EDITORIAL : THE NINE O'CLOCK, ROMANIA

Police head Dan Fatuloiu, appointed Home Affairs Attaché to Rome

Despite the corruption scandal featuring Fatuloiu, Minister Igas claims his decision was ‘the most correct from all points of view, given his experience”.

General Quaestor Dan Valentin Fatuloiu has been appointed Home Affairs Attaché to Rome by order of Interior Minister Traian Igas. The news was originally brought by MAI spokesman Marius Militaru who also noted that Fatuloiu had accepted the offer and would soon leave for Italy.  Shortly after the announcement had been made by MAI spokesman, the interior minister made a statement to explain that his decision to appoint Fatuloiu as Home Affairs Attaché to Rome was the most correct from all points of view, given his experience in the field. ‘Since he had been dismissed, Dan Valentin Fatuloiu  was at the ministry’s disposal until recently.  I made this decision taking into account his experience in the field, including the one acquired while in New York. It is the most correct decision from all points of view’, Igas said, according to Mediafax.

At the same time, the minister noted that he did not believe there would be any problems regarding Fatuloiu’s representation and reminded that he was an active officer who has to carry on with his work in MAI under the applicable regulations as long as he is not found guilty of any crime. Asked if Fatuloiu had been the only candidate who had met the criteria to be seconded to Rome, Minister Igas said there were many police officers suitable for the position, but all those were busy fulfilling other tasks in the country.

Dan Valentin Fatuloiu was involved in the biggest Police corruption scandal and was dismissed in November 2010 from his office as MAI Secretary of State by the minister. It all started after Fatuloiu and his son, Alexandru, had reported to the authorities an alleged bribery attempt by Galati-based businessman Catalin Chelu in exchange for him resolving Chelu’s 48 criminal cases. The anti-corruption prosecutors on the case say the value of the bribe offered amounted to EUR 1 M. The National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) organized a flagrante operation in the car park in front of the Ministry of Interior, on November 19, 2010. After the flagrante, Dan Fatuloiu was saying he believed he had been ‘betrayed’ by Economic Department police officers whom he had asked to look into the cases where Chelu was under investigation.

A few days later (November 23, 2010 – our note), Fatuloiu was dismissed as Secretary of State and head of the Public Order and Security Department of MAI and replaced with Ioan Dascalu. The decision was made following checks made by the MAI Control Body at the Neamt County Police Inspectorate after the assassination of local crime head Gheorghe Mararu in a café downtown Piatra Neamt and after Neamt Police chief Aurelian Soric had been accused of standing in with the criminal rings. In fact, Soric resigned himself shortly after Fatuloiu’s dismissal and became subject of an internal disciplinary enquiry.

Dan Fatuloiu was appointed as head of the Public Order and Security Department of MAI in October 2009, having been nominated by Minister Vasile Blaga (PDL), in which position he remained until November 23, 2010. His biography is quite impressive: in 2000, he was appointed head of the Bucharest Police and, in 2004, became Deputy Director of the Directorate General against Organised Crime and Drugs in the Romanian Police General Inspectorate and, in 2007, he became head of the Office of the Home Affairs Attaché to the US, with the title of Minister-Counsellor.

The alienation of the youth

“The Romanian public has been in shock over a recent case at a boarding house belonging to the theological school in Husi, Vaslui County, where a student stabbed and severely wounded a fellow student.”

The European tradition, and mostly the Romanian one, has shown a special respect to two age brackets. Children and senior citizens. The children are a symbol of the future, and the old, the fountain of wisdom that ensures a natural evolution from past, through present and into the future.

It’s been some time since Romania has been struggling to overcome the social and economic hardships which prompted senior citizens to take to the streets in protest at the ever worsening life condition they have to grapple with. However, the middle-aged don’t fare much better either, as half of Romania’s entire population is living below the poverty line. This explains why many young parents choose to go to work abroad, while their offspring, children and pre-teens, remain at home, in the care of old people, who are poor, hopeless and sick, and  is also the root-cause of the devastating sufferance of the young generation of Romanians.

The children missing their parents who have been working abroad for years, or settle there for good, is the most devastating factor. Romania has close to 50,000 such children, a special form of abandonment. UNESCO has drawn attention to the fact that nowhere else in this world both parents of a child go to work abroad. While in Africa emigration is much broader a phenomenon, it nonetheless does not involve both parents, as mothers usually remain at home to take care of their children.

This situation leads to the children left behind becoming marginalized, neglected and hopeless too, the incipient stages of a process of alienation that makes some of them end up in care centres for underage children, although the bulk of them become homeless. At nearly 25,000, Romania still has the highest mortality rate in infants under one year of  age across Europe, and such records hold up to 18 years of age and beyond, , given the high rates of cardio-vascular , lung, renal diseases and diabetes, and even AIDS. “Ethno-botanical” drugs wreak havoc too.

The alienation of the youth continues education wise too, with the school dropout rate increasingly. Illiteracy is also rising and threatening to become the steepest hurdle in the way of the social, economic and cultural development of this country as an EU member, given all modern development projects suppose a high cultural and scientific competence level for all its inhabitants. The success story is no longer assured by financial investments alone, but also involves investing in ideas, stimulating individual creative capacity, which is exactly the opposite of the personality deficit of a worryingly-high proportion of Romanian youth.

A personality deficit which, unfortunately, causes a mood of aggression that often turns to crime, as juvenile delinquency is at its highest rate ever in Romania, with  many thefts and acts of vandalism on public property committed by an increasingly high number of underage children. The feeling of physical and moral alienation does not always grow less beyond that stage either. The Romanian public has been in shock over a recent case at a boarding house belonging to the theological school in Husi, Vaslui County, where a student stabbed and severely wounded a fellow student.

And, unfortunately, such cases are not a seldom occurrence. A recent sociological survey reveals that that over 12 per cent of high school pupils think of either killing themselves or committing murder. This is no news by any means. The images of the two underage twins found hung, embracing each other, in a Cluj park, a few years ago should have shattered the conscience of any government official, obviously in the case they have one.

Why is it that annual spending for alcohol, tobacco or some such other destinations often exceed state budget funds allocated to education and culture? While are there no psychological and pedagogic counselling for youth? Why is it that pre-school education experiences a chronic shortage of nursery homes and kindergartens? Who is accountable for the shortage of school buildings created by their being returned to former owners, despite promises this would not happen, given the social importance schools hold.

Who is accountable for the much-talked education reform, which failed to bring the promised modernization and compressed teaching yet managed to do away with the educational value of school manuals and syllabus? So much so that today’s lessons lose sight exactly of what is of essence, namely the pupils picking the right role model, a thing increasingly difficult to accomplish, given the plethora of aberrant television appearances by all kinds of stars, including porno stars. It doesn’t matter, as long as they are stars!
This is how the many sources of youth alienation are as many factors undermining the future of Romania! Who can just stand and watch these bad omens?

EDITORIAL : THE CITIZEN, TANZANIA

PROMOTE BROADBAND USE TO CUT INTERNET CHARGES

When the first undersea fibre optic cable landed in Dar es Salaam, almost two years ago, many saw the development as the dawn of a new era in technology, with reduced cost of Internet access and more efficient services, thanks to the superior bandwidth speed.

However, very little seems to have changed. As a result, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) stakeholders are still grappling with the matter to establish where the country could have gone wrong.

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority’s explanation that connectivity charges remain high partly because some of the players have not fully executed their contracts is hardly convincing.

This is because most of the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are private companies, and one would have expected them to have factored this into their operations, including negotiating contracts with somewhat flexible clauses to see them, especially through their teething problems.

In any business venture, an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats/challenges is imperative.  In the world of constantly changing technological innovations, no serious businessperson would readily get into any deal without considering all these factors.

It is unfortunate, therefore, that these new contracts have come at a time when the country is still reeling under the consequences of the past expensive deals in the energy sector and other areas that cost the government dearly.

There is no reason to lay the blame on the undersea cable operators, as we believe, they have done their part by providing the infrastructure. They brought the cables and the potential to reduce connectivity prices.

The country now has a super Internet highway, but the ISPs have yet to fully take advantage of this. However, it is only fair that efforts be stepped up to enable the people to enjoy cheaper and more efficient Internet services.

The ISPs have no option but to go for the best to provide the reliable, high capacity and high-speed connectivity that is possible with the optic fibre cables, as opposed to the old satellite system. This way, they will be helping to revamp Tanzania’s technological development. 

STOP CARNAGE ON THE ROADS

Nearly 20 people perished in yet another road accident on Tuesday, which, according to preliminary findings, could have been avoided. Another 60 people were injured in the collision involving two buses in Geita District, some of whom might just have been maimed for life. This is the latest in a string of fatal bus accidents in the district in recent months.

The survivors’ chilling accounts leave little doubt that the accident was largely caused by the recklessness of both drivers.  The passengers said the drivers were speeding and generally flouting other road safety rules.

Unfortunately, this disregard for safety is generally characteristic of public transport, which is easily the most unsafe in the country.  Hardly a week passes without people dying in bus accidents.

Geita District Commissioner Philemon Shelutete’s call to bus owners to vet drivers and ensure that they have the necessary qualifications before hiring them is one we have heard countless times. However, if heeded, it should go some way in helping to reduce the high death toll on our roads.

But more important is the need to strictly enforce traffic rules and ensure that incompetent drivers and unroadworthy contraptions are kept off our roads. Traffic police have a key role to play here, but they mush shun corruption and be agents in entrenching a road safety culture.  Following the rules has never hurt anyone.  

EDITORIAL : THE EL UNIVERSAL, COLOMBIA

El lodo silencioso

Ayer un productor agropecuario afectado por las inundaciones nos envió un video (ver http://www.eluniversal.com.co/) emitido por CV Noticias (Telecaribe), donde los campesinos entrevistados emplazaban al Gobernador de Bolívar, a Cormagdalena y a Cardique, a reparar tres boquetes en el Canal del Dique en cercanías de Arroyo Hondo, Calamar y San Cristobal, según los entrevistados, con capacidad para inundar buena parte de Bolívar.

Los campesinos aseguran que ellos han enterado a todas las autoridades antes mencionadas, y afirman que nadie los ha ayudado. Según uno de los entrevistados, Cormagdalena ofreció enviarles un planchón con una paladraga para rellenar los boquetes, pero “hasta el sol de hoy” no aparece. En los corregimientos bolivarenses de Pilón y Sato, según CV Noticias, ya hay 25 mil hectáreas bajo agua, causándoles la ruina a los campesinos.

Ese es el aspecto dañino del Canal del Dique que ha salido a relucir con el invierno de finales de 2010 y mitad de 2011, debido a la fiereza que le impartió La Niña y que todo el país conoce y sufre.

Pero el Dique tiene otra faceta que si bien es menos escandalosa y afecta menos directamente a la gente, es igual o peor de dañina para la región y el país por soterrada: la sedimentación de la bahía de Cartagena, que como hemos dicho muchas veces y no nos cansaremos de repetir hasta que tenga solución, amenaza la entrada al puerto y la razón de ser de Cartagena.

Un “académico” de la Universidad Nacional dijo varias veces –palabras más, palabras menos- que no había tal sedimentación y que existía solo en la imaginación de los cartageneros.

En 2004, el Centro de Investigaciones Oceanográficas e Hidrológicas (CIOH), entonces bajo la dirección del capitán y científico Carlos Andrade, junto con su equipo (Yves F. Thomas, Serguei Lonin, Carlos Parra, Stephane Kunesch, Loic Menanteau, Ana Andriau, Cristina Piñeres y Shirley Velasco) publicó un trabajo titulado “Aspectos morfodinámicos de la bahía de Cartagena de Indias”.

El estudio responde a varias preguntas y dice que “Los sedimentos finos (lodos) que  vienen del canal del Dique se encuentran en la mayoría de los fondos en las partes profundas de la bahía, ocupando las partes en las que hasta hace veinte años el predominio era de arenas en la parte interna de Bocachica”.

Y como para refutar a ciertos necios, añade: “El delta del Dique ha avanzado tres y medio kilómetros dentro de la Bahía. Su influencia  interactúa con el sur de los bajos de Santacruz y ya empezó a comprometer la profundidad del canal de navegación. Se estimó un volumen de 26,8 millones de metros de sedimentos finos trasportados por el Canal del  Dique entre 1977 y 2004”. Este dato alarmante hallado por la investigación del CIOH en 2004 ¡ya tiene 7 años! La situación ahora, por supuesto, tiene que ser muchísimo peor.

Aprovechando el talante técnico del Presidente y su ministro de Transporte, Cartagena no debería solicitarles menos estudios, sino todos los necesarios –y cuanto antes- para hacer las obras bien hechas, cuesten lo que cuesten.

EDITORIAL : THE BUSINESS DAY, SOUTH AFRICA

         

 

Yet another wrong turn in Zimbabwe

HOW often is it possible for Zimbabwe to take a turn for the worse?

You would expect that at some point, a social disaster of the scale that has afflicted Zimbabwe would reach its nadir. However, as sad as it is to say so, Zimbabwe has taken a turn for the worse.

In an illuminating study, the Brenthurst Foundation has tracked Zimbabwe’s decline, up to suggestions in recent times of improvement, including economic growth for the first time in a decade. Sadly, according to this study, these green shoots appear to be flattering to deceive, and more problems loom.

Despite a level of development second in the region only to SA in the early 1990 s, Zimbabwe registered 12 years of economic shrinkage associated with hyperinflation until forced dollarisation in 2009. At its peak in 2008, inflation was estimated at 6,5 quindecillion novemdecillion percent — or 65 followed by 107 zeros. The Global Political Agreement signed between Zanu (PF) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its smaller offshoot in 2008 suggested a possible partial way out and led to the government of national unity . At last, economic growth reappeared, although today most of the civil service is still being paid less than the minimum wage in SA.

New problems are threatening even this min uscule economic resurgence. The politics of Zimbabwe is still deeply flawed, and investor confidence is low, with the government’s apparent determination to nationalise much of the remaining private sector, to say nothing of the growing corruption and cronyism, the report states.

One of the biggest problems is that Zanu (PF) has used the comparative improvement in the economy and access to income to step up intimidation around the country, to the extent that only half of the population feel they would be free to vote for whatever party they choose, according to surveys.

It is in this context that Zanu (PF) has insisted on the indigenisation policy going ahead. The policy forces foreign companies to sell half their equity, not only to Zimbabweans, but Zimbabweans specified by the government. Only in the flat- earth mentality of Zimbabwean economics could such a move even be considered. The notion that this plan will "retard investment" is such a radical understatement it hardly bears examination.

One of the disturbing aspects of the programme is that it appears to be garnering some support from none other than the MDC. At the recent World Economic Forum, MDC leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said: "Across the political divide we agree on the principle of citizenship empowerment ... we have been consistent in the area of indigenisation." This is despite him saying that indigenisation was "empty rhetoric" earlier this year.

It seems the unity government is doing what its detractors feared most: strengthening Zanu (PF)’s position. Zanu (PF) has been provided with a lifeline, and is using its position in the unity government to consolidate its hold on power. The consequence is that for once it is actually Zanu (PF) that is pressing for early elections.

What should regional nations do now? The Brenthurst paper suggests we should not rely solely on external intervention nor place undue expectations on the MDC, "whose performance in the unity government has fallen well short on a number of levels". It calls for a new approach that should comprise several elements, including renewed international pressure for reform, stronger regional leadership by SA , and a commitment by the opposition in Zimbabwe to become a credible, democratic and accountable alternative to Zanu (PF).

This approach seems eminently reasonable, but also very hopeful. If Zimbabwe insists on what is effectively the theft of South African companies, perhaps more comprehensive sanctions should be considered. It is extraordinary that a company like Old Mutual can still be invested in Zanu (PF)’s despotic media interests . Corporate SA , at the very least, should know better.

People as well as policies

WHILE yesterday’s elections will inject fresh blood into municipal governance at a political level, the public servants and problems inherent in the system remain.

Deputy Co-operative Governance Minister Yunus Carrim’s comments during last week’s Helen Suzman Foundation roundtable discussion on local government are therefore most welcome.

Mr Carrim hinted at another major overhaul of the system of municipal governance.

The proposed Monitoring, Support and Intervention Bill would highlight the crucial role that central and provincial governments should play in assisting municipalities to be more effective through careful monitoring and control of their finances. The aim of the new legislation would be to overcome the obstacles that prevent some municipalities from delivering basic services, and would give the central government the power to intervene in certain circumstances.

The functioning of a successful municipality is determined by the capacity of its personnel. While amendments to financial and other bureaucratic systems will surely help delivery, without dedicated and skilled public servants even the most transparent and accountable systems will not produce results.

The Local Government Municipal Systems Amendment Act, passed last month but not yet promulgated, is meant to address the personnel issue by ensuring that better-skilled public servants are hired and that the negative effects of political churn are limited. Specifically, it will put restrictions on top posts being held by political appointees. The new law also aims to prevent financial managers who have been found guilty of fraud being re-employed in other towns.

However, measures put in place to improve function have a habit of causing unnecessary red tape that actually hinders delivery. The intended purpose of the Municipal Finances Management Act is to ensure that the processes of procurement and execution in particular are transparent, and to make municipalities accountable for how they spend their budgets.

For any government to address its mandate successfully requires both sound systems and skilled bureaucrats, so it is essential that deficiencies in both areas are addressed simultaneously.

EDITORIAL : THE NIGERIAN TRIBUNE, NIGERIA

RETHINKING THE NYSC

THE killing of some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in the meaningless and criminal violence that allowed the presidential election in

several states in northern Nigeria has provoked calls for the rethinking of the essence of the NYSC scheme.  Corp members became targets of the criminals protesting the outcome of the presidential elections because they were employed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to preside over polling stations nationwide. The corps members performed this function with patriotism, zeal, competence and uprightness. Indeed, before the violence was inflicted, their effectiveness in playing that role was praised by both local and international observers as largely responsible for the success of the National Assembly elections and presidential election. The attack on the members of NYSC served to taint what was otherwise a major auspicious discovery of an important solution to the problem of finding an appropriate, reliable and effective source of ad hoc staff for the conduct of election nationwide.  Before the 2011 elections, INEC, had placed a huge portion of the blame for its failures to conduct free and fair elections on the conduct of the ad hoc staff.  Professor Maurice Iwu, the former chairman of INEC, once commented that many of the ad hoc staff were found to be agents of politicians. The attack on the corp members was therefore wicked, unpatriotic, vicious and unacceptable.

WE appeal to those who have called for the scrapping of the NYSC to thread with caution. The involvement of the NYSC members in  the administration of elections was not an original purpose of the NYSC. The corps members merely responded to the national call to help salvage the country from  its persistent failure to achieve free, fair and credible elections. Apart from the fact that some corps members ended up as object of attack by misguided and criminal individuals, a new role have been clearly added to the original purpose of the NYSC. This important role must not be lost on Nigerians. Indeed, a failure to appreciate this contribution of the NYSC to the political development of the country detracts from the sacrifice of those youth who lost their lives or sustained injuries during the violence that attended the presidential elections in northern Nigeria.

THE NYSC was established after the civil war to inculcate discipline in Nigerian youth, to instill in them a tradition of industry, patriotic and loyal service to the nation. The orientation process was to help develop common ties among Nigerian youths across ethno-linguistic and geographical divides. Exposure to peoples and cultures outside their states of residence is  to help remove prejudice, ignorance and  confirm similarities among Nigerians  of all ethnic groups. The scheme was also expected to promote free movement of labour as corps members were to be encouraged to seek employment in their states of primary assignment.

THE NYSC as a symbolic programme of national integration has faced several obstacles. These include poor management of its resources, poor funding, lack of adequate remuneration and incentives for both NYSC members and staff and the failure of the state governments to invest in the programme. Its labour mobilisation goal has been frustrated by the practices of state governments who reserve positions in their bureaucracies and schools to indigenes only. This has dampened the morale of members and some of them have openly questioned the oneness of the country.

IN recent times, the safety of corps members has become the single most challenging threat to the programme. A number of corps members had lost their lives in the many conflicts that characterised states in northern Nigeria, especially in places like Jos, Bauchi, Kaduna and Kano. The situation has become so bad that parents and prospective corps members have prevailed on the NYSC Directorate not to post them to trouble spots. Currently, it is the practice that corps members deployed to flash points should be redeployed on request.

FROM now on, state governments in trouble spots should commit to adequate provision for the support and security of corps members. The NYSC directorate should not deploy corps members to states where such material support and security guarantees are not made.

THE government should review the welfare and incentive packages to members of the NYSC. It is disheartening that many of the NYSC members often roam the streets in search of places of primary assignment. This points to poor logistic and information  management capacity on the part of the NYSC directorate.  The NYSC directorate did not also demonstrate sufficient capacity to manage the crisis situation in which the corps members’ lives were endangered. This weak capacity of the NYSC directorate must be addressed.

AS a measure of commitment to the scheme, all tiers of government and the private sector organisations that utilise the services of corps members should contribute to sustain the scheme. The NYSC Directorate should ensure regular monitoring and supervision of corps members.  In this century, when communication is faster and easier, there should be no excuse for ineptitude in this regard. It should provide a rapid response programme to aid corps members in sudden distress.  The unfortunate existence of an army of almajiris in northern Nigeria must not be permitted.  The relevant state governments must work in concert with the Federal Government to put an end to this menace.

 

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY OUTLOOK, AFGANISTAN

                

 

Violence in Takhar and Jalalabad

11 people are dead and 85 injured in the violent protests in Takhar province on Wednesday. Hundreds of people came out on roads protesting against the night raid by NATO troops who claimed killing 4 insurgents. Protesters were holding dead bodies of those killed, marching towards the center of the city. There are conflicting accounts of those killed. Local people deny they were insurgents, and ISAF say they were armed and tried to attack the troops during the night raid. Among them were two women. There should be a thorough investigation about those killed, whether they were insurgents, or civilians.

The protest turned violent when people started looting shops and breaking down private property in the city. A group of mob was throwing stones at the German military camp there. Firing was heard, and reportedly some people had thrown hand grenades on German troops, injuring two. This led the ISAF troops to fire, in which 12 people have been killed.

It's the failure of Afghan security forces that were unable to control the situation and stop the mob going to the German military outpost. Who were the armed people firing? And where did the "protesters" get hand grenades from? It's wrong to say all of them were part of the protesting civilians. Afghan security forces, National Police and Army, were deployed later; once the situation got out of control. Police should have already stopped the protesters looting shops and smashing down private property, long before reaching to the military camp.

If the victims of the night raid are innocent civilians, it is condemnable in strongest terms. But this has to be confirmed in an investigation. NATO says those killed were armed and insurgents. However, this doesn't give justification for the protesters to start looting public property, and using violence. The failure of Afghan security forces to control the situation speaks out the most in this tragic incident of Takhar.

In another incident of violence on Wednesday, 13 people were killed in a suicide attack in Jalalabad on a bus of police cadets. It is part of the recent wave of Taliban attacks, which they have named Badar Operation, against Afghan security forces and foreign troops. The fight against insurgents is going to get tougher in summer, as Taliban have declared this year to use their all fighters and full capability. The war for Afghan security forces will not end soon, even if any political deal works with insurgents. Some elements of insurgents will never give up violence, and we must fight them as long as they are defeated.

Senator John Kerry’s visit to South Asia

Senator John Kerry's visit to South Asia comes at the time when the rift in the relation between Pakistan and America is widening and the Pak-Afghan relation is also facing a state of ambiguity and dismay, which is not a piece of news that the proponents of War against Terrorism can really cherish. Rather, they must take it as an alarm that is heralding the worsening situation in the region.

Definitely, there have been evident shortcomings on the part of Pakistan in the co-operation that was required from them, but it must also be kept in consideration that Pakistan cannot be neglected in the way to success in this war. Senator John Kerry can really pressurize Pakistan on their mistake regarding the hideout of Osama, and can further strengthen the relation by asking Pakistani authorities to exert more.

Further, the worsening condition in Afghanistan and Pakistan after the killing of Osama can be a major issue for bringing the three countries together. Isolating Pakistan by blaming them for the hideout of Osama is not going to be fruitful in any way. John Kerry must be looking for some sort of reconciliation. Definitely, proper diplomatic endeavors on the part of John Kerry can really turn the sympathy of those people in the favor of War against Terrorism who hate religious extremism and militancy.

Otherwise, the unilateral operation on the part of America, along with the incident of American Helicopters crossing the Pakistani border and the recent suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan that killed more than 80 paramilitary recruits and undoubtedly drone attacks, all are adding fuel to the fire. Public opinion is really inclining towards anti-American sentiments. Officials in Pakistan Army are also having an awkward look at the situation and the politicians are already angry. Most of them have favored the immediate halt in drone attacks.

It's now time for Americans to support their success of finding out Osama through their diplomatic prudence. The political scenario that has emerged after Osama has turned very fragile. Any sort of haste and carelessness in this regard can prove very fatal. Military operations alone can never win the war for proponents of War against Terrorism.

They have to rely more on diplomacy. Only healthy and trustworthy relation among US, Afghanistan and Pakistan can really put an end to menace of terrorism, Talibanization and militancy that have devoured the lives of so many guiltless people in the world.

Assad’s Last Choices

There is no certainty on next happenings in the Arab changing world. Uprisings have surprisingly smothered many Arab regimes that enjoyed dictatorial rule over the past decades. Before unrests erupted in Syria, the long time President Bashar al-Assad told reporters that the public opinion towards government in his country was different from that in other Arab countries. He declared that his government enjoyed citizens' consent and support.

However, his optimist view didn't last longer. Asad's regime is rocked by angry protests. The country has intensified a crackdown on anti-government protesters with a coordinated attack on several suburbs of the capital, Damascus, and on a city in the southern governorate of Daraa, where the unrest began two months ago. The Interior Ministry denied yesterday's accounts of a mass grave near Daraa city, saying the allegation was part of a "campaign of provocation and baseless falsehoods." Authorities have said they were chasing militants and "terrorist elements" in the area.

In the meantime, the country's rising instability and uncertain future are already reverberating beyond its borders in Iran, Israel, Lebanon and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. A global objection over deadly crackdowns on month-old, anti-regime demonstrations has widened.

The United States, European Union and the United Nations renewed calls on Syria to halt the violence. The United States and the European Union said on Tuesday the international community was planning further sanctions against Syria over its brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests, as the opposition called for a general strike. At the same time, France said the UN Security Council is close to achieving a majority for a resolution to condemn the crackdown.

Very few analysts believe that the regime of Bashar al-Assad will be able to duplicate his father's decisive crackdown that restored order in 1982 after the government massacred 20,000 people in the northern city of Hama. The current protests are too widely dispersed to be snuffed out in one city - such as the southern city of Deraa where Syrian tanks rolled in on Monday - or among one political group.

According to many politicians and analysts in Syria, the government of long time President Assad is enjoying its last moments in power. The opposition, political activists and human rights organizations say, Bashar Al-Asad didn't like but was forced to concede some of the reforms that Syrians were denied from since his Father, Hafiz Assad, came to power following 1963 coup d'état.

And, taking in mind the regional and global outcomes of the democratic movements spreading mainly across the Arab countries, it seems true that protests have, so far, achieved bulk of its objectives. With the expanding international support for pro-democracy protestors, clear indications suggest that either Assad is enjoying his last moments in power or Syria will lean towards further unexpected instability and some possible domestic conflicts. So, he only holds his last choices.

EDITORIAL : THE KHALEEJ TIMES, UAE

A call for reform

It is now close to two months since the first protests broke out in the city of Daraa in Syria.

A rapid unravelling of the situation following the government’s violent crackdown on protesters has invariably placed President Bashar Al Assad facing the biggest challenge to his regime. Grappling to regain control, the government has chosen force to quell the trouble but to no avail.  As a result despite the large number of deaths and arrests, the protests are continuing  with the opposition having put the call out for a countrywide general strike.

The situation does warrant more than the cursory warnings issued to Damascus or the sanctions imposed recently on some of President Al Assad’s close allies in government. This is probably why US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU Special Representative Baroness Catherine Ashton in a recent meeting called on the Syrian government to implement the promised reforms on an immediate basis or face the consequences. What these may be has not been spelled out but it will clearly be more sanctions. Whether the threat of sanctions at this point contain enough bite to soften the government’s position is the question.  The regime is currently fighting an existential threat and is likely to focus attention on putting an end to the unrest. 

Another remedial measure being considered is the UN Resolution condemning Syria.  Expected to be put up for vote in front of the Security Council, the Resolution  —  if it obtains majority vote  —will serve a reminder to Syria of its isolated position.  The rising crescendo of the Syrian government’s atrocities, including conflicting reports of a mass grave in Daraa, have only strengthened the impression of brutality by a repressive regime. Unfortunately, if the government had shown political maturity and not used force at the start of the protests, things might not have deteriorated to this extent.

The government continues to blame the Islamists and foreign elements for supporting the anti-regime movement. Earlier conciliatory moves by Al Assad to lift the decades old emergency among other socio-economic measures aimed at appeasing the people  are now felt to have been misread as a sign of weakness. As a result the authorities decided on a U-turn in policy by sending in tanks and security forces to curb the protests.

Irrespective of what went wrong where, Al Assad should not lose the chance he may still have and formulate a strategy where political dialogue is launched with the estranged factions.  A resort to strong arm tactics is not the way to rule people whose hearts need to be won by fulfilling their just rights and aspirations. 

Another defection from Tripoli

Tripoli’s powerbase is collapsing. The defection of oil minister Shukri Ghanem is the third severe blow to come for the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

The fact that foreign minister Moussa Koussa and now Ghanem thought it appropriate to abandon their country and their mandate under oath in an unprofessional and irrational manner is utterly disappointing. The modus operandi, nonetheless, speaks of the reign of terror that senior officials and public office-holders fear on the Libyan soil for reasons of political differences or dissent. But the fact is that the uprising now well into its third month has badly rented the socio-political fabric of Libya — and has come at the cost of destruction and dispossession of its own people. Irrespective of what agenda or reason the incumbent high-profile defectors may have had in person, it has inevitably furthered the perspective that the men speaking on behalf of Tripoli might not be trustworthy, thus making any policy prescription from the embattled leader to the world at large highly suspicious.

This is, indeed, a moment of truth for Gaddafi. It’s high time he realised the unavoidable fact that power and glory of yesteryears is slipping under his feet. The proud North African Arab country literally stands truncated, and its geopolitical polity is divisive. It has turned out to be a lawless country where the writ of his government is withering, and the nation is living under the shadows of aggression. The prevailing political discord hints at more trouble to come, and Ghanem is not likely to be the last one to jump out of the sinking Al Aziza ship. The rebels who rule the roost in the east of the country, and now even possess diplomatic recognition to a great extent, have further marginalised the role of state and government. The freedom with which Libya’s national treasure —  oil — is being sold in black market by the rebels, and the inability of Tripoli to assert itself is pushing the polity at the brink of disaster.

We have been here. Something serious is in need of being done. The United Nations mandate, to enforce peace and tranquility in the country, has been taken for a ride by the NATO, and a mockery has been made of it. Libya and its inhabitants are in need of a new social contract, wherein the reigning civil commotion is brought to an end, and the dictator is persuaded to step down. A dialogue to initiate the process of nation building cannot be delayed any further.

 

EDITORIAL : THE NEW ZEALAND HERALD, NEW ZEALAND

MMP partner useful in fibre rule backdown

Telecommunications Minister Steven Joyce gives credit to the Maori Party for the Government's backdown on the regulation of its ultra-fast broadband network.

Lucky is the governing party that has partners to right and left. The free rein the Government was going to give its chosen network operator for the first eight years was perhaps the only element of this dubious public investment the Act Party could have supported. But with Act's new leader now putting some distance between the parties, there was not much prospect of that.

The Maori Party has no such qualms about governments "picking winners", though it shared the concerns of many in the industry that the winner of the contract to build and operate the new fibre was to be free of price regulation until the end of 2019. This provision in the Telecommunications Amendment Bill was intended to give the operator time to find the fibre's most efficient price arrangements but, with Telecom likely to win the lion's share of the network, rivals have been alarmed.

Telecom's record under "light-handed regulation" of its existing network before 2006 has left no confidence that it would not use a monopoly position to deter competition and charge what it likes.

Line networks are natural monopolies that cannot be left unregulated. In the absence of a statutory arbitrator, Telecom faced frequent court action from its rivals, which must have wasted fortunes at consumers' expense. Last month the High Court fined Telecom $12 million for anti-competitive wholesale pricing between 2001 and 2004.

This time, if Telecom is awarded the contract, the law will insist it separates its retail business from its network operation, ensuring access for all retail services on the same terms. But rivals TelstraClear, Vodafone and 2degrees, and the Telecommunications Users' Association, have not been satisfied. They have taken their case to the public as well as the minister while the bill has been in a select committee.

The solution agreed between Mr Joyce and the Maori Party will let the Commerce Commission oversee the network from the outset, but taxpayers will underwrite the contractor's costs if the commission concludes at any stage in the first eight years that prices should be below those contracted with the Government's agency Crown Fibre Holdings.

Mr Joyce sounds confident the guarantee will not be called on. "Pretty much everybody has been happy with the very competitive prices announced by Crown Fibre Holdings to date," he said. "If the Commerce Commission believes prices should go lower at any time over the build period, Government wears the risk, not consumers."

The assistance could be provided within the $1.35 billion Government funding of the project by permitting the contractor to defer repayments. The contract would relieve the public of this liability if the behaviour of the fibre operator caused the commission concern.

The arrangement looks to be satisfactory from all points of view, except that of Parliament's select committee, which also has been wrestling with the regulatory "holiday". But select committees are sadly accustomed to being bypassed in the Beehive.

The decision to underwrite the operators' regulatory risk will be written into the bill at a later stage. But before it is passed, Mr Joyce will have to announce who has won the contracts to lay fibre to the remaining 25 of 33 towns and cities to receive ultra-fast broadband.

His real worry has been not that an operator will be in a position to exploit keen demand, but quite the opposite: that not enough of those connected at public expense will make sufficient use of the network. No regulation can make it economic in the end.

EDITORIAL : THE DAILY NATIONAL POST, CANADA

       

 

The next IMF head should be Asian

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK), now in a New York jail on suicide watch, is "obviously not in a position" to any longer run the International Monetary Fund (IMF). But fund policies won't change after DSK departs. They reflect years of tradition reinforced by the belief that the fund is grounded in "solid economic theory."

So, except for DSK himself, his shenanigans are unimportant -with one proviso. The question of who will be -more to the point, what will be the nationality of -the next IMF chief is now in play. And it matters, at least symbolically. Ever since the IMF was founded after the Second World War, it has been controlled by Americans and Europeans. But the next chief could be from China. To understand why, you must know what the fund is and how it works.

When it opened its doors in the mid1940s, the fund was a financial lending and borrowing machine designed to control and stabilize international exchange rates: That is, it hoped to fix the price of major world currencies in terms of U.S. dollars. At the time, international money flows, not yet recovered from WWII, were small in comparison with the endowment given and lent to the infant IMF by the victorious United States, then flush with cash. But its relative power over money markets didn't last. Today, the market price of, for example, a euro in terms of dollars is determined by an aggregate US$3trillion daily flow of many currencies, moving about the world to buy and sell products, commodities, and services as well to make investments, lend money, fight wars and provide aid. In contrast, the fund's total cash position represents only a few hours' trading in the foreign exchange market. But as with other political organizations, although the IMF can no longer accomplish its initial task, it remains in existence. The billions of dollars it controls give it staying power.

To stay in business, the IMF reorganized itself into an international bailout fund (IBF in my parlance). Its representatives and analysts visit countries that have borrowed too much, taxed too much, spent too much, saved too little and invested unwisely. They scold the economic managers of such nations; tell them to repent their improvident, immoderate and imprudent financial practices. After the scolding, the IMF gives those economically challenged nations lots of new money, in the sometimes naïve belief that better policies will be adopted going forward. (It's a fine irony that the behaviour of its current boss is so imprudent and immoderate.) This role of financial scold and bailout artist is far too well-entrenched at the Fund for any new boss to change it.

So why worry about whom the top person might be? Because the top person should logically come from the part of our new world that is financially most important, i.e., most solvent. The IMF has no real money of its own. It lives on, works with, and lends out taxpayer money obtained from solvent, economically stable nations. These days the U.S. federal government borrows 40¢ out of every dollar it so recklessly spends. That means it borrows 40¢ of every dollar it hands over to the IMF. The net lenders to the United States -the true lenders to the IMF, indeed the net lenders to the entire rest of the world -are the fast-growing exporting nations, mostly in Asia, especially China, who sell their products to the developed world in exchange for IOUs -debt.

At the time of the IMF's founding, the United States gained economic influence over the rest of the world by selling and investing abroad, lending money and material to nations in need of post-war reconstruction and rehabilitation. Back then, the rest of the world was unable to look after itself. Today Asia has sold, saved, invested, schooled, studied and bootstrapped itself into prosperity, while the rest of the world, enraptured by the seductive borrow-and-spend logic of the welfare state, took a break from hard work and sacrifice.

The most highly qualified European/ American candidate to be IMF chief is one-time MIT economics professor, now governor of the Central Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer. He was vicepresident and chief economist at the World Bank, first deputy managing director of the IMF and president of Citigroup International. He is a personally conservative guy who does not, while naked, chase hotel maids.

He is a hard-money man less likely than was socialist DSK to bail out nations that follow the borrow-and-spend strategy. Nonetheless, Prof. Fischer could run second behind a less-experienced Asian, or worse, behind an easymoney European with a better political network.

No matter. IMF institutional practice will remain fiscally "sound" no matter who occupies the best office in the building. But at the IMF, as in any well-run bank, the folks who ultimately provide the cash have the power -or at least should have the power -to run the place.

There's a lesson here for Strauss-Kahn and indebted nations both: Prudence and moderation, in money and in life, is wise policy.

Our army needs soldiers and guns-not more bureaucrats

Peter MacKay remaining in the National Defence portfolio wasn't a surprise. MacKay is a high profile minister, and the Tories like to tell anyone who'll listen that they Support The Troops. Sticking one of the big guns of the party in that cabinet post is one way of showing that commitment. Besides, MacKay has done a decent job of it, and by all accounts likes the role and enjoys working with the men and women of the Canadian Forces.

But what was a bit unexpected was the appointment of Julian Fantino, former chief of the Toronto Police Service and the Ontario Provincial Police, to be Associate Minister of National Defence, essentially MacKay's deputy.

Fantino was only elected last fall -hardly an experienced parliamentarian. There have been association ministers of defence before, but the position has often been left vacant. Fantino is the first to fill it under Prime Minister Harper.

There are political reasons to give Fantino something with a big profile: He's a well-known Toronto-area MP. And Defence isn't the worst place to put his years of work in public security to use, either. But those political reasons aside, it must be asked why Defence needed an extra minister. If anything, it needs more soldiers and equipment.

Earlier this year, it was announced that National Defence had purchased a large complex of modern office buildings in the Ottawa area. This was good news, as the existing National Defence headquarters was old and overcrowded. But when the announcement of the purchase was made, it was noted that the size of the civilian staff at Defence had grown by 31% between 2006 and 2009. Indeed, the civilian staff at Defence had grown so large, so rapidly, that it was actually exceeding its authorized strength. Defence is allotted 25,000 civilians to run the ministry. Somehow, that had ballooned to 28,500. No wonder they were out of room.

This didn't look particularly good on the Harper Tories, who have been rightly criticized for abandoning their small-government agenda. But what made them look even worse was the fact that even while the size of Defence's bureaucracy surged by 31%, the size of the Armed Forces -so publicly loved by the Tories -was able to increase only by 5% over the same period.

The military has received extra funding and equipment, starting under prime minister Paul Martin and continuing under Stephen Harper. But the Canadian Forces still have urgent equipment shortfalls, and are simply not large enough to do all the jobs expected of them.

Consider the last few weeks. Almost 3,000 Canadian military personnel are fighting in Afghanistan. Hundreds of others have joined the NATO campaign against Libya (indeed, a Canadian general is commanding the entire international ef-fort). Meanwhile, at home, we've had three major natural disasters strike all at once: major flooding in Manitoba and Quebec, and a devastating wildfire in Alberta that has nearly destroyed the town of Slave Lake, turning thousands of Canadian citizens into displaced persons. And, of course, at all times, the military must also have the reserve strength necessary to handle additional crises.

Canada's air force needs new fighter jets, and more than just the 65 F-35s the government has said it intends to purchase (a smaller number of F-35s, and a large order of less-advanced but still modern jets, would strike the right balance between size and sophistication). The air force also urgently requires more helicopters, both to carry supplies at home and abroad, and to (if necessary) transport troops into battle. The navy is rapidly rusting out, with virtually every type of ship in the fleet needing either upgrades or outright replacement. The army has benefit-ted the most from the Afghan-era urgent purchases, but still should be expanded, to reflect its duties both at home and abroad. And this is far from a complete list.

None of these steps are likely, unfortunately. The Tories will have other priorities in the years ahead. They must slay the deficit and protect the economy, while still spending enough to please their core constituencies. And as the combat mission in Afghanistan comes to an end, it's likely that the armed forces will fade into the background. As former chief of the defence staff Rick Hillier has mused, the Canadian military has no natural constituency, and can be easily shunted aside and ignored when not actively needed. This is especially true in times of fiscal restraint.

The Forces will no doubt get some extra equipment and additional personnel, but not as much as they need and deserve. They'll just have to content themselves with a new home for their bureaucrats and Julian Fantino.

Lose the election, head to the Senate

Question: How do you get a Senate appointment from Stephen Harper?

Answer: Lose your election. The lucky loser/winners this time around are former MP Josée Verner, and candidates Larry Smith and Fabian Manning. Ms. Verner lost her seat in the May 2 vote, while the other two return to the Red Chamber after an unsuccessful sabbatical on the campaign trail.

Given the choice between having to run again for a seat in the House of Commons in four years, or riding a gravy train till age 75 in the Upper House, we're surprised more Tories didn't throw their ridings on purpose.

And yet this is the same government that wants to bring in Senate reform. What message does Stephen Harper think he's sending by appointing defeated candidates? Hi, the voters didn't want you, so I'll stick them with you anyway at $132,000 a year.

The timing of these announcements is clever: Evidently, the PMO figured that the appointments would be overshadowed by the cabinet appointments made on the same day.

The only silver lining is that Mr. Harper didn't appoint these folks, à la Michael Fortier, to Cabinet itself. Of course, there's always the next shuffle. Tasha Kheiriddin

EDITORIAL : THE KOREA HERALD, SOUTH KOREA

SMEs as partners

In recent consultations with small and medium-sized businesses, President Lee Myung-bak said the chaebol owner-centered style of management needs to be changed. He stopped short of specifying details of how to do so, but said they should alter their management style to favor co-prosperity with SMEs.

But it takes no genius to guess what message Lee wanted to get across to the business tycoons controlling Samsung, LG, SK and other business conglomerates, given his previous remarks and his administration’s recent policy statements. He was saying that top managers, who are at the owners’ beck and call, are seeking to maximize profits at the expense of SMEs.

His message was made clearer, given his administration’s policy of pushing business conglomerates to share their “excess profits” with their suppliers ― a policy that smacks of socialist economics. Big businesses, though irked by this policy, cannot complain in public for fear of retribution.

This is not to say Lee should abandon his lofty ideal of promoting SMEs as business conglomerates’ legitimate partners for co-prosperity. They should be encouraged to lay the foundation of growth now as suppliers to chaebol and join their ranks. As he said, the national economy would be exposed to a great risk if it were to depend on a handful of business conglomerates.

If his administration finds it necessary to rein in what it regards as chaebol’s runaway business practices, it will do well to do so within the realm of fair trade. It is of no use to complain that chaebol refuse to toe the line when they have gained so much from its business-friendly policy. It simply did what it was required to do when it launched the policy.

All the administration needs to do is enforce the statutory rules of fair trade strictly and, if necessary, strengthen them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDITORIAL : RFI english, FRANCE

 

 

French press review

 

 

Different interpretations from left and right of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's legal troubles. What will they mean for the world economy? How is Tunisia doing, four months after Ben Ali? Are French civil servants a bunch of lazy slackers? And what do Rachmnaninov and the Beastie Boys have in common?

If you've ever wondered why we bother mentioning the political leanings of the French dailies . . .  "centrist Le Monde, left-leaning Libération, right-wing Le Figaro, and so on" . . . you just have to look at how Le Monde and Le Figaro cover the same story this morning.

Le Figaro's main headline reads, "Socialist Party devastated by Strauss-Kahn scandal."

Le Monde's more sober version reads, "Socialist Party prepares for life after Strauss-Kahn."

There are two elements to the question, since the disgraced Socialist politician was not only a potential French presidential candidate, he is also director general of the International Monetary Fund, neither task particularly easy for a man who is stuck in a prison cell on New York's Rikers Island, awaiting trial on charges of sexual misconduct.

Some Socialists are probably delighted that Strauss-Kahn is off the political horizon.

Dossier: Eurozone in crisis

He was far too popular, too arrogant, too distant from the everyday concerns of the rank-and-file. And he was getting in the way of other, more local, ambitions.
Some financial commentators are also happy to see the man go, since many at the IMF felt that DSK was too conciliatory in his attitude to struggling Eurozone economies like Greece and Ireland.
An Asian, African or American director of the international money machine might take a less gentle view of Europe's troubles.
Le Monde's economy pages look at the various recipies being proposed for saving Europe.
Everybody agrees that the Greeks need to be told to make more of an effort to sort out their own troubles. But that's as far as the consensus goes.
Some eurozone members are ready to talk about "restructuring" the Greek debt - in other words, giving Athens more time to pay back the billions it got last year from the European Central Bank.
The alternative plan involves loaning the Greeks more money, with which they would then pay the interest on the old borrowings, perhaps needing a third loan with which to pay the interest on the latest debt, and so on, ad infinitum.
The Irish are another problem. They got 85 billion sponduliks from Europe last November when the Celtic Tiger went belly-up.
Dublin is having a spot of bother meeting the repayments and would like to see a Greek-style restructuring.
But Brussels wants the Irish to increase their corporation tax above the currently very attractive level of 12.5 per cent, a level which encourages multinationals to establish their European headquarters in Dublin, and then channel their global income through the Irish capital.
All of which is good for Ireland, but makes some of the neighbours understandably hot under the collar. The new Irish Prime Minister says the tax level is not negotiable and has told Brussels to bog off.

Both Catholic La Croix and leftist Libération try to move the Strauss-Kahn story forward, since no real news is likely to emerge between now and the next New York court hearing, scheduled for Friday.
La Croix says the case calls for a complete reexamination of the ethics of the political class, whatever that might mean.
Libération, even more laughably, calls for a collective examination of conscience by French journalists, accused by the US press of maintaining a veil of secrecy over Strauss-Kahn's many alleged indiscretions, and thus making last weekend's débâcle almost inevitable.

Dossier: Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution

Communist L'Humanité looks to Tunisia, four months after the fall of Ben Ali. Against growing pressure from many of those who held the reins of power under the old regime, ordinary Tunisians are determined not to lose control of "their" revolution.
Business daily Les Echos looks at French civil servants, who are, on average, absent from work 23 days every year.
And so to Le Figaro's story on dangerous music. Scientists in England have established that drivers who listen to, say, the Rachmaninov Prelude in C sharp minor or Sabotage by The Beastie Boys, are more stressed, have higher blood pressure and drive more aggressively.
By contrast, listening to Coldplay's Yello or Vivaldi's Four Seasons reduces tension at the wheel, and encourages safer driving.
What listening to the RFI Press Review while driving could do to you is anybody's guess. Be careful.

EDITORIAL : THE JAKARTA POST, INDONESIA

Geological prospects not enough

Most oil executives and hydrocarbon analysts agree Indonesia still has basins with large reserves and its geological prospect is quite attractive with the success ratio of oil prospecting among the highest in the world.
But that seems far from sufficient to woo new investors, as the steady fall in the country’s oil and gas production and its decline from a major exporter into a net oil importer have proven. The upstream oil and gas regulatory body (BP Migas) itself acknowledged last week the average daily oil output during the first quarter was less than 900,000 barrels, far below the target of 970,000 bbl.
Last year, Indonesia also failed to achieve its output target of 965,00 bbl, lifting only 954,000 bbl.
Another piece of discouraging news, as purveyed by BP Migas executive Iwan Ratman, is that the implementation of 10 percent of exploration and production development projects this year fell behind schedule due to overlapping concession areas, arduous licensing procedures within regional administrations and land acquisition problems.
Even state oil company Pertamina suffered many delays in exploration works: It planned to drill 147 new wells this year but managed to complete only 25 wells in the first quarter. Worse still many producing fields suffered from unscheduled shutdowns, power-supply disruptions and damages to pipelines.
The three-day 35th annual oil and gas industry convention and exhibition of the Indonesian Petroleum Association which opened on Wednesday should be a great opportunity for the government and oil executives to thrash out the most pressing problems that stand between investors and the geological prospect.
The theme of the convention “Indonesia energy, growth, security and sustainability” fits well with the current situation Indonesia is facing within the hydrocarbon industry.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pledged at the opening of the 33rd IPA convention in 2009 to resolve regulatory, bureaucratic problems and lack of legal uncertainty that had affected the petroleum industry.
But there remained big concerns about uncertainty over cost-recovery regulations, corruption, interference by government agencies, the sanctity of contracts and the general regulatory structure of the upstream and downstream oil and gas industry. Legal and regulatory uncertainty and inefficient bureaucracy are especially inimical to investors in the upstream segment of the industry as this business involves high risks and requires big capital.
The hydrocarbon industry requires an even better investment climate now because most of the undiscovered, prospective basins are located in frontier, eastern areas.
The eastern regions have potentially big reserves that are not proven yet, but their prospecting requires sophisticated technology and huge investment, estimated at 10 times as large as those in Java and Sumatra, thereby involving bigger risks. Only by increasing proven oil and gas reserves will Indonesia be able to make its production sustainable and sufficient to meet its steadily rising consumption along with the constant expansion of its economy.
But the only way to enlarge its proven hydrocarbon reserves is to increase investment in exploration.

The missing link

The euphoria of nearly 1.5 million senior high school students who passed the recent national exam is over. Now they face a more daunting challenge: winning university seats or perhaps finding a job.
As happened in 2010 and in previous years, universities, particularly state universities, will only be able to admit a limited number of new students. Competition has grown fiercer over the years as those who failed the university admission test try their luck again and again at the exam.
State universities across the country allocated more than 46,700 seats — one-fifth of the total — for the highest-ranked new high school graduates.. With 43,400 seats on offer to students whose parents are financially able to fully cover their children’s studies, state universities will only have 18,400 seats up for grabs in the national university admission tests that will be held from May 31-June 1.
Unless new senior high school graduates secure tickets to private universities or find or create their own jobs, they will inflate the number of unemployed, which reached 8.12 million in February, according to the Central Statistics Agency.
The gap between the numbers of graduates, university seats and jobs will be seen next year and beyond, despite the government’s pledge to slash unemployment to 5 percent
by the end of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s term in 2014.
Many have cited public misconceptions and a flawed education policy as the missing link between schools and the job market — contrary to the once popular link-and-match campaign initiated by the National Education Ministry over a decade ago. That poisonous chemistry explains why vocational schools and polytechnics are less popular or perhaps overlooked despite the nation’s abundant need for skilled employees.
Since primary school Indonesian students have been taught to play it safe: Follow what the teacher says. The classroom has been reduced to a place for students to absorb instructions rather than to think out of the box. Entrepreneurship is absent from the national education system, preventing students from innovating or thinking creatively.
Transforming the education system into something that spreads the virus of entrepreneurship is a challenge that the government has been reluctant to accept.

EDITORIAL : THE AZZAMAN, IRAQ

Southern Iraqi province expecting bumper harvest this year

Granaries and silos in the southern Province of Wasit are brimming with wheat and barley and new storage facilities are necessary, Governor Mahdi al-Zubaidi said.

Zubaidi urged the government to build new silos in his province, saying agricultural conditions had improved and better and more plentiful yields were expected.

“Our silos are full and we have not yet received all the harvest,” he said.

Wasit, of which the city of Kut is the provincial capital, is traditionally an agricultural province, but yields had receded in the past few years.

Last year, the province harvested 360,000 tons of both crops, but this year, according to Zubaidi, yields may exceed 500,000 tons.

The volume is a record for the province billed previously as Iraq’s breadbasket in the south.

“The yields are not only more plentiful but also of a much better quality,” the governor said.

He said more than 300 mechanical harvesters were involved in this year’s harvest campaign in the province.

There are no figures on yields of both crops in other southern Iraqi provinces. Harvest of wheat and barley starts early in southern Iraq.

But most of Iraq’s cereal output comes from the north, and specifically the Province of Nineveh of which the city of Mosul is the capital.

Harvest starts in Nineveh in late June.

Unlike southern Iraq, Nineveh’s plains rely mainly on rain water.

Agricultural officials say rainfall has been sufficient for both crops to grow properly.

EDITORIAL : THE NEW STRAITS TIMES, MALAYSIA

Clean up football

THE information to be shared by the head of security for the Federation of International Football Association (Fifa), the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Royal Malaysian Police may turn out to be limited to two Malaysians involved in an Asian syndicate and the two friendly matches between Malaysia and "Zimbabwe". Though the Fifa probe may not involve matches in the domestic leagues and is directed at local operations fixing matches overseas, one still expects the local football authorities to do everything that is possible to tackle the scourge of match-fixing. As the state of the game has barely recovered from the far-reaching match-fixing scandal of 1994-95, when more than 100 players were banned for life, it's absolutely vital to make sure that nothing like that would ever happen again. To be sure, the FAM and the police cannot act based on mere hearsay.

But the fact that the mere whiff of suspicion that a match has been thrown is enough to eat away at the credibility of the game should be sufficient reason for a prompt response. As this is a sport that is rife with whispers of match-fixing of late, a tight-lipped and tardy response will not do. This is why, as much as it's difficult to prove, once there is a rumour on the ground, it behoves the FAM to open an inquiry and take the appropriate action to keep football clean.

This is the line of action that the world football governing body seems to have taken. Claims that more than 300 matches in Asia, Africa and Europe have been fixed are, of course, currently the subject of investigations. About 70 arrests have been made in Turkey and another 26 in Croatia in connection with the case in a court in Bochum, Germany, against six men accused of manipulating matches in Europe. In addition, Fifa will give some RM86 million to Interpol to fund a 10-year anti-corruption prevention programme for players, referees and official at the international police agency's centre in Singapore.

However, there is little doubt that the successes against match-fixing have been overshadowed, and Fifa's reputation sullied, by the questions raised over the World Cup bidding process and allegations that favours have been asked by its senior officials in return for votes. Fifa must put its own house in order to protect the integrity of the game. Otherwise, the beautiful game is in danger of disappearing into a "black hole", whether or not the incumbent Fifa president wins a fourth term on June 1.

                                                                              Dated-18/05/2011