VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Eruption of a mountain does not always bring about sorrow or other terrible aftermath. Take for example, the remaining flow of lava resulted from the volcanic activity of Mt. Gamalama in Ternate, North Maluku  has currently become a natural ornament which is known as Batu Angus. Batu Angus is one of the most favorite tourist attractions located in Tarau, North Ternate District, Ternate City, Maluku. Batu Angus tourism is also known as the Black Gemstone of Ternate. It is called as the Black Gemstone of Ternate because Batu Angus is a sprawl of black stones resembling to charred stones. These sprawling stones stretch from Mt. Gamalama to the beach. Batu Angus is the remaining of lava resulted from the eruption of Mt. Gamalama in the 17^th century and the lava that changed into the stones looks like charred stones. The name OF Batu Angus was derived from the thick black color of the stones. At a glance, there may not be something special from these stones but as you take a closer look at the stones thoroughly, you will realize another beauty from the flock of stones. There is also a historical site in the Batu Angus tourism object. The site is the location of dead Japanese soldier whose parachute could not be opened normally when he skydived from the plane during the war in 1945. In addition, several historical fortresses from the colonial period stand strongly in this tourism object, including fortresses of Oranye, Tolucco,   Kalamela, and Kastela. Lake Tolire that also becomes a favorite tourism destination in Ternate adds the remarkable panorama of Batu Angus. The tourism object that is located in the axis of outer ring road can be accessed by public transportation with the price Rp 3,000 or taxi with the price Rp 50,000 per hour. But, if you use your personal motor-vehicles, you only need to pay for the ticket worth Rp 20,000 by car and Rp 5,000 by motorcycle.

Trade Ministry facilitated a meeting between Indonesia and the United States businesspeople in Business Forum and one-on-one business matching at  Indonesian embassy of Washington DC, the United States of America on Tuesday (24/7). The event was part of trade mission of Trade Minister, Enggartiasto Lukita to protect balance of trade relations with the United States which is one of Indonesia’s main export markets. When giving speech in the forum, Minister Enggartiasto said that the forum is important to protect and strengthen trade relations of the two countries, which bring about mutual benefit.

Director of Law and Economic Agreement of Foreign Affairs Ministry, L. Amrih Jinangkung became one of keynote speakers in “Socialization Seminar of Marrakesh Treaty" which was held in Jakarta on Sunday (26/7). The Ministry supports and will facilitate the plan of legalization of Marrakesh Treat through ratification. The government of Indonesia signed the treaty in 2013. Marrakesh Treaty arranges the disability access in getting access of information, product of copyright and arrangement on exchange among the countries on format which is accessible for people with barriers to reading printed materials. National stakeholders attended the seminar, such as staffs of Law and Human Rights Ministry, representatives of disabilities and the community of national colleges.

Trade Minister, Enggartiasto Lukita held a meeting with United States Trade Representative, Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer in Washington DC to discuss efforts of the increasing of trade and decreasing of trade barriers of the two countries. The meeting became the peak agenda in the work visit of the Trade Minister, Enggartiasto Lukita to the United States of America on July 23-27, 2018. The visit was aimed at reciprocally enhancing Indonesia-the United States trade relations to achieve benefits of both countries. Minister Enggartiasto also explained to Ambassador Lighthizer the issues related to the trade barriers which become Indonesian attention. Those issues are reconsideration proses on Indonesia as receiving country of Generalized System of Preferences –GSP scheme and exception for Indonesia on the imposition of tariff increases on the US steel and aluminum product imports.

Indonesian Ministry of Transportation and Japan International Cooperation Agency -JICA in Jakarta on Friday (July 27) signed a contract for the construction of Patimban port  for package 1 in the form of construction of container terminals and four wheel vehicles worth Rp6 trillion from a total of Rp8.9 trillion. The development of Patimban harbor in Subang regency, West Java province into the National Strategic Project will begin in the near future. In his opening remarks at the signing ceremony of the Port of Patimban of package-1 project in Jakarta, Minister of Transportation, Budi Karya Sumadi said that the Patimban port project signifies the close relationship between Indonesia and Japan which this year celebrates the 60th anniversary. He also said that the package-1 project is the largest job of all packages of Patimban port’s development project. He believes that the first phase work of the package 1 is completed in less than 12 months so that motor vehicle and roll-on-roll terminal can be operated in early 2019. Minister Budi also hoped that the Patimban port will ease the distribution of goods to Jakarta, as well as create new fast mobility in logistics connectivity from home and abroad. Patimban port is one of the national strategic projects according to Presidential Regulation No. 47. It is a strategic project in Subang, West Java. And we know that this project is a project with Official Development Assistant or ODA Loan from Japan and signifies a close relationship between Indonesia and Japan, marking 60 years of relations between Indonesia and Japan, said Minister Budi. On the same occasion, the Japanese Economic Counselor for Indonesia, Mari Takada said that his side is committed to cooperating with the development of Patimban port, because this will also help the Japanese economy, considering the location of the port is very close to the manufacturing area of Japanese companies in Indonesia. Many Japanese companies set up manufacturing plants in Cikarang, Karawang, and Purwakarta in West Java whose distance from the port of Patimban is fewer than 150 kilometers. Mari Takada pointed out that Patimban port has the advantage of being able to overcome the traffic congestion that has occurred along the distribution channel to Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta. He also stated that Japan fully supports the port development project by considering future investment prospects. Mari further explained that the cooperation between Indonesia and Japan in the Patimban port is not just a matter of financing. Both countries agreed that this cooperation could boost the economies of both countries. He added that besides cooperation in project development, Japan and Indonesia agreed to jointly operate this port.

Today, July 30, 2018 is commemorated as the Day of Trafficking in Persons. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says that every year, millions of children, women and men are victims of human trafficking. They are entranced by false promises and deceit. Human trafficking has become a global business with multi-billion dollar, affecting almost every country in the world. Over the last five years, human trafficking has brought about a negative impact in many countries, including in Indonesia. It is a question of not only criminality, but also the most basic violations of human rights, such as the rights to freedom, the rights to gain a decent life and prosperity, the right of human beings as dignified humans. Trafficking in human beings is a very serious and severe form of human rights violations, and usually occurs in conjunction with other forms of human rights violations, such as slavery, smuggling, and human exploitation. Data from UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2014 states that human trafficking crimes occur almost in every country around the world. There are 152 countries that experience it, regardless of the socio-economic status, history, and structure of the country. The perpetrators of this crime have created an international market for trading human beings. This crime is done because it brings huge profits. In addition, the high demand for commercial and labor sex with low prices makes the business of human trafficking more and more growing.  While data from CARITAS Indonesia, globally, between 2005 and 2014, there were 2.5 million victims of human trafficking. 1.4 million or 56% of whom were in the Asian region. Most victims are aged between 18-24 years. Each year, approximately 1.2 million children become victims of trafficking in different regions of the world. Many causes trigger the rise of human trafficking cases. Most are due to economic demands. For the interest of money, many people are willing to violate the norm or against a state law. In addition, the number of employment that is not comparable with the human population sometimes triggers the occurrence of this case. Human trafficking should be a common concern of all aspects of society, not only national but also regional and global. To suppress these crimes, international world must jointly cooperate to cope with human trafficking cases in a bid to especially break the chain of human trafficking among the countries.