VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Home Affairs Ministry has evaluated the performance of 71 acting regional heads inducted this year on the governance, regional development, and social affairs aspects.

"The evaluation of acting regional heads takes place quarterly," the ministry's inspector general, Tomsi Tohir Balaw, said during the acting regional heads’ evaluation coordination meeting here on Tuesday.

On the governance aspect, not all acting regional heads have implemented changes to public services, as per the ministry’s data, he noted.

Some acting heads have also not allocated a portion of the regional budget to support the preparations for the 2024 General Elections, he added.

"Particularly (for regions) with a small regional budget, if the fund disbursed through a lump sum in 2024, then you will have zero (regional development) in that year. (The disbursement) must be made in installments first in 2023, then in 2024," Balaw said.

In the assessment of the development aspect, the inspectorate general has identified regional heads who are yet to optimize budget realization and implement concrete measures to control inflation, he informed.

The assessment of acting regional leaders' performance in regional development was based on five aspects and ten indicators, the ministry official said.

The third aspect assessed was performance in social affairs, which consisted of two aspects related to efforts to maintain public order and harmony and response to public complaints, Balaw added.

"Not all acting regional heads follow up public complaints," the inspector general noted.

The official also urged acting leaders to enact concrete policies that are consistent with the assessment aspects, instead of merely organizing activities with insufficient contribution to regional development.

"Please understand the assessment method, you are not merely organizing ceremonials reported through photos, no. You must organize activities relevant to the assessment aspects and provide the supporting data, and we will calculate (leadership performance) through this," Balaw expounded.

The inspector general expressed the hope that through the quarterly evaluation, acting leaders could improve their performance to realize better governance for the people.

"We hope that in the next quarter, the score will improve for those lacking. Yesterday, (you) received the special explanation, and we hope you can improve and report to us about the improvement update," he remarked. (Antaranews)

Social solidarity can help smoothen the reconstruction of schools in Majene, West Sulawesi, which have been affected by the earthquake, Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini has said.

"When the communities cooperate, they are taught to make bricks, but the anti-earthquake ones. We teach them that we finally can get half of the price (of the school construction costs)," the minister said here on Tuesday, after receiving a report that school children in Majene were still studying under tents.

With a spirit of solidarity and mutual cooperation, school construction can save costs of up to Rp500 million, supported by assistance from various parties. The rest of the budget can be used for students' other learning needs.

The commemoration of the National Social Solidarity Day (HKSN) and International Day of Disabled Persons (HDI) involved the ministry's technical units in several regions. The HKSN commemoration in 2022 was themed “Rise Together to Build the Nation.”

The commemorations of HKSN and HDI were based on the awareness that not only the government, but all elements of the nation, such as the society, social institutions, social pillars, and the private sector, have a very valuable contribution to helping those in need.

This year's HKSN was commemorated with several activities for increasing social participation, solidarity, harmony, promoting the spirit of helping each other, social awareness, empathy, sharing, and tolerance.

The activities included refurbishing the homes of persons with disabilities, providing clean water facilities, and building a school, as well as carrying out cataract surgeries at 31 locations in Indonesia.

Other activities at the event included the conferment of awards to those who have contributed to the field of social welfare, the launch of several national programs, such as Nusantara Economic Heroes, the Integrated House of Welfare, assistance for the elderly, persons with disabilities, orphans, and the movement for preventing persons with mental disabilities from being shackled. (antaranews)

North Korea on Tuesday condemned a Japanese military buildup outlined in a new security strategy, calling it dangerous and vowing counteractions, while also warning of another imminent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Japan last week announced its biggest military build-up since World War Two as tension with China and a hostile North Korea, and Russia's Ukraine invasion, stoke fears of war.

North Korea's foreign ministry said Japan had effectively formalised "the capability for preemptive attack" with its new strategy that would bring a "radical" change to East Asia's security environment.

The ministry also criticised the United States for "conniving and instigating Japan's rearmament and reinvasion scheme" saying the United States had no right to question North Korea's defences.

"The foolish act of Japan seeking to gratify its black-hearted intention, arms buildup for reinvasion, under the pretext of the DPRK's legitimate exercise of the right to self-defence can never be justified and tolerated," the official said in a statement carried by the North's KCNA news agency.

The spokesman referred to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea will express its displeasure with action to highlight Japan's "wrong and very dangerous" decision, the spokesperson said, warning of a "shuddering shiver to be felt soon".

North Korea has tested an unprecedented number of missiles this year, including an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) designed to reach the U.S. mainland, in defiance of international sanctions.

Several of the North Korean missiles have flown over Japan, or landed in waters near it, drawing condemnation from the staunch U.S. ally.

IMPENDING ICBM TEST?

In a separate statement, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hinted at a technological advance in its ICBM system, and denounced questions over what North Korea said was its bid to develop a spy satellite.

North Korea fired two medium-range ballistic missiles off its east coast on Sunday, calling it an "important" test for the development of a reconnaissance satellite that it hopes to complete by April.

Experts have raised doubts over the level of North Korea's satellite technology but Kim Yo Jong derided them and suggested advances in her country's missile programmes, including ICBM developments.

North Korea has test-fired its ICBMs at a steep angle and analysts say a normal launch angle requires more sophisticated technology to resist heat generated during re-entry into the atmosphere.

"I can clear up their doubt about it," Kim Yo Jong said. "They will immediately recognise it in case we launch an ICBM in the way of a real angle firing straight off."

She dismissed any threat of new sanctions.

"At this time when our right to existence and development is being threatened, how can we stop our advance for fear of sanctions that we have experienced abominably, not for the first time," she said.

Hours after the North's statements, the U.S. Air Force flew B-52 strategic bombers and F-22 fighter jets to South Korea for joint drills with F-35 and F-15K fighters, in their latest display of force against North Korea.

The participation of the F-22 Raptor fifth generation stealth fighters, currently based in Japan's Okinawa, was their first since May 2018 when the allies staged joint exercises in South Korea.

A spokesman of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to discuss any signs or possibility of another ICBM test, but said it was monitoring the North's nuclear and missile activities. (reuters)

Japan's plan to undertake its biggest military build-up since World War Two without increasing headcount is flawed, former and serving officers told Reuters, casting doubt over the country's efforts to deter regional rivals China and North Korea.

The five-year plan unveiled on Friday will double Japan's defence spending and add new capabilities, including long-range missiles and an expanded cyber warfare unit.

It will not, however, boost the size of its military, called the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), above a ceiling of 247,000 people set more than a decade ago.

Instead, it will retire attack helicopters, search-and-rescue planes and old warships in favour of drones and vessels that require fewer sailors, while also relying on civilian contractors for training and some limited support operations.

"It is just a paper plan and that should be corrected," said Yoji Koda, a retired navy admiral, who commanded the Japanese fleet in 2007-2008. "Manpower is the real issue for Japan to defend against China and North Korea," he added.

Koda said the plan would limit Japan's ability to fight in situations such as land invasions and sea battles, giving its foes an advantage.

Some serving officers also doubt the practicalities of the plan.

While pivoting to drones could avoid casualties in combat, such a move would take years and require more staff to maintain and operate them, one senior officer in Japan's air force told Reuters, requesting anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to the media.

"The problem is we can't make them fast enough to catch up with the threat level and compensate for the lack of manpower," the officer said.

Koda and retired Admiral Katsutoshi Kawano, who served as the country's top military commander for five years until 2019, said Japan needs around 300,000 troops to execute its new plans.

In 2021, there were 230,754 people serving in the SDF, according to the defence ministry.

China, which Japan worries could launch an attack on neighbouring Taiwan following Russia's example in Ukraine, has around 2 million soldiers.

Japan's defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

RECRUITMENT PROBLEMS

Japan's hopes of relying on a manpower-light army is a response to the long-running problem of finding recruits in an ageing country that still wrestles with its wartime past, analysts say.

It has repeatedly failed to hit its current 247,000 target, with applications last year just 84,825, a drop of 26% compared to a decade ago.

Even those keen to join have a tough time convincing their parents.

"My parents were against my pursuing a career at SDF. But I kept telling them that I wanted to join, now they are supporting me" Yoshito Yamaguchi, a 21-year-old student told Reuters at a recruitment event this month at an airbase near Tokyo.

He was one of only eleven people who attended the event.

By 2028, when Japan will have completed its military expansion, the number of 18-26 year-olds in the country will shrink by 800,000 to 10 million, according to the government.

Nozomu Yoshitomi, a professor at Tokyo's Nihon University and a retired major general, said staffing issues may occur in new areas such as cyber warfare where the government will have to match the high pay offered in private sector jobs to find talent.

"If the Japanese think automation...is going to make up for the personnel disaster they've got, they can forget about it," said Grant Newsham, a retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel and research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies who served as a USMC liaison officer to the SDF. (Reuters)