central Java and West Java, such as Yogyakarta, Bogor and Jakarta.
One businessman in Malang, Unggul Abdinowo, who runs the Bakpao Telo bakery, said up to 40 percent of his customers were in Surabaya. Since the mud affected production and distribution, he said he began selling his bakpao cakes to other provinces.
The Bank Indonesia executive, Ridho, said that only bigger enterprises, with capital of more than Rp 50 million, could relocate their businesses without help.
Malang deputy regent Rendra Kresna said that the regency administration would coordinate with the East Java administration and neighboring local governments on relocating businesses.
The small firms cannot apply for loans, Ridho said, owing to their lack of land certificates.
The local administrations and the National Land Agency (BPN) should process their certificates as soon as possible, he said.
He added that Bank Indonesia was working with the BPN, state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia and local administrations to process residents’ land certificates, including those of businesspeople.
Source: The Jakarta Post
December 27th, 2007
The regency of Pasuruan, East Java, and one of the country’s major cigarette producers, HM Sampoerna, launched on Dec. 4 an anthology of Pasuruan folklore penned by local high school students.
The book launch was part of a story composition workshop and a Pasuruan folklore-writing contest sponsored by HM Sampoerna, which were held as part of its efforts to support education and the preservation of local cultures.
Ida Rochmawati, 30, a volunteer librarian at the Pasuruan Library, perused the collection of indigenous folktales, Singgasana Raja Bergoyang (Unsteady throne) by Dinillah Arifah and fellow students, during a break at the book launch.
“It’s interesting because only a few books on regional folklore have been published, let alone by student authors,” she said.
As a volunteer who has served the regental library for three years, the lecturer at Surabaya’s Sunan Ampel Institute for Islamic Studies spoke of the difficulties she encountered in maintaining a local public library. Apart from the need to inform local people of the importance of reading, operational funds for procuring books are very limited.
“I have to go to villages to show books to children while they are playing and tell them stories. Now many of them come to the library to read books,” said Ida. She added that the kids would get bored once in a while due to the absence of new titles in the stacks.
Undaunted, Ida has initiated free Internet training for children to make them stay longer at the library. Her idea is working: Instead of leaving after reading books, the youngsters surf the Net under Ida’s guidance.
Dinillah, one of the winners of the Sampoerna folklore-writing competition, is among those students who spend a lot of time browsing sources of myths for her stories, particularly legends connected with the history of Pasuruan.
In her tale, the 12th grader at Madrasah Aliyah high school in Al-Yasini of Areng-Areng Wonorejo, Pasuruan, relates the struggles of Mbah Sholeh Semendi in spreading Islamic teachings in Pasuruan — the title story. Mbah Sholeh, who had supernatural powers, strived to convert a local king who was known for his invincibility.
One day, a skin disease plagued the Pasuruan kingdom and afflicted the entire population, including the princess. The king held a contest for curing his daughter and subjects, which Mbah Sholeh won. After they were healed, most of the people converted to Islam. The king, however, rejected the faith until Mbah Sholeh defeated him in a fight. Today, the heroine’s tomb is a place of pilgrimage.
Ahmad Alfan, another contest winner, contributed Perjuangan Untung Suropati, about the struggle of Untung Suropati against the Dutch and the historical origin of the name “Pasuruan”.
Using guerrilla tactics in the forest, Untung Suropati remained undefeated. The Dutch troops in Pasuruan scattered coins in the forest in an attempt to overcome the guerrilla warfare — they hoped to provoke locals to cut down the trees in trying to find the money. The area was thus dubbed pasar uang (literally, money market), which later became shortened to Pasuruan.
Pasuruan Regent Jusbakir Aldjufri hoped that, with the launch of Singgasana Raja Bergoyang, the local people’s interest in reading and writing would grow, and their love of national culture could be fostered.
“In addition, the library collection is expected to expand. Pasuruan regency is endeavoring to develop its library by expanding its collection and facilities, as this institution is very important to nation building,” he said.
The folklore anthology, written mostly by Pasuruan high school students, has already been distributed to a number of public libraries in East Java.
Dinillah said she was happy that the book was being read by the greater public.
“Many of my friends are fond of writing, but simply don’t know how to get published,” she said, adding that she hoped that government as well as private circles would continue to support young Indonesian writers.
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Pasuruan, E. Java
Source: The Jakarta Post
December 26th, 2007
SURABAYA - Libur panjang Idul Adha dan Natal menjadi berkah bagi Kebun Binatang Surabaya (KBS). Kunjungan ke tempat wisata tersebut membludak. Dilihat sari pelat nomer kendaraan yang parkir, pengunjung dari luar kota jauh lebih banyak dibanding pengunjung dari Surabaya sendiri.
Staf komunikasi KBS, Asep Kuswadi mengatakan, pengunjung KBS sepanjang libur 20-26 Desember diperkirakan bisa menembus 30 ribu orang. Khusus saat libur Natal kemarin, diperkirakan jumlah pengunjung 10 ribu orang. “Jumlah pastinya belum bisa diketahui hari ini. Tapi penjualan tiket hari ini sudah mendekati 10 ribu lembar,” katanya 25/12.
Dia menyebutkan, pengunjung terbanyak datang dari luar kota di seluruh Jatim. Beberapa pengunjung juga berasal dari wilayah Jateng dan Jakarta. “Mungkin mereka sekalian mampir saat berkunjung ke keluarga mereka di Surabaya,” katanya.
Keanekaragaman satwa di KBS, masih menjadi andalan untuk menarik minat pengunjung. Di KBD, saat ini terdapat 4.000 ekor binatang dari 300 species. Asep menilai koleksi KBS tergolong lengkap, sehingga memiliki daya tarik yang cukup kuat.
Hal tersebut diakui oleh Yuli Sri Astuti. Pengunjung KBS dari Mojokerto itu datang bersama keponakannya, Zulfikar. “Keponakan saya ingin melihat Buaya. Mumpung libur, jadi saya sempatkan ke Surabaya,” katanya.
Dia mengaku senang bisa berlibur di KBS, tapi kondisi KBS yang kotor akibat banyaknya sampah yang berserakan membuatnya sedikit kecewa. “Malas berkeliling kalau kotor,” imbuhnya. (uji/top/fat)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
December 26th, 2007
SURABAYA - Pemkot akan menggarap taman di bekan SPBU Dolog, Jalan Ahmad Yani, senilai Rp 1 miliar. Taman seluas 5.135 meter persegi itu akan dilengkapi fasilitas lapangan futsal atau three on three basketball, panjat dinding yang dilengkapi water fountain , flip-flop fountain, taman bermain anak-anak, perpustakaan, pos penjagaan, dan joging track 762 meter persegi. Taman ini akan melengkapi paket taman di Surabaya seperti Taman Bungkul dan Taman Persahabatan.
Taman itu rencananya akan digarap bekerja sama dengan Pertamina. Pertamina berpartisipasi penuh lewat dana. Sebagai gantinya, Pertamina diizinkan memasang element brand di lokasi tersebut selama lima tahun.
Kepala Bagian Humas dan Protokol Kota Surabaya Hari Tjahjono menilai, dana sebesar itu pantas untuk membangun taman dengan berbagai fasilitas. “Kan fasilitasnya bukan hanya taman dengan rumput saja,” tegasnya.(bro/ari)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
December 21st, 2007
Pergantian Tahun, Pemkot Tampilkan Ludruk Urban
SURABAYA - Lakon Jaka Berek Nglurug Taman Surya yang dihelat Pemkot Surabaya pada 31 Desember boleh jadi bukan ludruk kebanyakan. Betapa tidak, pentas yang dilabeli sebagai ludruk urban itu bak parade tokoh Surabaya dalam panggung kesenian tradisional tersebut. Bersama-sama, mereka bakal adu akting pada pentas yang diadakan untuk menyambut 2008 itu.
Sejatinya, ludruk urban tersebut disutradarai Bawong Suatmadji Nitiberi. Namun, seniman teater itu sudah berpulang pada 26 November lalu. Peran Bawong digantikan Tri Broto Wibisono, seniman tari.
Sebagai ludruk urban, pentas itu tak semata-mata membawa unsur tradisional. Ada aroma modern yang menyembul pada garapan musiknya. Musik itu adalah gabungan gamelan dan musik modern. “Musik digarap siswa SMKN 9 dan beberapa seniman lainnya,” kata Tri, penari yang memperoleh Penghargaan Seniman Jatim 2005 itu.
Unsur modern tersebut juga tampak pada isi cerita. Yang diangkat bukan semata-mata legenda Joko Berek. “Isu yang diangkat menyangkut problematika kondisi Surabaya saat ini,” ujar Tri. Misalnya, soal kebersihan, kedisiplinan, dan pergaulan.
Bukan cuma musiknya yang diberi sentuhan modern. Panggung dan properti pun diupayakan tidak kuno. Background panggung tidak dibuat dari kain yang berganti-ganti sesuai dengan adegan. Layar tersebut digantikan peranti multimedia yang dipandu komputer. “Yang penting, itu bisa memotivasi ludruk yang lain,” ungkapnya.
Yang cukup menarik pada ludruk tersebut adalah parade tokoh yang menjadi pemeran. Tak cuma tokoh ludruk, tokoh politik, sosial budaya, dan media pun ikut main. Di kalangan punggawa ludruk dan kesenian tradisional, ada Kartolo, Sidik Wibisono, Agus Kuprit, Supali, Kancil, dan Kirun.
Tokoh politik yang manggung adalah Caryn McClelland (konsul jenderal AS di Surabaya), Arif Afandi (Wawali), dan Sukamto Hadi (Sekkota). Orang media yang berpartisipasi adalah Nany Wijaya (direktur Jawa Pos) dan Dhimam Abror (Pemred Surya).
Soal kolaborasi itu, Agus mengatakan bahwa hal tersebut tidak ditujukan untuk menghidupkan ludruk. Bagi dia, kata yang tepat adalah mengembangkan. “Sebab, ludruk Surabaya tidak mati,” katanya.
Agus mengatakan, di Pulo, Wonokromo, masih terdapat kelompok ludruk yang tetap eksis. Kelompok itu ialah Irama Budaya.
Meski begitu, Agus mengungkapkan keprihatinannya pada respons kaum muda terhadap ludruk. “Mbok yo mereka itu mau berpartisipasi main ludruk,” ungkap Agus. (bro/dos)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
December 19th, 2007
| Reporter : Fadel Abrori |
| Surabaya - Libur panjang akhir tahun ini menjadi berkah bagi tempat-tempat wisata domestik. Contoh, tiket pesawat ke Bali tercatat penuh sejak 20 Desember 2007 dan pesan sekarang akan dimasukkan dalam daftar cadangan penumpang.
“Animo masyarakat saat akhir tahun memang seperti ini. Mereka biasanya mencari tempat-tempat wisata untuk berlibur. Itung-itung sebagai relaksasi setelah penat bekerja,” ujar Hiro Kristianto S, Sales Manager Merpati Nusantara Airlines Regional Surabaya, Senin (17/12/2007).
Menurutnya, penjualan tiket untuk rute ini pada hari-hari biasa cukup tinggi. Namun kali ini penjualannya melonjak, sehingga calon penumpang yang ingin membeli untuk keberangkatan menjelang Natal sudah tidak bisa karena sudah terjual habis.
Sementara tiket untuk keberangkatan setelah Natal hingga menjelang tahun baru masih ada. Namun, diperkirakan tiket ini akan terjual habis dalam beberapa hari mendatang.[bro/sit]
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Source: http://beritajatim.com/
December 18th, 2007
SURABAYA - Natal memang universal. Kebahagiaan menyambut kelahiran Juru Selamat tersebut adalah milik semua bangsa. Karena itu, setiap bangsa punya tradisi tersendiri menyambut hari bahagia tersebut. Itulah yang tampak di Kahyangan Art Resto dan Auto2000 Mayjen Sungkono kemarin (16/12).
Bertajuk Dream of Kahyangan Art Resto, pengelola restoran menyajikan kisah kelahiran Yesus Kristus. Namun, nativity story itu ditampilkan dalam bentuk wayang kulit. Kesenian bernama Wayang Wahyu tersebut dimainkan Ki Momot Indarjo dari Klaten.
Selain berkisah tentang Natal, tokoh-tokoh wayang dinukil dari Alkitab. Sinden pun melantunkan lagu-lagu pujian dalam bahasa Jawa. “Saya mencoba menyampaikan berita-berita keselamatan ini melalui seni tradisi wayang,” kata Ki Momot Indarjo.
Sementara itu, Auto2000 Mayjen Sungkono menyelenggarakan lomba menggambar dan mewarnai bertema Peduli Pemanasan Global kemarin (16/12). Meski bertema lingkungan, suasana Natal tampak dalam ajang tersebut.(top/dos)ÂÂ
Source: Jawa Pos Online
December 17th, 2007
JAKARTA, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) — A moderate quake with magnitude of 5.6 struck eastern Java Island on Monday, but with no immediate report of damages or casualty, the Indonesian meteorology agency said here.
    The quake jolted at 07:09 Jakarta time (0009 GMT) with epicenter at 200 kilometers southeast Blitar of East Java province and at 10 kilometer in depth, an official of the agency said.
    In 2004, over 170,000 people were dead in Aceh province in northern tip of Sumatra Island after a tsunami triggered by a powerful quake devastated coastal areas of the province and other countries in southeast Asia.
    Indonesia is laid at a vulnerable zone, so called “the Pacific Ring of Fire”, where two continental plates, stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia, meet that causes frequent volcanic movements.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/
December 17th, 2007
SURABAYA - Warga metropolis mendapatkan suguhan musik spesial bertajuk LA Menthol Cool Groove with Andezzz. Mengusung musik jazz, Andezzz akan mempresentasikan karya-karyanya dari album solo perdananya yang dirilis Agustus lalu.
Dengan konsep live band, pertunjukan yang dihelat di Colors Pub and Resto nanti malam tersebut akan dibuka dengan single terbaru Andezzz, Pergi. “Kami ingin menyuguhkan musik jazz yang bisa dinikmati anak muda,” tutur Andry Anuttama Swaputra, penanggung jawab sponsor. Bersama timnya, Departure : people, Andezz berjanji memberikan penampilan terbaik.
Departure : people digawangi Alvin Lubis (Toh Pati band) dan Toma Pratama (Mocca). Mereka boleh dikatakan sejalan searah karena selalu mengiringi penampilan Andezz. Selain itu, Andezzz merekrut penyanyi muda berbakat dari Bandung dengan karakter suara smooth jazz untuk meramaikan penampilannya malam nanti. “Banyak aliran jazz yang akan disuguhkan. Semoga penggemar jazz Surabaya puas,” paparnya.
Meskipun tergolong baru, Andezzz sebenarnya sudah lama berkelana di belantara musik Indonesia. Sebelumnya, dia tergabung dalam Sova. “Keputusan untuk keluar dari Sova merupakan usahanya untuk mengeksploitasi kemampuan bermusiknya,” kata Andry.
Selain itu, Ello dan Cindy Bernadette dijadwalkan ikut menghibur publik Surabaya. “Dalam kolaborasi tersebut, lagu-lagu Ello dan Cindy yang lebih dulu populer kami harap dapat mendekatkan audiens dengan Andezzz,” tambahnya. (uji/dos)
Source: Jawa Pos Online
December 14th, 2007
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