The Jakarta Post

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., the Japanese automaker tarnished by a massive recall-cover-up 15 years ago, owned up to another scandal Wednesday, saying employees had intentionally falsified fuel mileage test data for several vehicle models. The inaccurate tests by the Tokyo-based automaker involved 157,000 of its own-brand eK wagon and eK Space light passenger cars, and 468,000 Dayz and Dayz Roox vehicles produced for Nissan Motor Co. The models are all so-called “minicars” with tiny engines whose main attraction is generally great mileage. They were produced from March 2013. The problem surfaced after Nissan pointed out inconsistencies in data, the company said. Mitsubishi conducted an internal probe and found that tire pressure data was falsified to make mileage appear better than it actually was. “The wrong doing was intentional. It is clear the falsification was done to make the mileage look better. But why they would resort to fraud to do this is still unclear,” company president Tetsuro Aikawa told reporters. He and other company executives bowed in apology.

-Jakarta should be flood free in 2018, says minister – Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono has said that Jakarta will be flood free by 2018, particularly if flood mitigation projects along the Ciliwung River finish on schedule. The projects include the construction of the Ciliwung tunnel connecting West Flood Canal (BKB) and East Flood Canal (BKT) that will split water flowing from the Ciliwung River as well as the expansion of the capacity of the Ciliwung River, the longest river in the capital. Once the process of the Ciliwung River normalization and the construction of the Ciliwung tunnel are finished, the floods will recede,’ said Basuki as reported by tribunnews.com on Tuesday. According to Basuki, the flood mitigation projects being implemented along the Ciliwung River and Ciliwung Tunnel could reduce the volume of flow around Kampung Pulo to 440 cubic meters from 570 cubic meters per second during peak rainy season. He stressed that with a flow volume of 470, the river would not overflow. The capacity of the flood gates will be 504 cubic meters per second, so with 470 cubic meters per second, water flow will be smooth,’ he added. Basuki said that the Ciliwung flood mitigation project that started in 2013, is expected to be completed within two years.

-Sinabung not National Disaster, BNPB says – The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) emphasized that the Mount Sinabung’s eruption in North Sumatra was a regional and national disaster. BNPB chief spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the Karo and North Sumatra regional administrations were still running normally and nothing had paralyzed the regional administrations. Despite almost 95 percent of the assistance being from the central government, this is not a national disaster,’ he told Antara news agency.