VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (voinews): Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo said that the national harvest period had begun and was conducted in stages, and the peak of harvest would take place from March to April 2023.

"As mentioned by Mr. President (Joko Widodo), one million hectares have been harvested from this February, and in March we will harvest from 1.9 million hectares," Minister Limpo said during his working visit to Sigi district, Central Sulawesi, on Sunday.

He expected for this harvest season to produce sufficient stock that could meet the demands during Muslim holy month of Ramadhan and Eid festival of 2023.

He acknowledged that farmers need to be given stimulus by the government so they could perform better, leading to greater productivity and improvement of the national agriculture sector as a whole.

"We urge farmers to use the means of accessibility proffered by the government, one of them is the people's business credit scheme in the agriculture," he reminded.

The program was the government's efforts to facilitate the farmers, so they would have capital to support their productivity, he stated.

On the occasion, he named Central Sulawesi as one area which had contributed to the central government's efforts to form national food resilience.

Citing Statistics Indonesia's data, Limpo said there was some 31.66 million tonnes of domestic stock of rice.

He disclosed that he made the visit to ensure that the actual stock was in accordance with what the data mentioned. Based on his observation, the supply is as reported, he added.

The improvement in food production is also influenced by the Planting Index 400 (IP400) program adopted by the farmers, according to him.

There are 7.4 million hectares of crop lands in Indonesia; however, this year, there are as much as 10 million hectares worth of rice being cultivated, with average production of five to six tonnes per hectare.

"Failed harvests due to bugs or natural disasters does not exceed 50 thousand hectares of 7.4 million hectares of croplands in Indonesia," he added.

During his visit, the minister and regional officials of Sigi District also did some rice harvesting. (antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews): Head of the General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) Rahmat Bagja has insisted that it is impossible for the 2024 general election to be postponed.

"It is impossible (the 2024 general election) to be postponed unless we are talking about (if there is) a war, (or if) there is a big storm across this republic," he said at the OTW 2024 discussion entitled "A Year Before the General Elections, People's Eyes are Focused on KPU and Bawaslu" here, Sunday.

According to him, one of the reasons why it is impossible for the elections to be postponed is because the preparation stages have rolled on since June 14, 2022.

He noted that one of the ongoing stages of the 2024 General Elections is the selection of the General Election Commission (KPU) members at the regional levels, both provincial and district/city levels.

"Everyone must know that currently, there is a selection (of regional KPU members). For example, there are (members of) 20 provincial KPU that will be selected at the end of this year," he explained.

To this end, he assessed that all parties should be optimistic that the elections will not be postponed.

He emphasized that the preparation for the 2024 general election, which will be held on February 14, 2024, takes 20 months.

At Sunday's event, Bagja expressed his hope that there will be no changes in the election rules amid the ongoing preparation stages.

"It has been eight months. If the rules are suddenly changed, it will result in uncertainty in the procedure," he said.

"Legal uncertainty will generate many things. This is what needs to be protected, not only by the KPU and Bawaslu, but also stakeholders, the president, the House of Representatives (DPR), and the Constitutional Court," he added. (antaranews)

The provincial government of Riau Islands is targeting to draw 1.2 million international tourists in 2023 in line with the improving post-pandemic situation.

Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad expressed his optimism that the target is achievable because, in 2022, Riau Islands' international tourist arrivals reached 700 thousand, a drastic increase from the figure in 2021, which stood at 3,103.

"Before the pandemic, Riau Islands' (yearly) international tourist arrivals stood at around 2.5 million. However, we need to be realistic now, considering that tourism has just started to revive," he said here, Sunday.

He noted that in the 2020-2021 period, the province's tourism was down due to the pandemic impact. However, in mid-2022, it started to revive after the central government reopened the country's borders to international tourists.

Ahmad also noted that the revocation of the public activity restrictions (PPKM) in late 2022 has contributed to the revival of Riau Islands' tourism.

"The main entry gates to Riau Islands for international tourists are ready to welcome them, such as Tanjungpinang, Batam, Bintan, and Karimun," he said.

The governor said that the government would seek solutions to handle problems that can hinder the arrival of international tourists to Riau Islands.

One of the efforts that the government will make is proposing an increase in the status of Tanjungpinang Raja Haji Fisabilillah (RHF) Airport to an international-scale airport.

That way, cross-country flight access can be realized considering that this year, 400 thousand international tourists from China are targeted to visit Lagoi, Bintan District.

Head of Development and Marketing of Riau Islands Tourism Office Afitri Susanti said that her office has prepared a tourism calendar to boost the number of international tourist arrivals in 2023.

She revealed that this year's tourism calendar still relies on local wisdom, such as nature, culture, sports, and maritime tourism.

In addition, international-scale events will also be held in the province, one of which is the cycling competition Tour de Bintan, which earlier in 2022 was partaken by hundreds of athletes from 33 countries.

Susanti said that her office is intensively collaborating with associations and local and international tourists to promote Riau Islands' tourism.

"We are optimistic Riau Islands' tourism will revive this year," she said. (antaranews)

Islamists stormed a police station in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi on Friday, killing two people in a hail of gunfire and a series of loud explosions before they themselves were killed, officials said.

Security forces retook the building after several hours and killed three militants, a government spokesman said. Police commandoes and a bomb disposal squad entered the building and a security sweep was under way.

Two people had been killed and 11 wounded in the militants' attack, a government spokesman said.

A huge explosion was heard inside the station after a series of blasts when it was first attacked.

The Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), took responsibility for the attack in a message sent by their spokesman to journalists.

The station houses offices of the city's most senior police. Deputy Inspector General Irfan Baloch told Reuters there could have been up to 30 police at the station at the time of the attack.

The Islamist TTP, separate from the Taliban ruling neighbouring Afghanistan, has recently increased attacks on police in the northwest of Pakistan as part of its campaign against the government in Islamabad.

Overseas cricket players are competing in the Pakistan Super League, and Karachi is one of the host cities. There is a game scheduled for Saturday. The police station is located along the route to the stadium and the players' hotel is a few kilometres away.

Top teams shunned Pakistan for years after six policemen and two civilians were killed in a 2009 attack on a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

Police sealed off traffic on the main thoroughfare through Karachi and heavy contingents of security forces, including paramilitary soldiers, had arrived at the scene. (Reuters)