VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Ammana Fintek Syariah CEO Lutfi Adhiansyah believes sharia-compliant financial technology (fintech) will transform Indonesia into a halal producers' global hub in 2024 to align with National Committee for Sharia Economy and Finance’s vision and mission.

"It is impossible for Indonesia to become a global hub for halal producers without the help of technology. I guarantee if we only apply a traditional approach, we will not achieve it since technology makes movement massive, faster, more efficient, and transparent," he stated during a discussion held by the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWHI) ahead of 2021 National Press Day on Wednesday.

"That is why fintech is needed as a complementary approach for the sharia-compliant economy to rise," he remarked.

Sharia-compliant fintech is also very relevant to grow owing to the Islamic demography in Indonesia. Almost 87 percent of Indonesia's population of 267 million are Muslims, he pointed out.

"Nearly 175 million of the Indonesian population of 267 million use internet and 88 percent of the internet users are accustomed to buying products online," he remarked.

Adhiansyah noted that 74 million of the Indonesian population belonging to the middle class have not enjoyed financing services, thereby leading to a financing gap.

The financing gap must be fulfilled by other institutions: banks, multi-finance firms, smallholder credit banks and cooperatives.  

"That is why sharia-compliant fintech is needed," he emphasized.

Adhiansyah affirmed that the planned merger of three sharia state banks -- Bank Syariah Mandiri (BSM), Bank BRI Syariah (BRIS) and Bank BNI Syariah (BNIS) -- into Bank Syariah Indonesia (BSI) is positive news for sharia fintech.

"With the merger of sharia banks, the sharia bank infrastructure can also be used for sharia fintech," he remarked.

The fact that Indonesia is the largest country in Southeast Asia, with the largest number of e-commerce users, will also drive the growth of sharia fintech, he affirmed.

"E-commerce is an assembly of people that have begun adopting technology for online shopping," he stated.

The number of fintech companies in Indonesia rose to 88 in 2018, from 34 in 2017 and further climbed up to 160 in 2019.

Loans distributed through the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform also swelled to Rp73 trillion in 2020, from Rp2.5 trillion in 2017. (antaranews)

Indonesia's National Narcotics Agency (BNN) recently foiled the attempts of four drug couriers to transport 53.05 kilograms (kg) of crystal methamphetamine, including 42.43 kg believed to have been smuggled from Malaysia.

BNN confirmed that the 42.43 kg of cystal meth were confiscated from three men, only identified by their initials as Al, As, and D, in the waters of Makassar Strait of Donggala District, Central Sulawesi Province, on January 10, 2021.

"The first drug trafficking operation was foiled by the BNN in collaboration with the customs and excise office," BNN Chief Com. Gen. Petrus Reinhard Golose was quoted by ANTARA as saying here, Thursday.

BNN officers stopped a motorboat in the waters of Makassar Strait and found three plastic sacks containing 40 bags, with 42.43 kilograms of crystal meth, he remarked.

Al, As, and D, who had got the crystal meth package from Malaysia, were arrested by the officers. The suspects and their evidence of drug crime were taken to the BNN headquarters for further investigation, Golose revealed.

Two days after the BNN and customs and excise office were successful in foiling the drug trafficking operation in Central Sulawesi, the agency's officers in Jakarta also managed to seize 10.62 kg of crystal meth.

During a drug raid operation conducted in the Kapuk Muara neighborhood, North Jakarta, on January 12, 2021, the team arrested J alias Okd, a drug courier of a Bagansiapiapi-Jakarta drug syndicate.

When the suspect was arrested at the Kapuk Muara apartment's parking area, J carried six biscuit-covered packs of crystal meth weighing 6.34 kg.

The BNN officers then found another 4.83 kg of crystal meth hidden inside four biscuit-covered packs and two plastic clips when they raided J's flat, he remarked.

J received the illicit drug package from someone in Bagansiapiapi, Riau Province, Golose remarked, adding that he commended his men's crackdown on the drug couriers.

The BNN has charged the four suspects for violating several articles of Indonesia's drug law that carries a death penalty.

"The BNN is committed to combating drug rings to save the future of young Indonesians," he affirmed. (Antaranews)

Bali immigration authorities deported two US citizens, identified as Risten Antoinette Gray and Saundra Michelle Alexander, on grounds of having violating immigration rules while staying in the world-renowned tourist island.

"They were flown to Jakarta under the escort of four immigration officers. They will depart from Jakarta to the US via Tokyo by American Air at 6:30 WIB (Western Indonesian Time)," Erwin Siregar, Kristen Antoinette Gray's lawyer, stated on Wednesday.

The two US citizens were declared negative for COVID-19 after undergoing a swab test six hours earlier, he remarked.

Both Gray and Alexander claimed to not be guilty, he noted.

"He (Gray) said he was not guilty. If he was considered guilty, he would apologize," he remarked.

Meanwhile, the immigration authorities in the jurisdiction of the Bali Office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry had yet to issue an official statement on the deportation.

Earlier, Chief of the Bali Office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry Jamaruli Manihuruk, who quoted the result of the investigation conducted by the Denpasar immigration office, noted that the two US citizens had spread information that could fuel public unrest.

The information came in the form of LGBTQF (queer-friendly) wherein Bali Province offers unquestionable comfort and easy access to the Indonesian territory during the pandemic.

Both US citizens were charged for violating article 75, paragraph (1) of Immigration Law No. 6 of 2011.

They were also accused of doing business through e-book sale and tourism consulting service in Bali. (antaranews)

Mount Sinabung in Karo District, North Sumatra Province, erupted at 5:25 a.m. WIB (Western Indonesia Time) on Wednesday, however, the height of the ash column could not be observed, said officials.

The eruption was recorded on the seismogram and showed a maximum amplitude of 55 mm and a duration of about three minutes and 21 seconds, Acting Chief of the Karo District Disaster Mitigation Board (BPBD) Natanail Perangin-angin said.

The 2,451-meter high volcano had erupted at 8:10 p.m. WIB on Monday (January 18, 2021), but the height of the ash column was not observed at the time, too. The eruption was recorded on the seismogram and showed a maximum amplitude of 25 mm and a duration of about three minutes and 26 seconds.

The volcano’s alert status is currently at level III. Residents and farmers have been advised not to carry out any activities within a three-kilometer radius of the volcano's peak, a five-kilometer sectoral radius in the southeast sector, and a four-kilometer radius in the northeast sector, Perangin-angin said.

He said in the event of ash rain, residents must wear masks while venturing outdoors to reduce the adverse impact of inhaling volcanic ash on their health. They must also keep clean water at hand and rid roofs of thick volcanic ash to prevent their homes from collapsing, he added.

People residing near rivers whose upper reach is in Mount Sinabung must stay alert for the danger of lava, he said.

Mount Sinabung has repeatedly erupted since 2010, displacing tens of thousands of people in disaster zones.

Last year, the volcano had erupted early on the morning of August 8, spewing a two thousand-meter-high ash column. The eruption had affected local residents in the sub-districts of Teran, Berastagi, Simpang 4, and Merdeka.

In November, 2020, the volcano spewed clouds of hot ash for two consecutive days, according to the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG). (Antaranews)