VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) underlined the potential of extreme weather in several provinces as the new year draws near.

There was potential heavy rain in Java, Bali, NTB in West Nusa Tenggara, and South Sulawesi, Acting Head of BNPB's Disaster Data and Information Center, Abdul Muhari, said during the Disaster Briefing online event on Monday.

Muhari also warned those in regions with the highest frequency of hydrometeorological disasters, such as in Bogor, West Java, to be careful of flooding and landslides.

These also include Aceh, Lampung, South Sumatra, Jakarta, East Kalimantan, Maluku, and Papua even when the rainfall is at a moderate level.

"Aceh still has regions that are not yet dry. Thus, there is a concern that regions that have just experienced a flood will be wet once more," Muhari explained.

The agency called for preparing the public's readiness as well as the role of the regional governments, military, police, community, as well as Regional Disaster Mitigation Agencies (BPBDs).

Muhari suggested that the Environment Safety System (Siskamling) be activated to improve extreme weather disaster preparedness at the community level.

The agency remarked that extreme weather events will decline until new year each day in several provinces, he noted.

Moreover, in the event of heavy rains lasting for over two hours, the people should be willing to evacuate independently, he emphasized.

In relation to this extreme weather potential, the agency also warned people to be cautious while taking a vacation during the Christmas and 2023 New Year holiday period.

In particular, people, who visit the river, waterfall, and beach area during the holiday period, are advised to be careful. (antaranews)

The Ministry of Finance has published its Tax Expenditure Report for 2021, which lists various tax incentives provided by the government to support economic performance. According to head of the Ministry of Finance's Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF), Febrio Kacaribu, tax incentives played an effective role in accelerating economic recovery in 2021, with the economy growing 1.6 percent more compared to before the pandemic.

"Seeing the deep contraction of the economy in 2020, the government provided greater tax incentives in 2021 to encourage recovery. This incentive policy was carried out in a more targeted and measurable way to respond to dynamic pandemic conditions and support efforts to accelerate economic transformation," Kacaribu said in an official statement released here on Monday.

Tax spending in 2021 reached Rp299.1 trillion, accounting for 1.76 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and reflecting an increase of 23.8 percent compared to 2020, when the figure stood at Rp241.6 trillion or 1.56 percent of the GDP.

Based on the type of tax, the largest tax spending in 2021 was on value added tax (VAT) incentives and sales tax on luxury goods (PPnBM), which reached Rp175.0 trillion, accounting for 58.5 percent of the total estimated tax spending.

The figure showed an increase of 24.2 percent compared to the proportion of VAT and PPnBM incentives in tax spending in 2020, in line with the use of incentives for mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing the recovery of national economic activity.

Based on utilization, an estimated Rp229.0 trillion or 76.5 percent of the total tax spending was aimed at improving people's welfare and developing micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Most of these tax expenditures were in the form of exemptions on taxable goods and services, such as basic necessities, public transportation services, as well as education and health services, which were aimed at maintaining people's purchasing power. Furthermore, there were VAT facilities that were not collected for small entrepreneurs and income tax (PPh) facilities for MSMEs.

"In addition to maintaining good governance, the government continuously monitored and evaluated a tax facility," he added.

This year's report also contains the results of an evaluation of several policies, namely the policy to reduce income tax rates for publicly listed companies, customs facilities in the context of handling the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic contribution of utilizing Bonded Zone facilities.

The evaluation is expected to serve as preliminary information for the government and encourage discussion among the public on joint supervision of the utilization of tax incentives in Indonesia.

"The Tax Expenditure Report is a very important part of the state budget (APBN) because it records all instruments that are not listed in the expenditure component. This report is a form of accountability for calculating tax incentive policies and will continue to be perfected," Kacaribu said. (Antaranews)

The Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten Province, has served 117,338 passengers since the Christmas and New Year holidays began, state-owned airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II has reported.

"Based on the update, the number of air passengers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport crossed 117,338," senior manager for communication and legal affairs at the airport, M. Holik Muardi, said on Monday.

The figure was based on the number of passengers at the airport's three terminals, he said.

The 117,338 passengers comprised 64,339 departing passengers and 52,999 arriving passengers, he informed.

“In detail, Terminal 1 served 22,179 passengers, Terminal 2 served 35,363 passengers, and Terminal 3 served 59,796 passengers," he said.

Meanwhile, the number of flights at the airport was relatively high at 890.

"The flights comprised 446 planes taking off from and 444 planes landing at Soekarno-Hatta Airport,” he said.  (Antaranews)

Qatar expressed "extreme concern" over the order by Afghanistan's Taliban-run administration to stop female employees from working, calling on the administration to review its decision, a foreign ministry statement said on Sunday.

The ministry "stresses the need to respect women's right to work, given that the freedom to choose and accept work is a human right", it said. Qatar hosted a representative office for the Taliban during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, and served as a venue for peace talks before the group took power in 2021. (Reuters)