RI invites US to invest

in shale gas development

Amahl S. Azwar, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Sat, September 28 2013, 11:36 AM

Indonesia, a former member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries

(OPEC), plans to encourage the US government to embark upon shale gas exploration in
Southeast Asias largest economy.
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik said on Friday that the country
expected the US to transfer technology to develop shale gas following its own natural gas
boom.
Shale is becoming an important source of natural gas, particularly in the US, where stories
on the shale gas boom dominated news headlines last year. The US shale gas boom is
expected to make the country one of the worlds largest gas exporters by 2018, although it
currently restricts shale gas exports to meet domestic demand.
The US government has successfully developed shale gas. Indonesia also possesses
potential reserves of shale gas; thus, we are asking them to launch shale gas exploration in
our country, Jero said in a statement.
Jero announced the plan on the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministers of Energy Meeting
(AMEM) in Nusa Dua, Bali, for which one of the agenda items is a bilateral meeting
between Indonesia and the US delegation.
In his last visit to Indonesia earlier this year, US President Barack Obama discussed a plan
to transfer shale gas development technology with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
according to Jero.
Obama is slated to visit Indonesia again this year, attending the APEC Economic Leaders
meeting in Bali in October.
Last year, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry announced that Indonesia had
estimated shale gas resources of 574 trillion cubic feet (tcf) throughout Sumatra,
Kalimantan, Papua and Java.
Shale gas resources in the country, according to the ministrys data, surpassed the potential

resources of coal bed methane (CBM) of around 453.3 tcf and conventional natural gas of
around 153 tcf.
Sumatra supposedly has the largest shale gas reserves of around 233 tcf, particularly in the
islands central region, where approximately 86.9 tcf of shale gas resources may be found,
according to the ministrys geological bureau.
Kalimantan had an estimated 194 tcf of shale gas reserves, the ministry said, followed by
Papua (90 tcf) and Java (48 tcf), while the remaining 9 tcf was spread across other parts of
the archipelago.
In May this year, state-owned oil and gas corporation PT Pertamina was awarded the
countrys first shale gas project the Sumbagut block in North Sumatra.
The company has committed to spend US$7.8 billion to explore the Sumbagut block, aiming
to produce around 40 million meters standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd), rising to 100
mmscfd by 2020.
The ministry plans to offer two other shale gas blocks the Kisaran block in North Sumatra
and the West Tanjung block in South Kalimantan to oil and gas companies by the end of
this year.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environments (Walhi) mining and energy campaigner, Pius
Ginting, has expressed his concern over the governments plan to launch shale gas
explorations, citing that investing in shale gas will hamper the development of renewable
energy.
Such a move will force Indonesia to remain dependent on fossil-based fuel. Pertamina
should be leading renewable energy development instead, he said.

Jakarta takes measures

to stamp out termite problem
Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Sat, September 21 2013, 11:48 AM

The Jakarta administration officially waged war on termites with the issuance of
Gubernatorial Decree No 35/2013 on the guidelines for the control of termites.
The regulation, planned under former governor Sutiyoso in 2006, was signed by Governor
Joko Jokowi Widodo in May this year. It was issued to enforce Law No. 28/2002 on
building constructions and to address the structural damage caused by termites to buildings
cause in the city.
With the issuance of the gubernatorial decree, city agencies can propose a budget to
handle termites. Previously, termite control was not mandatory, Housing Agency head
Yonathan Pasodung told The Jakarta Post over the phone recently.
Yonathan said he had not updated the list of city buildings besieged by termites because of
the number of buildings in the city. He said that 7,000 buildings were attacked by the insects
in 2006.
Many state schools have been attacked by termites and as a result have crumpling
rooftops. Community health centers [puskesmas] and sub district offices built in 1980s and
1990s with unprepared wood are also prone to termites, he said, adding that buildings built
from stainless steel and aluminum would not suffer.
Yonathan said that some areas in Jakarta were once swamps or plantations, which was why
many buildings in Jakarta were threatened by termites, as such soil from outside the capital
city was used to level construction sites and had worsened the invasion of termites.
During the dissemination of the gubernatorial decree, acting city secretary Wiriyatmoko said
many buildings were indeed damaged by termites and the city needed to draft a bylaw to
continue efforts to preserve the citys buildings.
According to the gubernatorial decree, city buildings used for offices, schools, health
centers and housing as well as those used for religious, social, cultural and sports activities
must be protected from termites.
Agencies planning new buildings should include a plan to manage the danger of termites in

their building construction permit (IMB) and undertake pre-construction termite control.
Meanwhile, existing buildings should also undertake termite control.
The decree also stipulates that companies appointed to termite control should fulfill
administration requirements, including experts in entomology the scientific study of
insects certified by the citys Health Agency as well as an operational permit from the
agency.
The Jakarta Playhouse (GKJ) fell afoul of the munching critters. GKJ public relations officer
Putu Dewi Delim said a door frame on the waiting room of the heritage building bore the
scars of termites in 2011.
The upper one meter of the door, made in 1984, was attacked. We believe the wood quality
was poor, she told the Post, adding that the building later called in a termite exterminator in
2012.
Eko Mardiono, former manager of the pest control division at state survey company PT
Sucofindo, said fumigation should be undertaken regularly because the pesticides were
only effective for five years for pre-construction and three years for post-construction.
New pesticides have shorter protection time because they must be environmentally
friendly. It would be good if the city has some sort of mechanism to ensure pest control
companies are trustworthy, he said.
A certain type of termites could attack files in high buildings. A few years ago, Eko said,
termites on the third floor of a bank in South Jakarta chowed down on the offices paper
documents.

Japanese students take

part in rural development
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Wed, September 25 2013, 12:07 PM

Three Japanese architecture students, in cooperation with their counterparts from the
University of Indonesia (UI) and local residents, are constructing a fireproof building to be
used as a childrens library and learning center in the densely populated Kampung Ampiun
in Cikini, Central Jakarta.
We are erecting a building that can be used as a construction model for houses in this
area, and we are also trying to help improve the education of local children, Kazuki Ueda,
24, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He said he was accompanied by two masters degree colleagues, Genta Sawae and Yuki
Yoshikata, from Chiba University in helping to construct the library under the After Fire
Project, an initiative jointly sponsored by Chiba University, UI and Japans Research
Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN), with the aim of designing and building a fireproof
structure in a densely populated and fire-prone area.
The Japanese students, who have been staying in the kampung since last December,
began to construct the library in May with funds provided by UI and the RIHN.
Ueda said he estimated the librarys construction would cost Rp 50 million (US$4,367),
which included the fees for three local carpenters.
On top of the funds needed to cover the construction costs, Ueda said, he and his
colleagues also received some funding from the RIHN for their daily needs, including board
and lodging.
We expect to finish the construction in October, Ueda said, adding that he and his fellow
students had researched the local environment and community before building work got
under way.
In designing the building, Ueda and his colleagues considered feedback from the local
residents.
Before building began, we discussed the design many times with the locals, he said. They
are a solid community and I believe they can work together in constructing such fireproof

buildings.
The two-story library, which will be called Rumah Pintar (Smart House), measures 4 meters
by 4 meters in area and 8 meters in height. Its walls are made from fireproof bricks and one
side of its roof is made of glass carbonate to allow sunlight in.
Ueda said the first floor would be used as a reading room containing 600 books, most of
them for children, while the second floor would function as a multipurpose room that could
be used for teaching or meetings.
Some local residents and UI students said they would come teach the children here, Ueda
said.
Besides constructing the library, the three Japanese students are also assisting some UI
architecture students to construct public bathrooms near the library.
Rudin, one of the three local carpenters helping on the project, said the library was being
established on the site of a house that had been razed by fire in 1987.
The person who lived in that house left and never returned, he said.
According to community leader Khalik DM, the 120 families that reside in Kampung Ampiun
support the construction of the library and hope that it will help improve education for local
children.
Toha Rahmad, 68, the owner of a boarding house where Ueda and his friends are staying,
said that he saw the library as a strong and unique building infused with a Japanese touch.
(ian)