Word: indonesia
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With less less than a week to go before national elections, snarled logistics and accurate voter rolls could spell disaster for the more remote regions of Indonesia. But Aceh, a province of four million people on the northern tip of Sumatra, is facing security challenges as well. After a string of attacks by unidentified gunmen over the past three months, the central government is planning to send an additional 1,000 soldiers and 260 national police to join an estimated 9,000 local police officers to help stabilize the restive province. At least 16 people have been killed in shootings...
...Like the rest of Indonesia, Aceh is grappling with near double-digit unemployment, a figure that could quickly rise following the departure this month of the Aceh Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, the public body tasked with administering billions of dollars of international aid and donations to rebuild the province after the tsunami. Tremendous progress has been made in rebuilding homes and public facilities, but some fear those gains could be lost and the peace process jeopardized if elections are not viewed as free and fair. Free and fair elections are a national concern, but some fear the Acehnese will...
...elected governor in provincial elections in 2006. Government officials share his optimism, calling the recent series of grenade attacks "the exception, not the rule," and assert that safety precautions have been taken. "On April 9 you will see the elections carried out freely and fairly like everywhere else in Indonesia," states a confident presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, who recently made a visit to the province with the President. "Those against the process of peace will be seen as going against all the Acehnese people...
...train derailment or boats capsizing - both of which occur with alarming frequency. More than 200 are believed to have died in January when an overloaded ferry capsized in bad weather off the coast of Sulawesi. While natural catastrophes like flooding and landslides take a human toll every year in Indonesia, many say manmade disasters like the March 27 dam collapse can be prevented. "The country is taking the right steps but the speed will depend on changes in the regulatory framework," predicts Adnan Tan, head of sales and trading at CLSA Indonesia. "It is sometimes hard to get things through...
...Infrastructure problems are even worse in eastern Indonesia, the least developed part of the country. The governor of Gorontalo, on the eastern island of Sulawesi, says most foreign investment is going to agriculture and fisheries - not power plants and ports - because poor infrastructure made it difficult for the province to attract funding in those areas. "We have to give [foreign investors] more priority when they invest outside Java because the infrastructure is not ready," he recently told a group of foreign journalists...