VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, has urged the public to remain vigilant against the potential for COVID-19 transmission, especially ahead of the 2023 Eid al-Fitr homecoming period.

"The community still needs to strive to anticipate the potential for COVID-19 transmission because, to date, some people are still exposed to COVID-19," he said after chairing a ministerial meeting here on Wednesday.

So far, the government has not seen the need to issue any circular regulating the implementation of health protocols during the fasting month of Ramadan and the holy day of Eid al-Fitr 1444 Hijri, he informed.

The fasting month started on March 23, 2023. Meanwhile, the Islamic holy day is estimated to fall on April 22.

"Hence, everything has returned to normal, still, I ask everyone to maintain comfort and safety as well as anticipate the possibility of being exposed to COVID-19," the coordinating minister added.

He also appealed to the public to get booster vaccinations.

“…however, I do not think that other (preventive) measures, such as crowd monitoring, health scanning, or tracing (of the close contacts of the exposed people) are required," he said.

Meanwhile, assistant deputy for health service improvement at the ministry, Nia Reviani, emphasized the importance of increasing the COVID-19 booster vaccination coverage ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday period.

The administration of complete vaccination doses is necessary to prevent a spike in COVID-19 cases since the mobility of the community may increase during the exodus period, which is estimated to take place from April 19 to 25, 2023, she explained.

“Eid al-Fitr exodus is an important tradition for many (Indonesian) people to meet their family and relatives. However, considering that we are still amid a pandemic situation, vaccination is very important to curb the transmission of the COVID-19 virus," the assistant deputy said.

COVID-19 booster doses are needed to improve the effectiveness of previous vaccinations, she added.

In addition, she appealed to people to adhere to the health protocols and maintain their own health. (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has lauded the work done by the police in investigating the death of Mawartih Susanti, a pulmonologist from Nabire Regional Hospital, Central Papua province, and arresting the suspect.

"I laud the National Police, especially the Papua Regional Police, who have investigated (the case) and arrested the suspect," he said in a statement released on Wednesday evening.

Security, safety, and health guarantees are the right of every health worker in the country, especially those who are carrying out humanitarian missions in remote regions, he added.

The minister stated that ensuring the safety of medical workers is the responsibility of the government so that they can provide health services properly.

"Hence, I have specifically asked the TNI (Indonesian Defense Forces), Polri (National Police), and the local government to provide good security guarantees for doctors and other health workers. Thus, wherever they are placed, the health workers can carry out their duties well," Sadikin added.

According to him, Susanti had high dedication, love, and responsibility for her work. Her dedication was proven by her serving as the sole pulmonologist in Nabire district, Central Papua province, for six years.

She was found dead on March 9, 2023, at around 7 p.m. Eastern Indonesia Standard Time (WIT) at her official residence in Nabire district.

Earlier, chairperson of the Papua branch of the Association of Pulmonologists, Hendra Sihombing, said that there were irregularities in the victim's death.

According to the reports, the victim was found with signs of foaming at the mouth and with bruises on her body, he said. Susanti’s family said that the back of her body had turned blue and she had broken her neck and ribs.

On Wednesday, chief of Papua Regional Police, Inspector General Mathius Fakhiri, announced that the police had arrested a cleaning service officer at Nabire Regional Hospital, identified as KW, who was suspected to have murdered the pulmonologist.

Fakhiri added that the suspect was identified after the police found residual saliva on the victim’s body during the autopsy.  (Antaranews)

VOInews, Jakarta: The Indonesian government hopes that the performance of Saudi Arabian importers of Indonesian products can be improved to increase trade between the two countries.

The Trade Attaché of the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh Gunawan said that his party had made a number of efforts so that Indonesian products could be better known in Saudi Arabia.

"We are trying to make Indonesian products not only easy to find but if they can flood Saudi Arabia," he said in the Diplomacy Domain program broadcast on Voice of Indonesia in Jakarta, Tuesday (29/3).

A number of these efforts include the awarding of the 2022 Primaduta award from the Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia to 6 (six) Saudi Arabian importers which was handed over on Sunday (26/3).

According to Gunawan, the six importers are Arroqeeb Universal Group, Sami Al Khatiri, Said Bawazer Trading Company (SBTC), Bin Sihon, Midad Holding Company, and Khalid Stationary. He said, of the 6 importers, 3 were new importers who received the Primaduta award, namely Arroqeeb Universal Group, Midad Holding Company, and Khalid Stationary.

“With the emergence of these new companies, it can motivate other importers who also want to receive awards. So they end up competing to import much better Indonesian products," he said.

Gunawan explained that there are a number of criteria that must be met by Saudi Arabian importers who want to get the Primaduta award, namely carrying out promotional activities for Indonesian products, taking part in the process of increasing the added value of Indonesian export products, having inspiring stories while importing Indonesian products, and being a pioneer in importing this type of product. 

"We don't give awards to the performing importers every year because not all countries get the title as a performing importer. So this does have criteria," he explained.

Apart from giving the Primaduta award, to encourage the performance of Saudi Arabian importers, Indonesia has also proposed a Joint Feasibility Study (JFS) within the framework of the Indonesia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) CEPA cooperation in 2018. According to Gunawan, one of the points of concern to Indonesia is the adjustment of entry tariffs for products from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia.

"With this, it is hoped that Indonesian products can be more competitive and the people of Saudi Arabia who have high purchasing power can of course bring more Indonesian goods," he said.

In addition to these efforts, according to Gunawan, Indonesia also has a potential market for domestic products in Saudi Arabia. He said the market potential was evident from the number of Umrah pilgrims from Indonesia, which reached 250 thousand of people every month. In addition, pilgrims from Indonesia reached more than 221 thousand pilgrims. Until the number of pilgrims from Indonesia in Saudi Arabia reached more than 350 thousand people.

"There's a large number of Indonesian people in Saudi Arabia, the market already exists. If the market already exists, our export potential will be very large," he said.

According to data from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, Indonesia-Saudi Arabia's Non-Oil and Gas export performance in the January-January 2023 period experienced an increase of 75.57%, from USD 125.9 million to USD 221 million compared to 2022 in the same period. In addition, according to Gunawan, the total trade between the two countries in 2022 will exceed USD 7 billion compared to the previous year which only reached USD 5.5 billion.

"And in 2022 our non-oil and gas exports have reached more than USD 1 billion and that is more than 30%," he said.

With these efforts, Gunawan hopes that the performance of Saudi Arabian importers can continue to be boosted so that Saudi Arabia's ranking as one of Indonesia's strategic trade partners can continue to be improved. (VOI/Andy)

Myanmar's military government has dissolved the ousted ruling party of former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and 39 other parties, state media announced on Tuesday, over their failure to register for an election set to prolong the army's grip on power.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) is among dozens of parliamentary parties that were severely weakened by the military's 2021 coup against Suu Kyi's elected government and its crackdown on protests against its rule.

The polls, for which no date has been announced, will come amid a deepening crisis in Myanmar, where the military is fighting on multiple fronts to crush ethnic minority armies and a resistance movement formed to counter its lethal suppression of anti-coup dissent.

In a live broadcast late on Tuesday, state-run Myawaddy TV said 63 parties had registered at local or national level and named 40 parties that were automatically disbanded for failure to sign up by Tuesday's deadline.

The election is almost certain to be swept by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a military proxy that was trounced by the NLD in the 2015 election and in a 2020 vote that the generals eventually voided, citing unaddressed irregularities.

The hugely popular Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, 77, is among scores of NLD members jailed since the coup and is serving 33 years for multiple counts of corruption, a breach of a state secrets law and incitement, among other crimes.

Tun Myint, a senior NLD official, said the party would never have registered for the polls with many of its members in jail or "involved in the revolution".

"It doesn't matter whether they say our party is dissolved or not. We are standing with the support of people," Tun Myint told Reuters.

The shadow National Unity Government (NUG), which the junta has declared "terrorists", said the military had no authority to hold what would be a sham election.

"The political parties who respect the wishes of the people did not register," said its spokesperson Kyaw Zaw.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing on Monday urged international critics to get behind his efforts to restore democracy.

The election would return Myanmar to the quasi-civilian democratic system that experts say the military can control with the NLD out of the picture.

Under the power-sharing arrangement outlined in the constitution, the military is guaranteed three ministerial portfolios, a quarter of all legislative seats and a say in who gets nominated to become president.

Richard Horsey, senior adviser to the International Crisis Group, said the election was dangerous for the country.

"The majority of the population fiercely oppose going to the polls to legitimise the military's political control, so we will see violence ratchet up if the regime seeks to impose a vote, and resistance groups seek to disrupt them," said Horsey, who was based in Myanmar for 15 years. (Reuters)