VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jan. 29 - Jakarta reported 2,889 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total tally to 259,305 since the time the pandemic struck the Indonesian capital.

The count of new COVID-19 cases comprises 2,821 infections detected using cumulative swab tests (PCR) conducted the day before and 68 other cases originating from the result of examinations at the laboratory of a private hospital in the past three days, according to data provided by the Jakarta provincial government on its official website corona.jakarta.go.id.

The PCR tests were conducted on 19,069 specimens on Wednesday (January 27, 2021). Of the total, 17,121 PCR tests were taken to diagnose new cases, with 2,821 people testing positive and 14,300 others testing negative for the virus.

Jakarta also reported 2,720 new recoveries on Thursday, bringing the total count to 232,701.

The total recoveries represent 89.7 percent of the total COVID-19 cases at 259,305.

Meanwhile, 22,419 of the total COVID-19 cases are active cases.

As of Thursday, 4,185 people died of COVID-19, accounting for 1.6 percent of the total COVID-19 cases. (Antaranews)

Jan. 28 - More than 8 thousand houses in Mamuju City, West Sulawesi province, were destroyed in the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the province on January 15, 2021.

"The number of destroyed houses in Mamuju City is 8,000. The West Sulawesi provincial government is expected to complete the validation of data of the houses destroyed in the quake in early March (2021),” secretary of the West Sulawesi provincial government, M Idris Dp, said on Thursday.

The local government is committed to repairing the damaged homes and will provide data on the damage done to houses to the central government soon, he added.

"In addition to evacuating (victims), distributing logistics, and providing health services within the framework of emergency response, the West Sulawesi provincial government is also in the process of verifying and validating the data of people receiving funds to rehabilitate their houses affected by the quake in Majene and Mamuju districts," he informed.

The preliminary data will serve as a reference for the government in repairing damaged houses, he added.

"There will be several teams to ensure (the verification of) assistance recipients by name, by address, by coordinates, and by evidence base. They will validate the data on damaged houses, including mapping of houses into the categories of serious, moderate, and light damages,” he continued.

The West Sulawesi Provincial Disaster Mitigation Task Force had reported earlier that a total of 89,624 people in Mamuju and Majene districts, which had borne the brunt of the quake, were still taking refuge as of January 24, 2021.

"The evacuees comprise 60,505 in Mamuju district and 29,199 in Majene," spokesperson for the task force, M. Natsir, said.

The evacuees are being sheltered in 249 camps, with 105 camps having more than 100 evacuees and 124 camps having less than 100 evacuees in Mamuju and 20 camps with more than 100 evacuees in Majene, he informed.

In Mamuju, the evacuees are in the sub-districts of Mamuju, Simboro, Tapalang, Tapalang Barat, Kaluku, Papalang and Balakkang, while in Majene, the evacuees are in the sub-districts of Malunda and Ulumanda.

About 15 thousand residents had fled their homes following the powerful quake, which left 100 people dead and hundreds of others injured. (Antaranews)

Jan. 28 - North Korea and the United States should seek an initial denuclearisation deal that includes a halt to the North’s nuclear activity and a cut in its programme in exchange for some sanctions relief, South Korea’s prime minister said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, in his first interview with a foreign media outlet since taking office a year ago, told Reuters “creative” thinking and mutual incentives were needed to get negotiations going again and prevent another breakdown.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to build new relations and work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula at their first summit in 2018, but a second summit and ensuing working-level talks fell apart.

North Korea had offered to dismantle its main nuclear complex in exchange for the lifting of major U.N. sanctions but the United States said abolishing the facility was not enough and North Korea should hand over its nuclear weapons and bomb fuel.

“We can begin with a freeze in all nuclear activities and reduction of some of their programme,” Chung said. “It would be best if we could get rid of all of it, once and for all, but it’s not easy and we need an alternative.”

The new U.S. administration of President Joe Biden has not announced any new policy for North Korea. Biden said in a presidential debate in October he would meet Kim only if he agreed to “draw down” North Korea’s nuclear capacity.

Chung said limited sanctions relief could help revive and sustain the momentum of any talks as that was the most attractive incentive for North Korea.

“It makes an incentive only when you give what your counterpart wants, and that’s what keeps up the negotiations,” he said.

“South Korea and the United States know what North Korea wants.”

Chung’s remarks came days after South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in called for new U.S. President Joe Biden to build on progress made by Kim and Trump.

But it was the first time a South Korean official offered details about a potential interim deal that both sides should pursue.

Chung said the Biden administration might implement a new policy but it had shown interest in the North Korea issue and would ultimately seek talks with it.

South Korea plans to hold in-depth discussions with new U.S. officials soon on how to revive the negotiations and whether the allies should postpone or scale back annual joint military exercises which North Korea has long condemned as preparation for war.

“Everyone knows that the problem cannot be solved without dialogue,” Chung said. “Our job is to come up with creative ideas so that talks will be held as quickly as possible.” (Reuters)

Jan. 28 - Deputy Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara highlighted that Indonesia's Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), termed the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), is different from those in other countries.

"The main logic of Indonesia's SWF is different from the SWFs in other countries. The logic of Indonesia's SWF is that we want to invite foreign direct investment (FDI) or foreign funds if I call it," he stated while speaking during the BRI Group Outlook 2021 webinar here on Thursday.

The influx of foreign funds into Indonesia, through the INA, would not be considered as debt but as equity, so that Indonesia would offer a form of stimulus, he noted.

"Foreign funds enter Indonesia not as debt but as equity. Hence, to attract the entry of funds as equity, Indonesia provides a kind of bait," he explained.

Hence, the government had channeled an initial capital of Rp15 trillion into the INA last year, and the amount will be increased to Rp75 trillion this year.

The government allotted an initial capital of Rp15 trillion through Government Regulation Number 73 of 2020 in the form of cash from the 2020 State Budget.

The additional capital is in the form of state enterprises' assets, and the INA will cooperate with strategic foreign investor partners that facilitate the entry of overseas funds into the country as equity and not as debt.

"This is very important for the future development of financing in Indonesia because we have to watch out for the component of the portfolio entry as debt and the portfolio that enters as equity," he stated.

Nazara is optimistic that the later portfolio as equity would not only be short-term but instead be long-term.

"This is what has been thought that how the SWF will design which projects to be offered as joint venture and which projects that can really become a game changer from long-term development funding," he expounded. (Antaranews)