VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Medical volunteer organization Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) has reported that the Indonesian-Palestinian Hospital is using vehicle parking lots and yards to treat victims of Israeli military attacks in Gaza.

The continued influx of a large number of victims has prompted the Indonesian Hospital management to use those outdoor spaces, president of the MER-C Indonesia presidium, Farid Thalib, said in Jakarta on Monday.

During an emergency, the Indonesian Hospital has the capacity to admit up to 800 people and accommodate 235 beds.

"Meanwhile, the latest information is that the number of people being treated continues to increase, to the point where almost 5 thousand people are currently being treated in the Indonesian Hospital parking lot, including refugees," Thalib informed.

MER-C Indonesia confirmed that 60–80 percent of the victims treated at the Indonesian Hospital have consisted of children and women with moderate to serious injuries.

He said that the increase in the number of patients is expected since the Indonesian Hospital is the only mainstay health service, especially in North Gaza.

The Indonesian government has been providing consistent humanitarian support for the victims. On Sunday (November 5, 2023), it distributed 7 tons of medical equipment to Palestinians who were victims of the conflict in Gaza.

The medical equipment assistance included equipment such as emergency kits for minor surgical needs as well as food for pregnant women and children aged under five.

"This includes clothes for health workers and two washing machines, which are also needed by Indonesian Hospital," Thalib said.

Besides the reliability of medical services provided by the Indonesian and Palestinian governments, which has continued to be improved, hospital security must also be ensured for humanitarian reasons, he added.

This is because the management of the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza informed that it had been attacked and bombed by the Israeli military since early October 2023, which resulted in the death of 2 workers. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Foreign Affairs Ministry informed that humanitarian aid from Indonesia for victims of the conflict in the Gaza Strip arrived in Egypt on Monday.

Indonesian Air Force Hercules aircraft arrived at El Arish Airport, Egypt, with the aid around 8 a.m. local time on Monday.

"Thank you to the Indonesian people who have shown their solidarity with the Palestinian people. The aid has arrived at El Arish Airport and will be handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent to be taken to the Gaza border," Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pahala Mansury, who directly supervised the aid delivery, informed in a written statement released on Monday.

After handing over the aid to representatives of the Egyptian Red Crescent, the Indonesian Air Force aircraft will prepare to return to Indonesia.

The aid will be taken to Gaza via the Rafah border and will be distributed to the victims by the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) — two international humanitarian agencies operating at the center of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

On November 4, 2023, Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially sent the aid from the Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta.

The humanitarian aid consists of food, medical equipment, blankets, tents, and other logistical items, weighing a total of 51.5 tons. The delivery marks the provision of the first batch of aid from Indonesia for Gaza.

The aid was transported using three aircraft, including two C-130 Hercules aircraft with tail numbers A-1327 and A-1328 from Air Squadron 31 and Air Squadron 32 of the Indonesian Air Force, as well as one chartered Boeing 737 Garuda Indonesia aircraft. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Indonesian Agriculture Ministry has continued to strengthen the mechanism for transforming the nation's agricultural system from traditional to modern.

"In the current era of technological development, we must keep up with the modern agriculture method like other countries in Asia and Europe. The modern system is currently being implemented by our farmers in stages," Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman said.

Speaking at the 2023 National Agricultural Instructors Gathering in Sigi, Central Sulawesi, on Monday, he said Indonesia is on par with Thailand as one of the agriculture producers in the Asian region, though, in previous years, its level of domestic mechanization was just 0.14 horsepower per hectare.

In 2019, Indonesia managed to catch up with Thailand's 2.1 horsepower per hectare mechanization.

Currently, the Indonesian government is aiming to match modern agriculture or the Japanese mechanization level of six horsepower per hectare, Sulaiman informed.

"Our domestic agriculture must keep up with the modern agriculture method. In other countries, spreading fertilizer has been carried out by unmanned aircraft or drones," he pointed out.

The minister said that the use of technology for carrying out agricultural activities has been very effective and efficient in the current era, therefore the contribution of millennial farmers is necessary to accelerate this transformation.

"Shifting the farmers' culture may take time. We need help from field agricultural instructors (PPL) who consistently communicate with farmers as working partners," he added.

The government's intervention to build a sustainable agricultural climate has included involving farmers of productive age in the formation of a forum through the Indonesian Youth Farming Movement (Gempita), which is focused on millennials, Sulaiman noted.

Considering that technological developments are increasing rapidly, agricultural solutions in the future must use digitalization, starting from cultivation activities to selling produce, the minister said.

"Attracting young people to enter the agricultural sector begins with creating an economic circulation of profits, then using the latest technology to support agriculture activities. The government is in the middle of intensifying those efforts," he added. (Antaranews)

VOI, Jakarta - President Xi Jinping said on Monday stable ties between China and Australia served each other's interests and both should expand their cooperation, sending a clear signal that Beijing was ready to move on from recent tensions.

China and Australia should promote the development of their strategic partnership as they build up mutual understanding and trust, Xi told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the first Australian leader to visit Beijing since 2016, at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of the Chinese capital.

A strong relationship "will be beneficial into the future," Albanese told Xi in their second face-to-face talks in a year, a meeting that lasted more than an hour.

For decades, China and Australia built a relationship on trade, with Beijing becoming Canberra's biggest commercial partner with purchases of Australian food and natural resources.

But ties soured after Australia in 2017 accused China of meddling in its politics. The following year, Australia banned equipment from Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co (HWT.UL) for its 5G network out of national security fears.

An Australian call in 2020 for an international inquiry into the origin of the COVID pandemic, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, infuriated Beijing, which responded with blocks on various Australian imports.

As relations deteriorated, China warned its students against studying in Australia, citing racist incidents, threatening a multi-billion-dollar education market.

Earlier on Monday, Albanese stopped by Beijing's iconic Temple of Heaven and posed for a photograph at the circular Echo Wall where Australia's then prime minister, Gough Whitlam, stood in 1973, a year after the two countries established ties. (Reuters)