VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A resident looks at the roof that collapsed due to the 5-9 magnitude quake on Friday night (21/5/2021). (ANTARA FOTO/Ari Bowo Sucipto/rwa) - 

Some 30 houses in Malang District, East Java, incurred damage after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck on Friday night, according to the local disaster mitigation agency.

"As per the provisional data, 30 houses are damaged," acting chief of the agency's emergency and logistic affairs, Sadono, stated.

The 30 houses are found in the sub-districts of Ampelgading, Dampit, Donomulyo, Gondanglegi, Kalipare, Sumbermanjing Wetan, and Tirtoyudo.

Sadono remarked that his side, along with the volunteers and stakeholders, are still collecting data on buildings wrecked by the earthquake.

"We have yet to receive a report of the wide impact. The team is still collecting information on the field," he remarked.

The earthquake, centered southeast of Blitar District, was also felt in Malang District, Malang City, and Batu City.

On April 10, 2021, an earthquake of magnitude 6.1 also rattled Malang District, causing substantial damage.

According to the Malang District Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), the quake affected 32 out of the 33 sub-districts in Malang.

A total of 641 public facilities were damaged, comprising 226 school buildings, 233 places of worship, 23 health facilities, and 159 other public facilities.

The quake also left four people dead and caused injuries to 110 others//ANT

Indonesian tourism and creative economy during working visit in Malang small and medium enterprise industry (Birkom) - 

The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy / Head of the Tourism and Creative Economy Agency Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno is committed to presenting recovery programs for the tourism sector and the creative economy that are right on target and have the right benefits.

Menparekraf Sandiaga Uno during a dialogue with parekraf actors at the Panji Museum, Malang Regency, East Java, Friday (21/5/2021) explained, Kemenparekraf is here to see and hear firsthand the things that are needed by the community, especially in the tourism sector and the creative economy. Then formulated in policies and programs that touch and are just.

The Minister said 2021 would be a momentum for the recovery phase of the Parekraf sector. He also invited all parties to contribute to the success of existing programs.

One of them, actors and all stakeholders in the tourism sector and creative economy must be disciplined in implementing CHSE-based health protocols or hygiene, health, safety and environmental sustainability (K4).

"In addition, there are several programs that can help recovery for actors, such as partnerships, government incentive assistance (BIP) to grant funds which are proposed this year to increase and expand the beneficiaries," he said.

Deputy for Industry and Investment, Fadjar Hutomo, explained that government incentive assistance - BIP is an annual program that has been held since 2017. The aim is to provide additional working capital and / or fixed asset investment to business actors.

"Hopefully this early June it can be launched. A total budget of Rp. 60 billion will be given to five creative economy sub-sectors. Namely digital applications and development of games, fashion, crafts and culinary. As well as for tourism businesses in tourist villages," said Fadjar Hutomo. .

In the process, prospective recipients only need to follow a predetermined selection process and choose the two categories of capital assistance desired according to the conditions of the type of business being run, after which it will be selected and curated by the curators.

"BIP will go through a curation process by curators. So that it is right on target and its implementation is in accordance with accountability," he said.

Deputy for Digital Economy and Creative Products of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Muhammad Neil El Himam added, Kemenparekraf also encourages MSME players to transform to market their products through digital//VOI-NK

A Philippine coast guard ship sailing past a Chinese coast guard ship near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in May 2019. (File photo: AFP/Ted Aljibe) - 

The Philippines and China held "friendly and candid" talks on the South China Sea, the Philippines' foreign ministry said on Saturday (May 22), days after the minister ordered Chinese vessels out of the disputed waterway in an expletive-laced tweet.

The presence of hundreds Chinese vessels inside the Philippines 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been the latest source of tensions between the two countries in the South China Sea, through which US$3 trillion worth of goods pass every year.

The Philippines said the encroaching vessels were manned by militia, while Beijing said they were fishing boats sheltering from bad weather.

"The two sides had friendly and candid exchanges on the general situation and specific issues of concern in the South China Sea," under a bilateral consultation mechanism convened in 2016 to ease tensions in the strategic waterway, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

"There was mutual recognition of the importance of dialogue in easing tensions and understanding each country's position and intentions in the area," the DFA said.

Earlier this month, Philippines Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin likened China to "an ugly oaf" for its behaviour in the waterway.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who prefers to not provoke Beijing and wants to tap it for loans and investment, barred his ministers from talking about the South China Sea situation in public after the outburst.

Also discussed during Friday's dialogue was the row over the June 2019 sinking of a Philippine fishing boat by a Chinese fishing vessel that abandoned the Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea. The Philippine justice ministry will seek compensation for the victims, the DFA said.

Despite recent tensions, ties between the Philippines and China have improved under Duterte, who described the 2016 arbitration ruling on the South China Sea that went in Philippines' favour as just a "piece of paper" he could throw in the trash.

But the Philippines reiterated its call on Beijing to respect international law, including the arbitral ruling during the talks, the DFA said//CNA

President Joko Widodo launched the self-funded Gotong Royong vaccination campaign. (ANTARA/HO) - 

The launch of the self-funded Gotong Royong vaccination campaign on May 18, 2021, witnessed by President Joko Widodo at PR Unilever Indonesia complex, Bekasi, West Java, is expected to expedite national efforts to contain COVID-19.

Supported by private and state-owned companies, the Gotong Royong program is seen as crucial for helping the government achieve the target of inoculating 181.5 million people to build herd immunity against the coronavirus.Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, said that at least 22,736 private companies have signed up for the program as of May 17, 2021.

Based on the Indonesian Health Ministry's Regulation No.10/2021 on the Gotong Royong Vaccination Scheme, all vaccine costs will be borne by participating companies under the program.

President Widodo said he is optimistic that once workers begin receiving the self-funded Gotong Royong vaccines, the number of vaccine recipients could reach 70 million by September, 2021.

"We expect to be able to vaccinate 70 million citizens by this August or no later than September (2021),” he said.

Widodo said he also hopes to see the COVID curve flattening during the August-September period and normalcy being restored in industrial productivity.The government-funded vaccination program is using Sinovax vaccines bought from China and AstraZeneca vaccines received through the WHO-coordinated COVAX Facility.

Meanwhile, State-owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir has said that his ministry has no plans to commercialize COVID-19 vaccines.

"Regarding prices, from the beginning, we in the SOE Ministry have been very open. We are not thinking about commercializing the COVID-19 vaccines," Thohir said at a press conference on May 19, 2021.

Indonesia has so far secured 54 million vaccine doses free of cost through the World Health Organization (WHO) and spent nearly Rp77 trillion on procuring additional vaccine doses to cater to the large population of the country, which are being distributed free of charge//ANT