VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin expressed optimism that Indonesia would not need to seek aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the fourth year of his vice presidency along with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

"We know that several countries have lined up for IMF aid. There are at least 28 countries yet, Praise be to God, Indonesia, God Willing, is not among them," Amin stated during the press conference after opening the 2023 Jakarta Muslim Fashion Week in Tangerang, Banten, on Thursday.

October 20, 2022, marks the third year of Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin's presidency and vice presidency since their inauguration on October 20, 2019.

"Mr Jokowi and I have exerted our effort to realize our programs and visions because Mr Jokowi and I only enjoyed three months of normal times (since our inauguration), while the rest of our term (to date was) overshadowed by the pandemic," Amin underlined.

The government has bolstered its efforts since 2020 to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from ruining Indonesia's economy, he added.

"Our (economic) growth is at 5.4 percent, and our inflation level is even only at 4.9 percent, while other countries have surpassed that percentage. This is the fruit of our collective works," the vice president remarked.

Earlier, President Jokowi said that as many as 28 countries were currently awaiting IMF aid.

"I got a call from the finance minister from Washington D.C., and she said that 28 countries had lined up to become IMF's 'patients,'" he stated on Tuesday (October 11).

According to the president, this meant that several countries witnessed a decline in their economic conditions, one of the causal factors being the COVID-19 pandemic and was exacerbated by the war between Russia and Ukraine that led to the food crisis, energy crisis, and financial crisis. (Antaranews)

Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) is collaborating with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to speed up development in Papua.

The United States, through USAID and Bappenas, launched a new initiative to accelerate development in Papua and West Papua, the Papua Collaborative Governance Indonesia Project or "USAID Kolaborasi," the US Embassy in Jakarta noted in a statement on Thursday.

According to the Embassy, USAID Kolaborasi is a five-year US$10-million fund initiative to support Indonesia’s Master Plan for the Acceleration of Development for Papua (RIPPP).

The plan aims to strengthen cooperation with development partners, businesses, and other stakeholders. The program will assist the provinces of Papua and West Papua to use Special Autonomy Funds for offering maximum benefits to the people of Papua and West Papua, according to the Embassy.

Main Secretary of Bappenas Taufik Hanafi stated that strengthening collaboration between the Government of Indonesia and USAID under Kolaborasi will play an important role in mobilizing program and funding resources to focus on achieving development goals in the RIPPP.

USAID Indonesia Mission Director Jeff Cohen stated that along with Bappenas and local governments in Papua and West Papua, USAID Kolaborasi will improve the quality of public service delivery and improve the skills of local government agencies to oversee budget allocation and execution in addition to engaging with citizens in Papua and West Papua.

“This new collaboration with Bappenas demonstrates our commitment to supporting the Indonesian government in realizing its goal of a prosperous Papua region,” he remarked.

“USAID Kolaborasi promotes collaborative governance in Papua and West Papua by improving the capacity of local governments and the engagement of Papua's indigenous people in local development,” Cohen stated.

He remarked that the United States is committed to partnering with the Government of Indonesia to address important development challenges.
The USAID looks forward to expanding its close relationship with Bappenas and working with other local partners, such as Cendrawasih University and University of Papua, to improve the functioning and accountability of governance in Papua and West Papua, he explained. (Antaranews)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) affirmed that the new state-run tin mining corporation PT Timah Tbk’s smelter demonstrated the government's seriousness in downstreaming the tin mining process.

“(Downstreaming of) nickel already (has been conducted, and now, it is time for downstreaming) tin (and) bauxite," the president stated at the construction site of the Top Submerged Lance (TSL) smelter of PT Timah Tbk in Central Bangka District, Bangka Belitung Province, on Thursday.

The company’s ore processing and refining facility is planned to be completed in November 2022.

"We expect that the downstreaming for tin will soon be conducted, the same as we have done for nickel. However, we have not projected when we will stop exporting raw tin," the president noted.

The president said the government needs to comprehensively calculate and plan the halt of raw tin exports to ensure that the process will run smoothly.

“Later, when the calculation is completed, I will announce the stop (of raw tin exports), maybe next year -- or even this year,” he remarked.

Jokowi noted that the preparedness of all tin mining state-owned companies as well as domestic private enterprises to conduct downstreaming should be taken into account before halting the export activity.

"All (raw resources should) undergo industrial downstreaming since there is an added value (in the downstreaming)," he noted.

Hence, the president expected that industrial downstreaming will also open as many new job opportunities as possible.

The PT Timah Tbk's TSL smelter has been constructed since 2019. Currently, the progress in the construction of the project has reached around 97.33 percent.

The cost of building the new smelter, which has a capacity of 40 thousand tons of crude tin per year, reaches around US$80 million, or equivalent to Rp1.2 trillion.

The smelting process using the TSL smelter will become faster, with an efficiency of 25-34 percent as compared to the existing smelters.

PT Timah's tin ore production in the first semester of 2022 was recorded at 9,901 metric tons (MT), while the tin production during the same period last year reached 8,805 MT. (Antaranews)

Deputy Minister of Religion Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi stated that whistling of sexual nature that triggers a sense of discomfort and is demeaning or harassing in nature could be reported to the police.

"Whistles referred to in this regulation are whistles of sexual nature, including whistles that are disrespectful and also degrading or harassing that make the person being targeted uncomfortable," he stated when confirmed here on Thursday.

This aspect referred to by Zainut is contained in Regulation of the Religion Minister (PMA) Number 73 of 2022 on the Prevention and Handling of Sexual Violence in Education Units at the Religion Ministry.

The forms of sexual violence regulated in these regulations include verbal, non-physical, and physical violence, as well as violence in information and communication technology.

He said victims, distressed as a result of being harassed, could lodge a complaint with the police. The report on the offense can only be processed if it is reported by a person, who feels aggrieved or has become a victim.

He said that Article 18 of the PMA regulates sanctions. Paragraph (1) of the regulation states that perpetrators proven to have committed sexual violence based on court decisions that have legal force will still be subject to criminal and administrative sanctions.

Paragraph (2) stipulates that criminal sanctions as referred to in paragraph (1) are carried out in accordance with the provisions of the legislation.

"Hence, the basis of the implementation of criminal sanctions is court decisions and legal mechanisms apply as regulated by law," he remarked.

In this case, the regulation referred to in Law Number 12 of 2022 is regarding the Criminal Act of Sexual Violence and or the Criminal Law (KUHP).

The Religion Ministry has issued a Minister of Religion Regulation (PMA) that regulates the Handling and Prevention of Sexual Violence in Education Units under its authority.

PMA No. 73 of 2022 was signed by Religion Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas on October 5, 2022, and began to be promulgated the day after.

The education unit in question includes formal, non-formal, and informal education channels and includes madrasas, Islamic boarding schools, and religious education units.

This rule contains several chapters covering general provisions, such as forms of sexual violence, prevention, handling, reporting, monitoring, evaluation, sanctions, and closing provisions. There are 20 articles in total.

The regulation regulates forms of sexual violence, including acts that are conducted verbally, non-physically, physically, and/or through information and communication technology. There are at least 16 classifications of forms of sexual violence, including conveying speech that discriminates against or insults the physical appearance, body condition, or gender identity of the victim. (Antaranews)