“Locals only work as hired hands at the most, doing menial work. No one can get a job at the factory, except for those from outside Tambi,” said Juarno, a resident of Tambi village, in Wonosobo regency, Central Java.

Juarno, who lives in the village surrounding the well-known Tambi tea plantation that spans eight hectares, said the plantation had not benefited the local community.

“I could work as a loading attendant at most, but not on a permanent basis. Most of the villagers are unemployed and usually seek work in the city because it’s hard to find a job here,” he said.

Asked why he had not applied for work at the tea factory, Juarno said it was “difficult” to get a job there.

“The locals usually work as laborers and tea pickers. We are not even allowed to become security guards, let alone a foreman,” Juarno said.

He said he believed the inequities experienced by staff when the factory was set up in the Dutch colonial era were still pervasive today.

“I think there is no difference between the factory then and now, evident from the still-impoverished conditions of the local people,” Juarno said.

NO TEA BREAK: A woman picks tea leaves at a plantation in Kejajar district, Wonosobo, Central Java, on Sunday. She is paid Rp 250 (2 US cents) for each kilogram she collects. (JP/Agus Maryono)

He said the factory had only employed about 50 villagers as hired hands, working as tea pickers and loading attendants.

The factory pays tea pickers Rp 250 (approximately 2 US cents) for every kilogram of leaves they harvest, he said.

“Well, each tea picker can harvest at most 30 kilograms of leaves daily.”

Juarno’s neighbor, Samhadi, 40, said the Tambi tea factory was no different from a company run during the Dutch colonial era.

“The local administration has never thought about everyday people. What’s the factory for? Why are we hired only as menial laborers here? There are many smart people here too,” Samhadi said.

However, company management told The Jakarta Post it also employed residents from around the plantation area, as well as outsiders.

“We employ around 1,100 workers and some of them are locals, so it isn’t true that locals are not given the chance to work here,” said the company’s operational manager, Titik Zubaedah.

She said her company required both local and outside workers at its 5 hectare plantation area and 3 hectare agrotourism area.

The Tambi tea factory, built in 1865 during the Dutch colonial era, functions as an agricultural industry and “agrotourism” area and is open to the general public, she said.

“It is well equipped, including lodgings. We will guide visitors around the plantation and give a tour of the factory to see the tea production process firsthand,” Titik said.

The factory produces six tons of processed tea which is marketed domestically as well as overseas, she said.

“Export destinations include Australia, Russia, the United States, Poland and New Zealand.”

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post – PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.

Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik says Indonesia’s vast experience dealing with crises will help the country’s tourism sector recover from the impact of last Friday’s hotel bombings in Jakarta.

“Indonesia has a lot of experience dealing with crises,” he said Wednesday at a press conference in the capital.

“We’ve been hit by bombs, tsunami, bird flu and financial crises, but we’ve survived. We always survive.

“We needed just one year to recover from the second Bali bombing. I have a gut feeling this time we’ll need only six months to recover.”

Jero also said the House of Representatives had given its full support to ensuring the recovery of the tourism sector.

“I had a meeting with the House last night,” he said.

“The House approved additional funds of Rp 94 billion [US$9.3 million] to help the tourism sector recover.”

Jero added the terrorist attacks would not stop the ministry from holding events and festivals to attract more foreign tourists to the country.

“The events will go ahead as planned,” he said.

“Tomorrow, an international golf tournament will tee off outside Jakarta. We’ll also launch a special sightseeing event for the local and international media next week.

“At the end, we want to show the terrorists we’re not afraid and that business will go on as usual.”

Xu Jing, from the United Nations World Tourism Organization for Asia Pacific, said Indonesia’s resilience in the face of tragedy was a proven value based on the figures achieved in the tourism sector within the first five months of 2009.

“Tourist arrivals, especially to Bali, are on the rise,” he said.

“Bali saw a 9 percent increase in tourist arrivals. This is extremely good news, not just for Indonesia, but especially in comparison with the rest of the world.

“There is an 8 percent decrease in tourist arrivals in the rest of the world. Indonesia is probably the only exception in the midst of all these financial and economic difficulties,” he added.

However, Xu also pointed out that for the time being, the country’s image, particularly Jakarta’s, among foreign tourists had been tarnished.

“I must say for the time being, on a temporary basis, I don’t think we can avoid Jakarta being perceived negatively,” he said.

“This is understandable. But what is important that I would like to share with you is that people’s perceptions are usually short-lived.”

Xu echoed statements made Tuesday by Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) chairman M.S. Hidayat, who said occupancy rates in five-star international hotels had dropped in the last four days.

The pinch is being felt too in Bali, the heart of the nation’s tourist industry, where the American luxury liner Sun Princess cancelled its planned stop there that would have brought in 2,000 tourists.

However, tourism elsewhere in the country, such as in East Kalimantan, remains unaffected.

“Hotels in the Derawan, Maratua, Kakaban and Berau islands are fully booked until the end of August, and there have been no cancellations yet,” Joko Purwanto, head of the Association Tour and Travel Agencies’ (ASITA) East Kalimantan office, said in Balikpapan. (hdt)

Nurni Sulaiman contributed to this story from Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post – PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.

Visitors to the Tambi tea plantation in Wonosobo, Central Java, enjoy the fresh air during a morning hike through the plantation. (JP/Agus Maryono)

Some tourist sites you can visit on the plateau are as high as 2,400 meters above sea level, including ancient sites and temples, the Sikidang and Sinila volcanic craters and the totally green landscape of the Tambi tea plantation that covers an area of eight hectares.

The plantation, which dates back to 1865, during the Dutch colonial era, is now owned by Agrowisata and open to the general public. It’s a suitable place if you want to be refreshed by nature or look into the agricultural aspects of tea production.

Located in Wonosobo regency, the plantation is in Tambi village in Kejajar subdistrict, 16 kilometers north of the regency capital, Wonosobo city. From the city, local transportation will get you out to the village in around 20 minutes.

If you want to spend the night at the Agrowisata complex, a comfortable homestay is available with both good facilities and green surroundings, with views of the hills. The homestay rates range from Rp 225,000 (US$24) per room per night to the most expensive at Rp 1.25 million (US$136).

Agrowisata also offers a hall and restaurant big enough to accommodate about 75 people. Near the homestay is a pond where visitors can relax and fish.

If you come with a group and spend the night, a local band is ready to provide entertainment for tourists in the yard of the homestay complex. They staff will even light a campfire to ward off the chilly night air of the Dieng Plateau.

Don’t come with lowered expectations; Even though the homestay staff come from the surrounding mountains they play a broad repertoire of music, including pop, dangdut, rock, jazz and Western songs guaranteed to entertain.

Since the high altitude climate can penetrate the body, don’t forget to take a thick sweater to protect you from chilly weather.

Exploring the area around the Agrowisata tea plantation can make for a fascinating trip. If you’re fed up with the stale city weather and want to get away to enjoy some fresh air, a visit here might be just the thing. The view alone is restorative. You can see across the spread of the tea plantation which is vast and neatly managed. At a distance it looks like a giant green carpet.

“Almost every week there’s a group that comes through. Many spend the night here and we give them the best possible service,” Titik Zubaedah, from Agrowisata’s operations department, told The Jakarta Post.

Titik can easily answer all your questions regarding the tea plantation. He said that every day the enterprise produces around six tons of dry tea.

“A large part of the production is exported,” said Titik. That’s why Tambi tea products are less well known in this country. Some of the countries that import Tambi tea include the United States, Poland, Russia, New Zealand and Australia, she said.

Tea leaves are processed at the Agrowisata tea factory located nearby the plantation. (JP/Agus Maryono)

Exploring the Agrowisata complex starts with setting out on the paths that crisscross the plantation which covers three hectares. “Usually in the morning we start at 7 a.m. and go until 9 a.m.. The temperature is pleasant so it’s suitable for walking. We follow that with a visit to the factory area, then go back to the hotel to have breakfast,” Titik said.

She said that planting the tea, maintaining the area, picking and processing in the factory — which stands at the middle of the Agrowisata area — required a workforce of around 1,100 people.

“All the processing is done here including the packing, so the tea is ready to sell. Tourists can also walk through the factory to see the process of making tea from A to Z. We will guide them from start to finish.”

She said the process of making Tambi tea started by picking the fresh tea leaves by hand. The tea leaves are then left to wilt.

“After the leaves have wilted the next process is milling in the factory for 60 minutes,” said Titik. After this, the fermentation process takes another 120 minutes.

“When the fermentation has finished the tea is dried in the oven for an average of 25 minutes. The next step is sorting the tea before packing.

“Once the process and packing has been completed, the tea is ready to be exported,” Titik said.

After your visit, plan to buy a pack of Tambi tea to take home with you. Near the homestay, a market sells Tambi tea products and a number of special Wonosobo snacks.

From Yogyakarta the journey takes around 2.5 hours by car.

From Semarang to Wonosobo allow for two hours of traveling.

If you are coming from Jakarta and want to go directly by land, the best route is from the south. The Jakarta-Cirebon-Purwokerto-Wonosobo route takes around 10 hours.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post – PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.

The Pacific had been in what is called a neutral state, but forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say the sea surface temperature climbed to 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit above normal along a narrow band in the eastern equatorial Pacific in June.

In addition, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said temperatures in other tropical regions are also above normal, with warmer than usual readings as much as 975 feet below the ocean surface.

In general, El Nino conditions are associated with increased rainfall across the east-central and eastern Pacific and with drier than normal conditions over northern Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

In an El Nino year there tend to be more Eastern Pacific hurricanes and fewer Atlantic hurricanes.

The forecasters said they expect this El Nino to continue strengthening over the next few months and to last through the winter of 2009-2010.

“Advanced climate science allows us to alert industries, governments and emergency managers about the weather conditions El Nino may bring so these can be factored into decision-making and ultimately protect life, property and the economy,” NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in Indonesia the Institute for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics warns that El Nino is already visible in the archipelago, which means that the rainfall will be below normal in east Indonesia reaching its peak between August through October which may mean that the dry season will continue until November or December. Areas most affected will be the Nusatenggara islands, Papua, the Moluccas, South Sulawesi, the north coast of Java and Lampung.

In 1997 Indonesia suffered a long El Nino when water levels receded and forest fires raged on peat land across Sumatra, and Kalimantan.

In anticipation of the El Nino effects the government has earmarked Rp. 3 trillion to safeguard the country’s food security.

For your comments and further inquiries, please e-mail to: tbsc-strategy@indo.net.id

Although official results are not yet final, however, exit polls done by a number of survey organizations have all confirmed that President Yudhoyono has won a landslide vote of confidence of more than 60% among Indonesia’s 176 million voters, to rule Indonesia for a second term in the next five years.

On Wednesday, 8 July, more than 176 million Indonesians across this huge archipelago of more than 17,500 islands cast their votes to elect the Presidential team they wish to govern from 2009-2014. Voting began at 8 in the morning and closed at 13.00 hrs.

Candidate teams were : at No.1 Megawati Soekarnoputri and Probowo for VP.(known as Mega-Pro). Mega-Pro carried the slogan: “Economy for the People”.  At No. 2: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Boediono (known as SBY-Boediono) carried the slogan “Lanjutkan” or “Continue” policies set down and implemented in the past five years; and at no. 3 was Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto (known as JK-Win) with the slogan “The National Team” – since Jusuf Kalla hails from South Sulawesi and Wiranto from Java.

From all appearances, – except for over one month of open jibes and parries on TV among candidates’ success teams and supporters, – the general public had been taking things pretty calmly, going about their daily routine, as if people already knew who to vote for, this despite the constant barrage of political ads and the media trying to rev up public enthusiasm.  The feel in the air promised that these would be peaceful presidential elections. And indeed elections proceeded peacefully, democratic and generally transparent and fair.

On the day of the elections, in the morning people filed in to drop their ballot papers then spent the day at leisure in malls or recreation parks.

By 13.00 hrs. Western Indonesian Time, TV stations began airing exit polls results, or Quick Count tallies, which by that time already included results obtained in the country’s central and eastern provinces, that are under Eastern and Central Indonesian Time. (The difference between each time zone is one hour).  Earlier an injunction was requested from the Constitutional Court (MK) to stop airing Quick Count results on the day of voting, but this was overruled by the Court.  There are officially 6 Survey companies/Organizations, with each working in collaboration with a different TV channel.

Nevertheless, it is only the Election Committee, KPU, whose results will be considered as legal and official count results, but this manual count is only due to be announced on 25-27 July.

By 16.00 hrs. on the day of voting, results of the Quick Counts crystallized and have stayed constant until today.

Results among all 6 survey organizations declared an indisputable win by SBY-Boediono across the archipelago, with a landslide victory of over 60% of national votes. This means that there will be only one round of voting, much to the chagrin of those who had hoped to win through the second round.

Indonesia’s Presidential Elections Laws stipulates that there will be one round of voting when a candidate wins over 50% of national votes, and at least 20% of votes in 17 of the 33 provinces.

By the Quick Count, SBY-Boediono won almost 61% of national votes with a majority in 24 of Indonesia’s 33 provinces. Provinces where SBY came second were only in South Sulawesi, stronghold of Jusuf Kalla, and in Bali, stronghold of Megawati. In the province of Aceh, where Jusuf Kalla claimed to have been instrumental in its peacemaking, SBY won by over 92%.

Quick Count results of the different agencies gave Mega-Pro a success rate of between 26.5%- 28.1% of national votes; SBY-Boediono received between 57.4%-60.8%; and JK-Win won between 11.87%-14.5%.  The Indonesian Survey Institute, LSI, who has constantly proven to have come out with the closest estimates found the SBY-Boediono team to have won 60.85% of votes, against Mega-Pro 26.56% and JK-Win 12.59%.

Meanwhile the General Elections Committee, KPU, came out with its own tally. But at 18 million votes KPU results got stuck with – lo and behold almost similar results: SBY-Boediono at 60.72%, Mega-Pro 29.67% and JK-Win at 9.62%.  Why KPU has stopped publishing updated results still remains a mystery until today, but this has already been protested to KPU by Mega-Pro for siding with the incumbent president.

Executive Director of LSI, Denny JA explained SBY-Boediono’s victory to a number of factors, reported Kompas.  Firstly the position of SBY was already very strong even prior to the elections. During the one-month presidential campaigns, JK’s position climbed but not sufficient to push elections into a second round. Thirdly, the personality of SBY is popular and is difficult to dismiss. Fourthly, the general public is by and large satisfied with present conditions, which benefits the incumbent. Fifth, in general the public is satisfied with results given by the incumbent president; and sixth, the majority of the public in fact really wanted just one round elections.

Whereas the increase in votes for Mega-Pro, according to Denny, was pushed by Prabowo, who is a fresh face,  besides the fact that the PDIP followers have remained solid.

Meanwile, researcher of the Indonesian Science Institute, Lili Romli, is of the opinion that Yudhoyono won through a combination of personality and imaging.

A similar view is held by the Executive Director of Cirus Surveyors Group Andrinof A Chaniago. According to Chaniago the Indonesian public still favours personality before capability. With 80% of voters having secondary and lower education, the choice is heavy on personal popularity, which includes favouring the candidate’s behavior and demeanor in public even towards his rivals.

Indication that the largest part of Indonesia’s population has accepted elections results is the fact that even from the day of elections until today the public has remained calm and is going about its business as usual.

Meanwhile, President Yudhoyono confirmed that he himself and Vice-President (rival presidential candidate) Jusuf Kalla are committed to fill out their term in office together until October this year. Indeed, on Tuesday at the first Cabinet meeting after the elections, both were seen seated next to each other leading the meeting.

Although a number of shortcomings and violations in the elections are still being brought up, the peaceful and orderly general elections and recent presidential elections this year have shown that the Indonesian public has matured in the democratic process.

What can be expected from SBY-Boediono?

In his last public campaign before elections, Yudhoyono outlined 5 Agenda items and 15 Priorities for his second term when elected.

The 5 Agenda items are: (1) Improve economic performance and public welfare; (2) Build Good Governance; (3) Strengthen democracy and respect of human rights; (4) Law Enforcement and corruption eradication; (5) Fair and equal development.

While the 15 Priorities are: (1) Economic growth of minimum 7% – in Q1 2009 this was 4.4%; (2) Reduction of poverty to become between 8%-10%; (3) Reduce unemployment to 5%-6%; (4)Improve education quality and infrastructure; teacher’s welfare; and provide free education for the poor. (5). Improve health services and provide free health services to the poor. (6) Increase food sustainability in rice, beef and soy beans. (7). Realize energy sustainability through the construction of huge power plants. (8) Increase development budget for infrastructure through mega-projects.(9) Develop public housing and modest public flats; (10). Protect the environment (11) Increase defense and security with priority on the supply of military hardware. (12). Bureaucratic Reform through eradication of corruption, collusion and nepotism. (13). More equal distribution in development and decentralization of finance. (14) Strengthen democracy and respect for human rights, and (15) Increase Indonesia’s role in  international forums.

Indonesia in ‘exciting position’: World Bank chief

Meanwhile Indonesia Trade and Investments News wrote that Indonesia’s economy is set to emerge a “winner” after avoiding the worst of the global financial crisis, the World Bank’s country director said, as reported by Bloomberg.

Joachim von Amsberg, a strong supporter of Indonesia since he took up the position, said the country can expand “significantly” more than 7% once President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono fixes infrastructure including roads, ports and power plants.

“Faster growth and a maturing democracy together put Indonesia in an incredibly exciting position to come out as a winner from this global turmoil,” von Amsberg told Bloomberg in an interview on Thursday. “It shows that Indonesia is a positive outlier in the world right now.”

Indonesia’s move to increase deposit insurance, boost coordination with the central bank and strengthen bank supervision helped the nation largely avoid the worldwide credit crisis, von Amsberg said.

“If the new government shows decisiveness in overcoming some bottlenecks, that will be a huge statement,” he said.

A day after his landslide re-election, Dr. Yudhoyono pledged that he would spur growth in the country to a target of 4%-4.5% in 2009 as interest rates fall to 6% by year-end.

Dr. Yudhoyono also said that Indonesia could escape from the economic crisis by 2011.

Head of the International Monetary Fund’s Indonesia office Milan Zavadjil said Indonesia’s growth may exceed 6% after the election because Yudhoyono has a “strong mandate” to implement his policies.

On Friday, the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) expressed optimism that economic growth of 9% will be achieved in 2014, although the five-year medium term development plan (RPJM) had been designed on the basis of moderate assessments, Antara reported.

In more reaction to the presidential election, the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) said more companies are set to list their shares on the exchange, following the favorable market condition after Wednesday’s peaceful presidential election, The Jakarta Post reported.

Director for corporate grading Eddie Sugito said the election created positive sentiment in the market.

Despite slow progress, with only five companies going public in the first half of this year, IDX president director Ito Warsito is confident of meeting the target of getting 15 companies to go public by year’s end.

The Jakarta Composite Index closed the week at 2,063.09 compared to 2,075.30 a week earlier. Dealers said the market had largely factored in the likely victory of Dr. Yudhoyono before the election.  The Jakarta index has gained almost 29% since early April, due in part to expectations of a Yudhoyono victory.

The rupiah closed at 10,190 to the dollar compared to 10,210 a week earlier. (Sources: TVOne, SCTV, RCTI, Detik.com, Kompas, Indonesia Trade & Investment News)

At 7.47 am this morning a bomb exploded at the Syailendra coffee shop of the luxurious Marriott hotel, followed  at 7.57 by another blast at the Airlangga coffee shop at the adjacent Ritz-Carlton in the business and diplomatic district in Central Jakarta.  Later, Police disabled an active – low explosive, black powder bomb in room 1808 of the Marriott hotel where the terrorists are believed to have stayed for two nights and prepared the bombs.

The blasts killed 6 persons at the Marriott, 2 at the Ritz Carlton and one in hospital, injuring 61 persons, said the Police. Five of the casualties were foreigners while those injured included foreign hotel guests and Indonesian hotel staff on duty.

Indications are that the blasts were the work of two suicide bombers as two badly blown up bodies were found at both hotels. A CCTV video showed a man in a black suit wearing a cap coming out of the lift at the Marriott, crossing the lobby pulling behind him a small suitcase walking calmly towards the coffee shop. A minute later, an explosion shattered windows, mangled furnishings, sending up billowing smoke – eerily reminiscent of a similar scene at the second Bali bombing at a coffee shop in Kuta .

Saturday, 18 July) World condemnation came immediately. “Indonesia has been steadfast in combating violent extremism, and has successfully curbed terrorist activity within its borders,” US President Obama said. “However, these attacks make it clear that extremists remain committed to murdering innocent men, women and children of any faith in all countries,” as quoted  by Associated Press. Other U.S. officials said Indonesia’s recent rejection of fundamentalist Islamic candidates and a four-year hiatus from heavy terrorist activity provides hope that Friday’s blast was not an indicator of renewed militant strength. But some counterterrorism experts warned that officials needed to brace for that possibility — a concern Obama pointed to in his own statement.

Other world leaders condemning the bombing include Prime Minister Kevin Rudd from Australia, and leaders from EU, Great Britain, France, New Zealand, Japan and ASEAN neighbours. The United Nations  issued a resolution condemning the bombing in Jakarta but remains confident that Indonesia is capable of routing the terrorists. The UN also called an all nations to assist Indonesia in its fight against terrorism.

After Friday’s attacks, president Yudhoyono said they were carried out by a “terrorist group” and vowed to arrest the perpetrators. He also suggested a possible link to the national election last week that is expected to hand him another five-year term as president.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood declined to comment on who he thought might have been behind Friday’s strikes but noted that terrorist groups would feel pressured by Indonesia’s democratic trends.”Indonesia’s made an awful lot of progress over the last several years, and there are groups, organizations that are threatened by another democracy in that part of the world,” he said, wrote AP.

Meanwhile, life in Jakarta has continued its normal pace as it has in the whole of Indonesia. Security has, however, been tightened at international air and seaports, and hotels and malls have been instructed to intensify security measures.

AP PHOTO/DITA ALANGKARA

Police officers inspect the damage after an explosion went off at the Marriott hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, July 17, 2009.

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Artikel Terkait:

• At Least Six Killed in Explosions in Two Jakarta Hotels

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The MMC Kuningan Hospital issued a list of names of 16 foreigners injured in Friday (17/7) morning’s explosions at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in the Mega Kuningan area.
The following are the names of foreigners being treated at the MMC Kuningan Hospital:
1. Giovanni
2. Hui Bosco Keung
3. Ibushi Asu
4. Jame Makkeba
5. Kevin
6. William
7. Noke Kiroyan
8. Peter
9. Scott Mirilles
10 Shweta Shukita
11 Simon Louis
12 Peter Van Wesel
13 Max Bon
14 Gary Ford
15 Cindy
16 James Castle

The explosions hit the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in the Mega Kuningan area, central Jakarta, early Friday, killing at least nine people and injuring tens of others.

“Up to now, six people are known to have been killed, and tens of others injured but the number of victims may change as an identification process is still going on,” Senior Commissioner Chysnanda, a spokesman of the Jakarta police, said.

Police are still investigating the cause of the explosions at the scenes of the blasts. The victims have been rushed to among others the MMC and Medistra hospitals in the Kuningan area, the Jakarta Hospital on Jalan Sudirman, and the Pertamina Hospital in south Jakarta.

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel was scheduled to accommodate 90 members of the Manchester United (MU) football club of Britain who were to arrive in Jakarta on Saturday evening (July 18).

The explosions at the two hotels in the Kuningan area were heard twice at around 7.50 am and 7.55 am local time, Friday.

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Widodo AS, Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo and National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri visited the scenes of the explosions.

The Marriott Hotel was bombed by terrorists before, namely on August 5, 2003. Some 12 people, including a Dutch national, were killed and 147 others wounded.

www.kompas.com

UPDATE 11.46am: FOUR foreigners have been killed and Australians are believed to be among the injured after bombs exploded in Jakarta.

One blast at the Ritz Carlton reportedly blew much of the facade away from the building and a second explosion occurred at the MW Marriott Hotel, which was also targeted in a 2003 terrorist attack by Jemaah Islamiah in an attack which killed 12.

Melbourne man Steve, 39, who was staying in the nearby Ballajio apartments which backs onto the Ritz, said the area had been devastated.

“I can see the ground floor and the upper floor – the breakfast buffet area has exploded and there is glass everywhere,” Steve told the Herald Sun.

He said he was having a shower at 7.45am local time when he heard a loud boom.

“There was a definite thump, I was getting out of the shower and I thought that’s strange to have thunder at that time of the morning.”

He said five minutes later another boom occurred and he understood then that the incidents were terrorist attacks and the second blast was at the Marriott, also close by.

“There are lots of police in the streets.”

“Some windows of the Ritz-Carlton building have been shattered, mostly on the lower section. I’m looking at it from my office,” said Myra Junor, who works at a nearby building.

A father on 3AW stated his son was injured in the blasts.

A Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said they were working to confirm whether Australians were killed or injured.

The European Commission’s partial lifting of its blanket ban on Indonesian airlines on Wednesday, which was imposed in June 2007, will not immediately boost tourist arrivals from Europe.

Yet its immediate benefit is the international recognition of our air safety standards at least for the two scheduled airlines – national flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia and Mandala Airlines — and two charter companies – Airfast Indonesia and Premiair — which are now permitted to fly over European skies.

It will take at least six to nine months for Garuda to reopen its services to Europe, but the EC ruling will still be a boon to the airlines because insurance companies are now willing to cover EU citizens who fly the four carriers.

We don’t think there is any commercial motivation whatsoever behind the partial removal of the ban. It is simply a coincidence that the two scheduled airlines that were withdrawn from the blacklist were the biggest operators of the European-made Airbus jetliners in Indonesia.

The four airlines were the first to have been cleared because they have implemented new regulations on the installation of safety equipment, including enhanced ground proximity warning systems, which are mandatory on all commercial aircraft.

The partial lifting of the ban should also be attributed to the concerted steps taken by the Transportation Ministry’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation to improve safety such as  employing more safety inspectors, having more aircraft inspections, implementing a quarterly safety audit of all local carriers, grounding carriers and grounding aircraft types.

A visit by EC air safety experts to Indonesia, including the inspection of the four carriers in February, found significant improvements in the structure and staffing of the directorate general to enable it to properly perform its regulatory and supervisory tasks.

The July 2007 ban, imposed after a string of airline accidents since 2005, was indeed an embarrassment for the country. But the blanket ban has now turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it has forced the government to act quickly and firmly to improve air safety standards.

International pressures have often been more powerful in forcing us to take corrective measures and the blanket ban should have been the most powerful motivational force for the government to act quickly to improve its air safety regulations.

Just witness how quickly our parliament enacted a new civil aviation law late last year, which imposes much tougher operational, financial and technical requirements on airlines.  It took less than six months for the government and the House of Representatives to complete the new legislation that has 466 articles on air safety and airport management.

Had the problem remained mostly a domestic issue, it might have been business as usual for our airline operators and aviation regulators.

The stricter operating, technical and financial standards that require an airline company to operate at least ten aircraft — five of which shall be owned — will accelerate consolidation within the industry.

This in turn will force mergers among some of the 14 scheduled operators.