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Police chief, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, and Army Commander, Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, distribute basic food assistance to residents in Turangga village, Lengkong, Bandung, West Java on Friday (July 16, 2021). (ANTARA/HO-Public Relations Division of the Indonesian National Police) - 

Chief of National Police, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, has asked all ranks to accelerate the distribution of social assistance among COVID-affected people during the imposition of emergency restrictions on community activities (PPKM).

He conveyed his instructions during a working visit with  Chief of the National Defence Forces (TNI)  Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, to the Micro PPKM Command Post in West Java on Friday.

"During this emergency PPKM, please help the community. Collect data and distribute assistance immediately. Give the best service to the community," said Prabowo, according to a written statement released by the National Police Public Relations Division.

He said his instructions on social aid applied to all ranks of the military and police in the regions, adding that he hoped the assistance would ease the burden on the community amid a spike in COVID-19 transmission.

He said he hoped people would use the government assistance properly to meet their daily needs so they would not have to venture out of their homes during the imposition of the emergency PPKM.

"This is assistance from the government delivered by the military and police. Hopefully, this assistance can be used optimally. And we urge the public not to leave the house during emergency PPKM," he added.

During Friday's visit, Prabowo and Tjahjanto distributed assistance among the community and observed mass vaccinations at the Arcamanik Youth Center, Bandung, West Java. The vaccination activity targeted 4,500 people.

"The military and police are coordinating with local governments in determining vaccination targets for the red zones. The President has asked us to inspect areas that have not been vaccinated," Prabowo informed.

During their visit, Prabowo and Tjahjanto also visited slum areas and distributed food packages to residents affected by the pandemic in the areas.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment. Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, said that President Joko Widodo has ordered his staff to ensure that people's basic needs are met amid the pandemic.

Hence, the military and police have been asked to distribute rice to the community, starting Wednesday this week, he added.

The minister, who is also deputy chair of the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (PEN), said that military and police officers will distribute the rice aid to all eligible residents.

The government has also distributed 300 thousand packages of COVID-19 therapeutic medicines to asymptomatic and mild symptomatic patients, starting Wednesday this week, he further informed.

Panjaitan said the medicine packages would reach 210 thousand COVID-19 patients and military officers will be involved in their distribution//ANT

A health worker arranges a bed in an isolation room at the Jakarta Marine Base Emergency Hospital, Saturday, July 10, 2021. (ANTARA PHOTOS/M RISYAL HIDAYAT/KT) - 

Military observer of the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (ISESS) Khairul Fahmi praised the Ministry of Defense's move to convert its facilities into COVID-19 emergency hospitals.

"Since the start of the pandemic, I have suggested the mobilization of national resources and infrastructure as a solution and precautionary measures to fulfill emergency needs," Fahmi stated when contacted in Jakarta, Friday, July 16.

The ISESS military observer noted that during this time, problems faced in handling COVID-19 were not only related to infrastructure but also human labor, specifically health workers.

"This calls for other solutions, such as the mobilization of human resources, so that health workers really focus on handling patients, and they would no longer be bothered by administrative issues and so on," Fahmi remarked.

He stated that the Ministry of Defense has worked accordingly by mobilizing the supporting components of national defense as stipulated in Law No. 23 of 2019 on National Resource Management for National Defense.

Similarly, Marapi Consulting and Advisory Senior Researcher Beni Sukadis fully supported Minister of Defense Prabowo's move to transform the ministry's education and training Centers (Pusdiklat) into emergency hospitals for COVID-19 patients.

The new emergency hospitals could help address the shortage of beds or health facilities due to the surge in the number of COVID-19 patients. In addition to supplementing emergency health facilities, the ministry should ensure the availability of health workers, Sudakis remarked.

Currently, the ministry’s several facilities were converted into COVID-19 emergency hospitals, two of which were the Defense Management Center (Pusdiklat Jemenhan) Building and the Language Education and Training Center at Pondok Labu, South Jakarta, Sukadis stated.

The senior researcher noted that the ministry's training agency in Salemba, Central Jakarta; Country Defense Center in Rumpin, Bogor; and mess stand by force at IPSC Sentul, Bogor, would serve as emergency hospitals. Thus, a total of 1,650 additional beds will be available for COVID-19 patients in the Jabodetabek metropolitan area.

He said these converted health facilities can be utilized to treat COVID-19 patients with moderate symptoms. They are also equipped with health workers, such as general practitioners, internal medicine specialists, pulmonary specialists, and anesthesiologists.

For additional health workers, the ministry has deployed supporting components that comprised general practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory institutions, radiographers, Sudakis pointed out.

Earlier, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto stated that the healthcare service units had been working to offer health facilities for over a year//CNA

PM Lee participated in the APEC Informal Leaders' Retreat on Jul 16. (Photo: MCI) - 

Singapore intends to donate its COVID-19 vaccines under the COVAX vaccine-sharing initiative to other countries, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday (Jul 16). 

Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders’ Retreat on COVID-19, Mr Lee said that countries whose vaccination programmes are ahead should make their excess vaccine supplies available to others.

"Within our region, APEC economies should support one another, both for the present and future pandemics. For example, through technical assistance to strengthen national public health capabilities, the last mile," he said.

Singapore's Ministry of Health said on Friday that more than 6.57 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered under the national vaccination scheme, with more than 2.54 million having completed the full vaccination regimen.

The COVAX initiative, run by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners, aims to provide "equitable access" to COVID-19 vaccines to people around the globe, said the WHO.

The virtual meeting on Friday was hosted by New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and was attended by world leaders, US President Joe Biden, Russia President Vladimir Putin, and China President Xi Jinping.

In his speech, Mr Lee said APEC members should take the lead to reconnect economies and pursue trade liberalisation. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted international trade and the movement of people across borders.

"Understandably, countries are working towards more self-reliance, especially for essential goods, but we should not take this too far," Mr Lee said.

"Free trade is still essential to global economic recovery and prosperity and prompt implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement will make trade faster and cheaper, and strengthen our supply chains.

"We should also work together to restart international travel safely, by developing common standards for digital vaccine certificates and digital identities."

He added that the pandemic has "accelerated the switch to a digital economy", nothing that Singapore has piloted digital economy agreements with New Zealand, Chile and Australia.

These agreements align rules and standards, and "foster cross-border digital interoperability, data flows and trade", Mr Lee said.

"Beyond COVID-19, the green economy presents another growth opportunity. Like many APEC economies, Singapore is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change," he added.

Mr Lee mentioned the Singapore Green Plan 2030, a national strategy aimed at mitigating climate change and creating a green, liveable and sustainable city.

"But being a very small country, our own mitigation efforts will have limited impact," he said.

"It is only by working together with others that we can overcome this global challenge, and that is why Singapore is exploring green economy agreements to facilitate trade and investment in environmental goods and services, and strengthen environmental governance and capabilities."

In his speech, Mr Lee called for countries to work together to prepare for the next pandemic. 

"COVID-19 will not be the last, nor the most serious pandemic the world will face," he said.

He noted a recent report by the G20 High Level Independent Panel that makes a strong case for a major step-up in collective investments, including a scaled-up global surveillance system for emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

"To enable countries to act early to check the spread of emerging diseases, and get a head-start in developing test kits, vaccines or treatments; and secondly, we need a more agile global governance and financing mechanism that can swiftly plug gaps in global health security," said Mr Lee//CNA

Garuda Indonesia optimizes fleet utilization for cargo flight network expansion (garuda-indonesia.com) - 

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will optimize its export logistics business in a bid to bolster recovery of the company's performance.

"The growth trend of the national export sector is an imminent momentum for efforts to optimize supporting business lines," Garuda Indonesia President Director Irfan Setiaputra stated in Jakarta, Friday, July 16.

Setiaputra noted that these businesses are run by the company amid the brunt borne by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on cargo and charter.

Statistics Indonesia's report recorded a consistent increase in Indonesia's export traffic, with a growth rate of 54.46 percent in June 2021, much higher from that during the corresponding period last year.

Setiaputra was optimistic of positive sustained growth in Indonesia's export sector, thereby benefiting the company's business in future.

Until May 2021, the Garuda Indonesia Group recorded freight transport growth of up to 35 percent higher as compared to the same period in 2020.

That consistency aligned with the cargo business performance at the end of last year. The company managed to record air freight transport traffic that reached 99 percent of the cargo transport performance during the pre-pandemic period.

Garuda Indonesia will optimize fleet utilization for cargo flight network expansion to support direct call activities in top export commodities.

Moreover, the company will support Indonesian MSMEs, one of which is through the operation of two passenger freighter fleets that currently serve several domestic and international cargo flights.

"Now, the cargo business line is one of the main focus areas of Garuda Indonesia's business revenue in the midst of a fall in the passenger transport traffic that occurred since the pandemic struck last year," Setiaputra stated.

In its financial report for the fiscal year 2020, Garuda Indonesia recorded operating income of US$1.4 billion, supported by scheduled flight revenue of US$1.2 billion, unscheduled flight revenue of US$77 million, and other revenue lines of US$214 million.

The state-owned airline also recorded a 35.13-percent decrease in flight operating expenses to reach US$1.6 billion as compared to US$2.5 billion in 2019.

"Garuda Indonesia is optimistic of it being more agile and adaptive in accepting the aviation industry’s challenges in future," Setiaputra noted//ANT