It's Barbeque today: Published on 03 May 2007

One of my crazy staff invited some of us for a Barbecue in his house. I am telling because, its Thursday and we have to go to office tomorrow!!

In Banda Aceh, they make simple Barbecue oven in a welding shop. First they take a truck wheel, make holes on the side, put stand with Iron angles, and cover it with a stainless steel grill. All together it costs around 50 USD. He also brought a bag full of wood coal which costs 8 USD.

The fire started at 8:00 PM and we started putting fish, beef, chicken, sausages and even carrot. We were around 10 of us, eating and chatting... guess what's the topic? Its again office politics!!

I kept on asking him, why on Thursday? why not on Friday/Saturday?.. but it seems that there is no reason.

I just came off at 10:30, feeling sleepy now.....

Do we still build houses: Published on 28 April 2007

They are slowing eating the mountain away, foot by foot and tonne by tonne. Its just next to the village, where we are building houses.

I went to determine what type of sanitation system we are going to adopt in village Rima Keuneuram, near Banda Aceh. But what I saw is a dangerous stone quarrying next to the new houses. There are excavators, blasters, huge trucks and other heavy machinary.

I asked them, what happens when the earthquake comes, The hill will collapse on the houses? They are very confident that the hill will not collapse, becuase they have already tested its strength. They have made caves and blasted the hill, but nothing happened.

But, over the years, there is going to be vast amounts of soil erosion, and the whole area will slowly become the most dangerous zone.

Do we still build houses there?

Warehouse Problems: Published on 28 April 2007

We are building multi level stacks to store pipes in proper order in one of our Warehouses. I went to see the work, and the condition of the Ware House.

Presently, there are large amounts of material which are not being used in the warehouses. The warehouse staff keep stock list of what is coming and what is going manually. The supervisors are expected to keep a track of the material and inform the management about their movement on a periodic basis.

There were construction equipments which are in brand new condition, and which will not be used at all for the construction. So we are trying to return to the vendor after we months of their stay in our Warehouse.

Normally, this type of material will be auctioned with proper procedure. But our present environment is that the auctions will be controlled by powerful groups, who will decide the price of auction.

So, the best way is to identify which material will be used during the next 1 year, and try to dispose of unused material through various means.

Contractors and Water: Published on 21 April 2007

These are the new houses at the back drop of IDP camps, which are being built for them

The construction companies are always powerful when it comes to access to water. They will some how get water, even if it is not there.

Near Neuhen- Neuhen barracks, there is a big bore well which will supply water to most of the IDP’s (Internally Displaced People). A contractor group is building beautiful houses to these IDP’s near that area. Now, they come to the bore well which is meant for the barrack people and extract water for their construction.

The people sometimes are nice, any way they are building houses for them. So they have not fully resisted the encroachment of their water sources by the contractors.

Due to excessive pumping, the pump broke down, and the contractors started going to other places where they can get water. Since there is no water for the people, they have collected money and repaired the water pump.

My project manager got so upset, and stopped the contractors to come and collect the water from the barracks. Also, he arranged a meeting with the contractors to pay the recent repair costs. But, who will pay ya, it’s easy to give, but very difficult to get.

Any way I have appreciated his initiative in bringing justice to the people.

Neuhen- Neuhen Barracks: Published on 21 April 2007

I have visited some of the people who are living in Barracks in a location called Neuhen- Neuhen, which is the in foot of a hill. Its spread out in a vast area, may be around 20 acres with 32 Barracks. In each Barrack there will be around 20 housing units with a population of around 100 people. Official records show that there are 786 families, meaning around 4000 people live in these barracks.

When I looked around, its mind boggling to imagine the amount of work required to maintain those barracks. My project manager is explaining what sort of ordeal he has to go through in maintaining these barracks. Like these, there are a total of 13 barracks, where we are providing water and sanitation services.

There are numerous problems we encounter with the people here. A fiber septic tank of one cubic meter, couple of zinc coated tin sheets was missing from the camp. When their wooden floors were damaged, we gave them around 60 sheets of ply wood sheets. Later we found out that they sold them to a contractor with out repairing their houses.

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Indonesia- Economic and Social update- April 2007: Published on 21 April 2007

The World Bank released a paper last week entitled ‘Indonesia: Economic and Social Update- April 2007’. This paper has been prepared by Yoichiro Ishihara (World Bank Office Jakarta, Economist) under the supervision of William Wallace (Lead Economist).

According to this report, the Economic indicators of Indonesia are signaling a strong pickup, but multitudes of natural and man made disasters may dampen the upturn in the near term. The over all growth rates for 2006 is 5.5%, and expected to pick up to 6.3% in 2007, and 6.5% in 2008.

The government also approved a new ‘Investment Law’ on 29^th of March, which creates significant impact on the investment climate.

The key items of the new law are:

Equal legal status: Gives equal legal status and treatment to both domestic and foreign investors.

Investors’ protection: (i) Provides protection against nationalization and states that any expropriation must be based on law and compensated at market prices, (ii) guarantees the right to repatriate earnings in foreign currency, and (iii) omits the forced divestiture and limited duration of foreign investment under the old law (1967 Foreign Investment Law).

Dispute resolution: Mandates binding international arbitration in the event of disputes between the government and foreign investors.

Negative list: Makes all business activities open to investment unless explicitly closed or restricted and provides for a transparent investment negative list based on standard industrial classifications to be issued as a single Presidential Regulation

Property rights: Provides stronger property rights (e.g. land use rights for investors of up to 95 years)

Immigration procedures: Allows expatriate workers to be granted two year residence permits and two year multiple entry visas, and allows the two year residence permit to be turned into a permanent residence permit for expatriates living in Indonesia continuously for more than two years;

Tax incentives: Provides for special tax incentives for certain types of investment under certain conditions, including tax holidays for pioneer industries, income tax reductions, exemption or reduction of import duty and value added tax for capital goods and raw materials, accelerated depreciation and reduced property tax;

Reporting requirement: Requires all investors to submit periodic investment activity reports to the Investment Board (BKPM)

These changes are similar to the economic liberalization which happened in India during 1992. So, if any body is interested in business, come to Indonesia!!

I Just Missed it: Published on 15 April 2007

I was eagerly waiting to take a picture when the visitors counter turns exactly 1,000.

I started refreshing the page frequently since morning, and by night, it reached 998. So I started refreshing very frequently, and for a long time the counter stood at 999. I readied my mobile camera, adjusted the lighting, and I refreshed again....

Oops...... it's now 1001. I felt so disappointed for not able to see clocking exactly 1000. If any body is wondering what I am talking about, there is a counter on the left hand side of the blog, which tells you how many people visited your blog.

I know its just silly.... but its a thrill!!

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Filing System for Projects: Published on 15 April 2007

On Friday, I have conducted an inspection of Filing Systems of various projects with the Project Managers. As usual most of the documents are arbitrarily stacked into the files, and there were documents every where. I have asked them to sort out the filing systems for their respective projects so that documents are easily retrievable.

Since every body is following their own patterns of filing, I have given them the following sequence, so that any body can access the documents easily.

A. CONTRACT FILES

1. Proposals: Proposal, Log Frame, Budget, Annexure
2. Contract Documents: Donor Contract, IPIA, Donor Approvals, Donor Guidelines, Donor Formats
3. Revisions: Budget Revisions, Program Amendments, Other Changes
4. Reporting: Donor Reports, Periodic Updates to Donors, Special Reports to Donors
5. Donor Correspondence

B. PROGRAM FILES

1. Proposals: Proposal, Log Frame, Budget, Annexure
2. Planning: Work Plan, Procurement Plan, Material Delivery Plan, Other Periodic Plans
3. Reporting: Weekly/ Monthly/ Annual Reports, Periodic Updates, Consultant Reports, Special Reports, Other Reports
4. Design: Design and Drawings, Concept Notes, Site Maps, TOR’s
5. Staffing: Staff Structure, Recruitment, General Correspondence
6. Beneficiaries: List of Beneficiaries, Baseline Data, Benef Documents, Letters from Beneficiaries
7. Meetings: Project Meetings, Staff Meetings, Special Meetings

The meaning for my beautiful name: Published on 14 April 2007

I don't beleive in numeralogy, but I came across a funny site http://www.paulsadowski.com and entered my name. Here are the results:

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You entered: Salathiel Raju Nalli

There are 18 letters in your name.
Those 18 letters total to 68
There are 8 vowels and 10 consonants in your name.

What your first name means:

Biblical

Male

Asked or lent of God.

Your number is: 5

The characteristics of #5 are: Expansiveness, visionary, adventure, the constructive use of freedom.

The expression or destiny for #5:
The number 5 Expression endows with the wonderful characteristic of multi-talents and versatility. You can do so many things well. The tone of the number 5 is constructive freedom, and in your drive to attain this freedom, you will likely be the master of adaptability and change. You are good at presenting ideas and knowing how to approach people to get what you want. Naturally, this gives you an edge in any sort of selling game and spells easy success when it comes to working with people in most jobs. Your popularity may lead you toward some form of entertainment or amusement. Whatever you do, you are clever, analytical, and a very quick thinker.

If there is too much of the 5 energy in your makeup, you may express some the negative attitudes of the number. Your restless and impatient attitude may keep you from staying with any project for too long. Sometimes you can be rather erratic and scatter yourself and your energies. You have a hard time keeping regular office hours and maintaining any sort of a routine. You tend to react strongly if you sense that your freedom of speech or action is being impaired or restricted in any way. As clever as you are, you may have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again because much of your response is glib reaction rather that thoughtful application. You are in a continuous state of flux brought by constantly changing interests.

Your Soul Urge number is: 3

A Soul Urge number of 3 means:
With the Soul Urge number 3 your desire in life is personal expression, and generally enjoying life to its fullest. You want to participate in an active social life and enjoy a large circle of friends. You want to be in the limelight, expressing your artistic or intellectual talents. Word skills may be your thing; speaking, writing, acting, singing. In a positive sense, the 3 energy is friendly, outgoing and always very social.

You have a decidedly upbeat attitude that is rarely discouraged; a good mental and emotional balance.

The 3 Soul Urge gives intuitive insight, thus, very high creative and inspirational tendencies. The truly outstanding trait shown by the 3 Soul Urge is that of self-expression, regardless of the field of endeavor.

On the negative side, you may at times become too easygoing and too optimistic, tending to scatter forces and accomplish very little. Often, the excessive 3 energy produces non-stop talkers. Everyone has faults, but the 3 soul urge doesn't appreciate having these pointed out.

Your Inner Dream number is: 11

An Inner Dream number of 11 means:
You dream of casting the light of illumination; of being the true idealist. You secretly believe there is more to life than we can know or prove, and you would like to be provider of the 'word' from on high.

A different R&R: Published on 13 April 2007

For the four senior technical positions we have advertised in WATSAN, we got around 75 applications from all over Indonesia. The concerned person in HR is on leave, and along with all other issues, I took up the tedious job of shortlisting candidates for Interview.

As I went through the profiles, I was able to short list only two applications who qualify for the positions they are applying. At the end of the day, I was so disappointed and frustrated at the scenario... that means, we will not have key people in place for few more months??

I can't say that Indonesia lack qualified and talented people. I think, they have people with better capacity when compared to African and Latin American countries. But on the other hand, I have to acknowledge that there is less competitive environment compared to other Asian countries, and even neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines. So, people are hired for their qualifications and experience, rather than their capacity.

But, in our scenario, there are two key factors which can be termed as R&R. This is not rest and relaxation as I mentioned earlier, but 'Remuneration and Remoteness'.

As International NGOs started operating after Tsunami, one of the important factors they have considered is that they do not want to inflate the job market. That means, that when International NGOs leave the country, people will be able to find a reasonable job in other companies with similar pay package. But on the other hand, International NGOs require people with a caliber matching International standards. The people who have that caliber will not like to work in NGOs because, of the less pay they receive.

The second factor is that Banda Aceh is a remote and dangerous area for Indonesians. So people think twice before applying, unless they don't have any other job to do.

So these R&R issues makes the recruitment very difficult, and the program implementation suffers.