14
Monday, April 28, 2014
Lifestyle
International
Gaga over gorillas? 2 babies arrive at Bronx Zoo Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK — A New York City zoo is celebrating the arrivals of two baby western lowland gorillas. They’re the first gorillas born at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo since 2006. Zoo officials said Thursday the babies’ genders aren’t yet known. A gorilla named Julia gave birth on March 10. Another named Tuti had her baby on April 17. Newborns weigh around 5 pounds (2.25 kilograms). Females could grow up to weigh 250 pounds (115 kilograms), males about 450 pounds (200 kilograms). Gorilla infants are held by their mothers for the first four months of their lives. Zoo visitors can see the babies this spring if conditions such as the weather and temperature are right.
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Jerry Starr is pictured with Tobi, his four-year-old shih tzu-yorkie mix dog at a park in Del City, Okla., Thursday, April 17, 2014. Starr was not allowed to take the dog into a shelter during the May 20, 2013 tornado and opted to stay outside the shelter in his car with his dog.
Associated Press Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jerry Starr thought he was taking the safe approach when a twister was reported heading toward his suburban neighborhood outside Oklahoma City last May. He grabbed his teenage daughter Dyonna and his dog and drove to the local City Hall, which serves as a public storm shelter. than hunkering down in safety. “Pets and sheltering is always a problem,” said David Grizzle, emergency management coordinator for the college town of Norman, which closed its public shelters last fall because of problems with pets and overcrowding. “Pets come in and sometimes they’re hard to control,” he said, describing past scenes of dozens of frantic dogs along with snakes, chickens and even iguanas brought inside. Access to shelters has gotten special attention in Oklahoma this year after 79 tornadoes strafed the state in 2013, the second highest total in the nation, killing 34 people and injuring hundreds. Most of the victims were in cars, houses or unreinforced buildings. A joint state-federal program offered up to a $2,000 rebate to help eligible homeowners install fortified “safe rooms” or above or underground shelters. “One of the most common inju-
ries that people may sustain during tornadoes, storms or straight-line winds are injuries from falling or flying debris, so it’s important to take shelter,” said Keli Cain, spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. But while the number of in-home shelters is growing, most people in small towns and of modest incomes depend on sturdy public buildings like schools, hospitals and courthouses. And more than 60 percent of households have pets. At city council and campus administration meetings this spring, officials reviewing local emergency plans are again debating the implications of turning animals away. “People are so attached to their pets, I don’t think it’s even possible to ban them,” said Byron Boshell, director of Security at Oklahoma City’s Integris Baptist Medical Center, where people from surrounding neighborhoods come when funnel clouds approach.
Monday, April 28, 2014
3
Tax Office targets villa owners Bali Post
MANGUPURA - In addition to targeting the owners of luxury cars in Bali, the Regional Office of Directorate General of Taxation (DJP) of Bali also targets villa owners that have not been touched by tax. Many villas alleged to be dominantly owned by foreigners are scattered in Badung County. “The villas paying no taxes are generally not registered. To my knowledge, in front of the villa is only posted a sign board saying ‘for rent’ without mentioning the clear name of the villa. Besides, the owner is not in place or living outside Bali,” said the Head of Technical Support and Consultancy of DJP Bali, Sunarko, in Kuta, recently. According to him, the construction of villas, property and residences had become the leading revenue source of the tax office. The property sector contributed approximately 50 percent of the tax revenue. In the Premier Tax
Office (KPP Pratama) of South Badung itself, of the tax revenue targeted at IDR 910 billion in 2013, virtually 60 percent was contributed by property sector. “Indeed, the property sector has a large enough share of the tax revenue,” he said briefly. Nevertheless, numerous tax sources of central government, recognized Sunarko, had been handed over to regional government, ranging from the acquisition fee of land and building (BPHTB) to property tax (PBB) and had now been managed by regional government. “Some of our revenue sources have been
Bali Post
man into custody. The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 137 passengers and seven crew members from Brisbane, Australia, to Bali, which is a leading tourist destination for Australians. No passengers or crew were hurt in the incident, according to the airline.
delegated to regional government such the acquisition fee of land and building and property tax,” he said. He said the DJP Bali had collaborated with local immigration authorities to curb the villas in Bali belonging to foreigners. “Our cooperation with the immigration office is to oversee the villas belonging to foreigners that have not been registered in tax office. This year, we also focus on controlling the villa because they retain a great potential of tax,” he said. It was mentioned that his party would map the region where the
tax target located. The tax to be charged for tourist accommodation consisted of the land acquisition, land purchase up to the operations. “Probably, the accommodations have a license or not,” he said. Chairman of the Bali Villa Association (BVA), Jero Mangku Wayan Suteja, also suspected there were some villa businessmen that did not pay taxes. Moreover, many villa accommodation buildings were established on a cliff and they were alleged to have no permit. Based on spatial rules, the government did not allow establishing any building on the edge of the cliff. “The rule allows building on the cliff at twice depth of the abyss. If there are people building on a cliff, they are likely to be unlicensed and obviously do not pay taxes because they clearly infringe
the rules,” he explained. He admitted the competition among the villas in Bali was increasingly difficult due to proliferation of villas in Bali, especially in the region highly favored by tourists such as Badung and Gianyar. Even, its average annual growth reached 10 percent. “The competition will be increasingly intense because more and more villas are built every year. Due to such rapid growth of the villas, they are widely seen as in Badung and Ubud areas,” he said. He mentioned the number of villas in Bali had reached over 1,200 villas, where 700 villas were located in Badung and the rest scattered in Tabanan, Buleleng, Klungkung, Gianyar and other areas. “The unlicensed villas are more than 10 percent,” he said. (kmb27)
Drunken passenger caused ‘hijacked’ scare
Tornado shelters face dilemma with pet lovers But when he arrived, a police officer told him that the only way they could come in was if Tobi, his shih tzu-yorkie mix, stayed outside. No pets allowed. So Starr and Tobi rode out the storm in his car, one of the most dangerous places he could be. “I love her and there’s no way I was going to live knowing I was abandoning her,” said Starr, of Del City. Modern forecasting technology now gives residents hours of notice of threatening conditions and precise projections of a storm’s likely path. Residents are bombarded with broadcast warnings to take shelter. But as the spring storm season arrives in Tornado Alley, emergency officials are still wrestling with a dilemma posed by man’s best friends. Since many public shelters won’t accept animals, people wind up dashing across town to rescue their pets or staying in unprotected houses rather
Bali News
International
AP Photo/WCS, Julie Larsen Maher
In this photo taken on April 11, 2014, and provided by the Wildlife Conservation Society, “Tutti,” a female Western Lowland gorilla holds her baby at the Bronx Zoo Congo Gorilla Forest in New York.
KUTA - A drunken passenger made a flight of Virgin Australia chaotic on Friday. The passenger, Matt Christopher mistakenly knocked on cockpit door when he want to go to toilet during a flight from Brisbane to Bali. The airport was closed for nearly two hours because of the incident, forcing several flights to be diverted, air force base commander Col. Sugiharto Prapto said. The Australian passenger acted aggressively and began pounding on the cockpit door before being handcuffed by the crew, police said. He was arrested for creating a disturbance and investigators said they were waiting for him to sober up before questioning him. Bali police chief Maj. Gen. Benny Mokalu told reporters that after the man began beating on the locked cockpit door, the pilot issued an alert code to air traffic control. The crew then managed to restrain the man and put him in a rear seat for the remaining hour of the flight. Prapto said the plane was directed to park at the end of the runway in case explosives or weapons were involved. Scores of troops surrounded the jet. “We immediately took appropriate security measures involving troops because the initial information that we got was that the plane was hijacked,” Prapto said. He said air force troops approached the plane and took the
Only Investigated
Indonesia will only investigate the incident related to a drunken passenger on board the Virgin Australia flight, an official said. “We as a country used for landing could only investigate to find the motive behind it,” head of the Sub-Directorate of Civil Investigators and Flight Security Personnel of Air Transportation, Rico Richardo. He said the jurisdiction for law enforcement regarding the incident lies in the hands of the Australian government since the actor involved and the aircraft came from that country. “According to the Tokyo Convention of 1963 regarding flights, criminal law enforcement authority is held by the country where the plane is registered, in this case Australia,” he said. Although the convention was recently updated in Montreal, Canada, Indonesia has not yet ratified it,” he added. If the convention had been recognized and ratified by the country, it would have had the authority to conduct law enforcement, he said. “It applies not only to Indone-
IBP/Yudi Karnaedi
A drunken passenger made a flight of Virgin Australia chaotic on Friday. The passenger, Matt Christopher mistakenly knocked on cockpit door when he want to go to toilet during a flight from Brisbane to Bali. sia but also to other countries as well,” he said. Based on that the results, the investigation would be later handed over to the country of the plane’s origin, he said. He said the crew would soon
be investigated, but declined to say where the investigation was taking place. Rico said Law number 1 of 2009 relating to aviation could not be applied to the person concerned because the plane is not
registered in Indonesia and the violation was done on a foreign flagged plane. Regarding deportation, he said coordination is still to be made with the immigration office, he said.