The police in Batam, Riau Islands, have found a total of 504 sacks or 25 tons of magnesium sulfate, an ingredient to make sabu-sabu (methyl amphetamine), in an industrial complex in Batam.

"This finding is a result of our long, intensive investigation," Batam police chief Sr. Comr. Leonidas Braksan told Tempointeraktif.com on Sunday.

Leonidas explained that initially, the police arrested Udin and Pardiyos, who brought with him two grams of methyl amphetamine on Nov. 8. From their arrest, the police then nabbed Anton alias Guru at a hotel in Batam.

If all of its ship-building industry's capacities are mobilized, Indonesia can make 50 warships per year and thus meet its navy's full need for such ships in three years' time, Antara news agency reported Monday, citing a legislator as saying.

"Thereby, our navy's need for 151 warships to secure Indonesia's territorial waters can be met in just three year's time at a cost of Rp7.5 trillion (US$791.9 million) a year," a member of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commisssion I, Fayakhun Andiradi, said here Monday.

But to enable the domestic ship-building industry to meet the navy's need for warships, he government must really have the political will to achieve it through the Defence and Finance ministries and the National Defence Forces (TNI)," he said.

Batam island expects to attract at least 500,000 tourists from Malaysia during Visit Batam Year 2010.

Its director of the tourism and culture department, Guntur Sakti, said the target was achievable because in recent years Malaysian tourists were the third highest to visit Batam, about 45 minutes by ferry from Johor Baharu.

BatamThe Head of Batam City Public Relations Yusfa Hendri has said that the city will award a prize to former president B.J. Habibie as the initator of Batam development. The prize will be awarded as part of Batam's180th anniversary on 18 December.
"We will invite him to Batam," he told Tempo yesterday.

The National Mandate Party’s (PAN) leaders have thrown their full support behind Hatta Radjasa for the position of party chairman due to his close relationship with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, party officials say.

Coordinator of Hatta’s supporters for the chairmanship for the 2010-2015 period, Yandri Susanto, claimed Saturday Hatta had received full support to replace the current chairman, Soetrisno Bachir from the majority of the party’s members from 33 provinces across the country.

Yandri said Hatta, who is now the coordinating economic minister, was the best candidate for the chairmanship post because of his closeness to Yudhoyono.

After weeks of silence, Hatta Rajasa announced Saturday his bid for the chief post at the National Mandate Party (PAN) in a gathering of regional party executives across Sumatra in Batam.

Hatta, who is also the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, said support from the party’s chapters from across Sumatra would help him win the election to be held in the national congress in January, also in Batam.

“The declaration marked a start to my quest for the PAN chairman post next year,” Hatta said.