The wRap Indonesia: Jan 1, 2015

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Updates on AirAsia QZ8501, the Indonesia Broadcasting Commission’s sanctions on TVOne for showing images of victims’ bodies, and the inauguration of Luhut Panjaitan as President Jokowi’s chief of staff  lead our wrap of stories from Indonesia today, the first day of the year.

1. Two more AirAsia victims’ bodies found; search now on for the black box

The Indonesian Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) on Thursday morning, January 1, found two more bodies of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 victims, according to Basarnas Deputy Chief Tatang Zaenudin. The two are being transported to Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, the closest airstrip to the crash site. It brings the total to 9 by Thursday noon. Six bodies have been transferred to Surabaya where the Disaster Victim Identification team (DVI) has set up  examination and identification facilities.

On Wednesday, Basarnas Chief Bambang Soelistyo clarified that the fuselage has not yet been found, denying reports that sonar imagery showed the aircraft on the sea floor. The hunt is now on for the plane’s black boxes, which are key to determining the cause of the crash. “We have concerns to secure the flight recorders, believed to be with parts of the plane we haven’t found,” said Soelistyo.

2. Luhut Panjaitan named chief of presidential staff

Presiden Jokowi lantik Luhut Panjaitan menjadi Kepala Staf Kepresidenan via @setkabgoid pic.twitter.com/l8N1pULqqR

— Rappler Indonesia (@RapplerID) December 31, 2014

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Wednesday, December 31, inaugurated his former campaign adviser Luhut Panjaitan as the new chief of presidential staff. “The presidential chief of staff will lead the Presidential Working Unit (UKP),” said Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto, as quoted by the Jakarta Globe.

Luhut, a former general and senior adviser to Golkar Party, will be responsible for helping Jokowi design political communications between institutions and helping the President identify strategic issues. 

3. Broadcasting Commission sanctions TV stations over showing AirAsia victims bodies

Families of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 passengers and crew began crying hysterically – and some fainting – on Tuesday, as TVOne aired the retrieval operations showing a half-naked body floating in the sea. The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) on Thursday took action over the broadcast images and sanction the TV station. 

“The showing of victims’ bodies being evacuated from the waters without editing process clearly violates the Broadcasting Ethical Guide (P3),” says KPI Deputy Chief Idy Muzayyad, as quoted by news portal Tempo.co. TVOne was shooting the video from a helicopter when it broadcast the images. KPI has also sent warning letters to Metro TV and state-owned TVRI for broadcasting uncensored images of victims’ bodies retrieved by the Search and Rescue Agency.

4. Trashy New Year’s Eve celebration? Still relatively cleaner than last year’s 

All that’s left is garbage. The Jakarta Night Festival (JNF), an annual celebration to ring in the New Year in the capital, has ended and the Jakarta Sanitation Agency has deployed 21 street sweeper trucks to clean up after the party. The Festival closed off several main roads in the city and most of the trash were located in the National Monument (Monas).

“In total there are 21 trucks. Eight were deployed to clean up after JNF, the rest is scattered across the city such as Taman Mini and Ancol,” said Saptastri Ediningtyas, the agency head. Saptastri, however, is optimistic that this year’s trash is still cumulatively lower than last year’s celebration. “This is still relatively clean, compared to last year. There were 150 tons of trash last year, and we’ll only find out this year’s amount by tomorrow,” she said. 

5. DVI identifies 2 AirAsia victims’ bodies; one supposedly celebrates birthday today

One of the bodies is identified by the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team as Kevin Alexander Soetjipto. Kevin was supposed to celebrate his 21st birthday today, January 1. Originally from the town of Malang, Kevin flew AirAsia Flight QZ8501 with his sister Cindy Clarissa Soetjipto and his father Rudy Soetjipto. The two are still missing. The other one identified is Hayati Lutfiah, a resident of Tegalsari, Surabaya. She was wearing gold bracelets in her arms and gold rings in two of her fingers. She was also found with her identity card. – Rappler.com