State-owned electricity firm PT PLN has recovered electric power to Balaraja Extra High Voltage substation in Banten Province, and furthermore it will be channeled to Suralaya steam-fueled power plant (PLTU) to gradually recover its operation to reach its capacity of 2800 MW of electricity.
In addition, power supply from Gandul Extra High Voltage substations in Depok, West Java Province, will be channeled to Muara Karang gas and steam power plant (PLTGU) to supply electricity to the Indonesian capital city, Jakarta.
Acting President Director of PLN Sripeni Inten Cahyani said here on Sunday that the power supply to Jakarta was expected to recover within three hours.
"We apologize for the inconvenience today, and currently all efforts have been made to recover the Java-Bali power system, especially in the area of West Java, Banten, and Jakarta," Cahyani said.
The company has focused on power supply to PLTGU Muara Karang and PLTGU Priok to recover the system in the capital city.
Previously, PLN has recovered the operation of hydro-generated power plant (PLTA) Saguling and PLTA Cirata which are functioned as power stabilizer, and, at the same time, supply the electricity to PLTU Suralaya through Cibinong, Depok, Gandul, Lengkok, Balaraja and Suralaya extra high voltage substations.
PLTU Suralaya is expected to return to its normal operation within six hours to normalize power system in West Java and Banten.
Blackout that affected thousands of homes and public facilities in West Java, Jakarta, and Banten was caused by several troubles in the extra high voltage 500 kV transmission of Ungaran - Pemalang.
"PLN has taken its best efforts and will have evaluation to prevent recurrence of today's incident," Cahyani said.
Some 10 leaders of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) held a meeting with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Merdeka Palace, in Jakarta, Wednesday, for discussion on preparations for the presidential inauguration on October 20, 2019.
"On behalf of myself and the institution, I express my gratitude to President Joko Widodo for inviting us here for consultation. Today, it is our initial task to prepare for (the presidential) inauguration," MPR Chairman Bambang Soesatyo stated.
Attendees are the meeting also comprised Deputy Chairmen of MPR, specifically Ahmad Basarah from the PDIP, Ahmad Muzani from Gerindra, Lestari Moerdijat from NasDdem, Jazilul Fawaid from PKB, Syarif Hasan from the Democratic Party, Hidayat Nur Wahid from the PKS, Zulkifli Hasan from PAN, Arsul Sani from PPP, and Fadel Muhammad from DPD.
On the occasion, President Jokowi was accompanied by Minister/State Secretary Pratikno and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.
Zulkifli Hasan, the former MPR chairman, emphasized that this year’s presidential inauguration should be more successful than that five years ago.
Fadel Mohammad of the Regional Representative Council (DPD) remarked that during the meeting with the president, an agreement was reached on the inauguration's exact time, agenda, and speech.
Jokowi was re-elected as Indonesia's president for the 2019-2024 period based on the April-17 presidential election results.
Jokowi and his running mate, Ma'ruf Amin, chairman of the Ulema Council (MUI), will be inaugurated as Indonesia's president and vice president for the 2019-2024 term in Jakarta on October 20, 2019.
Jokowi garnered 55.5 percent of the votes as against 44.5 percent secured by his rival, Prabowo Subianto in the 2019 election, a replay of the contentious 2014 presidential election that exposed a deeper national divide, as Jokowi and Subianto went head-to-head.
A total of 10 political parties grouped in the Indonesia Working Coalition (KIK) -- the ruling PDIP, PKB, PPP, Golkar, Nasdem, PSI, Perindo, PKPI, Hanura, and the latest one, PBB -- supported Jokowi during the presidential election. Gerindra, PKS, the Democratic Party, and PAN had supported Prabowo during the presidential election. (ANTARA)
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) revealed that his new cabinet lineup will feature a blend of old hands and fresh faces, including professionals and millenials.
"Yes, there will be old and lots of new (ministers)," Jokowi remarked at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
President Jokowi noted that 55 percent of the ministerial positions will be filled in by professionals. Millenials below 30 years of age will also be included in the cabinet lineup.
However, Jokowi did not divulge details on the percentage of old and new ministers in his cabinet, affirming that he will announce his new cabinet lineup shortly after his presidential inauguration for the 2019-2024 term.
"It will be announced soon after the inauguration. There will be a new nomenclature of ministries," he remarked.
Jokowi has earlier held separate meetings with Democrat Party Chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on October 10 and Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party Chairman Prabowo Subianto on October 11.
After meeting with Jokowi, Subianto had separately met with chairpersons of some parties, including Megawati Soekarnoputri from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Surya Paloh of the National Democratic Party, Suharso Monoarfa from the United Development Party, Muhaimin Iskandar of the National Awakening Party, and Airlangga Hartarto from Golkar.(ANTARA)
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has pinned high hopes on the fully operational Palapa Ring projects boosting trade and bureaucracy in addition to enhancing public services.
"After we can connect it, market places in regions can also be connected to the national and global marketplaces. This will also boost our industry to increase its competitiveness," Jokowi stated at the inauguration of operations of the Palapa Ring at the State Palace in Jakarta, on Monday.
The president has appealed to local administrations to derive benefits from the Palapa Ring to realize greater effectiveness and efficiency in public services.
He also appealed to the public to become smart internet users and restrain from spreading hoaxes and slander.
"We must bear in mind that the fast growth of digital technology and connectivity should not be misused to spread hate speech or to share slander, hoaxes, and fake news. This must be restrained," Jokowi emphasized.
The head of state believes that Palapa Ring will offer equitable access to technology to all Indonesians.
Palapa Ring is one of the government's priority infrastructure projects comprising a 36 thousand-kilometer (km)-long fiber optic cable network aimed at providing access to 4G services across the archipelago by 2019.
The Palapa Ring encircles Indonesia's seven island groupings of Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua and incorporates eight connecting networks.
The eastern section of the Palapa Ring is constructed along 4,450 km, comprising 3,850 km of sub marine cable and 600 km of land cable, with 15 landing points in 21 cities and districts. The eastern section covers East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, West Papua, and Papua.
The western section of the Palapa Ring covers Riau, Riau Islands, and Natuna, while the central section spans Kalimantan, Sulawesi, North Maluku, and Sangihe-Talaud Islands. (ANTARA)
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has commended the hard work of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in maintaining public confidence.
"The nation has also conveyed special tribute to the soldiers killed in the line of duty to protect the sovereignty of the Unitary State of Indonesia," President Jokowi stated at the ceremony to observe TNI’s 74th anniversary held at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in Jakarta on Saturday.
The president remarked that the TNI had acted promptly in assisting people in disaster-hit regions and also successfully secured the simultaneous elections.
At the international level, the Indonesian Military has belted achievements by emerging the winner in shooting competitions in Malaysia and Australia.
Other accomplishments in the defense sector are development of an integrated military base in Natuna Island to be followed by development of similar bases in Biak of Papua Province, Morotai in North Maluku, Merauke in Papua, and Saumlaki in Maluku.
On July 30, the TNI had established a Special Operation Command (Koopsus) to support anti-terrorism operations.
The Indonesian Military had held a joint training in early September involving 12,500 soldiers of three forces and established Joint Regional Defense Commands in Tanjung Pinang in Riau Islands, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, and Biak in Papua on September 27.
"All of these have marked a shift in the military culture in Indonesia, which earlier was separated based on the forces, but now, it has been integrated and supported by the professional character of soldiers," Jokowi added. (ANTARA)
President Joko Widodo admitted that he is still waiting for the election results of Chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) before discussing the matter of preparation for the inauguration of the elected President and Vice President for the upcoming 2019-2024 period. Speaking after attending the commemoration of the 2019 National Batik Day, Wednesday (Oct 2) at Puro Mangkunegaran, Surakarta, President Joko Widodo said that he can not open communication with the MPR given that the MPR Chairman had not been elected.
“First, the MPR does not have a leader yet. I can not be able to talk to the existing MPR leaders. What do we want to talk about? while the MPR does not have the new leader yet. Once the chairmen of the People's Consultative Assembly are formed, we can convey about the inauguration,” said Jokowi.
Related to the proposal to advance the inauguration, President Joko Widodo conveyed that he fully submits the decision of the inauguration to the Assembly. The president admitted that he received input from a number of volunteers related to discourse of advancing inauguration, but Jokowi fully submits to the Assembly. Earlier, in a press release, Central Representative Council of Projo people organization suggested to General Election Commission (KPU) to bring forward the inauguration of Elected President and Vice President on Saturday, October 19, 2019. This proposal was submitted for practical reasons, in order the community could oversee the inauguration procession of the elected President and Vice President. Jokowi will end his 2014 - 2019 Presidential period on October 20, 2019. According to the schedule of the Commission, Jokowi will constantly be inaugurated on October 20, 2019// Ndy/trans.yati
Voice of Indonesia for the eight times will hold Anugerah Sastra VOI (VOI Literature Award), an award and also media to accommodate writing talent of Indonesian citizens living abroad. The Anugerah Sastra VOI which was previously called Bilik Sastra VOI Award is the peak event of Guratan Pena, a program on Voice of Indonesia which collects and broadcasts short stories sent to Voice of Indonesia through e-mail. For this year, the first winner of Anugerah Sastra VOI 2019 is an Indonesian student in Egypt, Daud Farma, with his short story entitled Pedas Manis or Spicy Sweet. Meanwhile, the second winner is Ahla Jennan, an Indonesian migrant worker living in Hong Kong, with her short story entitled Jejak Cinta Asmaradhana or Love Traces of Asmaradhana. In addition to giving awards to the winners, there will also be a talk show themed Perantau Unggul dengan Menulis or “Indonesian Migrants Competent with Writing” to be held at Jusuf Ronodipuro auditorium, RRI Jakarta on Thursday (Sept 26). The talk show will be hosted by Diba Casym, a radio broadcaster, with speakers Head of Language Development and Cultivation Agency, Prof. Dadang Sunendar, Head of HB Jassin Literature Documentation Center Abrory Djabbar and young writer, Bernard Batubara. (VOI/AHM)
A numbers of 2,890 people broke Indonesian World Records for the biggest Tari Piring performance, a traditional dance which dancers carrying a couple of plates on their palms, in Padang Aro, South Solok, West Sumatra, on Sunday.
The dancers -- all women -- are students, policewomen, wives of police and army personnel, who donned themselves with their uniform and traditional Minangkabau hat called tikuluak tanduak, which looks like bull's horn.
"The committee claimed that this is a national records, but we are sure that this performance was broken the world records since Tapi Piring is a traditional dance that owned by West Sumatrans only," Senior Manager of the Indonesian World Records Museum (MURI), Triyono, stated.
The record could also be considered as an effort of preserving cultural heritage by mainly the millennial generation.
The MURI certificate was handed over by Triyono to Chief of West Sumatera Provincial Police Inspector General Fakhrizal, accompanied by Chief of Solok Selatan Police Imam Yulisdianto.
Fakhrizal remarked that gathering almost three thousand people was not an easy task, but he said he would like to see such event could be held again.
"This performance will not end here as I am ready to support the same event next time," Fakhrizal said.
Mayor of Solok Selatan Muzni Zakaria said he would support the mass Tari Piring performance to be held annually.
Most of the electronic stores in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, have been running out of air purifier in the last two weeks, following a massive buying by local households in a bid to filter the air that polluted by land and forest fires smog.
"I went to five electronic stores yet did not find any air purifier available," Wati, a resident of Pekanbaru, said on Sunday.
When there was any left air purifiers, they were too expensive, Wati continued.
Some shopkeepers had asked Wati to leave her phone number for they could notify her later when they restock the air purifier.
"But there is no any call from them until now," she said.
Kokoh, an electronic store's owner, claimed that normally he only stock two air purifiers in one year because it was not salable goods. But now, amid the unhealthy smog, people tend to look for it.
The small size air purifier for a 21-square meter room is used to be priced for about Rp1.5 million (around US$110) per unit, but after the smog worsened it could be reached Rp2.7 to Rp3.5 million (US$190 to US$246).
Due to such high demand, Kokoh said he need to order air purifiers directly from Jakarta and they need to be delivered by airplane to cut the shipping time. But each store could only purchase two units per order.
The air pollutant standard index (ISPU) PM10 in Pekanbaru is still 300 that indicates unhealthy air still persisted. Following such air condition, school activities had been stopped for two weeks and pregnant civil servants were allowed to work from home.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) discussed ways to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation with Chinese President Xi Jinping's Foreign Relation Advisor Song Tao at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Friday.
"The president is upbeat about Chinese imports of CPO and other commodities, including fruits and aquatic products, being raised," Deputy Foreign Minister A. M. Fachir remarked after accompanying President Jokowi at the meeting.
Fachir noted that Jokowi and Tao were on the same page regarding deepening bilateral multi-sectoral cooperation. The president has also urged China to step up investment in export-oriented sectors.
"The president is optimistic that bilateral cooperation in trade would reduce the impact of the Indonesian trade deficit with China," he stated.
Tao and President Jokowi held an around hour-long meeting at the Bogor Palace that started at 10:30 a.m. local time.
During the meeting, Jokowi was accompanied by Minister/State Secretary Pratikno and Fachir, while Tao was accompanied by Chinese Ambassador Xiao Qian.
Tao expressed hope that Indonesia would clock better economic growth and progress during President Jokowi’s second term.
He also commended the progress achieved by Indonesia in infrastructure development, such as the Trans Java toll road and construction of power plants. (ANTARA)