VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin encouraged Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) students who are studying abroad to improve second-track diplomacy to contribute to world peace.

"Indonesian students, who have the potential and care about world peace, need to make their contribution through the second track diplomacy carried out by non-government actors," Ma'ruf Amin said at a webinar on Tuesday.

The diplomacy includes holding interreligious, intercultural, and intercultural dialogue that upholds moderate and tolerant Islam, Ma'ruf said.

"In the digital era, diplomacy is not only through direct communication but also through electronic and print media," he added.

With the presence of students abroad, Ma'ruf also hopes that the international cooperation that has been carried out by the government can be more optimal through dialogue that supports democracy and protection of human rights, including for minority groups. 

Ma'ruf also asked all students to take an active role in world peace missions, as the government has done, among others in supporting Palestinian independence, encouraging peace in Afghanistan, and helping to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Rakhine State and the Southern Philippines.

"Students can play an active role in contributing to world peace. We need this role to strengthen the initiatives that have been carried out by the Indonesian government, which has been very active in contributing to world peace," he said. (Antaranews)

Handling Covid-19 will be concentrated in nine provinces with the highest cases.

The nine provinces are DKI Jakarta, West Java, East Java, Central Java, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Bali, North Sumatra, and Papua.

"The President orders that within two weeks we must be able to achieve three targets, which are reducing the number of daily cases, increasing the recovery rate and reducing the mortality rate," coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment Luhut B. Pandjaitan said in a virtual conference with the Regional Heads of the nine provinces.

Luhut said the President issued the order because eight of the nine provinces contributed to 75 percent of the total cases or 68 percent of the total active cases.

He said there are at least three strategies to achieve the target of handling Covid-19 transmission in the nine main provinces.

"The justici operation is for enforcing the discipline of the Health protocol, improving the management of Covid-19 patient care to reduce the mortality rate, and increasing the recovery rate and specifically handling the Covid-19 clusters in each province," Luhut said.

"We have to carry out justici operations to enforce health protocol implementation because if we don't take hard action against the violators, then the condition will not improve," he said.

Luhut emphasized that in the next two days, technical meetings with all provinces would be held intensively.

"I ask each province to sharpen its strategy, it has to be clear about the division of tasks who do what and we deploy all the resources we have," Luhut said.

Meanwhile, the coordinating minister for politics, law, and security affairs Mahfud MD said the need for amendments to the Governor Regulation , Regent Regulation, or Mayor Regulation, to become Regional Regulations so the police can prosecute criminal rules to violators.

"Justisi operation is related to criminal law enforcement, while according to the Law, we do not allow criminal sanctions," he explained.

"But if the police want to carry out a criminal sentence outside the Governor Regulation, it is possible. For example, using Law No. 4 of 1984 on Communicable Disease Outbreaks," he advised.

By using this law the police can prosecute offenders with the threat of imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine of up to Rp1 million.

For information, as of today, the Justisi operation is being conducted simultaneously in the nine provinces.
There were several provinces that had previously implemented justisi operations to crack down on violators of the Covid-19 protocol before President Joko Widodo's order was issued today. These provinces include Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, and North Sumatra. (RRI)

President Joko Widodo appealed to the 267 million Indonesians to always wear masks. The President emphasized that the use of masks can truly materialize as a national discipline during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The President organized, handled the Covid-19 pandemic through the Covid-19 Handling Committee, and measured National Economic Recovery in planning and implementation, especially in the capital city of Jakarta.

"The basic principle of handling this is the balance and integration of health safety and the people's economy," President Jokowi said on Tuesday.

"Balance, coordination, and integration are the keys to achieving optimal health and economy, with the harmonious collaboration of the central government, regional governments, and the participation of all citizens," he added.

The President said the participation and collaboration of all parties are manifested in the willingness to carry out health protocols.

"The majority of Indonesian individuals have moved with awareness to comply with health protocols, such as wearing masks when going out, maintaining physical distance, and washing hands with soap in running water," he explained.

With the growing public awareness, President Joko Widodo remains at the forefront and tirelessly reminds and invites all elements of the nation to collaborate in making life habit masks for adaptation during the pandemic as a form of national discipline.

"We are also grateful to God for the recovery of 158,405 Covid-19 patients [on Sep. 14, 2020]. Let's continue to wear masks together to protect ourselves, protect our beloved country, the Republic of Indonesia," he concluded. (RRI)

The government's Covid-19 vaccination program will have two options.

Minister of State-Owned Enterprise, Erick Thohir, explained that the first is the COVID-19 vaccine aid from the government.

"We want to ensure there are two types of vaccine needs for the Indonesian people. (First) government's aid vaccine," Erick said, on Tuesday.

Not only that, but the government also provides an independent vaccine program for people who are capable of buying the COVID-19 vaccine.

"And a standalone vaccine program where individuals who are considered capable should buy," he said.

However, he explained, the government will still guarantee the availability of vaccines. In addition, the government is encouraging financially capable people to buy the COVID-19 vaccine. 

"This is a priority in the next few months for vaccination," he said.

Furthermore, Erick, who is also the Executive Chair of the Covid-19 Control and National Economic Recovery Committee, added that Indonesia continues to strive to produce the COVID-19 vaccine independently.

However, the government also continues to promote cooperation with the international community for mass vaccine production.

"We continue to approach AstraZeneca, CanSino, Pfizer, we will continue to collaborate with CEPI [Coalition for Epidemic Preparations Inovation] and GAVI [Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization]," he said. (RRI)