Thursday, December 21, 2006

Firms awarded for waste management

Headline News
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Eighty-five private firms were given awards Wednesday for properly treating their liquid waste by the Jakarta municipal administration.

The firms were shortlisted from 746 industries, hospitals, hotels, apartments, offices, shopping malls, supermarkets and shops in Jakarta, which routinely send their waste to the city environmental management board's laboratory.

Criteria for the award -- best performance in liquid waste management -- is based on compliance tests of the firms' waste undertaken every three months at the agency's laboratory, the levels of waste water produced, and daily waste monitoring reports sent to the agency.

"We need serious treatment to maintain water quality in Jakarta, because the water conditions here are getting worse, while groundwater remains the dominant resource for drinking water," Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said at the event.

The award was presented for the first time and the event is expected to be be held annually.

Sutiyoso estimated about 22,500 industrial establishments in Jakarta posed a risk to groundwater because they did not have any waste water treatment facilities.

"Some might do it on purpose. They just don't want to be responsible and don't care about the environment," he said.

He said that the administration would soon start a get-tough policy on such negligence. It would send warning letters to uncooperative companies and revoke their licenses if they did not improve their liquid waste management, he said.

Budirama Natakusumah, the head of city's environmental management board, said the gubernatorial decree on domestic waste management required every house and public building to install a wastewater treatment facility to reduce the risk of groundwater contamination.

"It is necessary to always remind enterprises and industries to treat their liquid waste before dumping it into rivers or other waterways," Budirama said.

He hoped a bylaw on liquid waste treatment would be produced soon to reduce pollution in the capital. (02)

Foundations encourage schools to go green

Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Four high schools in Greater Jakarta have integrated green and energy-efficient practices into their learning and teaching processes, thanks to the support of two foundations concerned about environmental issues.

Islamic vocational high school SMK Al Muslim in Bekasi, private vocational high school SMK Wikrama in Bogor, state high school No. 13 in South Jakarta, and state high school No. 69 in Kepulauan Seribu have each received Rp 25 million from the Indonesian Biodiversity Foundation (KEHATI) and the Coca-Cola Foundation (CCF) to run their environmental programs.

"We hope that environmental issues, which are becoming increasingly more complex, also become a youth concern," Christien Ismuranty from KEHATI said Tuesday.

"We hope schools adopt a perspective on the environment and approach their management and curriculum from that perspective," she added.

KEHATI and CCF held in 2005 a competition to select high schools that were models in their communities for healthy, safe and environmentally sound practices. The four schools beat out 16 other competitors.

Under the Go Green School program, KEHATI and CCF, along with a number of other NGOs, help schools integrate a range of issues like energy conservation and recycling into their curriculum.

After a year, SMK Wikrama Bogor was selected as the best model and received another Rp 10 million to finance its green program.

The emphasis on environmental friendliness spurred SMK Wikrama to stock nutritious food in its canteen -- including vegetables grown in the schoolyard -- save money by reducing consumption and energy costs, increase the protection of natural resources and better manage its garbage.

The other three model schools practiced pollution prevention, recycling, energy efficiency and waste reduction, as well as introducing modules on coral transplantation and seaweed cultivation.

Christien said the schools were selected because of their commitment and creativity in internalizing environmental values in their management. Schools with different advantages and facilities were selected. For example, SMK Al Muslim is a private school with great facilities, while the one in Kepulauan Seribu is a state school with limited facilities.

"Being a green school does not necessarily depend on facilities and location. Wherever you are, however limited your resources, you can do something. That is our message," Christien said.

Titie Sadarini, CCF chief executive, said the foundation had given Rp 500 million to the KEHATI foundation, which will coordinate the program for four years beginning in 2004.

The Go Green School program has also encouraged the National Education Ministry and the State Ministry for the Environment to bring in an award scheme for green schools called Andiwiyata. (02)

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Acer enters fray in LCD TV market

Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The country's growing digital home entertainment market has become too hard to resist for Acer, with the top computer maker having just launched its first LCD TV in Indonesia.

Unlike conventional LCD, TVs which combine audio and visual modes only, the new product, known as the Acer Total Experience, brings combines the audio, visual and IT worlds into one experience.

Jason Lim, president director of Acer Indonesia, said Monday that the launch of the new product was designed to meet the growing demand for convergence between the information technology (IT) industry and consumer electronics (CE) industry.

"There is a growing trend now to combine IT and CE technology. As a leading PC and notebook manufacturer around the world for 30 years, we decided to bring our expertise to bear in developing this multifunction LCD TV," Jason said at the official launch.

The product is equipped with similar technology to that used in the LCD monitors in Acer's personal computers and notebooks.

Acer's product marketing manager, Daniel H. Rustandi, said that the company was very optimistic about the prospects for the new product due to the growing demand for high technology in the digital home entertainment market.

Daniel said that the new LCD TV product would be one of his company's main products in 2007, besides its notebook and PC products.

According to figures from the International Data Corporation (IDC), an independent research firm, Acer's notebooks hold a more than 30 percent domestic market share.

Daniel said the new LCD TV product was aimed at users who valued affordable cinema-like entertainment, people who needed to replace their conventional TVs and those who were technology-savvy.

The new product comes on the market this month, with prices ranging from Rp 7 million to Rp 19 million. (02)

Jakarta to host 1st international agriculture expo

Saturday, December 16, 2006

The Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) and the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) will host Indonesia's first international agricultural expo in March 2007 to promote local agricultural products on both the national and international markets.

The expo, which is also intended to support government programs for the revitalizing of the agriculture sector and increasing national food stocks, will feature farm machinery, and processed and unprocessed farm products, as well as presentations on agricultural research projects.

Djoko Said Darmadjati, the director general of agricultural product processing and marketing, said the expo was part of the effort to create and promote a better image for local products in the minds of consumers by disseminating information and providing transaction venues.

The expo will be held on March 16-18, 2007, at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) and will be hosted and mainly funded by the Bogor Institute of Agricultural (IPB), the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI), and event organizer Performax.

Apart from the expo, there will also be a conference, workshops, field visits, one-on-one business meetings, and export, tax and trade counseling.

Rifda Ammarina, director of Performax, said that the expo would provide opportunities for all stakeholders involved in agriculture to establish ties with prospective clients. She expressed the hope that the event would gain the attention of the international business community.

HIPMI chairman Sandiaga Uno, who co-initiated the expo, said that based on a recent study, agriculture was an important entrepreneurial sector. Chastened by the 1998 economic crisis, 80 per cent of the 25,000 members of HIPMI around the country have been shifting their business focuses away from the construction sector to the agriculture sector.

"My short-term goal in initiating this expo is to create networking and to speed up the business repositioning of HIPMI's members. By 2008, we should see 10 percent of them already fully involved in the agricultural business," said Sandiaga.(02)