Sunday, October 19, 2008

Rp96 Miliar Dugaan Korupsi Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit

Senin, 20 Oktober 2008 00:03 WIB

KEJAKSAAN Tinggi (Kejati) Jambi memburu tersangka baru kasus dugaan korupsi kredit komersial yang dikucurkan ke manajemen PT Tunjuk Langit Sejahtera (TLS) senilai Rp96 miliar untuk membangun perkebunan seluas 9.800 hektare.
"Setelah menetapkan dua tersangka yakni mantan Direktur PT (TLS) Robert Maruli dan Ketua Koperasi Unit Desa (KUD) Sadar M Effendi, kejaksaan terus memburu tersangka lain," kata jaksa penyidik Kejati Jambi, M Soleh, kemarin. Menurutnya, Kejati Jambi telah berkoordinasi dengan BPKP untuk mengaudit kerugian negara atas kasus korupsi kredit komersial itu.
Hitungan sementara versi kejaksaan, kerugian negara mencapai Rp96 miliar untuk pengembangan perkebunan kelapa sawit pada 2005. Dana kredit itu diajukan PT TLS ke Bank Mandiri untuk pembangunan kebun plasma. Namun, dalam pelaksanaannya kredit tersebut tidak pernah sampai ke petani yang bernaung di bawah KUD Sadar. Padahal ratusan kelompok petani kelapa sawit di Desa Jebak, Kecamatan Muara Tembesi, Batanghari, bernaung di bawahnya.
Kemudian diketahui bahwa PT TLS dan KUD Sadar yang mengatasnamakan petani mengajukan kredit itu tanpa diketahui kelompok tani tersebut. Sementara itu, dalam keterangan saksi, Direktur PT TLS kepada penyidik mengakui pencairan dana kredit komersial dari Bank Mandiri melalui rekening KUD Sadar pada November 2002. Bank Mandiri merealisasikan kredit itu karena KUD Sadar memberi jaminan lahan milik petani seluas 9.800 hektare yang belum disertifikat.(Ant/P-3)

source: mediaindonesia.com

Sucofindo Diakui Jadi Penerbit Sertifikat RSPO

By Republika Contributor
Minggu, 19 Oktober 2008 pukul 17:45:00

JAKARTA--PT Sucofindo mendapat pengakuan dari Dewan Eksekutif "Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil" (RSPO) untuk menerbitkan sertifikat pengelolaan pabrik minyak kelapa sawit yang berkelanjutan. "Sertifikat ini untuk memastikan apakah pabrik CPO itu mengelola perusahaannya secara berkelanjutan," kata Direktur Utama PT Sucofindo Arif Safari di Jakarta, akhir pekan ini. Menurut dia, saat ini hanya ada sekitar 125 perusahaan yang terintegrasi dengan kebun saja yang bisa mendapatkan sertifikat RSPO.

"Pada saat diaudit, mereka harus terapkan sistemnya dulu. SOP("standard operating procedur")-nya, peralatan ukurnya lengkap dengan dokumentasinya baru diaudit. Normalnya sertifikasi butuh waktu 3 bulan," jelasnya. Setelah pemeriksaan awal dokumen, Sucofindo akan mengumumkan kepada masyarakat perusahaan yang sedang diauditnya.

"`Public announcement` satu bulan untuk konfirmasi mereka benar tidak melakukan pengelolaan secara berkelanjutan. Kalau ada komplain dari masyarakat atau petani sawit bisa ditampung,"tambahnya. Jika ditemukan ada yang tidak sesuai dengan standar RSPO maka perusahaan itu diberi waktu tiga bulan untuk melakukan perbaikan.

Sertifikat RSPO berlaku untuk 5 tahun dan dilakukan pengawasan oleh Sucofindo setiap tahunnya. "Biayanya antara Rp150-250 juta tergantung luas pabrik dan komplikasi sistemnya. Tapi keuntungannya dengan sertifikat RSPO harga produk CPO akan lebih mahal dari yang tidak bersertifikat,"tuturnya. Selama ini, perkebunan kelapa sawit dinilai menimbulkan permasalahan lingkungan oleh negara-negara Eropa. Sertifikasi RSPO akan mempermudah diterimanya produk kelapa sawit di negara-negara tersebut. ant/pt

source: republika.co.id

Usaha Kelapa Sawit Riau Terancam Goyah

Minggu, 19 Oktober 2008 19:26

Kapanlagi.com - Ketua Gabungan Pengusaha Kelapa Sawit Indonesia (Gapki) Riau Wisnu Oriza Suharto mengatakan, sektor usaha kelapa sawit di Riau mulai goyah karena sejumlah pengusaha terancam gulung tikar akibat harga jual sawit terus menurun.

"Banyak pengusaha anggota Gapki terancam gulung tikar, terutama para pengusaha pemula," kata Wisnu di Pekanbaru, Minggu.

Ia menjelaskan, anjloknya harga komoditi itu mulai berdampak buruk kepada para pengusaha baru karena mereka tidak memiliki kecukupan dana untuk mensubstitusi keuntungan pada saat harga turun. Kondisi itu jelas berbeda dengan pengusaha sawit lama, karena mereka bisa menutupi kerugian dari keuntungan yang didapatkan saat harga minyak sawit mentah (crude palm oil/CPO) tinggi pada semester I 2008.

Sedangkan, marjin profit dari ekspor melalui Dumai dan Belawan kini terus merosot akibat harga jual turun dari Rp5.019,26 menjadi Rp4.237 per kilogram.

"Sedangkan ongkos pemeliharaan kebun rata-rata mencapai Rp3.900 untuk satu pohon. Kondisi bertambah buruk akibat bunga kredit bank meningkat, dan menyulitkan pengusaha pemula yang menggunakan modal pinjaman bank untuk usaha mereka," ujarnya.

Dari jumlah luasan perkebunan sawit Riau yang mencapai 1,7-2 juta hektare, ujar Wisnu, sekitar 400.000 hektare merupakan milik pengusaha anggota Gapki dan dari luas tersebut sekitar 30% merupakan pengusaha baru.

Kesulitan Beli Pupuk
Sementara itu, Wakil Ketua Himpunan Kerukunan Tani (HKTI) Riau yang juga pengamat pertanian dari Universitas Islam Riau (UIR) Fachri Yasin mengatakan, petani swadaya non mitra perusahaan mulai kesulitan membeli pupuk untuk kebun mereka karena harga anjlok.
"Untuk memanen saja sudah susah karena harga jual rendah membuat petani merugi, apalagi untuk membeli pupuk yang makin mahal," katanya.

Dengan harga tandan buah segar (TBS) untuk petani swadaya yang hanya berkisar Rp350-Rp400 per kilogram, petani kesulitan menjangkau harga pupuk urea yang kini mencapai Rp500 ribu hingga Rp600 ribu per karung. Sedangkan pada saat ini, perkebunan sawit mulai memasuki masa pemupukan.

"Bila tidak dipupuk dengan semestinya, jumlah buah dan kualitas rendemen akan menurun sebelum masanya," katanya.

Karena itu, ia menyarankan agar melakukan penghematan dengan mengurangi ongkos pengupahan. Menurut dia, saat harga TBS sempat mencapai Rp2.000 per kilogram, banyak petani dengan luas kebun hanya dua sampai tiga hektare berperilaku boros dengan menghabiskan keuntungan panen untuk membeli barang mewah dan malas turun merawat kebun sendiri dengan mempekerjakan buruh untuk menggantikan peran mereka.

"Petani harus kembali ke pola hidup petani yang sebenarnya yakni mandiri, melakukan semua pemupukan sendiri untuk mengurangi ongkos dari mengupah pekerja untuk pemupukan," ujarnya. (*/erl)

source: kapanlagi.com

Urgent action needed over Sumatran peat forest logging

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 20/10/2008

Ian Wood reports on the loss of vitally important swamp forests in SumatraSumatra has had more than its fair share of natural disasters over the last decade including the 2004 tsunami that killed over 190,000 people in the northern province of Aceh.
  1. Conservation groups and government sign Sumatra forest deal

  2. New plans to protect native tigers and elephants in Sumatra

  3. Sumatran orang-utan now in serious decline
Now a man made disaster is threatening to add to the misery that this region has endured.

The Tripa area of peat swamp forest is being logged to make way for new palm oil plantations and the effects will have dire consequences for the people and wildlife that live there.The Tripa forests are located in north western Sumatra and provided effective coastal protection for communities in the tsunami. Behind them, very few casualties were recorded and they also serve to protect against floods as the peat swamp regulates water flow.

Their importance for both biodiversity and carbon stores cannot be over stated.They are home to one of just six remaining viable populations of the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan and contain millions of tons of carbon dioxide that is being released into the atmosphere as they are destroyed.

A recent study commissioned by the Swiss NGO PanEco has shown the peat is more than 3 metres deep over much of the area.
There are already laws in Indonesia that forbid the destruction of peat more than 3 metres deep but the local government seem powerless to protect this area.
The effects are threefold.
1) CO2 is released into the atmosphere as the larger trees are cut and the remaining land is burnt.
2) Subsequent drainage causes further degradation of the peat releasing even more CO2.
3) This then results in subsidence of the land itself of approx 5 cm per year. The area of Tripa is already at about sea level, or only slightly above, so within a very short space of time the sea will claim huge swathes of this region and inland communities will have no protection against future tsunamis.

The recent agreement to protect forests in Sumatra between the Indonesian government and a number of conservation groups including WWF and Fauna and Flora International is a step in the right direction. However to save Tripa from the unfolding disaster there needs to be urgent action immediately.
Irwandi Yusuf, the governor of Aceh called for a moratorium on all logging in Aceh in June 2007 but it is being largely ignored on the ground.

Pak Adnan, one of four of Aceh's Senators agreed to meet me in Tripa and together we witnessed scenes of total devastation. His concern seemed genuine as he explained the problems this region is facing.

"I have not seen any goodwill from central government to act to protect Tripa. Already I have discussed it with the executive but they have not taken any action" Pak Adnan told me.

"If necessary it must come from the President himself who has the power to stop the destruction of Tripa. The status of Tripa must be raised to that of protected forest and then it will be immortal forever. To achieve this it needs continued pressure from both local people and the international community.
"In my heart I believe the ecosystem of Tripa must be saved, it's vital. The most important problem is the palm oil concessions on areas of peat forest. It needs a firm statement from central government and an urgent review of these existing concessions." he said.

There are five palm oil concessions that have been granted by the Indonesian central government with leases that expire in 2020. Such is the scale of logging here that the remaining tracts of forest will be long gone before then.

"Local people do not destroy the peat swamp forest as they do not have access to heavy machines but the palm oil companies have vast amounts of money," Pak Adnan told me.

"For local people we can create better sustainable sources of income such as fish breeding and livestock that fit in with the ecosystem. We could also create ecotourism opportunities and then at last the people that live in Tripa could have income from both palm oil and these other sources."

Surely this is preferable to increasing vulnerability to rising sea levels, which threatens not only communities and their livelihoods, but also the very palm oil estates themselves in the long run.
The palm oil company PT Astra Agro Lestari who are one of the main suppliers to Unilever, are running one of the legal concessions in Tripa. It covers nearly 13,000 hectares of which around 6000 hectares is still virgin rain forest, all located on peat swamp with an average depth of about 3m but reaching over 5m in places.

Unilever announced last month that they have committed to only purchasing 100 per cent sustainably produced palm oil by 2015. However, by then this important area of forest will have already been lost forever.
Regina Frey, president of PanEco, a conservation groups which campaigns for the sustainable use of natural resources in Indonesia, said: "I call on Unilever to take action to help to save these last areas of Sumatran peat swamp forest. If they refuse to buy oil palm from this concession it would send out a firm message to PT Astra Agro Lestari to stop logging primary peat forests for palm oil, thereby damaging the image of the palm oil industry"

After cutting the larger trees in the peat swamp forest the remaining trees are set on fire. The palm oil companies then cut drainage canals across the site as the land is too wet for oil palm cultivation. The peat then starts to subside as it dries out and results in very poor conditions for palm oil trees to grow in.

We saw lots of palm oil trees that are now falling over and will be useless as future crops. When the peat has degraded and subsided to below sea level the whole area will be flooded with seawater and nothing will grow here again. There is also proof that the surrounding areas of non peat swamp provide far better conditions for palm oil.

"There is plenty of non-forested land on mineral soil in the surroundings of Tripa which is available and produces excellent conditions for oil palm cultivation. In fact some of the highest palm oil yields in the world are recorded in that region. Consequently the Tripa concessions could be relocated there." said Regina Frey.

The simple truth is that the palm oil companies want to sell the timber from the large trees they fell when they clear the land. In fact there are vast areas of already cleared land in Tripa that have not even been planted with palm oil.

Now is the time for action not words here in Tripa. To destroy one of the last great areas of peat swamp forest in Sumatra is an act of criminal vandalism. Along with orangutans these forests also contain two other rare ape species, the Siamang and the White Handed Gibbon along with Sumatran tigers, clouded leopards and sun bears.

Conflicts have developed between villagers and the palm oil companies. Such is the sensitivity that PT Astra Agro Lestari's concession is now guarded by the Indonesian police and army.
I managed to get into the village of Pulo Kruet where I met one of the leaders of the community. He told me that the palm oil companies are now taking the land that belongs to his village and they are powerless to prevent it.

We walked for several kilometres together through the palm oil plantations that now surround his home. Eventually we arrived at the border of the remaining forest and saw freshly made orangutan nests in the trees right on the edge of the destruction.

Here in Tripa the fight to save this critically endangered species is one with far reaching consequences for the human population.
source: telegraph.co.uk

Legislator highlights declining price of CPOJakarta

(ANTARA News) - A member of the House`s Commission VI dealing with trade and investment Alfridel Jinu hightlighted a drop in the price of crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivatives in the past days. Alfridel Jinu here on Sunday said the government in the near future would announce a policy on sharp drop of the prices of CPO and cooking oil. "The most fundamental that the public has to know is just about the use of cooking oil subsidy amounting to Rp600 billion," he said.
He said it sounded strange if the government still channelled the subsidy for cooking oil. Therefore in a working meeting with trade minister in the near future, members of the House`s Commission VI would ask for the details in the use of subsidy concerned. "We still listern to the ongoing program on subsidy for cooking oil," Afridel, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, said.
CPO prices at farmers level including cooking oil suffered a sharp drop. CPO and cooking oil producers opined that the decrease in prices was due to the global financial crisis. In addition to carrying cost efficiency in all levels, palm oil tree plantation either managed by the private or state owned companies which are on the threshold of bunkruptcy, because production cost is higher than the price of CPO selling price. (*)
COPYRIGHT © 2008

source: antara.co.id

Groundnut, oil rally; RBD Palm oil steady

Mumbai, Oct 18 (UNI) Prices of groundnutseed and its oil rose on sustained demand, while RBD palm oil remained steady today on moderate demand by stockists, traders at the Bombay Commodity Exchange said.In oilseeds (per quintal), groundnutseed and castorseed Hyderabad shot up by Rs 75 and Rs 50 per quintal respectvely on brisk buying support by stockists.
However, javas 60/70, javas 70/80 and javas 80/90 remained steady on scattered buying by bulk consumers.In oils (per ten kg), groundnut raw and sunflower exp ref hiked by Rs 15 and Rs 10 per ten kg on speculative demand.Sunflower exp and sunflower exp ref also advanced by Rs 10 per 10 kg each on improved buying support by bulk consumers.
RBD palm oil remained flat today.In de-oiled cakes soyameal 48 per cent surged by Rs 350 Per Metric Tonne (PMT) on better buying support by dealers, traders added.Following are the spot rates of oilseeds (all figures in Rupees), as provided by the Bombay Commodity Exchange here.Oilseeds per quintal Oils per 10 kg Grd' kernel 3,200, Grd' Bold 60/70 4,050, G Nut Raw 640, Javas 60/70 4,575, Javas 70/80 4,400, Javas 80/90 4,275 Kardi (Export Qly) 3,200 Kardi expeller 900, Sesameseed: Seasame Expeller 720 Sunflower Exp 585 Whitish (98/2/ffa) 5,900 Sunflower Exp Ref 645 Whitish (95/5/ffa) 5,725 Cottonseed (Refined) 485 Brown (48/2/2) 4,500, Refined Palm Oil 360 Soyabeen Ref 477 Rapeseed Ref 635 Rapeseed Exp 615 Copra white 625 Brown (48/3) ) 4,300, Rice Bran 4-7 FFA 385 Rice Bran 315 Linseed 650 Castor Comm 640 F.S.G. 650 F.S.G. Kandla 617 Mowra 375 Neem 500 Karanji 400 Deoiled cakes (per MT) G N Extr 45 pc 15,250 Kardi Extr 6,400 Undec Cottonseed Extr 10,000, Brown 48/4 3,950 Rice Bran Extr 6,500, Sunflowerseed 2,800, Sunflower extr 10,800, Rapeseed N T, Rapeseed extr 10,250, Soyameal 48 pc..14,500 Nigerseed-4 4,230 Castorseed Bombay 3,050 Castor extra 5,100 Castorseed Disa 2,850 Castorseed Hyderabad 2,750

source: deepikaglobal.com

Biofuel boom endangers orangutan habitat

Palm oil plantations are encroaching on rain forest reserves on the Indonesia island of Borneo, where the endangered primates live.

By Paul Watson, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 19, 2008


TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK, INDONESIA -- In the rush to feed the world's growing appetite for climate-friendly fuel and cooking oil that doesn't clog arteries, the Bornean orangutan could get plowed over.Several plantation owners are eyeing Tanjung Puting park, a sanctuary for 6,000 of the endangered animals. It is the world's second-largest population of a primate that experts warn could be extinct in less than two decades if a massive assault on its forest habitat is not stopped.

The orangutans' biggest enemy, the United Nations says, is no longer poachers or loggers. It's the palm oil industry.On the receding borders of this 1,600-square-mile lush reserve, a road paved with good intentions runs smack into a swamp of alleged corruption and government bungling. It's one of the mounting costs few bargained for in the global craze to "go green."The park clings to the southern tip of the island of Borneo, which is shared by Indonesia and Malaysia, the top producers of palm oil. Exporters market it as an alternative to both petroleum and cooking oils containing trans fats.

"That's only a slogan, you know," said Ichlas Al Zaqie, the local project manager for Los Angeles-based Orangutan Foundation International. "They change the forest, and say it's for energy sustainability, but they're killing other creatures."Indonesia is losing lowland forest faster than any other major forested country. At the rate its trees are being felled to plant oil palms, poach high-grade timber and clear land for farming, 98% of Indonesia's forest may be lost by 2022, the United Nations Environment Program says."If the immediate crisis in securing the future survival of the orangutan and the protection of national parks is not resolved, very few wild orangutans will be left within two decades," UNEP concluded in a report last year.

"The rate and extent of illegal logging in national parks may, if unchallenged, endanger the entire concept of protected areas worldwide."In July, loggers finished buzz-sawing and bulldozing a 40,000-acre swath in a northeastern corner of the park, where at least 561 orangutan lived, to clear ground for oil palm plants, Zaqie said.The government isn't much help, say environmental activists, who accuse corrupt officials, military and police officers of siding with timber poachers, illegal miners and others threatening the forests.Activists bemoan a territorial dispute between local officials and the provincial and national governments."The problem now is even the central government can't really say where the exact border of the national park is," said Yeppie Kustiwae, who handles the issue of forest conversion for the World Wide Fund for Nature in Indonesia.

Zaqie says palm oil companies are determined to take as much as 5 million acres of orangutan forest habitat in Tanjung Puting and the larger Sebangau National Park, where Borneo's largest population of orangutans lives.Tanjung Puting, a tropical Eden still revealing its secrets, shelters nine primate species, including rare proboscis monkeys, whose pendulous schnozzes can be 7 inches long.Zaqie says he first saw bulldozers knocking down trees for the northeastern palm oil plantation five years ago. He was certain the loggers were on land included in the park in a 1996 government decree.He tried without success to stop the bulldozer operators. So Zaqie went to a manager, who confirmed that the forest was being converted into a plantation by an Indonesian company called Wanasawit Subur Lestari. A spokesman for its parent company, BEST Plantation Group, denied encroaching on the park."We are working based on a permit issued by the government," said Wahyu Bimadhrata, BEST's legal manager.

"We don't work inside the national park."Mounting pressures on the forest are easiest to see in the money made by palm oil plantations. In 1990, Indonesia earned $204 million from palm oil exports; the value exploded to more than $7.8 billion in 2007.Palm oil exports started growing sharply five years ago after the European Union declared a mandatory quota to replace gasoline and diesel from crude with biofuels. Last year, it raised the biofuel target to 10% of transportation fuels by 2020, driving the price of palm oil higher and ratcheting up the threat to rain forests.The EU has maintained the policy even though a report in April by European Environment Agency scientists called it an "overambitious" experiment "whose unintended effects are difficult to predict and difficult to control.

"Instead of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, producing palm oil on what was once peat swamp forests may be boosting the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Leveling the jungle not only destroys trees that absorb carbon dioxide, it also releases millions of tons of carbon dioxide stored in Borneo's peat for thousands of years. Fires set to clear trees and stumps add to the problem.As companies lobby to clear more rain forest, other Indonesians are laboring to restore habitat for orangutans and rehabilitate those who lost their jungle homes or were rescued from poachers.A decade ago, raging fires burned millions of acres of Borneo's forest. The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation bought 4,500 acres that farmers had abandoned to grassland at Samboja Lestari, on the island's eastern side.

"People thought that in one or two years, we would give up," said Ishak Yassir, the foundation's regional program manager. "We proved them wrong."His Indonesian staff cares for 224 orangutans; each day, teachers take their wide-eyed pupils to forest school. They teach them the basics, such as tree climbing; the proper way to eat dirt to get at insects, seeds and other nutrients; and avoiding snakes.Once they graduate, they join the list of orangutans ready to leave rehab.Yassir's staff has cleared more than 50 young adults for release over the last six years. But the orangutans' rescuers can't find enough safe forest for the apes to go home to.paul.watson@latimes.comSpecial correspondent Dinda Jouhana in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.


source: latimes.com

Mahoney insulted the public

By Randy Schultz
Editor of the Editorial Page
Sunday, October 19, 2008

They never learn.

Despite all the history, despite all common sense, every politician caught in a sex scandal believes that he - and we're usually talking men - can tough it out. Last week, Tim Mahoney became the latest to find out that he couldn't.
You know the story. ABC News reported Monday that Rep. Mahoney, the first-term congressman from Palm Beach Gardens, had hired a mistress to work in his Washington office, fired her, and then paid her $121,000 to keep quiet about the whole thing. Later, The Post reported that Rep. Mahoney had had at least one other mistress, which apparently angered the first mistress and may have led to the breakup and payoff. The FBI is investigating whether Rep. Mahoney used campaign donations for the payoff. His attorney denies it.

Having been exposed as a louse and a hypocrite - his campaign material stressed "faith and family" - three weeks before the election, Rep. Mahoney might have been toast no matter what he did. He's a Democrat in the eight-county, Republican-majority district who got to Washington when Mark Foley got caught in his own scandal two years ago: sending X-rated e-mails to underage congressional pages. His only chance would have been to admit his louseness and hypocrisy, then answer every reporter's question until nothing more could come out. And come alone. Don't bring your wife. Be a man.

Of course, Rep. Mahoney did none of that. He appeared Tuesday morning only long enough to read the predictable statement of regret that he got caught. He said that "no marriage is perfect," a comment as heartless as it was trite. He sounded as though he were partially blaming his wife. Whom, of course, he brought along.

I can't explain why the wives agree to come. My theory is that the husband asks because he thinks that her appearance can save him. See, even though I'm a skunk, the little lady and I are going to work it out. So, I really hope that this doesn't influence your vote. Right.
On Friday, Rep. Mahoney is supposed to debate Republican challenger Tom Rooney at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Does Rep. Mahoney think that he can pull it off if he's not willing to talk about what will be on everyone's mind?

Johnson and Johnson set the gold standard for crisis response a quarter-century ago. After people died from swallowing poisoned Tylenol, the company pulled every pill. Understand, the problem wasn't even the company's fault. But Johnson and Johnson knew what was at stake. Because the company acted so swiftly and openly, the product and the company recovered quickly. The government required protective wrapping on lids of bottles containing everything from pills to juice.

Then there's Exxon, now ExxonMobil. After one of its tankers spilled 10 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989, the company CEO didn't arrive for three weeks. Exxon turned down the offer from a local fishing group to help contain the spill.

Most politicians read only the Exxon manual. Having insulted their family - in this case, Rep. Mahoney's wife and daughter - they insult their constituents by believing them to be stupid. Some voters may accept Rep. Mahoney's defense that his conduct was a "private matter," but most correctly will see that what these actions affected is his public role. Among other things, he put the mistress on his staff.

Monday morning, Rep. Mahoney had a strong lead and was all but reelected. By the end of the week, the polls had flopped. Rep. Mahoney didn't help himself much on Friday when he told George Bennett of The Post that it was OK to hire a mistress for his Martin County office because the affair was "intermittent." So, shouldn't she have worked part-time?

You can tell that Rep. Mahoney didn't test drive the answers he finally decided to give. At least he didn't sound quite as bad as John Edwards, who explained that his affair took place while his cancer-stricken wife was in remission. But did Rep Mahoney sound stupid? Yes. Why? They never learn.

Randy Schultz is the editor of the editorial page of The Palm Beach Post. His e-mail address is schultz@pbpost.com

source : palmbeachpost.com

Nigeria needs to depend less on oil

By Our Reader
Published: Sunday, 19 Oct 2008

Has anyone ever imagined Nigeria without oil? Perhaps, it has not crossed our minds that one day, we might sell our last drop.

In the world of Information Technology, there is what is called disaster recovery strategy. Corporations spend millions of dollars to build backup sites just in case their production site is consumed by any natural or man-made disaster. It is not that these corporations have money to waste by replicating their infrastructure but it is a very critical business need. Liking Nigeria to a Corporation, what is our own disaster recovery strategy in case our oil wells dry up or some disasters make it impossible for production to go on for a whole year? I do believe that we have technocrats in the cabinet of Umaru Yar’Adua and it is high time they began to put this into perspective.
A particular Asian country, Malaysia I guess, took oil fruit from Nigeria to cultivate in their country. Today, they are playing big in palm oil and other associated by-products of palm fruit. United Arab Emirate was a desert before. I even learnt they had come to Nigeria to borrow before. Presently, a lot of us fight for Emirate‘s ticket to fly to Dubai for vacation and shopping. How did they make it happen? Some smart and serious minded guys in that country came together and strategised on how to move their country forward.
What has happened to agriculture in Nigeria? What have become of our groundnut pyramids in the North and the cocoa in the West? We have all abandoned these to local farmers with occasional distribution of fertilizers to them. We are all in the mad chase for oil.

Nigeria is abundantly blessed with natural endownments – the Olumo rock, the water falls, Yankari games reserve and others. How far have we gone to develop tourism? Maybe we should just shut down all oil wells and see if there is any backup. Of course I know this position might sound sarcastic and bizarre but it will open our eyes to the truth.

Barth Okonkwo,
Adeola Hopewell, Victoria Island,
barthlini@yahoo.com.

source: punchng.com

Colombia to have six palm biodiesel plants by 2009

October 18, 2008

(EFE Ingles Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Cartagena, Colombia, Oct 18 (EFE).- Colombia, the leading producer of palm oil in the Americas, will have six palm biodiesel plants by next year and plans to increase its share of the biofuels market, sources from the sector said.
In an interview Friday with Efe, the president of Colombian palm oil producer Comercializadora Internacional Acepalma, Maria Emma Nu?ez, said that four of these six plants have already begun operating, but that production will be stepped up next year and the other two plants will also come on stream."At this time, (palm oil production) is destined for processing plants to make cooking oil, margarine and soaps, and there has been a little this year for the biodiesel plants, but by next year a significant percentage of production will be destined for the biodiesel plants," she said.

On the sidelines of a meeting on sustainable palm oil that ended Friday in the Colombian coastal city of Cartagena, Nu?ez said that this year just a small percentage of palm oil output was destined for biofuels production "because the plants have not begun to function fully."She also said that the export markets for palm oil will continue to be affected by the current financial crisis and noted that the price of the vegetable oil has plunged from $1,400 per ton a few months ago to some $525 per ton at present.Nu?ez said that lower price was due to several reasons: "high inventories in Malaysia and Indonesia, market expectations related to the financial crisis and the reduction in oil prices.
"She added that Colombian production of palm oil is expected to rise from 806,000 tons in 2008 to some 872,000 tons next year.Of the current production, some 46 percent is destined for export, primarily to the Netherlands, Germany and England in Europe, as well as to Mexico, the Caribbean, Brazil, Peru, Argentina and the United States in the Americas.The goal of the Cartagena meeting on palm oil was to internationally certify the region's biodiesel producers.Business leaders from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Peru and Venezuela took part in the two-day gathering, where they learned about the successful experience with palm oil production in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, which combine for 88 percent of total world output.
Separately, an sugarcane ethanol plant capable of producing 1.8 million liters (475,000 gallons) annually was inaugurated Friday in the central Colombian town of Barbosa, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Bogota.President Alvaro Uribe and Agriculture Minister Andres Arias inaugurated the plant, which, according to officials, will create a total of 429 jobs.
EFEfer/mcCopyright ? 2008 EFE News Services (U.S.) Inc.

source: tmcnet.com

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