VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The hundreds of trillions of rupiahs that have been rolled out by the central government for village development for almost the last five years are a manifestation of the country's presence in the development of villages and communities. President Joko Widodo said, building villages that exist throughout Indonesia, is the same as building this country.

This was conveyed by the President while attending the Indonesian Village Government National Gathering event held at the Indoor Tennis Stadium, Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta, on Wednesday, April 10, 2019.

"The village is always in my mind and heart. Not because I come from the village, not only that. But in my opinion building a village means building Indonesia," he said.

For information, up to 2019, a total of Rp257 trillion in budget has been channeled by the central government to villages throughout Indonesia, reaching 74,900 villages. The budget is intended for villages to have adequate resources to develop their own territory.

"So if the government since 2015 disbursed IDR 20 trillion in village funds, 2016 IDR 47 trillion, 2017 IDR 60 trillion, 2018 IDR 60 trillion, and this year 2019 IDR 70 trillion is correct and mandatory. We have not paid attention to the village for years," he said.

The President said, the key to the success of village development also means that there are two successes in building a country. The first is that leadership that truly understands the governance that is beneath it simultaneously brings it towards the birth of innovation and progress. Then secondly, leadership that cares about the development of Indonesian human resources in all its regions, including rural areas. (biro pers ) 

This week, the campaign for the 2019 General Elections of the Legislative and Presidential Elections enters the final week. In accordance with the schedule set by the General Election Commission -KPU, April 13, 2019 is the last day of the open campaign. It’s only seven days before the voting day. The faces of legislative candidates are displayed everywhere, such as at billboards, banners, or on television. All of them want to convince the voters to entrust their votes to sit in the parliament. Two presidential candidates - vice presidential candidates: Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno have been also active to campaign in several regions across Indonesia.

The atmosphere of the campaign is increasingly dynamic. The supporters of each candidate also increasingly show their support. As happened at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on Sunday (7/4), the community supporting Prabowo-Sandiaga Uno met. Meanwhile, the incumbent presidential candidate, Joko Widodo conducted an open campaign before their supporters in Tangerang, Banten. The oration of each presidential and vice-presidential candidate becomes the main event in the open campaign. The level of contestation increases dramatically as the two candidates are determined to win the election.

The open campaigns must be used maximally by presidential and vice-presidential candidates, including legislative candidates. Because the mass of the open campaigns can reach their supporters for a few days ahead.  To further convince the supporters, they will not be mistaken if they vote on the 17th of April. At present, the efforts to gain the votes of the swing voters and undecided voters are maximized. It is estimated that the swing voters can change their support for political parties or candidates in the previous elections and undecided voters can make their choices. Their number reaches around 11 to 15 percent of the total voters. The open campaign is the final medium to win the sympathy of the voters.

The success of holding open campaigns is often associated with the number of people present. Their number can be a measure of how many voters support each presidential and vice-presidential candidate. Thus, the succeeding team may use mass mobilization, and convoy to further convince the potential voters.

Expectations and appeals by many parties to the open campaign for the 2019 election can now be said to be fulfilled. The peaceful and dignified atmosphere called for by the Election Supervisory Agency –Bawaslu can be realized. The open campaign that has been taking place since March 24, 2019 has strengthened the voters’ confidence to entrust their votes. The open campaign also shows the readiness of the Indonesian people to face a five-year democratic party. The democratic party will be the starting point to determine Indonesia in the next five years.

 In a bid to promote and market national tourism in Thailand, the Ministry of Tourism will establish a Visit Indonesia Tourism Officer (VITO) there.

"I have decided that we should have a VITO in Thailand. We should realize this plan soon, as Thailand has many tourists," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said after opening the 2019 VITO Annual Meeting here Wednesday.

The plan to establish the VITO in Thailand is also based on the foreign exchange the country earns from the tourism sector.

"Thailand's foreign exchange earned from tourism is the highest in the ASEAN," the minister continued.

VITO's annual meeting in Batam was attended by representatives from 16 countries in 20 cities around the world. The person appointed as a VITO is a native citizen of the country concerned, and/or an Indonesian citizen who has lived in the country for decades.

The minister explained that this was essential, as every VITO needed to understand how to sell tourism according to the characteristics of the country he or she lives in. In addition, the VITO should be able to build good relations with the parties concerned.

At the meeting, Areif said the government would evaluate the performance of each VITO.

"The evaluation is based on performance. If it is less than seven, we will replace the person," the minister noted.(ant)

President Joko Widodo inaugurated the operation of the Pasuruan-Probolinggo toll road on Wednesday, April 10 2019. The inauguration was held at the East Probolinggo toll gate, Sumber Kedaung Village, Leces District, Probolinggo, East Java.

With the existence of this toll road, the President believes that the mobility of people and goods will increase and be easy so that it can provide an economic boost for Probolinggo and East Java as a whole.

"We hope that with the passage of this toll road there will be goods mobility, people's mobility, faster logistical mobility. We also expect industrial estates, small industries, micro industries in fast-growing regions," said the Head of State.

The toll road construction process began in 2017 for an overall length of 45 kilometers. When the President was inaugurated today, three sections of the toll road with a length of 31.3 kilometers were ready to be operated.

The three sections are section I which links Grati-Tongas with a length of 13.5 kilometers, section II connects West Tongas-Probolinggo with a length of 6.9 kilometers, and section III that connects West Probolinggo-East Probolinggo along 10.9 kilometers.

The construction of this toll road makes Jakarta and Probolinggo connected to the 840 kilometer toll road. Whereas when calculated from Merak, the toll road stretches for 962 kilometers.

"If later from Merak to Banyuwangi it is 1,148 kilometers, which means less than 186 kilometers, Insyaallah will break in 2021. In the past there was Anyer-Panarukan done by Daendels, now there is Merak-Banyuwangi that the Minister of Public Works has done," said the President.

After the inauguration, the Head of State reiterated that the community, goods, and logistics will be increasingly connected with the construction of toll roads which are the priority programs of the governments of Joko Widodo and Jusuf Kalla. Connecting the community and goods and logistics will also further enhance and facilitate mobility so that it can reduce logistics costs. (biropers)