It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
In their first operation of the new year, Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina (BHSM) completed a multi-barge roll-on operation using the 500-ton floating dry dock, "Providence.”
The barges were constructed by Blue Atlantic Fabricators, a tenant of BHSM and the only AISC Certified facility on the East Coast with direct headwall access for water transportation. Measuring 115’ by 30’ and approximately 120 tons each, the barges were fabricated to serve as docks at the Mass Bay Transportation Authority’s ferry terminal at the Hingham shipyard. Blue Atlantic was awarded the project in February 2025, and completed the first two of three docks in November 2025. The docks are going to “improve rider experience,” said Michael Julian, General Manager of Blue Atlantic Fabricators, “and bring them into compliance with updated accessibility standards.”
Once completed, the barges were rolled directly from the Blue Atlantic fabrication shop onto the dry dock using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) supplied and operated by Bay Crane Northeast. The dry dock had been matted with a runway and secured into place with the help of ACK Marine, another BHSM tenant. Once the transporters cleared the dock, the dry dock was submerged in a controlled operation, allowing each barge to float free. “The fact that the dry dock can sink to over 12 feet,” said Myles Murphy, Dry Dock Manager at BHSM, “allowed us to be able to block the barge high enough for the SPMTs to safely egress from the pontoon deck with room to spare.”
Massachusetts continues to invest heavily in water transportation on new and existing facility infrastructure. The central location in East Boston was important to the viability of the project. “When we first commissioned the dry dock, we never imagined it would be used in such a unique way that would impact thousands of commuters daily,” said Murphy, “our engineering collaboration and great teamwork with our tenants has proved that this is not only a safe and effective launching method, but is also repeatable.”
This operation was made possible through close collaboration between Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina, Blue Atlantic Fabricators, Bay Crane, ACK Marine, A. Waller Associates, and JMS Naval Architects, whose engineering support ensured the dock, load paths, ballast plan, and sequencing were executed safely and efficiently. It was a “well thought-out and calculated engineering plan,” said Julian, “to assure a safe, reliable, and repeatable operation.”
“This is a great example of what can be achieved when shipbuilders, heavy-lift specialists, naval architects, and shipyard operators work as one team,” said Murphy, “I am very proud of the group effort.”
The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.
Birdon Announces Plans for Sixth US Location in Pensacola, Florida
On Wednesday 28, January, Birdon announced plans to develop and operate a 400,000-square-foot advanced ship manufacturing facility at the Port of Pensacola, Florida. This will be Birdon’s sixth US location.
In partnership with the City of Pensacola and other regional and national stakeholders, Birdon plans to establish a facility that will incorporate the latest technology and modern shipbuilding practices, creating more than three million production man hours per year of additional capacity for fabrication of ships and modules to support the US Maritime Industrial Base. The facility will employ approximately 2,000 personnel, including engineering, skilled trades, and other support roles.
Birdon’s announcement follows initial approval by Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc. for a $76 million grant to the City of Pensacola to help build the facilities Birdon will operate at the Port. Triumph is a nonprofit corporation that oversees expenditure of funds for economic damages resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Funds must be used for recovery, diversification, and enhancement in Northwest Florida.
Tony Ardito, President of Birdon America, said, “Birdon has an excellent track record as a reliable partner to U.S. Government customers. Our expansion to a sixth location at the Port of Pensacola demonstrates our commitment to helping to revitalize and rebuild America’s Maritime Industrial Base.”
The expansion complements Birdon’s existing facilities and its ongoing US Government programs, including Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) construction for the US Coast Guard in Bayou La Batre, AL; and the 47’ Motor Lifeboat (MLB) Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) for the Coast Guard in Bellingham, WA, and Portland, CT.
Birdon expects to open the new facility at the Port of Pensacola as soon as the third quarter of 2027.
The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.
Friday, September 26, 2025
Researchers find benefit in routine asthma screening in communities with high asthma prevalence
Study findings will be presented during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition
DENVER —Researchers were able to identify more patients with asthma in specific communities by screening all children during routine wellness visits and asking about potential home environmental triggers, according to new research.
The authors of an abstract, “Screening for Asthma and Related Environmental Risks in a High-Risk Pediatric Populations: A Descriptive Analysis of Universal Screening,” will present their findings during the American Academy of Pediatrics 2025 National Conference & Exhibition at the Colorado Convention Center Sept. 26-30.
Authors identified a community that already showed a high prevalence of asthma cases and started universally screening all pediatric patients.
“Although common in children and with significant morbidity, asthma is highly treatable if diagnosed early and approached with a holistic lens that includes identifying and addressing environmental triggers,” said study author Karen Ganacias, MD, MPH, MedStar Health pediatrician and assistant professor of pediatrics at Georgetown University School of Medicine. “In populations with high asthma prevalence, routine screening for asthma symptoms and modifiable home environmental triggers can be an important first step to improving outcomes and decreasing disparities.”
Asthma is often underdiagnosed, particularly in children, and ongoing research is being conducted to identify environmental triggers in the home, such as mold, rodents or roaches.
The MedStar Health Kids Medical Mobile Clinic (KMMC) designed and integrated an Asthma Risk and Control Screen (ARCS) that evaluated 650 children ages two and older who had at least one well child visit between January 2021 and December 2024. Of that, 35% of individuals with no previous diagnosis of asthma reported at least one asthma risk factor, and 24% of those individuals were subsequently diagnosed with asthma based on further clinical findings.
Those who screened as positive for asthma reported coughing or shortness of breath at night, previous use of an inhaler, or exercise intolerance due to difficulty with breathing.
The study also found a high prevalence of poor housing quality in children in this population, about 41%, even higher, at 52%, for those that screened positive on the asthma symptom screen. The clinic has since developed a partnership with a home visiting program to remediate environmental triggers for children with asthma, as well as a medical-legal partnership to help advocate for safe and healthy housing.
The authors observe that children with asthma are more likely to miss school days, participate less in activities and sports, and have irregular sleep.
“Asthma is often diagnosed late or not at all because parents may not think of certain symptoms such as night-time cough or needing to stop activity to catch your breath, as being related to asthma,” said study author Janine A. Rethy, MD, MPH, division chief of Community Pediatrics at MedStar Health and associate professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine.
“There are also many environmental triggers in the home that may contribute to these symptoms and which a pediatrician should know about to help understand triggers and incorporate into a treatment plan. This study can open the conversation for screening for asthma and related environmental triggers for all children, especially when there is a high prevalence of asthma in the community.”
The authors did not receive financial support for this research.
Dr. Ganacias will present the research from noon- 1 p.m. MDT Monday, Sep. 29, 2025, during the session hosted by the Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change Program in the Colorado Convention Center, Four Seasons Ballroom 1 & 2. To request an interview with the authors, contact Brendan Mcnamara at Brendan.T.Mcnamara@medstar.net.
In addition, Dr. Ganacias will be among highlighted abstract authors who will give a brief presentation and be available for interviews during a press conference from noon-1:30 p.m. MDT Saturday, Sept. 27, in the National Conference Press Room, CCC 705/707. During the meeting, you may reach AAP media relations staff at 303-228-8338.
Please note: only the abstract is being presented at the meeting. In some cases, the researcher may have more data available to share with media, or may be preparing a longer article for submission to a journal.
# # #
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org. Reporters can access the meeting program and other relevant meeting information through the AAP meeting website at http://www.aapexperience.org/
Program Name: 2025 Call for Abstracts
Submission Type: Council on Environmental Health and Climate Change
Abstract Title: Screening for Asthma and Related Environmental Risks in a High-Risk Pediatric Populations: A Descriptive Analysis of Universal Screening
Karen Ganacias
Washington, DC, United States
Asthma remains a significant cause of morbidity, health care utilization and cost in the United States and is associated with long term health outcomes. 1,2, Early recognition and intervention of asthma exacerbations are crucial to prevent the progression of asthma to severe stages.3 However, asthma is often underdiagnosed, particularly in children, and ongoing research is being conducted to identify predictive symptoms and factors for identifying children at risk for asthma. 3 In addition, environmental exposures that could trigger asthma-like symptoms in pediatric populations needs to be further investigated.4 The Kids Medical Mobile Clinic (KMMC) designed and integrated an Asthma Risk and Control Screen (ARCS) to identify patterns of symptoms associated with potential undiagnosed asthma in an urban patient population with known high prevalence.4,5,6 Home environmental risk is assessed using a question included in the KMMC Social Determinant of Health Screening, universally administered at each WCC. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of previously unrecognized asthma and to identify associated home environment risks.
The ARCS was integrated into universal screening on the web-based TONIC platform in January 2021. The study included unique children 2 years and above who had at least one WCC between January 2021 and December 2024. For ARCS, a positive screen included reporting coughing or shortness of breath at night, previous use of an inhaler, and exercise intolerance due to difficulty with breathing. Asthma diagnoses were based on ICD-10 codes in the chart either prior to or on/after date of the ARCS. The home environment screen is positive if answered “yes” or “maybe” to having seen mold, bugs, mice, rats, peeling paint or water leaking.
650 unique individuals completed the ARCS. 17.7% had a previous ICD10-diagnosis of asthma. 35% of individuals with no previous diagnosis of asthma reported at least one asthma risk factor. 24% of those individuals were subsequently diagnosed with asthma based on further clinical findings, which represented 7.8% of children screened. 38% of those individuals who had a prior diagnosis of asthma also reported yes to home environment risks. 52% of those individuals who reported asthma symptoms, but did not have a diagnosis of asthma reported yes to poor housing quality (Table 1).
Routine screening for asthma symptoms in a population with high prevalence can improve diagnoses. There is a high prevalence of poor housing quality in children with asthma, even higher with underdiagnosed asthma. Early diagnosis and appropriate management, that also addresses environmental triggers is needed for optimal treatment of high-risk populations. In answer to this, our team has developed a collaborative partnership with a community organization that does home-visiting, environmental evaluations and provides education, mold and pest remediation and advocacy.
Table 1Results of universal screening for asthma symptoms and poor housing quality in a population with high prevalence
Subject of Research
People
Article Title
Researchers Find Benefit in Routine Asthma Screening in Communities with High Asthma Prevalence
Article Publication Date
26-Sep-2025
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Thinking Beyond the Bars: How Higher Education Helped Me Develop Confidence in Myself and Rediscover My Humanity
by Darrell Jackson / September 16th, 2025
Ambitious young people are told that a college degree is necessary to launch a successful career. For me — a “lifer” taking courses from my cell in a state prison — higher education isn’t about job preparation but rediscovering my humanity, about learning to think beyond the bars.
I’m not the first person to discover the power of education while incarcerated, but I feel a responsibility to tell this story, not only to reach other prisoners but for all the people who feel left behind by educational institutions. There have been a lot of obstacles between me and higher education — times I didn’t believe in myself and times when institutions didn’t believe in people like me — but I have learned that no one has to settle for that.
Let me start with a stereotype of young Black men — that they think excelling in school is for nerds, not for tough guys on the street. That doesn’t describe all Black boys, of course, but it was true of the guys I ran with. I had loved learning when I was younger, but a combination of institutional failures and peer pressure knocked me off that path. I regret giving up so easily, which was reinforced by a school system that didn’t seem to care much about Black children. I ended up in that “school-to-prison pipeline” for the poor and marginalized.
A series of bad choices as a young adult led to my current residence in the Washington Corrections Center, serving a life-without-parole sentence. While incarcerated, I became a “better late than never” enthusiast for higher education.
But the prison system hasn’t made that easy. The tough-on-crime politics of the 1990s produced the federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in 1994, which eliminated almost all financial aid to prisoners. (It was only in 2023 that prisoners once again became eligible for Pell Grants.)
In 1995, Washington state passed a law that prohibited public funding to support higher education for prisoners beyond adult basic education and the General Education Diploma (GED). Prisoners who had been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole were denied access to more than one post-secondary degree, unless it was pre-vocational or vocational training was needed for their work in prison. The legislation was supposed to eliminate “unnecessary” spending by the Department of Corrections. (That law was partially repealed in 2017, allowing some funding up to two-year degrees.)
Tough-on-crime laws — including “Three Strikes, You’re Out” and “Hard Time for Armed Crime” — led to larger prison populations in Washington state and around the country. Access to education was not a priority, and budget cuts after the 2008 recession led the Department of Corrections to prioritize education for prisoners with less than seven years on their sentence. The rest of us were out of luck.
Don’t ask me to explain how that fits with the rehabilitation mission of prisons — people who are incarcerated know the gap between that rhetoric and the reality of warehousing prisoners. That’s why incarcerated people have done much of the work themselves, one of the most exciting aspects of my experience.
My introduction into higher education began in 2015 through my experience with the TEACH program (Taking Education and Creating History) at Clallam Bay Corrections Center, another prison where I was incarcerated. TEACH was created in 2013 by the Black Prisoners Caucus to address the educational disparities that exist within the prison system for minority, long-term, and undocumented prisoners.
That experience helped me rediscover my humanity.
At that facility, we had a healthy working relationship with prison officials, who gave us classroom space. Through TEACH, we were able to develop and facilitate the courses we needed. We understood that the educational system had left most of us behind, and I learned that some of us came with life experiences and credibility that some of the most decorated professionals did not have.
But we couldn’t deepen our knowledge from experience without help. TEACH leaders established a relationship with Peninsula College and Seattle Central College. For me, getting ready for college-level study took some work.
Before I could start taking college courses, I needed to earn certificates in college-prep math and anger management. After the completion of those two nine-week courses, I took African American studies, a parenting class, and college-prep writing. Then I felt ready to take my first college course through Seattle Central. That sociology class required a lot of writing, which was intimidating at first, but I loved what I was learning, and that course showed me that my experience was shaped by larger social forces.
At the beginning of my college journey, I was uncertain of my ability, an insecurity rooted in so many bad experiences in school. But TEACH had helped me believe in myself, teaching me not to accept the limits of the bars I lived behind, and eventually I was able to start giving back to the program. I was given a chance to facilitate the stress and anger-reduction class I had taken, which led to me joining the program’s board at Clallam Bay. After being transferred to Washington Corrections Center, I was elected vice chair of the program when it was brought to that prison in 2018.
As I worked with the program, I learned my experience was not unusual.
I talked with Taking Education and Creating History) at Clallam Bay Corrections Center a prisoner-student who went on to create and facilitate a sound and song-production course at WCC, which taught prisoners to play and create songs on a keyboard. He said that initially he wasn’t sure he could teach a class, let alone one that he created. TEACH helped him gain the confidence he needed, encouraging him to teach the course the way he thought best. More prisoners sought his expertise, deepening his confidence.
Dwuan Conroy, another TEACH student, said that in addition to the direct benefits for him, the funding for this program took the burden off his wife and family to pay for his education. And when he is released, his enhanced ability to set goals and meet deadlines means that he’ll have a chance at better paying jobs. And, he said, it shows his family that he is making the changes needed to be a better man.
Unfortunately, six months later Mullin-Coston’s sound course was canceled, because it was “not serving a facility need.” That is an example of short-sighted decision-making. If we care about rehabilitation, any learning that creates a positive environment and promotes healthy interactions among prisoners should be seen as a crucial facility need.
The COVID pandemic also created obstacles, shutting down the WCC TEACH partnership with Centralia College and Seattle Central. Conroy was enrolled in courses in biology, anthropology, and English, but lockdowns meant that formal classes were canceled. With little help available from teachers and staff, he said, the prisoner-students relied on each other to finish courses.
“It was these interactions with other prisoners that helped me through the course work despite my learning disabilities,” Conroy said. ”Knowing I had others around in TEACH that could help me through it and not judge, that empowered me to continue my focus during such a difficult time.”
Once the college’s staff members where allowed back into the prison, it was clear that our peer-support work had been crucial in keeping us on track, and 10 students graduated in the fall of 2023.
Taxpayers and politicians who prioritize punishment over rehabilitation may not care about how education enhances prisoners’ mental health and intellectual development. Once again, that’s short-sighted, because education also reduces recidivism. For every dollar spent on education programs, four dollars are saved on re-incarceration costs. One study showed that prisoners who complete some high school courses have a recidivism rate of 55 percent. Vocational training cuts recidivism to 30 percent, an associate degree to 13.7 percent, and a bachelor’s degree to 5.6 percent. A master’s degree brings the recidivism rate down to zero,
Prison education is not a frivolous expense for society but instead an essential investment in human beings. Education reduces conflict among prisoners. Communities are safer when educated and empowered prisoners return home.
As for me, I need two classes to earn my associate degree, after which I want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in behavioral health, and perhaps a master’s degree someday. I still live behind bars. But developing my mind has helped me find the humanity in myself and see more clearly the humanity in others as well.FacebookTwitterReddit
Darrell Jackson is a member of the Black Prisoners Caucus, Co-Chair of T.E.A.C.H (Taking Education and Creating History), and a writer through Empowerment Avenue. He is a student, mentor, and social justice advocate, who is currently serving a life without the possibility of parole sentence at Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, Washington. He can be contacted at securustech.net. Darrell Jackson#329268 and can be found on X @DKJackson20. Read other articles by Darrell.
Suspending Courses, Washing Delicates, and Baking: A University Justifies Harming Staff
and Students
by Binoy Kampmark / September 17th, 2025
These people are a charming, lynch worthy bunch. In claiming they are short of cash, the managerial dunderheads at the University of Technology Sydney thought it prudent to throw A$4.8 million at the tax consultants KPMG to design what it calls the Operational Sustainability Initiative (OSI). The linking of these three words alone suggests that something sinister and inhumane is afoot, a program closer to an assassination or disposal program than a sensible readjustment. Indeed, the OSI became the subject of a “notice to give information” in June from Safework NSW, accusing the university of “wilful and negligent mismanagement” of the restructuring undertaking “despite full knowledge that the process is causing significant psychological harm to staff, including documented instances of suicidal ideation, anxiety, and depression.”
The university, as reported in The Australian Financial Review in May, was hoping to give a savage pruning to the institution’s budget to the value of A$100 million. This initially involved the sacking of 400 staff members, a proposal cooked up even as five senior UTS executives travelled to the United States on an alumni trip worth A$140,000. That financially minded paper also wondered why UTS ended up using KPMG “instead of its own staff to design this plan” in an adventurously asinine contract stuffed with such terms as “leveraging solutions”, “acceleration of value”, and “decision trees”. (Meaningless terms suggest a mind without meaning.) KPMG crows in convoluted ecstasy about a “six-layer framework for target operating model design”. No wonder the technocrats were so wooed by it all.
The suggested program from the firm was ordinary and, as with most products arising from such an organisation, prosaic. It could have just as easily been done by clumsy butchers with a plagiarised MBA. KPMG produced spreadsheets dealing with courses and subjects that might be offered in future, which ones deserved to be confined to oblivion and what areas of research warranted interest as opposed to those that did not. Just to confirm the firm’s almost awe-inspiring lack of expertise, it was also called upon to examine “current and future state teaching capacity”.
Part of the tool kit of advice developed by KPMG to staff most likely heading for the chop developed into a ragbag of nonsense and piffle: to stay mentally sound, best wash delicates with your hands. Try to take up baking, because that is what a disturbed mind awaiting imminent suffering needs. Keep a gratitude journal. Make sure to brush and floss your teeth, because you obviously did not do that before a consultancy firm hired by a university told you to do.
There is every reason to suppose that ChatGPT could have come up with the same, risible nonsense, saving the shameful creeps in management some cash. But sound reasoning is not a prerequisite to those rising up the greasy towers of technocracy in learning institutions, let alone any other institution. Incompetence is often essential, while talent and ethical worth are impediments best done away with.
The vice-chancellor of the university is very much short of parfit, though sports the name Andrew Parfitt. He is adamant that no decisions have been made on job losses or the discontinuing of any courses which, knowing the pattern of university practices, is precisely the opposite of what will happen. “The temporary suspension is aimed at prospective new students for 2026.” This is the sort of shoddy reasoning we have come to expect from the vice-chancellorship and any number of university proconsuls and viceroys that suck the lifeblood out of education. Ella Haid, spokesperson of the UTS Students Association General Councillor and Stop the Cuts UTS, is hard to fault in her assessment on this: “We should be clear that management is doing this because they’re pursuing a hefty financial surplus. They’ve no interest in seeking student or staff consultation on this major restructure.”
The response from UTS to reports, notably by the ABC, was one of dastardly fudging, oily manoeuvring and sickly denial. Rather than admitting to blunder, organisational insensitivity, and being outed, it attacked the national broadcaster for its reporting in a statement. “We are disappointed that the ABC reported that these comprehensive support initiatives were only rolled out as a result of their reporting.”
The reports, claimed the university, had ignored context. “By focusing on just six dot points from a single article on an external wellbeing hub comprising extensive, differentiated resources, the ABC chose to portray this as being representative of the tone, intent and totality of support provided to UTS employees.”
The parasitic problems associated with university management have become critically colossal. Being unable to exist without attachment to the authentic university, that pulsing, thriving organism of cerebration sustained by students and research, the leadership of such bodies continues to make decisions that harm academic staff and any chance of a rich learning experience for students. (A survey from the National Tertiary Education Union of 380 respondents from UTS found that 35% had experienced high levels of psychological distress from the OSI endeavour.)
That harm is then justified through cringeworthy programs of “wellbeing” and assistance, their very existence intended to exonerate the misdeeds of culprits who shamelessly engender an environment of emotional and intellectual terrorism. They create the bullets, use them, and drag out the psychological bandaging to conceal the wounds.
Should courage ever be mustered by cowed academics and the atomised student body, the cosmos of the vice-chancellor and those complicit in sustaining it can finally be terminated with little sorrow and much relish.
Govt gestures leave roots of Indonesia protests intact
Jakarta (AFP) – Government gestures to calm deadly protests in Indonesia have done little to address the economic inequality and hardship fuelling the unrest, leaving deep resentment to linger and flare up again, experts say.
The country's worst violence in decades left at least six people dead and 20 missing, with rallies over lavish perks for lawmakers descending into angry riots against police after officers were filmed running over a young delivery driver.
Southeast Asia's biggest economy recorded a surge in growth in the second quarter of the year on the back of manufacturing and export demand, which President Prabowo Subianto hailed, but everyday Indonesians are not seeing the data reflected in their wallets.
Instead they view a corrupt political class enriching itself and failing to listen to the public, while inequality grows between the rich and the poor, experts said.
"This is caused by economic issues. Some economic policies left the public quite annoyed or even angry," said Nailul Huda, economist at the Center of Economics and Law Studies (CELIOS).
"If economic growth is true, it will be felt by the lower-class society. Terminations are everywhere, and layoffs have increased up to 30 percent, which is quite high," he added.
Lavish benefits for lawmakers including a $3,000 housing allowance, which is nearly 10 times the minimum wage in the capital Jakarta, stirred the initial anger in protests last week before the driver's death.
University students block a road during a demonstration in Indonesia
The protests made Prabowo and parliament leaders U-turn and offer to revoke some perks, including issuing a moratorium on overseas visits.
But their moves have likely not gone far enough to address the underlying grievances of the wider public.
"The government appears insensitive to these concerns," said Nailul. "This has become the root of the administration's problems over the past four days."
Rising anger against the elite has manifested itself in looting, including the homes of several politicians.
It has not been confined to capital Jakarta either, with local and provincial council buildings set on fire or attacked with rocks and Molotov cocktails in cities across the country.
'Govt fails to deliver'
Prabowo had already faced smaller protests in February over widespread budget cuts to fund populist policies, including a billion-dollar free meal programme and new sovereign wealth fund Danantara.
"The budgets that were supposed to be utilised by other sectors are being diverted to popular programmes which most likely still have many problems," said Jahen Fachrul Rezki, an economic researcher at the University of Indonesia.
Around 42,000 people were also laid off between January and June, a 32 percent rise on last year, according to the Ministry of Manpower.
"It might be true that our economy is expanding, but who's benefiting from the growth? Probably just capital owners," Jahen said.
A cost-of-living crisis is being felt by many as the country struggles with a shrinking middle class and slower income growth compared to rising prices because of inflation, according to Jahen.
"The government claimed that we have an increase of rice supply, but it is not reflected in the price," he said.
According to Statistics Indonesia on Monday, the price of the staple good increased by more than six percent on last year.
The number of people living below the poverty line in metropolitan Jakarta -- a megalopolis of around 11 million people -- was up from 362,000 in 2019 to 449,000 as of September 2024, government data says.
"The government initially promised during the campaign that there would be job opportunities, education, and no more layoffs," said Nailul. "But the government fails to deliver."
'A matter of time'
One of Prabowo's early moves was to announce Indonesia would hike its value-added tax to 12 percent, before reversing after a backlash and saying it would only apply to luxury goods.
Protesters throw stones at a local council building on Lombok island
"It is neither feasible nor wise for the government to raise VAT rates when people's purchasing power is declining," said Nailul.
The death of the delivery driver, Affan Kurniawan, also stoked anger because workers like him have faced bigger pay deductions and longer working hours due to the economic situation.
Such conditions mean many Indonesians will still feel the economic pain in the coming months, leaving the door open for fresh protests.
"The protests on the streets probably will come down in the next few days, but it's just a matter of time until public anger resurfaces again," said Ray Rangkuti, political analyst at think tank Lingkar Madani.
"Because we're not addressing the issues, we're just covering them up," Rangkuti added.
Military deployed in Indonesia's capital as thousands protest lavish perks for lawmakers
The military were deployed in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta, on Monday as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across the country to take part in increasingly volatile protests against lavish housing allowances for MPs. Six people have been killed since the demonstrations began over a week ago, with protestors calling for parliamentary reform.
Thousands rallied across Indonesia Monday as the military was deployed in the capital after six people were killed in nationwide protests sparked by anger over lavish perks for lawmakers.
At least 500 protesters gathered outside the nation's parliament in Jakarta, watched by soldiers and police throughout the day, before dissipating after President Prabowo Subianto warned protests should end by sundown.
But elsewhere protests were more volatile. In Gorontalo city on Sulawesi island protesters clashed with police, who responded with tear gas and water cannon, according to an AFP journalist. In Bandung on the main island Java, protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at the provincial council building.
Thousands more rallied in Palembang on Sumatra island and hundreds gathered separately in Banjarmasin on Borneo island, Yogyakarta on the main island of Java and Makassar on Sulawesi, according to AFP journalists around the country.
"Our main goal is to reform the parliament," protester and university student Nafta Keisya Kemalia, 20, told AFP outside parliament before the protest ended.
"Do they want to wait until we have a martial law?"
The deadly protests, which began last week over MP housing allowances nearly 10 times the minimum wage in Jakarta, have forced President Prabowo Subianto and parliament leaders to make a U-turn over the perks.
Demonstrations began peacefully, but turned violent against the nation's elite paramilitary police unit after footage showed one of its teams running over 21-year-old delivery driver Affan Kurniawan late Thursday.
Protests have since spread from Jakarta to other major cities, in the worst unrest since Prabowo took power less than a year ago.
Police set up checkpoints across the capital on Monday, while officers and the military conducted city-wide patrols and deployed snipers in key locations, while the usually traffic-clogged streets were quieter than usual.
Marines secure positions along a street outside the parliament in Jakarta
At least one group, the Alliance of Indonesian Women, said late Sunday it had cancelled its planned protest because of heightened security.
Schools and universities in Jakarta were holding classes online until at least Tuesday, and civil servants based in the city were asked to work from home.
On Monday Prabowo paid a visit to injured police at a hospital where he criticised protesters.
"The law states that if you want to demonstrate, you must ask for permission, and permission must be granted, and it must end at 6pm," he said. Looting
Experts said Prabowo's U-turn in a speech on Sunday and parliament's gesture to revoke some lawmaker perks may not be enough to dispel the unrest.
"The Indonesian government is a mess. The cabinet and parliament will not listen to the people's pleas," 60-year-old snack seller Suwardi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP near parliament.
The Indonesian stock index fell more than 3 percent at the open on Monday after the weekend unrest rattled markets.
Deep-rooted anger against police drove protests on Friday after footage of the van hitting Affan went viral. Seven officers were detained for investigation.
On Monday Agus Wijayanto, head of the accountability bureau at the National Police, told reporters an investigation had found criminal acts committed by two officers – the driver of the van and the officer next to him.
They "could be dishonourably discharged", said Agus.
The crisis has prompted Prabowo to cancel a trip to China this week for a military parade commemorating the end of World War II.
Protests have spread beyond Jakarta to cities across Java and other islands.
In recent days the finance minister's house was pillaged and several lawmakers have reportedly had their houses ransacked.
At least three people were killed after a fire Friday started by protesters at a council building in the eastern city of Makassar, while a fourth was killed by a mob in the city in a case of mistaken identity. Another confirmed victim was a student in Yogyakarta, who died in clashes.
In anticipation of further unrest, TikTok on Saturday suspended its live feature for "a few days" in Indonesia, where it has more than 100 million users.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
Prabowo: Stop State Violence, Revoke Parliamentarians’ Facilities and Allowances, End Repression Against Mass Action, Provide Justice for Victims Statement of Position by the Indonesian Women’s Alliance (API)
The death of Affan Kurniawan, an online motorcycle taxi driver who participated in mass action and was run over by security apparatus vehicles, cannot be viewed as an isolated incident. This event is part of the face of systematic state violence; the apparatus is used to silence the people’s voices with impunity that continues to be allowed.
Today’s wave of popular anger is an accumulation of disgust over reckless policies and the arrogance of state officials. Basic commodity prices are rising, taxes are increasingly strangling, unemployment queues continue to grow, mass redundancies, seizure of customary lands, children victims of MBG poisoning. [1] When the people bear the suffering caused by the state, instead of showing empathy, DPR [2] members who are supposedly people’s representatives, together with officials, are instead having lavish parties in luxury, enjoying allowances, facilities, and soaring salaries. Not only that, the DPR and government also give awards to relatives and colleagues, even allowing officials to hold concurrent positions as BUMN [3] commissioners with abundant facilities.
In the field, people who dare to voice their disappointment and anger are instead faced with brutal repression from the state apparatus. Hundreds of people are arbitrarily arrested, beaten, and treated inhumanely. Tear gas is fired indiscriminately, even directed at places of worship and medical teams carrying out humanitarian duties. This situation not only threatens the safety of action participants, but also shows how the apparatus abandons its basic obligation to protect civilians. Women and students who are at the forefront of action are also not spared from violence; they experience intimidation, beatings, and discriminatory treatment simply for daring to express their opinions. All these repressive actions confirm that the state prefers the path of violence rather than opening democratic dialogue space.
The face of state violence is also visible in many regions: the transfer of Papuan political prisoners to Makassar, [4] agrarian and natural resource conflicts in Rempang, [5] Sulawesi, North Maluku, to the expanding military territory in civilian areas. The state chooses a violent approach rather than opening dialogue space with the people.
This reflects the characteristics of Prabowo’s government which is very militaristic, anti-women, and not pro-people. Prabowo [6] as the person responsible for governance perpetuates a culture of violence by adding battalions, kodams, [7] kodims, [8] and so forth to build defensive fortifications to crush people’s resistance demanding justice and to smooth the way for National Strategic Projects. Prabowo, with his empty efficiency rhetoric, chooses to suppress budgets related to people’s welfare and instead increases allowances for the DPR that does not perform its duties properly. When people protest, Prabowo is busy distributing honorary stars including to former corruption convicts.
This condition is a political and humanitarian crisis! The state that should protect is instead harming. The DPR that should represent and voice the people’s interests has instead become part of the oppression machine. Indonesian democracy is increasingly wounded!
Today the state is no longer ashamed to display the silencing of democracy. Sadistic and brutal repression is carried out openly, targeting people who voice loud rejection of discriminatory policies. The state continues to widen the gap of social and economic inequality with various policies that are not pro-people and have adverse impacts on the lives of women, disability groups, indigenous peoples, and vulnerable groups.
Therefore the Indonesian Women’s Alliance demands:
Prabowo must be held responsible for all violence against the people! Justice for Affan Kurniawan and all victims of apparatus violence. Remove the National Police Chief and Regional Police Chiefs for failing to make POLRI [9] an institution to perform the function of maintaining public security and order, enforcing law and maintaining protection and service to the community. Release the names of apparatus perpetrators, monitor the legal process to completion, and stop impunity for human rights violators. Comprehensive Police reform. Eliminate the militaristic culture full of violence. Stop the use of weapons, tear gas, war equipment and other tools against the people. Stop the use of violence or unfounded arrests against mass action, students, women, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups. Revoke excessive facilities and allowances for DPR and state officials. Revoke special facilities for DPR and state officials. Open dialogue space by meeting and accommodating people’s voices in all regions. Dismiss DPR members who do not carry out the constitutional mandate. Reform taxation policies. Stop tax increases that increasingly burden the people without considering the socio-economic conditions of society, especially vulnerable groups. Open transparency to the public on the use of state budget allocation from taxes. Stop oligarchy and the practice of holding multiple positions. Reject the practice of state officials holding concurrent positions in BUMN. Create a transparency portal so the public can monitor officials’ salaries and allowances. Stop repression and open democratic space. Support media independence to report facts without intervention. Stop blocking and wiretapping on communication platforms and social media. Stop criminalisation and violence against people who dare to speak out. Evaluate government programmes and performance as well as ministry bureaucracy that does not side with the people, is not thorough in realising pro-people policies, does not function in preventing human rights violations that are actually committed by state institutions whilst consuming the state budget.
Therefore We, the Indonesian Women’s Alliance, state our position:
Demanding President Prabowo Subianto’s responsibility for the continuing state violence. Strongly condemning repressive actions by the apparatus and demanding full justice for victims. Urging the DPR as servants of the people to work according to the constitutional mandate, not to enrich themselves with excessive allowances and facilities. Rejecting problematic programmes and projects that drain the APBN [10] without providing real benefits to the people. Rejecting impunity and bringing to justice perpetrators of Human Rights violations. Demanding unconditional release for mass action participants detained throughout Indonesia.
Together with the Indonesian Women’s Alliance:
Aliansi Perempuan Bangkit Aneta-Papua Artsforwomen Indonesia Arus Pelangi Asosiasi LBH APIK Indonesia Betina issue (North Sulawesi) Cakra Wikara Indonesia Emancipate Indonesia FAMM Indonesia Federasi Serikat Buruh Persatuan Indonesia (FSBPI) FeminisThemis Forum Pengada Layanan FPPI Gema Alam NTB Girl, No Abuse – Makassar Y2F Media WCC Puantara ICJR Ikatan Pemuda Tionghoa Banten INFID Institut KAPAL Perempuan Jaringan Advokasi Nasional Pekerja Rumah Tangga (JALA PRT) Jaringan Akademisi GERAK Perempuan JASS Kaoem Telapak Kartini Manakarra Kelas Muda Koalisi Perempuan Indonesia Koalisi Perempuan untuk Kepemimpinan (KPuK) Kolektif Semai Komunitas Empu Fesyen Berkelanjutan Komunitas Feminis Gaia, Yogyakarta Konsorsium PERMAMPU – Sumatera Konde.c0 LBH APIK Jakarta LBH Kalbar Migrant CARE Muslimah Reformis, Tangsel OPSI Peace Women Across the Globe network Pamflet Generasi Perempuan Mahardhika Perempuan Mahardhika Palu Perempuan Melawan (Aliansi Tolak Reklamasi Manado Utara) Perempuan Solipetra (Petani Penggarap Kalasey Dua) North Sulawesi Perhimpunan Jiwa Sehat Perhimpunan Rahima Perkumpulan DAMAR Perempuan Lampung Perkumpulan Gemawan Perkumpunan Kecapi Batara Indonesia Perkumpulan Lintas Feminis Jakarta Perkumpulan Samsara Perkumpulan Sawit Watch PHD PEREMPUAN AMAN LouBawe Proklamasi Anak Indonesia Rifka Annisa WCC Yogyakarta Rumah Pengetahuan Amartya Save All Women and Girls (SAWG) Second Chance Serikat Buruh Industri Perawatan Taiwan (SBIPT) Serikat Buruh Migran Indonesia Serikat Pekerja Kampus (SPK) Solidaritas Feminis West Papua Solidaritas Perempuan Serikat Pekerja Kampus Support Group and Resource Center on Sexuality Studies (SGRC) Indonesia Suara Ibu Indonesia Lembaga Pengembangan Sumber Daya Mitra (LPSDM NTB) OPSI Warga Humanis Women’s March Jakarta 2025 YAPPIKA Yayasan Gemilang Sehat Indonesia Yayasan IPAS Indonesia Yayasan Kalyanamitra Yayasan Keadilan dan Perdamaian Indonesia Yayasan Kesehatan Perempuan Yayasan Penabulu Yayasan Srikandi Sejati (YSS)
Contact persons:
Nabila – 0896-9368-0646 De – 0851-5875-5180 Ajeng – 0811-1313-760
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