VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wears a face mask as he looks on during a visit with Ivory Coast's Prime Minister Patrick Achi at the port in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Dec 3, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Luc Gnago) - 

South Africa is preparing its hospitals for more admissions, as the Omicron coronavirus variant pushes the country into a fourth wave of COVID-19 cases, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday (Dec 6).

Omicron was first detected in southern Africa last month and has triggered global alarm as governments fear another surge in infections.

South Africa's daily infections surged last week to more than 16,000 on Friday from roughly 2,300 on Monday.

Ramaphosa said in a weekly newsletter that Omicron appeared to be dominating new cases in most of the country's nine provinces and urged more people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

"South Africa now has sufficient supplies of vaccines, ... vaccination is essential for our economic recovery because as more people are vaccinated more areas of economic activity will be opened up," he said.

The government would soon convene the National Coronavirus Command Council to review the state of the pandemic and decide whether further measures are needed to keep people safe, Ramaphosa said.

Scientists in South Africa and other countries are racing to establish whether Omicron is more contagious, causes more severe disease and is more resistant to existing vaccines.

But some anecdotal accounts from doctors and experts in South Africa are reassuring, suggesting that many infections it causes are mild.

"We are keeping a close eye on the rates of infection and hospitalisation," Ramaphosa said//CNA

A drone picture of a person working at the Horta de Manguinhos (Manguinhos vegetable garden), the biggest urban garden in Latin America, part of the project "Hortas Cariocas" developed by Rio de Janeiro's Environment Secretary in the Manguinhos favela. (Photo: Reuters/Pilar Olivares) - 

The Manguinhos neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, a slum where addicts once smoked crack and residents dumped trash, has been transformed into a community vegetable garden that now feeds some 800 families struggling with rampant food inflation.

The urban garden covers the area of four football fields, according to Rio de Janeiro's "Hortas Cariocas" program coordinators, making it one of the largest of its kind in Latin America.

"This particular area was used as a 'cracolândia'," said Julio Cesar Barros, an agronomist employed by the city.

"If you arrived here on a Wednesday at 10 in the morning, you could find two or three thousand people smoking crack in this area."

Barros said he helped create the "Hortas Cariocas" project in 2006 to plant vegetables in various parts of the city and supply organic products to lower-income residents. He said urban gardens also helped prevent irregular occupation of dangerous areas prone to flooding or landslides.

"While I am planting (seeds) I am thinking that in a few days I will be harvesting this and taking it home to eat it," said Diane Silva, an urban farm worker. "I know I am planting to harvest tomorrow ... it gives a lot of pleasure to work in a garden, it is a job that we enjoy, I love this."

The project has now expanded to 49 vegetable gardens across Rio, according to Barros.

Ezequiel Dias, a Manguinhos resident who helps to coordinate the project, said the initiative has transformed his community.

"It changed the face of Manguinhos… our communities need exactly this: peace, happiness and a better life."//CNA

Chief of National Police General Listyo Sigit Prabowo gives his remarks at the signing event of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the New Zealand Police at the National Police Headquarters in Jakarta on Monday (December 6, 2021). (ANTARA/Laily Rahmawaty/KT) - 

Indonesia and New Zealand have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to prevent and eradicate transnational crimes as well as to bolster the capacity of police personnel in both nations.

The inking of the pact was done in the online and offline (hybrid) format at the National Police Headquarters, South Jakarta, on Monday.

"Today, we are meeting for this signing to prevent and eliminate transnational crimes and enhance (the police) capacity," National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo remarked in his welcome.

Prabowo explained that the bilateral cooperation was forged in response to fluctuating developments in the strategic environment that had shaken stability and security.

He pointed to the trend of some modes of crimes that kept surfacing and developing along with technological developments.

He deemed the cooperation between both nations as crucial since crimes had breached the borders between countries.

Prabowo believes this cooperation would focus on counterterrorism, illegal drugs trade, smuggling, economic crimes, money laundering, cybercrimes, and other transnational crimes.

Prabowo also believed that optimal actions to counter crimes can help to boost the economy.

"We are optimistic that the National Police and New Zealand Police would be able to work closer," he added.

Effective collaboration increases security and stability between both nations, thereby supporting economic growth and social welfare, he stated.

Cooperation between the police of both nations was forged since 2011. It includes eight bilateral working groups in the form of comparative studies, master's degree scholarship, and short courses. Moreover, there are 19 related activities on crime information exchange, five forms of law enforcement in the regional military operation, deportation, and investigation.

Meanwhile, New Zealand Police Commissioner Andrew Coster lauded the National Police for the endeavors to overcome these transnational crimes.

Coster expressed delight over the MoU being inked in order to set the focus on countering recent common crimes//ANT

Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General of Asia-Pacific and African Affairs Abdul Kadir Jailani answering reporters' questions in Jakarta on Monday (December 6, 2021). (ANTARA/Yashinta Difa/KT) - 

The Indonesian government has cogitated over reactivating its embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in pursuit of constructive engagement with the country currently ruled by the Taliban group.

Earlier, Indonesia temporarily relocated its diplomatic mission in Kabul to Islamabad, Pakistan, following the Taliban's takeover of the Afghanistan government last August.

"The objective (of reactivating the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul) is to conduct constructive engagement, especially in terms of humanity, aid for women, and awarding scholarship, among others," Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General of Asia-Pacific and African Affairs Abdul Kadir Jailani noted at a media gathering here on Monday.

However, Jailani stressed that the plan to reactivate the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul in no way hints that Indonesia recognizes the Taliban government.

Jailani emphasized that Indonesia will continue to monitor the extent to which the Taliban fulfills its commitment to a government that is more inclusive, especially with respect to women's and children's rights as well as counterterrorism endeavors.

"We hope that the Taliban government would uphold its full commitment to not let its country become a land for homegrown terrorism (or a place to train terrorists)," he affirmed.

Furthermore, Jailani remarked that Indonesia will continue to offer assistance to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, which is currently worsening due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the winter season that makes food supply a challenge for the residents itself.

Apart from the humanitarian aid, Indonesia also pushes for a meeting of foreign affairs ministers to discuss the Afghanistan issue.

In the near future, the foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an extraordinary meeting, hosted by Pakistan to discuss the Afghanistan issue.

"Our interest is Afghanistan that is inclusive, open, and prosperous because we are aware that it will encourage for a more stable Afghanistan, so forms of interference, such as terrorism, to our country can decrease," Jailani emphasized//ANT