Batam tour operators in Riau Islands province are optimistic that the presence of a new casino at Singapore’s Resort World Sentosa will boost the province’s tourism sector.

Taman Megawisata Ocarina director Dewi Koriati said that tour operators on the island should be able to draw casino visitors’ attention to Batam, given its proximity of only one hour ferry trip.

Batam, she said, could serve as an alternative place for the tourists visiting the neighboring city state.
“The newly opened casino does not have to negatively affect Batam’s tourism industry,” she told The Jakarta Post.

A scavenger in Batam has confessed to killing an acquaintance and eating his organs in an effort to gain mystical powers.

Harun, 28, was arrested for allegedly killing 28-year-old Fahmi in October 2009 at Batam’s Legenda Malaka housing complex.

“I’m sorry for killing him,” he told SCTV on Monday, adding that he had not gotten “any power at all” from the ritual.

Harun told police he chose Fahmi as his victim because he hated him.

The chief of the Tanjungpinang main naval base, Commodore SM Dorojatun, has confirmed units under his command had been alerted to a terror threat in the Malacca Strait, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

He said the Singapore Navy had recently issued a warning that a terror group was planning to attack tankers passing through the Malacca Strait.

"We received the information two days ago from Singapore`s Navy and Indonesian intelligence agents," Dorojatun said here on Friday.

Oil and gas industry service vessel provider Miclyn Express Offshore Ltd has lodged a prospectus seeking to raise $297.6 million to $365 million in an initial public offer.

The company is offering about 161 million shares at a price of between $1.85 and $2.30 per share, Singapore-based Miclyn Express said in a statement on Wednesday.

Miclyn Express operates a shipyard at Batam, Indonesia and expects to commence trading on the Australian stock exchange on April 6.

Muslim legal arbiters in this Riau Islands city on Tuesday rejected a recently floated idea to levy a tax on prostitution to increase the local government’s income.

“Such taxation would create the impression that prostitution was legal. Of course we strongly reject it,” said Usman Ahmad, the head of the Indonesian Ulema Council in Batam.

Riki Syolihin, a member of Batam’s legislative council, had said that the island, a popular weekend destination for visitors from nearby Singapore, could make Rp 6.4 billion ($685,000) in additional revenue every year if prostitutes were charged a 10 percent income tax.

Riki, a lawmaker from the National Awakening Party (PKB), suggested that the income tax be applied to prostitutes at rehabilitation centers, which he claimed functioned as brothels.

Batam`s Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) rejects the city government`s plan to tax commercial sex workers because it would mean the legalization of prostitution, a spokesman said.

"Taxing commercial sex workers to increase the city government`s revenue implies legalizing their activity. And therefore, we firmly reject the idea," Usman Ahmad, chairman of MUI`s Batam branch, said here Tuesday.

Although the taxes on commercial sex workers were expected to yield as much as Rp6 billion per year for the city`s treasury, the money was "not good for the community." he said.