VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

An independent panel said on Monday that Chinese officials could have applied public health measures more forcefully in January to curb the initial COVID-19 outbreak, and criticised the World Health Organization (WHO) for not declaring an international emergency until Jan. 30.

The experts reviewing the global handling of the pandemic, led by former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, called for reforms to the Geneva-based United Nations agency.Their interim report was published hours after the WHO’s top emergency expert, Mike Ryan, said that global deaths from COVID-19 were expected to top 100,000 per week “very soon”.

“What is clear to the Panel is that public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China in January,” the report said, referring to the initial outbreak of the new disease in the central city of Wuhan, in Hubei province.

As evidence emerged of human-to-human transmission, “in far too many countries, this signal was ignored”, it added.

Specifically, it questioned why the WHO’s Emergency Committee did not meet until the third week of January and did not declare an international emergency until its second meeting on Jan. 30.

“Although the term pandemic is neither used nor defined in the International Health Regulations (2005), its use does serve to focus attention on the gravity of a health event. It was not until 11 March that WHO used the term,” the report said.

“The global pandemic alert system is not fit for purpose”, it said. “The World Health Organization has been underpowered to do the job.”

Under President Donald Trump, the United States has accused the WHO of being “China-centric”, which the agency denies. European countries led by France and Germany have pushed for addressing the WHO’s shortcomings on funding, governance and legal powers.

The panel called for a “global reset” and said that it would make recommendations in a final report to health ministers from the WHO’s 194 member states in May. (reuters)

Two Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) planes transported 14 tons of relief aid on Monday for victims of the 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Mamuju and Majene
Districts, West Sulawesi Province, last Friday.

The two airplanes, a CN-295 and a Boeing 737, belonged to Air Squadron 2 at the Halim Perdanakusuma Airbase in Jakarta.

Air Force Chief of Staff, Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo, said the TNI AU is ready to transport aid for quake victims from various agencies in Jakarta.

He said the TNI AU had earlier sent relief aid for the quake victims from President Joko Widodo.

TNI AU has transported more than 87 tons of logistics supplies to Banjarmasin for flood victims and to Mamuju for quake victims, as well as dispatched 216 medical workers and volunteers to the affected areas, he added.

"We have sent assistance in the form of fast food, blankets, medicines, and tents (as well) as personnel to help (people) in affected areas," Prasetyo informed.

The powerful earthquake rocked the districts of Majene and Mamuju early on Friday last week. The epicenter of the quake was located on land, six kilometers northeast of Majene, at a depth of 10 kilometers.

The shallow quake, which the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) believes was caused by a local fault, destroyed several buildings, including the governor's office, a military office, and the Maleo Hotel.

The earthquake damaged many houses and a public health center and even triggered three landslides along the Majene-Mamuju road section, disrupting the transportation of people and goods, Chief of the Center for Disaster Data, Information and Communication at the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Dr. Raditya Jati said at an online press conference in Jakarta on Sunday.

The death toll from the 6.2-magnitude earthquake stood at 73, with 27,850 people taking refuge as of Sunday evening, according to the BNPB.

As per BNPB records, a total of 826 people sustained injuries in the quake, while 27,850 people fled their homes as of Sunday evening, Dr. Raditya said. (antaranews)

The Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) officially halted a safeguard investigation into Indonesian ceramic floor and wall tiles on January 11, 2021.

"The safeguard investigation was halted only four months after it commenced on September 13, 2020. The Malaysian authorities decided to stop the investigation on three considerations," Indonesian Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said in Jakarta on Monday.

First, there was no absolute rise in import volume during the investigation period, he said. Second, the impact of import volume hike on Malaysian ceramic products could not relatively be ascertained, he added.

Third, the Malaysian authorities could not ascertain the linkage between an import surge and serious losses suffered by Malaysian ceramic producers, he continued.

The ceramic products that are exempt from safeguard duties belong to HS codes 6907.21.21, 6907.21.23, 6907.21.91, 6907.21.93, 6907.22.11, 6907.22.13, 6907.22.91, 6907.22.93, 6907.23.11, 6907.23.13, 6907.23.91, and 6907.23.93.

Malaysian ceramic manufacturers have claimed that there was a surge in ceramic imports which resulted in losses or potential losses for the domestic ceramic industry.

The safeguard investigation was launched in September, 2020, based on a petition from the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers – Malaysian Ceramic Industry Group. However, the Malaysian authorities could not find evidence supporting the claim.

The investigation was then terminated without the imposition of temporary safeguard import duties.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia's ceramic exports subjected to the investigation were valued at US$7.12 million in 2019, a decline of 27.21 percent compared to exports of US$9.78 million a year earlier.

In the January-November, 2020 period, Indonesia exported US$8.35 million worth of ceramic products, an increase of 24.41 percent compared to exports of US$6.71 million the year before.

Indonesian ceramic products, which have very competitive quality, are believed to have the potential to disrupt the performance of the Malaysian ceramic industry. Indonesia is also one of the main suppliers of ceramic products to Malaysia.

"Statistical data of Malaysian imports in 2019 shows Indonesia was ranked second after China as the largest country of import origin for Malaysia. The MITI's decision creates large opportunities for Indonesia to increase ceramic exports to the neighboring country," Minister Lutfi said. (antaranews)

The National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) has again extended by three days the search operation for the bodies of passengers and debris of the crashed Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ-182.

“After taking into account various things at a meeting with the Transportation Ministry, KNKT (National Committee for Transportation Safety), DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) team, and other relevant parties, we (have decided) to extend the SAR operation by another three days,” Basarnas chief, Vice Marshal Bagus Puruhito, said at the Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), Pier 2, Jakarta on Monday.

During the extended search operation, Basarnas will evaluate its daily findings to assess the outcome, effectiveness, and obstacles in the field, he informed.

In addition, it will also reassess developments to decide further steps in the search operation, he said.

On January 15, 2021, Basarnas had extended the search operation by three days following a week long search for victims and debris of the Sriwijaya Air plane, which had crashed in the waters off Seribu Islands on January 9, 2021.

As of Monday (January 18, 2021), the SAR team was yet to retrieve the second black box that contains the flight’s cockpit voice recorder. Meanwhile, the diving team continued to find body parts of the ill-fated plane's passengers.

Puruhito said these were the two reasons behind the SAR team's decision to extend the search operation.

He said bad weather had also hampered the search operation.

The Sriwijaya Air flight SJ-182, bearing the registration number PK-CLC, had lost contact on January 9, 2021, at 2:40 p.m. Western Indonesia time (WIB) shortly after take-off and crashed between Lancang Island and Laki Island, Thousand Islands, DKI Jakarta. The plane had departed from Jakarta and was headed to Pontianak.

Based on the manifest, the plane had 50 passengers and 12 crew members on board. Of the total passengers, 40 were adults, seven were children, and three were infants.

Meanwhile, the DVI team has identified five more bodies of passengers traveling on the flight, bringing the count of bodies identified as of Sunday evening to 29.

The five bodies were identified through the examination of DNA samples, Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono, chief of the public information bureau of the public relations division at the National Police, stated at a press conference at the Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, on Sunday.

The DVI team had received the DNA samples of all the plane's passengers as of Friday last week (January 15, 2021). (antaranews)