VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Tourists take photos of an iconic pair of trees near the Bridal Bridge on Sakura Beach, Untung Jawa Island, Kepulauan Seribu district on November 9, 2021. (ANTARA/Abdu Faisal/uyu) - 

The National Economic Recovery's (PEN's) labor- intensive program would be conducted in Jakarta's Kepulauan Seribu District in 2022 by focusing on coral reef transplantation, an official from the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment has said.

"All people in the district who have been economically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can work in the Indonesia Coral Reef Garden (ICRG) PEN Program," Deputy for Coordination of Maritime Resources at the ministry Andreas A Hutahaean informed on Friday.

All residents will have the same opportunity to participate in the program, he emphasized.

"They can be tourism actors, fishermen, or housewives. We target the program to absorb around 3,500-5,000 workers," he said.

Currently, the ICRG PEN program in the district is still being prepared as it will be conducted next year, he added.

"We are also conducting a survey which ends in mid-December. Later, we will hold a meeting with related parties and take decisions regarding the implementation of the program," the deputy said.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of Kepulauan Seribu district, Muhammad Fadjar Churniawan, said the district welcomed the program.

"It is extraordinary," he remarked.

He said he will encourage residents who know about coral reef transplantation to get involved in the program. Thus, the coral reef will get good care and supervision, he opined.

"If the coral reef grows well, it will have an impact on the tourism sector and improve the community’s economy,” he added.

Earlier, during a meeting, the coordinating ministry’s deputy and the deputy regent and officials of the Maritime and Fishery Food Security Office (KPKP) of Pramuka Island, Kepulauan Seribu district, agreed to follow up the labor-intensive ICRG PEN program.

The district is one of the nine target locations of the implementation of the ICRG PEN Program//ANT

Screenshot—President Joko Widodo opens National Culture Week 2021 on Friday (November 19, 2021). (ANTARA/Indriani/aa) - 

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said he wants to improve the country's balance of payment, which has remained under pressure for many years due to high oil imports.

To that end, the use of electric cars and stoves must be encouraged to reduce oil and gas needs, he said.

“If we are able to switch to other energy, for instance, replacing all cars with electric ones, and household gas with electricity due to PLN’s power oversupply, then Pertamina’s oil imports will decline,” the President said in directives to the boards of commissioners and directors of state electricity company PT PLN at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday, streamed on the Youtube channel of the Presidential Secretariat on Saturday.

By optimizing the use of electric power from PLN, the issue of electric power supply can be resolved and oil imports will decline accordingly, he explained.

If oil imports decline, this will have a positive impact on the country’s current account and balance of payment, he pointed out.

“The great goal is that the country will receive gain in the form of (surplus in) the balance of payment, which has remained unsolved for tens of years now because our oil imports are very large,” Jokowi noted.

The decline in oil imports will also enable state oil and gas company Pertamina to reduce its dollar needs in the money market, allowing the rupiah’s exchange rate to strengthen, he said.

If the rupiah’s exchange rate strengthens due to a steady decline in imports, the Indonesian economy will fundamentally become more resilient and competitive, he added.

President Jokowi also urged PLN to prepare for an energy transition from fossil fuel to environmentally friendly or green energy.

“This is urgent. It must set a target, for instance, for 2022, since (in 2021 there) is still one month left. For instance, to produce 5 thousand megawatts of electrical power in 2022, it can switch from coal to hydropower, geothermal energy, or solar panel,” he said.

The energy transition from fossil energy to green energy must be done by all sides, including PLN and Pertamina, he added.

"For the better interests, for our children and grandchildren, energy transition to green energy is inevitable,” he said//ANT

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi (second from right) while reviewing the construction process of the New Mentawai Airport, in Mentawai Islands District, West Sumatra Province, Saturday (November 20, 2021). (The Ministry of Transportation) - 

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi has targeted to complete the construction of the New Mentawai Airport in Mentawai Islands District, West Sumatra Province, in August 2022.

"The synergy among regional governments, the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police (Polri), and other related parties Insha Allah (God willing) could support the completion of the airport's (construction), set in August 2022, and we will invite President Joko Widodo to inaugurate it," the minister noted in his statement accessed here, Saturday.

Sumadi explained that the New Mentawai Airport will replace the Rokot Sipora Airport, which currently has a 850-meter-long runway and can only accommodate Grand Caravan aircraft. Hence, a new runway will be built to accommodate larger aircraft.

Sumadi affirmed that his ministry had readied a budget of Rp547 billion for construction of the New Mentawai Airport, whose work has currently reached 42-percent completion.

Sumadi spoke of having urged the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at the Ministry of Transportation and the contractor to accelerate the construction process by increasing the number of human resources and equipment as well as optimizing the working time.

New Mentawai Airport will later be equipped with several facilities, such as a longer runway of 1,500 x 30 meters as compared to only 850 meters of the previous runway and be equipped with an apron spanning 175 x 75 meters, a taxiway of 75 x 15 meters that can accommodate three ATR 72 500/600 type aircraft, and a passenger terminal spanning 1,600 square meters that can accommodate 53,881 passengers annually.

Apart from boosting inter-regional connectivity around the Mentawai Islands, the presence of the airport is expected to boost the tourism sector in the islands, which are known for the waves explored by several surfing sports fans worldwide.

On the same occasion, Deputy Governor of West Sumatra Audy Joinaldy expressed his optimism that the new airport would help revive the community's economy.

Joinaldy also voiced his support for the intermodal integration from the Minangkabau International Airport to Mentawai, connected either by train, ship, or aircraft//ANT

Governor of Jambi, Al Haris. (ANTARA/HO-Diskominfo Jambi/FR) - 

Governor Al Haris has said he expects the smart village program of the Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration Ministry in Jambi Province to aid the advancement of villages.

"I expect that after the smart village program is fully implemented, it will effect an advancement of villages by utilizing existing resources and producing innovative human resources through digitalization," he remarked here on Saturday in response to Jambi being selected for the program.

The smart village program is a part of the Government Strengthening and Village Development Program (P3PD).

According to the ministry's Competitiveness Development Center head, Helmiati, P3PD aims to improve rural institutional capacity and accountability through the unveiling of a new system based on technology.

"Bolstering village's capacity and accountability is expected to be able to improve the quality of village fund utilization, which would reduce poverty, unemployment, and improve the effectiveness of village development," she explained.

As part of P3PD, the ministry will focus on bolstering people's empowerment, social accountability, and local-based development solutions, Helmiati informed.

Smart Village is a development approach concept for encouraging villages to carry out a transformation through technology utilization, she said.

The goal of the program is to improve the quality of basic services and village development, based on inclusive and sustainable empowerment of the people, she added.

This can be done by improving the capability of human resources in utilizing technology effectively to drive the creation of innovative local developmental solutions, she said.

The program would also encourage the construction of smart village networks that involve various stakeholders sustainably to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she added.

"The achievement of the SDGs on the national level is inseparable from the role on the micro-level, namely villages," Helmiati stressed.

"The number of villages that reached 74,961 became proof that the power of villages should be considered in its contribution toward Indonesia's advancement," she affirmed//ANT