VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

North Kalimantan Governor Irianto Lambrie visited on Friday PT Dirgantara Indonesia’s (DI) aircraft manufacturing factory in Bandung, West Java, as he mulls over plans to purchase twin-turboprop N219 Nurtanio aircraft to boost air connectivity in the province. Lambrie said that seventy percent of the province is forest area, which takes a long time to reach by land. The North Kalimantan administration has plans to use the N219 planes for semi-commercial flights, Lambrie said, adding that they would be operated by a provincial-owned enterprise in cooperation with a private airline. He said that the plan is to expand its public services, including health services; the planes could also serve as an ambulance. It could also be used as cargo and passenger planes for remote areas. The 19-seat N219 made its maiden flight test on Aug. 17 last year, marking the revival of Indonesia's aviation industry following the N250’s commercial failure two decades ago. However, before entering the production stage, the N219 must undergo a series of additional tests to get a Type Certificate (TC). DI president director Elfien Goentoro welcomed the governor’s plan, saying that DI is targeting to get its planes certified this year//JP   

Malang Mbakso Festival which will be held on January 20-22 besides popularizing meatballs as a culinary icon of Malang worldwide, it is also one of the efforts of community empowerment especially Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Malang, East Java. This was conveyed by the Chief Executive of Malang Mbakso Festival, Fendra Hadi Suwarto, to Voice of Indonesia in Malang, on Saturday (13/1).

"This event is not just a series of euphoria events that we create in the form of Malang Mbakso Festival. But through this series of events we want to accommodate all Malang meatball traders in legal entities in the form of cooperatives. So, essentially we want to empower the people of Malang to be more advanced," he said.

Fendra Hadi Suwarto also hoped, with the festival, the visit of local and foreign tourists to Malang, Malang Regency and Batu City will increase. Malang Mbakso Festival is also planned to be held in several big cities throughout Indonesia// Trs.REZHA

The Trade Ministry granted the permission to import rice. The imported rice is of special quality with the amount of 500,000 tons.  Trade Minister  Enggartiasto Lukita stated that the import permit was issued at the beginning of the month. He added that the rice will be received in January or February. The Minister revealed that the import is handled by state-owned Indonesian Trading Company (PPI). PPI will prepare their funds for the import without using State Budget funds. Rice import policy was taken to ensure sufficient supply. In addition, the imported rice is expected to push down the high price of rice. Minister Enggartiasto guarantees that companies working together in this import will not set a high selling price and will set the price at the range of Rp9,540. In addition, he urged traders to stop hoarding rice since additional rice supplies will enter the market and bring down the price//tempo