In Jakarta alone last year, 351 of 19,000 prisoners died.

Of the 116,000 people serving jail terms in the more than 300 penitentiaries and prisons nationwide, 32,000 were imprisoned for drug cases. Seventy percent of those convicted in drug cases were drug users.

Speaking at a media conference at the ministry, Mardjaman said that his department planned to start the identification of new HIV/AIDS positive inmates by next year. He also said that, "The transaction [of drugs inside prisons] is a fact."

"We have been applying routine and incidental sweeping in every prison and penitentiary," he said.

"However, we are not able to detect drug transactions [inside the prison]. For that reason, we have been working with the National Police since mid 2006," he said. He added that drugs were brought into prisons by various means, involving prison guards as well as visitors. - The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network

Philippines: Arrroyo sets up office in hospital

Not wanting any interruption in her work even as she attends to First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, President Gloria Arroyo has set up an office inside the Saint Luke's Medical Centre, the First Gentleman's attending physician has said.

Dr Juliet Gopez-Cervantes said Arroyo has opted to stay with her husband after his open heart surgery and was "holding office upstairs".

"She's high spirited and happy that the most critical part is over and she opted to stay," she told reporters in a news briefing yesterday.

Marilen Lagniton, St Luke's vice president for customer affairs division, said Arroyo was currently occupying the presidential suite, which had a visitors' area separate from the patient's room and which was equipped with a fax machine, a personal computer with an Internet connection, and printer.

Arroyo's schedules since Monday have been cancelled because of the condition of the First Gentleman.

A scheduled trip to Boao, China on April 20 to 25 will also now depend on her husband's condition. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network.

Court judgement: Condo owners win 'seaview' suit

The Administrative Court in Rayong yesterday issued an injunction halting construction of a residential building that will block sea views of residents in a nearby condominium.

The court injunction noted that Pattaya City Council allowed building of View Talay Jomtien Condominium to proceed when it might have violated regulations protecting the rights of nearby residents.

The 10 complainants, all foreigners residing in Jomtien Complex Condotel, said Pattaya City Council wrongly granted construction permission for View Talay Jomtien Condominium. They said the permission did not meet 1978 planning regulations and alleged that it would deprive them of their views of Jomtien Beach.

The court said the site of the condominium appeared to be less than the legally required distance of 200 metres from Jomtien Complex Condotel. Regulations require building of 18 metres or higher to be more than 200 metres apart. The View Talay Jomtien Condominium is a 27-storey, 81-metre-tall building.

Although the court has not ruled on the 200-metre distance issue, it ordered an injunction and said the owners of the condominium would have to prove they were not violating the regulation. - The Nation.