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Page 1 of 3  Indonesia rang in the year 2007 with “mixed feelings”, as aptly described by President Yudhoyono when opening the first day of trading of the Jakarta Stock Exchange on 2 January. Although the public was initially buoyed by the peaceful end of the year celebrations throughout the country, and prospects of a better new year economically, yet the many human tragedies that occurred, caused by the changing climate and the onset of the rainy season have quickly dampened this joyful mood.
First there was the good news: Peace reigned over the country through to the end of the year, as people of various religions observed appropriate ceremonies and rites and expressed happiness at the close of the year 2006, welcoming 2007. On Christmas Eve and on Christmas day, Protestant and Catholic churches were packed. These churches were guarded not only by Police but also by members of church congregations, and assisted by Muslim youth guards to prevent unwanted incidents. On 31 December, which this year fell together with the Moslem Eid-ul Adha, police were again deployed at full alert at churches and mosques. After the Eid prayers towards the evening, Indonesians of all religious backgrounds mingled to jointly welcome the new year with music and fireworks. There was again the feeling of togetherness regardless of religious backgrounds.
The second positive news was that Indonesia’s macro-economy had kept improving at a steady pace. The Jakarta Stock Exchange index recorded its highest position ever at 1,836; the Rupiah managed to strengthen, even surpassing the psychological mark of Rp. 9,000 to the US dollar but today stands at Rp. 9,020 to the US dollar, while Bank Indonesia again lowered its benchmark interest rate with 25 points to 9.5 percent. Whilst, inflation had been pressed down to 6.6% in 2006, down from 17.1% the year before in 2005. Finance Minister Mulyani, however, conceded that Indonesia’s economic target of 6.5% growth for the year had not been achieved, since growth had reached 5.5% only. Despite all this, 2007 looks optimistic.
Extreme Bad Weather Sinks Ferry, and Adam Air B 737-400 Disappears Mysteriously
On the other hand, there was the bad news: extreme and rapidly changing weather conditions had caused many disasters. As the weather moved from a long dry season to a belated rainy season, this sudden weather transition caused havoc and destruction, ranging from cyclones to flash floods and massive erosions on land. Large tracts of Central Aceh, Riau and Bengkulu in Sumatra, and parts of Kalimantan were inundated, forcing thousands to evacuate and a number of people were reportedly drowned or missing.
On 31 December high waves tilted and sunk the ferry Senopati Nusantara near the Central Java town of Rembang. The ship was sailing between Kalimantan and Central Java carrying over 600 passengers and heavy cargo on board. Nine days of scouring the seas, search and rescue teams managed to retrieve 245 passengers from the sea, although 11 were reported dead. Meanwhile, the remaining 400 passengers are expected to have been trapped and had drowned within the wreckage of the sunken ferry. Strong winds, unusually high two meter waves and continued bad weather in the past weeks have made diving for survivals impossible. Those lucky passengers who had managed to keep afloat for days on the Java sea were finally salvaged, having drifted far eastwards, from across the town of Rembang all the way to the eastern-most tip of Madura island facing the town of Sumenep, and even further away towards north Bali.
Then, on the very first day of 2007, a Boeing 737-400 with 96 passengers and 6 crew disappeared from the radar screen at Makassar, South Sulawesi. The plane, operated by Indonesia’s LCC Adam Air, was on a routine direct flight from Surabaya in East Java to Manado in North Sulawesi – some 2 hours 40 minutes flying time –, and had mysteriously disappeared from the radar screen at Makassar airport at around 14.00 hrs. local time. The pilot had last reported experiencing strong, 80 mph cross winds, at an altitude of 35,000 ft. above sea-level, and had flown some one hour from Surabaya. Its position was then estimated to be near the West Sulawesi town of Polewali.
However, after seven days of intensive scouring on land and at sea as well as through reconnaissance aircraft sorties around the area where the plane was last detected on radar, not one single trace had been found of the missing plane nor its passengers. A full nine days into its disappearance, the ill-fated plane with 102 persons on board is still mysteriously missing.
On 2 January, boosted by reports given by the villagers that they had seen a plane going down behind the mountains, and that 12 persons were reportedly alive, entire rescue teams were immediately deployed to scour the high, sometimes inaccessible mountain terrain, to reach the identified location. However, by nightfall that day, the teams had to report that they found nil at the indicated location. They seemed to have followed a wild goose chase, having lost some precious 24 hours in the search.
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