VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 10 - The Indonesian government is targeting to get 21.5 million senior citizens vaccinated against COVID-19 by June this year, deputy health minister Dante Saksono said here on Tuesday.

"The enthusiasm to take part in vaccination for the elderly is high. We are targeting (to vaccinate) 21.5 million senior citizens and 16.5 million public service workers before June," Saksono said during a coordination meeting on national disaster management.

He said he is optimistic the vaccination target would be achieved as more vaccines have arrived and the government has continued to add more vaccine recipients.

"We are targeting to give 200 thousand injections per day, and we will increase it to 500 thousand per day," he informed.

The government has prioritized vaccinations in seven big provinces with COVID-19 red zones in their capital.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said the government is aiming to complete the vaccination program by 2021 end.

"The target is, by the end of this year, 182 million people can get the vaccine," he said, adding that it excludes inoculation of citizens under 19 years. (Antaranews)

Mar. 10 - The captain of a fishing vessel, KM Jaya Utama, has been accused of leaving seven crew members stranded at the Merauke fishing port in Papua province, according to Destructive Fishing Watch (DFW) Indonesia.

"The KM (motor vessel) Jaya Utama's captain forced them to disembark the ship. As a result, they got stranded at the Merauke fishing port," the DFW's national coordinator, Moh.Abdi Suhufan, said in a statement that ANTARA received here on Tuesday.

The seafarers may have been trapped into forced labor in poor working conditions, he stated adding, they have also reported a shortage of food while working on board the fishing vessel.

DFW Indonesia has received a report from the seafarers, who have said they were recruited by the fishing vessel's captain in Pekalongan, Central Java province.

The sailors, who hail from Jakarta and towns in Central Java, said KM Jaya Utama departed from Surabaya, East Java, for poaching in the Dobo waters off Aru Islands district in Maluku province.

From Dobo waters, the fishing vessel headed to the port city of Sorong in West Papua province, Suhufan said, adding that the seafarers may have been victims of deceptive recruitment based on an advertisement placed on social media platforms.

The seafarers told DFW that they owed debt to the captain. Therefore, they alleged, he forced them to work hard during their stay on board the fishing boat, Suhufan informed.

Considering the case, he urged the Indonesian government to keep improving the implementation of good governance rules in the country's fisheries sector, especially the ones related to decent work and protection of seamen aboard fishing vessels.

Last year, the Indonesian public was left shocked by news of two Chinese fishing vessels burying the bodies of three Indonesian sailors at sea following their deaths in December, 2019 and March, 2020.

The Indonesian seafarers had died aboard Long Xin 629 and Long Xin 604 while the fishing boats were sailing in the Pacific Ocean.

Indonesian migrant workers in the maritime and fisheries sectors remain vulnerable to modern slavery practices. The Global Slavery Index, issued by Walk Free (2014-2016), an initiative MigrantCARE was part of, also reveals this fact.

According to the Global Slavery Index (2014-2016), several hundred thousand Indonesian crew working on board fishing vessels are trapped in modern slavery. (Antaranews)

Mar. 10 - The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) nabbed two couriers while they were allegedly trying to smuggle six kg of drugs from Keerom district, Papua to the port city of Sorong, West Papua on March 7, 2021.

The suspected couriers, identified as Y (29) and R (31), boarded a motor vessel, KM Ciremai, serving the Jayapura-Sorong route with a package containing 6 kg of dried marijuana, coordinator of the BNN-West Papua Office's law enforcement unit, Insp-2 Ahmad Aryad, told the press on Tuesday.

The two men were apprehended as soon as the passenger ship arrived at the Manokwari seaport on Sunday evening, he informed.

During the drug raid, BNN officers seized the drug package, a black luggage, two mobile phones, and tickets for KM Ciremai, he said.

The suspects told BNN investigators that they got involved in the drug-trafficking operation after a Jayapura city resident, identified as F, paid them to deliver the marijuana package from Keerom district to Sorong.

"The suspects admitted that they were yet to know who would receive the marijuana package in Sorong," Aryad added.

The Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua remain vulnerable to drug crimes.

Early this year, the BNN-Papua Office seized 200 packets of dried marijuana from two drug dealers, identified as Wolfram Wambrau alias Opam, 27, and Yosep Demetau alias Ocep, 25.

The agency said the marijuana packages weighed 2.5 kilograms in total.

Domestic and transnational drug dealers view Indonesia as a lucrative market owing to its huge population and millions of drug users.

Drug trade in the nation is valued at nearly Rp66 trillion.

People from all strata of society are falling prey to drugs in the country regardless of their socio-economic and professional backgrounds.

Over the past few decades, the Indonesian government has taken harsh punitive action against drug barons found smuggling and trading drugs in the country.

The National Narcotics Agency (BNN) has sought capital punishment for those involved in drug trade in the country.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has also issued shoot-at-sight orders against drug kingpins.

However, this has failed to deter drug traffickers, who continue to treat Indonesia as a main market, prompting Indonesian law enforcement agencies to step up efforts against them. (Antaranews)

Mar. 10 - The number of Indonesians receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine rose by 239,001 to reach 3,337,026 as of Tuesday afternoon, the Task Force for COVID-19 Handling reported.

In the meantime, 39,340 additional people received their second vaccine shot, bringing the total count to 1,197,772.

The first phase of vaccinations kicked off on January 13, 2021 and targeted 1,468,764 healthcare workers.

The second phase of vaccinations started on February 17, 2021 and is targeting 38 million people, comprising over 21 million senior citizens and 16 million public service officers, including state officials, government employees, religious figures, traders, teachers, lecturers, athletes, journalists, and tourism operators.

Vice Health Minister Dante Saksono said the government is aiming to vaccinate around 21.5 million elderly people against COVID-19 by June this year.

On Tuesday, the Drug and Food Control Agency (BPOM) also issued an emergency-use authorization (EUA) for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The agency also endorsed the entry of the vaccine by issuing a special entry permit.

With the issuance of the EUA, Indonesia will soon receive the first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the COVAX Facility of the global cooperation scheme for vaccine and immunization (GAVI).

The government has set a target of inoculating 181,554,465 people, or 70 percent of the total population of Indonesia, to build herd immunity against the coronavirus. (Antaranews)