VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Bogor and Cibodas Botanical Gardens in Bogor, West Java, will reopen to the public from Tuesday (July 7) after being temporarily closed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personnel and visitors at the botanic gardens must adhere to health protocols under the new normal phase to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, Head of the Botanical Garden and Plant Conservation Research Center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) R. Hendrian noted in a statement in Bogir, West Java, on Monday.

The reopening of the two botanical gardens, serving as LIPI's research and public education platforms, must comply with better service standards in line with the health protocols, LIPI Chairman Laksana Tri Handoko stated.

"We are optimistic that visitors would be able to adjust to the protocols and jointly create a botanical garden environment that is safe, comfortable, and also environment-friendly in all aspects," Handoko expounded.

Situated in downtown Bogor, West Java, the Bogor Botanical Gardens, Indonesia's oldest and largest botanical garden, ushered in its 200th anniversary on May 18 this year.

The gardens are a source of immense pride for Indonesians, as they are also the oldest in Southeast Asia and the third-oldest in the world after the three-century-old Pandova Botanical Garden in Italy and the Royal Botanical Garden of Sydney in Australia, which had just turned 200 in 2016.

Originally, the botanical gardens served as the backyard of the Dutch colonial governor's office, and currently, they have been converted into one of Indonesia's largest biological diversity study centers.

The Government of Indonesia has allowed the application of transitional large-scale social distancing (PSBB) measures toward the new normal for regions with less reported cases of COVID-19. However, the regions should apply stringent health protocols that necessitate officers and visitors to wear masks, ensure physical distancing measures are applied, and frequently handwashing is practiced. (ANTARA)

Bali conducted mass prayers on Sunday as the Indonesian resort island prepares to reopen to tourists shut out due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than a thousand people attended a prayer at Besakih Hindu temple in the town of Karangasem, expressing gratitude for the handling of the new coronavirus on the island and seeking blessings for the start of a "new normal".

Bali has reported 1,849 coronavirus infections and 20 deaths so far, while Indonesia as a whole has recorded 63,749 cases and 3,171 deaths since early March.

The idyllic Southeast Asian island will gradually reopen this month for domestic tourists, while maintaining a "strict health protocol" to prevent the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, Bali provincial secretary Dewa Made Indra told reporters.

The local government expects to reopen Bali to foreign arrivals in September. Tourism is Bali's main source of income. Travel restrictions due to the pandemic have hammered the local economy. The occupancy rate at Bali's starred hotels plunged to 2.07% in May, according to Bali statistics bureau data, from 62.55% in December before the pandemic hit and down from 51.56% in May 2019.

"What I hope is the best for Bali and ... all the tourists will come to Bali and everybody will be happy and healthy again," Robin Tesselar, a Dutch citizen staying in Bali, told Reuters after attending the Besakih prayers.

Tourism-related businesses are preparing to for the reopening by implementing the health protocols, aiming to improve them until Bali reopens for international tourists, said hospitality executive Yoga Iswara. (Jakpost)

The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in 11 provinces has exceeded 75 percent, according to Spokesman of the Indonesian Government's COVID-19 Task Force Achmad Yurianto.

"This indicates that more patients have recovered from the virus," he said in his regular press conference circulated through the National Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BNPB's) official Youtube channel on Sunday.

Yurianto did not elaborate the provinces whose COVID-19 recovery rate had been recorded at above 75 percent but the task force's official website revealed them.

They are Bangka Belitung Islands Province whose recovery rate is recorded at 84 percent; Central Sulawesi (84 percent), Lampung (almost 80 percent), North Kalimantan (84 percent), Riau (88 percent), Gorontalo (84 percent), and Riau Islands (78 percent).

Yogyakarta's recovery rate has also stood at 84 percent and those of West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and West Sumatra are recorded at 83, 78, and 82 percent respectively.

According to Yurianto, Indonesia's national recovery rate still stood at 45.42 percent or it remained lower than the global rate which had reached 56.71 percent.

Instead, the country's mortality rate was recorded at five percent or higher than that of global level which stood at 4.72 percent, he said, adding that as of Sunday, there had been 29,105 patients who had fully recovered from this novel coronavirus disease.

The death toll from the virus was recorded at 3,171 while there had been 1,607 new confirmed cases on Sunday, bringing the tally to 63,749 cases, he said.

Achmad Yurianto reiterated his call for consistently practicing preventive measures as mandated by the government's COVID-19 protocols, and for changing bad habits for containing the spread of the deadly virus outbreak. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Ministry of Trade, Agus Suparmanto, called for stakeholders to make use of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or IA-CEPA which has been made official on Sunday, July 5.

The IA-CEPA was initially established on November 2, 2010, by both country’s government leaders with the first and second rounds of trade taking place in 2012 and 2013 but was halted for three years. The trade deal annuls import duty for Indonesian products to enter Australia. 

In 2019, the Indonesia - Australia trade saw a USD3.2 billion deficit from the two country’s total trade value of USD7.8 billion. Indonesia’s export to its neighboring country was recorded to be USD2.3 billion with USD5.58 billion imports. This itself presented Indonesia with USD3.2 billion in deficit. 

“Indonesia’s top ten import commodities from Australia mostly consist of raw materials and support for the industry such as wheat, coal, iron ore, aluminum, aluminum sheets, raw sugar, and milk and cream,” said Agus Suparmanto on Sunday’s press release.

Meanwhile, the service trade according to Australia’s statistics saw Indonesia’s exports on service generated AUD 4.4 billion with AUD 1.7 billion imports for Australia, which makes Indonesia at AUD2.7 billion surplus. 

Most of Indonesia’s surplus in that aspect comes from services in the tourism and transportation sector while Indonesia continued to import services in academics from Australia. (Tempo.co)