VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

PT Angkasa Pura I's employees. ANTARA/Angkasa Pura I - 

A total of 7,206 employees at 15 airports under PT Angkasa Pura I and the headquarters of this state-owned airport operator had been administered the COVID-19 vaccine as of April 29, 2021.

"Until the end of this April, more employees of PT Angkasa Pura I will have received the shots of the COVID-19 vaccine," the aiport operator's president director, Faik Fahmi, remarked.

The vaccine recipients comprise the company's front liners, including those serving airport customers, Fahmi noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted here Saturday.

PT Angkasa Pura I manages the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Juanda International Airport, Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport, Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman International Airport, and Frans Kaisiepo International Airport.

Sam Ratulangi International Airport, Syamsudin Noor International Airport, Achmad Yani International Airport, Adisucipto International Airport, Adisumarmo International Airport, Lombok International Airport, Pattimura International Airport, El Tari International Airport, Yogyakarta International Airport, and Sentani International Airport are also managed by PT Angkasa Pura I.

Fahmi noted that his employees' participation in the government's national vaccination program had demonstrated the company's seriousness in aiding to expedite the implementation of the program and restore public confidence in its airport services.

The company, so far, has 9,456 employees of which 76 percent were inoculated, he confirmed.

Indonesia has been making all-out efforts to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since March last year.

To contain the spread of the lethal virus, the government has rolled out a nationwide vaccination program since January 13 this year.

The Health Ministry pegs the vaccination of 181.5 million people under the national program to take 15 months.

The time frame for conducting the vaccination extends from January 2021 to March 2022.

During that period, the government is targeting to inoculate some 181.5 million people, comprising 1.3 million paramedics and 17.4 million public sector workers in 34 provinces.

The first phase of the government's immunization program is segregated into two periods: January-April 2021 and April 2021-March 2022. 

As of April 30, 2021, the number of COVID-19 vaccine recipients for the second shots had reached 7,629,859, while 12,385,886 had received the first shots, according to the health ministry’s data.

Even amid vaccine rollouts, Indonesia has been grappling from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic that has crippled nations worldwide.

Indonesia’s public health and economy have been dealt a major blow from the coronavirus disease crisis, with some sectors, including travel and tourism, been battered by the pandemic.

To revive the tourism sector, the Indonesian government is eyeing to apply a travel bubble scheme with some countries.

In the first stage of its implementation, the Indonesia-Singapore travel corridor will officially open to enable travel for people between Singapore and Bintan, Riau Islands//ANT

Tourism and creative economy Minister, Sandiaga Uno during the Launching of the 2021 Tourism Village Award, at the Soesilo Soedarman Hall, Jakarta, Friday night (30/4/2021)/Birkom Parekraf - 

The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy / Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno hopes that tourist villages in the country can become the locomotive of economic revival, especially in the tourism and creative economy sectors.

Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno during the Launching of the 2021 Tourism Village Award, at the Soesilo Soedarman Hall, Jakarta, Friday night (30/4/2021) explained that the program for the crowning of the 2021 Indonesia Tourism Village Award is one of the ways to restore the Indonesian economy, especially in the tourism sector.

Menparekraf Sandiaga said that the program was carried out to make Indonesian tourist villages a world-class and competitive tourist destination.

"This tourist village is a potential that needs to be developed and empowered to improve the welfare of rural communities so that they have competitiveness and become the locomotive of economic revival in the sector of the economy in the midst of a pandemic," he said.

Menparekraf Sandiaga explained that according to the 2020-2024 RPJMN, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is targeting as many as 244 certified tourist villages to become independent tourism villages by 2024. However, it is hoped that they can exceed the target set considering the large potential of tourist villages which are recorded in 74 thousand villages in Indonesia.

"We map there are 1,200 potential tourism villages in the country that are ready to be developed in a sustainable manner because they have strong local wisdom and cultural values. This is our future target," he said.

In addition, Menparekraf Sandiaga explained that in general tourism villages are classified into three categories. The first is a pilot, a developed and developing tourism village, as well as an independent tourism village, namely a tourism village that has been able to innovate the community in developing the village's potential to become an independent entrepreneurship unit.

People or tourism and creative economy actors who want to join the official tourism village network in Indonesia can register themselves through the official website of the Jadesta.com Tourism Village Network. Participants can register from 7 May to 26 June 2021//Release/NK 

The National Library appointed literacy activist Gol A Gong as the new reading ambassador - 

Passion for reading is the basis for literacy formation. Through reading activities, the literacy ecosystem is maintained. The presence of a Reading Ambassador will reinforce the importance of reading habits and literacy as part of the elements forming superior and competitive human resources. 

The Head of the National Library of Indonesia, Muhammad Syarif Bando, stated  on Friday (Apr 30) that the Indonesian Reading Ambassador was not a member of the library but had the public's trust to carry out this task. 

"The position as a reading ambassador is not a library subordinate. You are chosen as a reading ambassador because there is a very strong foundation of public belief that you are the right person to assume the role and all funding will be borne by the APBN, which means that  it’s people's money that is entrusted to the national library" Syarif Bando said. 

After Najwa Shihab, the baton of Duta Baca Indonesia (DBI) has now continued into the hands of literacy activist Heri Hendrayana Harris or who is familiarly called Gol A Gong. 

The existence, dedication, totality and enthusiasm of Gol A Gong even in the midst of limitations have provided evidence that action is more important than just narrative//VOI/NK

The Ambassador of the European Union to Indonesia, Vincent Piket - 

As part of the European Day celebrations, the European Union is organizing a virtual education exhibition on 2 May 2021 titled EU-Indonesia Scholarships Info Day 2021 which features virtual exhibitions and a series of webinars. 

Exhibitors can meet European education representatives in a virtual room to find information on scholarship opportunities, university applications, student life and much more. 

The Ambassador of the European Union to Indonesia, Vincent Piket emphasized that 11 European Union member countries will also showcase their best universities in this event.

"We are start of full 10 days of activities to celebrate the mark of the Europe day which is on the 9th of May but the activities are starting this weekend and the education fair is one of them. We have a wonderful turnout of the member state in this activity, 11 member state: Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Sweden, Finland, Netherland and Poland who will be exhibiting the education offering in this fair and also exhibits by the delegation of the European Union in Indonesia" Ambassador said. 

Ambassador Piket added that Europe has a very good quality of education at affordable costs. 

In this educational exhibition, the European Union is also working with the Directorate General of Higher Education, the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia to implement a scholarship program for Indonesian students//VOI/NK