Ida Bagus Mahawijaya, a part-time, unofficial priest and educator dabbled in the murky world of Balinese black magic before leaving the dangerous sphere and focusing on positive aspects of Hinduism.

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Qatar Airways officially launches the Middle Eastern carrier’s new service to Bali, at a ceremony at Ngurah Rai International Airport on Wednesday

By William J. Furney
Managing Editor
The Bali Times

SEMINYAK ~ Qatar Airways flew into Bali on its inaugural flight on Wednesday, the first Middle Eastern airline to open a route to the island, while the world’s second-biggest retailer is about to unveil its first hypermarket here, describing the economy as “promising.”

Unemployment Seen Dropping by 55%

Meanwhile, the central bank predicted this week that soaring investor confidence would cut island-wide unemployment by a startling 55 percent.

The more than 120,000 people listed as unemployed last year is projected to drop to just over 65,000 this year as more people take advantage of work opportunities afforded them by new employers, according to Bank Indonesia’s Bali office.

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JAKARTA ~ Garuda Indonesia has bought 35 new jets from Boeing that will start arriving from 2009, the flag carrier’s spokesman Pujobroto said.

“This involves a package of 25 Boeing 737-800 Next Generation and 10 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners,” Broto said on Tuesday. A Garuda jet crash-landed on March 7 in the central Java city of Yogyakarta and erupted in flames, killing 21 people and highlighting Indonesia’s blighted transport safety record.

Broto said the deal was struck long before the crash. He declined to specify a value for the aircraft order but said an initial US$23 million had been paid.

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By Rian Dewanto
The Bali Times

DENPASAR ~ Six tsunami-warning towers have been installed at key locations in Bali, with sirens ready to blare out in the event of large waves forming in the ocean, an official said.

The towers (as pictured, on Kuta Beach) have been installed in Seminyak, Kuta, Kedonganan, Sanur, Tanjung Benoa and Nusa Dua, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency spokesman Suhardjono told The Bali Times on Wednesday.

Similar towers would also be installed in other at-risk coastal areas of Indonesia, he said.

“With these sirens, we are aiming to establish a better system, so that everyone knows when a tsunami is approaching and can take the necessary action,” he said.

“Twenty government agencies are working 24/7 to support this system, as well as universities and other bodies,” he said.

Another official at the meteorology agency, Sutrisno, said separately that the sirens had been placed “in areas in which access to information is limited.”

Operation of the sirens was still being worked out, however.

“The sirens are currently ready to use. At the moment, though, we are still in discussions with government officials in Bali to determine the appropriate procedures for their operation. Until then, the sirens will be fully controlled by us (the agency) and linked to our central office in Jakarta, as well as Padang and Medan, where sirens have also been placed.”

Sutrisno said Bali is situated between two earthquake zones, in the Indian Ocean south of Bali and in the Bali Sea to the north.

“Between these zones, the tectonic plate in the south of Bali indicates more frequent quakes than that in the north, which is why we have prioritized placing the siren towers in areas in southern Bali,” he said.

In the event of an earthquake-triggered tsunami occurring off the shores of Bali, the warning sirens would be activated four minutes later, said Sutrisno.

“When a quake occurs, our censors detect it and provide detailed information about it, which takes four minutes, by which time we know enough whether to turn on the sirens or not,” he said.

The devices were made by the Federal Signal Corporation, an American firm, added Sutrisno, declining to reveal the cost.

LONDON ~ London Heathrow Airport’s new Terminal 5 will make the airport the world’s greatest air hub, chief executive Tony Douglas claimed on Tuesday, exactly a year before the opening.

The terminal, which cost £4.3 billion (US$8.4 billion), will be a new home for carrier British Airways and serve 30 million passengers a year.

Heathrow, west of the city centre, is the world’s busiest international airport.

GENEVA ~ International air travel continued to expand in February, growing by 6.8 percent compared to the same month last year, the top airline industry association said on Wednesday.

“Passenger demand continues to exceed expectations,” Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association, said in a statement.

Global international passenger growth a month earlier reached 6.1 percent on a year-on-year basis, and averaged 5.9 percent for the whole of 2006.