Article by Aziz Tunny and Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Ambon/Kupang | Mon, 08/02/2010 9:41 AM | Headlines

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to Ambon, Maluku, for the peak of celebrations of the Sail Banda international maritime event on Tuesday, a move he hopes will show the world the province is now safe.

Yudhoyono, who will leave Jakarta on Monday, believes promoting its safety will help boost the Ambon economy, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said.

“When conflict broke out in Maluku, its economic growth was minus 29 percent. Perhaps no other place in the world has experienced such bad economic growth,” said Fadel, who opened a seafood and fish product expo in Ambon on Saturday, referring to sectarian conflicts that rocked the province between 1999 and 2001.

Article by Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 08/02/2010 8:25 AM | PeopleIndonesia is one of the biggest shrimp producers in the world along with China, Thailand and Vietnam. While the latter three countries have experts on shrimp pathology, Indonesia does not.

JP/Prodita Sabarini

But the country will have its first shrimp pathologist hopefully in less than two years. Indonesian marine biologist Sidrotun Naim is currently studying at the University of Arizona under a Fulbright scholarship to become just that.