News from Around the Archipelago

Thought I would start a new posting on Indonesialogue every Sunday about some of the relevant news from around the archipelago of Indonesia. Considering matters have been ‘rocky’ in several islands with earthquakes and volcanoes starting to come to life, it isn’t surprising the events of Mother Nature take dominance.

A whirlwind has devastated at least 294 houses, school and local hospital buildings in Sukabumi district in West Java on Friday and hit at 16:15 pm local time, leaving no victims, whilst high waves reaching up to three meters high hit the Sunda Straits as well as Sumatra off western Lampung water area on Saturday. Great for the surfers but makes one think twice about going near the ocean!. As if the movie Jaws wasn’t bad enough. Back on dry land, an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale shook the Bitung water area in North Sulawesi at 07:38 am local time. Hey, we are back to this water again!.

On a much lighter note (excuse the pun), five Indonesian businessmen are among the 1,125 wealthiest people in the world listed according to Forbes magazine. Good to see but let’s have some philanthropy to go with that news. There are a lot of poor people in Indonesia who would benefit. How about it guys?

And then there is the ‘cuddly’ side of the news with the arrival of a newborn Sumatran Tiger cub. The cub was born on Friday to Leanne and George, two Sumatran tigers on loan from a zoo in San Antonio and an aquarium in Denver. Although I don’t approve of caging any living species, at least there is something being done to avoid the Sumatran Tiger from ever being seen again on this planet.

The ongoing saga of Indonesian airlines being banned from entering European airspace still continues. Apparently Indonesia is waiting for reports by European consultants working on the Indonesian-European Union Partnership for Aviation Safety. No doubt every traveller to Indonesia has a dread story to tell about a flight on an Indonesian airline, whether it be domestic or international. However, in the main, though, they are far, far better than those airlines of Russia or China.

And now, the poor old cows are getting brow-beaten in Indonesia. It seems the government will still not reveal the brand of milk contaminated by Enterobacterer Sakazakii bacteria. Sounds ominous!. Apparently this is because the milk researched by the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) was milk produced in 2003 that is no longer in the market. There are a lot of products on the shelves in the shops in Indonesia that are well past their use-by-date.

And, that’s just some of the news!.