VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Governor of Riau Islands, Ansar Ahmad, observes vaccinations of children in Bintan Regency. (ANTARA/Ogen/RA) - 

As many as 61,973 children in the 12-17 age group have been vaccinated in Riau Islands, according to spokesperson for the province's COVID-19 Response Task Force, Mochammad Bisri.

They account for 27.22 percent of the 228,245 children targeted by the COVID-19 vaccination program in the province, Bisri informed here on Saturday.

The task force is targeting to vaccinate the remaining 165,691 children by July 23, 2021, he said.

This would be in keeping with Riau Islands Governor Ansar Ahmad's target of completing the vaccinations of children aged 12 to 17 years by July 23, 2021, he added.

Meanwhile, the number of vaccinated people aged 18 years and above in Riau Islands has reached 857,337, accounting for 61.14 percent of the 1,140,997 targeted recipients, he disclosed.

The vaccination program for people aged 18 years and above is targeted to be completed by July 30, 2021. By doing so, the province can reach the 70-percent vaccination target required for achieving herd immunity or community immunity, he added.

"The remaining 70 percent of the target until July 30, 2021, is 124,295 people," he informed.

Therefore, each district and city must ramp up vaccinations in order to achieve the target set by the Riau Islands provincial government, he said.

He also urged people who have yet to get vaccinated so far to participate in the government's vaccination program to support efforts to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission.

"The government will not succeed in suppressing COVID-19 cases without the support of the residents," he emphasized.

The task force has requested additional vaccines from the central government as vaccine stocks have declined in the province, partly due to the enthusiastic response from residents for the vaccination drive, he said//ANT

A truck carrying oxygen concentrators prepares for dispatch from the Industry Ministry to the Health Ministry building in Jakarta. (ANTARA/HO-Industry Ministry/sh) - 

The Industry Ministry has mobilized supply from oxygen generation plants nationwide to meet the growing demand for medical oxygen for COVID-19 patients across Indonesia.

"Oxygen stocks are available in Java as well as outside Java. Now, as the demand in Java is high, we are mobilizing the supply from plants in Java as well as outside Java to meet the sharply increased demand," the ministry's director of upstream chemical industry, Fridy Juwono, said here on Thursday.

The demand for medical oxygen in Indonesia has jumped from just 400 tons per day in March, 2020, when the country reported its first coronavirus infections, to two thousand tons per day on average currently.

Data from the Health Ministry shows that medical oxygen demand has reached 2,323 tons per day as of July 6, 2021, Juwono said.

Meanwhile, the national oxygen production capacity has been recorded at just 1,850 tons per day, which means the industry would need to boost production, he pointed out.

The Industry Minister has issued instruction no. 1/2021, asking industry operators to contribute to efforts to meet the oxygen demand for COVID-19 handling, he informed.

Dry air, which serves as the raw material for obtaining pure oxygen, is a mixture of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen, and 1 percent argon, he said.

During purification, oxygen is separated from other components of the air through pressure swing absorption, he said adding, the oxygen can then be directly supplied for industrial use through a pipeline.

Some of the oxygen is liquefied and stored in oxygen cylinders as industrial stock, Juwono said.

To produce medical oxygen, liquefied oxygen would need to be converted into gas, he added.

"The liquefied oxygen would be further treated to meet the Health Ministry's standard, to reach up to 99 percent of purity, before it can be used for medical purposes," he further informed.

There are five major oxygen producers in Indonesia catering to industries as well as medical facilities, he noted.

In keeping with the ministerial instruction, oxygen producers are currently prioritizing medical oxygen production, he said.

"Many industries have also contributed to deliver their oxygen supply. From Batam, we received 100 tons, Bontang 500 tons. The oxygen would be collected and used for medical purposes," Juwono said.

Oxygen supply to the industry could get disrupted once demand for medical oxygen surpasses 2,500 tons per day, he added.

"Under such a situation, we will have to import (oxygen). But, this is something we do not want to happen," he remarked//ANT

Eco Forum Global Guiyang 2021. ANTARA/AsiaNet - 

On July 13, the agricultural session of the Eco Forum Global Guiyang 2021 - Smart Agriculture Boosts Agricultural Innovation and Green Leading the Industry's Future was held in Guiyang, according to Guizhou Provincial Agriculture and Rural Affairs Department.

Well-known experts, scholars and industry leaders from home and abroad discussed topics such as the status qua of global food security, the development of green Eco-industry against the background of rural revitalization, smart agriculture leading the sustainable development of green agriculture, and the road to green development of modern mountainous features and efficient agriculture.

In recent years, Guizhou has followed the thought of ecological civilization, insisted on ecological development, always put green development in the entire process of agricultural development, and kept on the track of modern mountainous characteristics and high-efficiency agricultural development.

Guizhou has now firmly followed the green concept, implemented the strategy of big ecology, and promoted the conversion of cultivated land to forests. Guizhou promotes the overall management of landscapes, forests, fields, lakes and grasses and gives full play to resource advantages, expand green industries and insists on ecological industrialization so that it can improve standards system and brand more green products.

Guizhou has formulated ecological norms and standards covering various industries. It also promotes green development through scientific and technological innovation, and implements the "Internet +" and enterprise integration development efforts. Guizhou improves its the prevention and control mechanism, consolidates the green foundation, develops its circular agriculture, so that it has become the first province in China to banning the use of water-soluble pesticides.

Nowadays, smart agriculture in Guizhou is emerging, and the green industry is gaining momentum. In the undertaking of rural revitalization, Guizhou has embarked on a new journey to developing modern and high-efficiency agriculture with mountainous characteristics. Colorful Guizhou has a great potential to tap in green agriculture and green industries//CNA

Brommelen in the Netherlands was flooded after a levee of the Juliana Canal broke AFP/Remko de Waal - 

Troops and firefighters were called in Saturday (Jul 17) to help villagers launch a mammoth clean up after the worst floods to hit western Europe in decades left nearly 130 people dead and dozens more missing. Western Germany has suffered the most brutal impact of the deluge that also pummelled Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, leaving streets and homes submerged in muddy water and isolating entire communities. 

With the death toll at 128, rescuers said far more bodies were likely to be found in sodden cellars as the clean-up gets underway in earnest. In Germany's worst-hit regions of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, residents who fled the deluge were gradually returning to their homes and scenes of desolation.

"Within minutes, a wave was in the house," said baker Cornelia Schloesser of the torrents that arrived overnight Wednesday in the town of Schuld, carrying her century-old family business with it.

"It's all been a nightmare for 48 hours, we're going round in circles here but we can't do anything," she said, surveying the heaps of twisted metal, broken glass and wood that have piled up at her former storefront.

In the affected areas, firefighters, local officials and soldiers, some driving tanks, have begun the colossal work of clearing the piles of debris clogging the streets.

"The task is immense," admitted the mayor of Solingen, a city in the south of the Ruhr area.

The real scale of the disaster is only now becoming clear, with damaged buildings being assessed, some of which will have to be demolished, and efforts under way to restore gas, electricity and telephone services.

The disruption to communication networks has complicated efforts to assess the number still missing.

"We have to assume we will find further victims," said Carolin Weitzel, mayor of Erftstadt in North Rhine-Westphalia, which experienced a terrifying landslide triggered by the floods.

Roger Lewentz, interior minister for Rhineland-Palatinate, told local media up to 60 people were believed to be missing.

The government has said it is working to set up a special aid fund, with the cost of damage expected to reach several billion euros.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who returned Friday from a trip to Washington overshadowed by the disaster, vowed to provide "short and long-term support from the government" to stricken municipalities.

She has not yet travelled to the scene from the capital Berlin, but her spokesman said Friday she was in close contact with regional leaders about "a visit soon to the scene of the catastrophe".

With at least 108 dead, the devastating floods have put climate change back at the centre of Germany's election campaign ahead of a September 26 poll marking the end of Merkel's 16 years in power.

Germany "must prepare much better" in future, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said, adding that "this extreme weather is a consequence of climate change".

In neighbouring Belgium, the death toll jumped to 20 with more than 21,000 people left without electricity in one region.

Luxembourg and the Netherlands were also hammered by heavy rains, inundating many areas and forcing thousands to be evacuated in the city of Maastricht.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel called the situation in many parts of his country "dramatic" and said the financial damage was "huge".

He pledged an initial package of 50 million euros (US$59 million) in immediate aid to citizens who suffered losses in the floods//CNA