VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Communication and Informatics Ministry stated that the regulation on International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI number validation is official since April 18 2020. It was marked by the beginning of IMEI registration into the system prepared by cellular operators. IMEI regulation was ratified by three ministries namely Communication and Informatics Ministry, Trade Ministry, and Industry Ministry.

This regulation only applies to devices purchased after April 18, while users who have actively been using their devices before it does not need to do anything. IMEI validation only applies to cellular devices such as cellphone and tablet, but not for laptops.

Indonesian government since February had decided to use whitelist to ensure that consumer buys legal devices that can connect to cellular operator service when they buy a new gadget. IMEI number on the phone will be recorded in the Equipment Identity Register (EIR) in the operators.

Data from EIR will be read by Centralized Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) that will be managed by government, to decide if the device is into the whitelist, blacklist, or even greylist.

Government is also preparing consumer service in the CEIR system for complaint on IMEI, while the management will be appointed to institution that manages CEIR. IMEI regulation can initiate a new service, namely blocking lost device so that it cannot connect to any cellular number.

Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto in Jakarta on Sunday (19/4) remined the importance for business people in trade sector to comply to the IMEI regulation. According to Minister Agus, this regulation aims to protect consumer from harmful and bad devices.

Agus Suparmanto affirmed that they will take firm action if the businesspeople in trade sector including producer, importer, distributor, agent, retailer, and electronic business people do not comply to the IMEI regulation.

For every violation, Trade Ministry will give from heavy warning to business permit revocation, while the violator must pay compensation for the consumer. Although in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic, this firm act will still be imposed to protect consumer from illegal communication product trade or products from black market.

The development of the Covid-19 pandemic in various parts of the world became a determinant of government policies in countries affected by the dangerous spread of virus. In Europe, several countries plan to stop the Lockdown policy. From Vienna, it was reported that the Austrian government would immediately loosen the lockdown next week. If it is carried out then in the European continent, Austria is the first country to reopen shopping centers and restaurants, although physical distancing between visitors would still be maintained. Apart from Austria, another country that will soon be easing the lockdown is Denmark. Meanwhile, the Italian government, after two months banning its citizens from leaving the house, is also beginning  to relax the lockdown. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he would relax restrictions on certain parts of the country this weekend. Italy, which started the lockdown on March 9, is the country most affected by the Covid 19th pandemic. In Eastern Europe, the Government of the Czech Republic will revoke travel restrictions and allow foreigners to enter the country.

The policy to end the lockdown will also be carried out by the Iranian government. Even the lockdown in Tehran reportedly has also been revoked. Several provinces in Iran have begun to relax tight restrictions last week by allowing citizens to travel. Even so, schools and sports activities are still not permitted yet. The World Health Organization, warned the Iranian government that COVID 19 was still raging in the country. Iran is an Asian country after China, which suffered the Corona virus attack with the most death toll. Some members of Parliament and government officials have even been infected by the easily spread virus.

In the United States, the Central Government encouraged easing of rules in several states. Through his  twitter President Donald Trump gave  signals for loosening lockdowns in Michigan, and Virginia. New York,  said to be  the heart of the economy and trade of the United States, has been   pressed by  its citizens to end the lockdown. New Yorkers are urging the government to immediately revoke rules deemed to severely limit social and economic activities.

Loosening of the lock down is of course carried out with consideration of decreasing corona Covid-19  spread and the number of infected in each country. Western Europe  seriously felt the economic impact of the Corona attack and the  United States too. Though of course, on a different scale. Therefore, policy changes related to the development of the Covid-19 virus,  differ from one country to another. Iran and the United States, for example, consider ending   the lockdown because they feel the corona's adverse impact on the country's economy.

It is still uncertain when the Covid-19 pandemic will really  end. So it cannot be ensured, when the global economy and the economy of each country will gradually recover. It could be that after corona, there will be changes in economic and political order and relations between countries.

Besides its beautiful beaches, Rote, one of regencies in East Nusa Tenggara, also has beautiful hill, namely  Mando’o, which is mentioned as Tangga 300 by local people because to reach the peak of the hill, there are around 365 stairs.   

One of specialties of the hill is the southernmost border between Indonesia and Australia, even it becomes border between Asian and Australian Continent. 

Mando’o hill is located at Kuli village which is rich with its agricultural products. To go there, you can be through El Tari airport in Kupang which is the capital city of East Nusa Tenggara, and then you may continue by plane to Rote Island.  

You can also use Ferry from Kupang to Ba’a City, Rote Island. From the city, you go to Mando’o hill, which takes around one and a half hours by land transportation.  

Arriving at Mando’o hill, you will be greeted by stairs. One by one up the stairs, at the peak of the hill, you will show amazing scenery. 

Here, there is also Lopo at a certain height for taking a rest.  Lopo is Rote typical construction which has a half circle roof with chairs surrounding the construction. To access the peak of the hill takes around 20 minutes on foot.  

In the Northern side of the hill, you can see Lole hill. While in the West, there are Kuli village and rice fields.  In the East, there is Keka hill with blue bay under the hill. In the South, there is Indian Ocean.

In the near future, Indonesian domestic industry players will produce 16,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) every day, based on the criteria of the World Health Organization -WHO. Indonesian Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, in a virtual press conference after a limited meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday (April 15) said that his office through the Textile Center of the Ministry of Industry has cooperated with the Task Force for the Acceleration of Handling Covid-19. The cooperation was also expanded by involving the Indonesian Textile Association. Besides PPE, Minister Agus Gumiwang also said that his side along with a number of industries is also making various efforts to develop ventilators.

The Ministry of Industry has coordinated with four groups of ventilator developers from the University of Indonesia, the Yogyakarta team consisting of Gajah Mada University, and a number of private companies. From the results of the coordination, it is certain that several groups of ventilator developers will start producing this April. He also explained, the Yogyakarta team actually spoke in the medium to long term. Besides handling Covid-19, in the future, they will produce high-grade ventilators. While other groups will produce low-cost ventilators.

When opening a limited meeting recently, President Joko Widodo said, the availability of medical devices, medicines and pharmaceutical raw materials amidst Covid-19 pandemic must be ensured sufficient for this moment and in the future. This includes  the availability of PPE for doctors and medical personnel. The reason is that currently more than 200 countries in the world are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries in the world are  fighting  over the supply of medical devices and pharmaceutical goods to overcome the virus that attacks the respiratory tract.

President Joko Widodo asked the ranks of ministers and leaders of institutions to re-evaluate the entire potential of domestic industrial resources, such as the pharmaceutical raw materials industry, the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) industry, masks, ventilators and others. He also reminded, exports of goods related to handling Covid-19 to be done selectively, because domestic needs  must be prioritized. In addition, the import of raw materials for making medical devices and pharmaceutical goods to handle Covid-19 must be facilitated.