VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The development of Padang Beach must pay attention to the strengthening of coastal vegetation to reduce abrasion, acting head of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency’s (BNPB’s) Center for Disaster Data, Information, and Communication, Abdul Muhari, stressed.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, he said that one of the efforts to mitigate abrasion at Padang Beach is to build an offshore breakwater.

“Naturally, with an offshore breakwater, which is built parallel to the coastal area, a tombolo or sand sediment will be formed," he noted during a discussion in the courtyard of Al-Hakim Mosque, Padang City, West Sumatra Province, on Monday (February 6, 2023).

Later, the sand sediment can be planted with vegetation, such as mangroves and Australian pine trees, which can prevent abrasion and mitigate the impact of tsunamis.

"The development of physical infrastructure is only for short term (solution) in 50–70 years because physical infrastructure will be damaged over time. However, tsunami may occur in a period of 50 to hundreds of years. Meanwhile, vegetation will grow stronger over time to withstand the waves," the BNPB official explained.

There are some wave patterns at beaches. For instance, waves usually carry sand sediments in a direction perpendicular to the coast during the west and east monsoon seasons, he noted.

Meanwhile, during the transitional season, the longshore current carries the sediment along the coast.

"We have to map these patterns and characteristics one by one to determine what kind of coastal protection (infrastructure)will be effective in preventing abrasion," Muhari emphasized.

Padang City’s coastline measures 68.13 kilometers (km) in length, hence the establishment of infrastructure that can protect the coastal area of the city is important since the city contributes to 25.7 percent of West Sumatra’s economy, head of the province’s Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), Medi Iswandi, said.

The Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry will prioritize the development of coastal infrastructure around Al-Hakim Mosque in 2023, director general of water resources at the ministry, Jarot Widyoko, said.

"We will build a 500-meter revetment along Padang Beach. Apart from (constructing infrastructure on) the beach, we will also normalize the river in Batang Kandis," he said.

Padang Mayor Hendri Septa said the city’s residents really require assistance from the central government to mitigate the impacts of abrasion and tsunamis along Padang Beach.

"We never expect a disaster to happen, but we still have to be vigilant,” he added. (Antaranews)

Head of the Maluku Provincial Planning and Development Agency (Bappeda) Anton Lailossa has said that the number of poor residents in Maluku province has declined in the past four years.

"During the current administration, the number of poor people has decreased from above 300 thousand to only around 290 thousand," he informed here on Tuesday.

Data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS) has also shown that the percentage of poor people in Maluku has fallen in the past four years.

"According to BPS, Maluku Province's poverty (rate) was still above 17 percent. However, in September 2022, it stood at 16.23 percent," he noted.

According to Lailossa, if the decline can be maintained, the province's rank will decrease in terms of poverty.

"If it can be maintained, it is expected that in the not-too-distant future, we can surpass the province closest to us (in terms of the poverty rate), so that our ranking can be better than before," he added.

Maluku's poverty rate of 16.23 percent in September 2022 was the fourth highest in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Papua ranked first with a poverty rate of 26.8 percent, followed by West Papua at 21.43 percent, and East Nusa Tenggara at 20.23 percent.

Lailossa highlighted the importance of cooperation and coordination in managing funding sources for poverty-handling programs in Maluku province.

"We all can cooperate, coordinate various fund sources from the central government and non-government (parties), as well as those (funds) sourced from the regional budget (APBD)," the Maluku Bappeda head informed.

In addition, the poverty-handling programs that have been carried out, such as health services, social assistance distribution, scholarships for poor students, and industry center developments, need to be improved to make them more effective, he said.  (Antaranews)

Jakarta (voinews.id): Erasmus Huis is going to hold a dance performance "La Sirène" in Jakarta on Sunday, 12 February 2023.

It's the first international collaborative art project by choreographer Junadry Leocaria and artist Richard Kofi from the Netherlands, which connects different cultures in dealing with the past, the present, and the shaping of a future.

Under the creative guidance of Leocaria and Kofi,13 Indonesian-based artists explore how Indonesian, West African, Caribbean, and Dutch heritage folklore and mythologies empower and inspire them.

“In this exciting project, artists of different backgrounds, different cultures, and different skills, worked together to create a performance and exposition. It is through art that they find the real connection beyond the differences. That’s exactly what we aim for at Erasmus Huis!” said Erasmus Huis Director Yolande Melsert in a release received on Tuesday.

Over 40 artists applied for the open call for this project, and 13 were selected personally by Kofi and Leocaria. During their four weeks of residency at Salihara Arts Center, the group developed ideas, shared expertise, and worked together to create this interdisciplinary project.

"Juna and I are so grateful that so many amazing Indonesia-based artists signed up for our open call. For this collaboration, we selected passionate dancers and artists, from all walks of life and across Indonesia, and much to our surprise, we soon became a real creative community, a family almost. We're very excited to share how all our areas of expertise have come together," said Kofi.

The exhibition will open with a dance performance at Erasmus Huis on February 8, 2023, featuring 8 Indonesian dancers from various dance disciplines. It will run until May 13, 2023. (VOI)

Time is running out to save hundreds of families trapped under the rubble of buildings brought down by Monday's earthquake, the head of the Syrian opposition-run civil defence service said on Tuesday.

Raed al-Saleh told Reuters urgent help was needed from international groups for the rescue effort by the organisation known as the White Helmets in rebel-held northwest Syria, where hundreds were killed and injured.

"Every second means saving lives and we call on all humanitarian organisations to give material aid and respond to this catastrophe urgently," he said.

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Turkey and Syria early on Monday, toppling apartment blocks, wrecking hospitals and leaving thousands of people injured or homeless.

At least 1,444 people were killed in Syria and about 3,500 injured, according to figures from the Damascus government and rescue workers in the northwestern region controlled by insurgents.

Rescue teams worked early on Tuesday to free people trapped in the rubble of buildings in southern Turkey as the death toll in that country rose to more than 3,400.

In areas hit by the earthquake in northwestern Syria, rescue efforts were hampered by lack of equipment and freezing conditions. Rescuers cleared piles of debris using makeshift tools and their hands.

"There are a lot of efforts by our teams but they are unable to respond to the catastrophe and the large number of collapsed buildings," al-Saleh said.

Syria's Emergency Response Team, a non-governmental organisation that operates in the rebel-held enclave, said snow storms had closed roads within makeshift camps that house tens of thousands of displaced Syrians.

"We have great difficulty in getting heavy equipment because of the large spread of places that were affected," said Salamah Ibrahim, a senior rescuer operating in the city of Sarmada, where a whole neighbourhood fell to the ground.

The rebel-held enclave in the northwest of Syria is a refuge for around four million people, many of whom have been uprooted by a Russian-backed Syrian government assault that turned the tide in favour of President Bashar al-Assad during the more than decade-long Syrian conflict.

"Most of the hospitals are full and the situation is catastrophic. We are in need of medicines urgently to cover the needs," said Zuhair al Qarat, head of the health authority in Idlib city.

Damage was also widely seen in government-held Aleppo city's eastern sector, whose buildings bore the brunt of intensive aerial bombing by Russia and the Syrian military to push out rebels in 2016, according to rescuers and aid workers. (Reuters)