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Riau Islands encouraged to offer longer travel packages

Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, has urged the Riau Islands provincial administration to increase the length of stay for foreign tourists visiting the province.

"I hope Mr. Governor will increase the length of stay," he said while visiting Batam, Riau Islands, on Saturday.

Singapore and Malaysia have so far been the largest sources of tourist arrivals in Riau Islands, he noted. Most tourists from the two countries have been making weekend trips to Riau Islands, so they are staying in the province for a short time, he said.

Therefore, the minister advised the local government to encourage tourism operators to offer tourism packages that allow tourists to stay longer in the province.

In addition to golf, the tourism packages must also include visits to the sea tribe in Lingga, Penyegat Island, buffer islands, and other tourist destinations, he said."(They) must design tourism packages," he added.

The regional government must also provide incentives to travel agents and cooperate with the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy to increase foreign tourists' length of stay from three days to four days, he said.

Meanwhile, chief of the Batam City Culture and Tourism Office, Ardiwinata, said the office has made continuous efforts to increase tourists’ length of stay by encouraging people living in buffer islands to build homestays.

This would allow tourists to spend their time in coastal areas with a natural atmosphere, he remarked//ANT

Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Hospital - antara

The number of patients having made a recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, at the Wisma Atlet COVID-19 Hospital of Kemayoran reached 71,323.

"Some 725 patients were referred (to other hospitals), while 87 patients died," Head of Information for the Joint Regional Defense Command (Kogabwilhan) I Marine Colonel Aris Mudian noted in a written statement received here on Saturday.

Of the total 2,645 patients hospitalized, 1,330 were males and 1,315 were females. The figure declined by 40, from 2,685 patients earlier recorded.

"All inpatients are treated at towers four, five, six, and seven," the colonel added.

Wisma Atlet has offered treatment to a total of 74,780 patients from March 23, 2020, to March 20, 2021. Meanwhile, the hospital discharged 72,135 patients.Furthermore, Mudian also reported the latest data on patients at the Special Hospital for Infection (RSKI) Galang Island, Riau Islands.

"Of the total 297 hospitalized patients, 137 were males and 160 were females, with 57 confirmed patients and 240 suspected cases," he revealed.

On the whole, RSKI Galang Island offered treatment to 10,171 patients from April 12, 2020, to March 20, 2021, of which 9,874 returned home, 42 people were referred to other hospitals, and 4,859 people recovered, while the number of patients with suspected COVID-19 or those who had completed treatment reached 4,973 people//ANT

PPPA Minister Bintang Puspayoga delivers remarks at a virtual discussion on harassment and violence of women seafarers here on Saturday (3/20/2021). (ANTARA/Prisca Triferna)

Women's Empowerment and Child Protection (PPPA) Minister Bintang Puspayoga highlighted the vital role of women in the maritime and fisheries sector.

"Women are a very valuable human resource that can bring progress to all parties in all situations," Puspayoga remarked while opening a virtual discussion on harassment and violence faced by women seafarers here on Saturday.

The minister affirmed that as the largest archipelagic nation, Indonesia’s various sectors, including the maritime and fisheries sectors, held vast potential. 

That potential cannot be separated from the role of women, who have played an important role in various professions in the maritime and fisheries sector, with scores employed as fisherwomen, fish traders, and sailors, as well as in various other professions in the maritime sector.According to the Transportation Ministry’s data as of March 2021, a total of 25,160 women seafarers work in various positions and levels of education, or 2.1 percent of the total 1,204,123 seafarers in Indonesia.

"With this data, it is our collective duty to fulfill the rights of women seafarers and protect them," she emphasized.

The minister drew attention to the fact that Indonesia already had in place laws and had ratified various international agreements that ensure the protection of women from acts of violence and discrimination based on gender, including in the maritime and fisheries sector.

Hence, Puspayoga expressed regret over the fact that women still fall in the vulnerable group and are still stigmatized, including women, who serve as seafarers.

"History has proven that Indonesia's women are capable, agile, and reliable seafarers," Minister Puspayoga remarked//ANT

A Yogyakarta city resident receives a shot. (HO-Humas Pemkot Yogyakarta)

Some 45 thousand senior citizens of Yogyakarta Province have registered to receive COVID-19 vaccine jabs, according to the province's COVID-19 task force.

"We have yet to check whether the registrants reside in Yogyakarta or in the outskirts of the city," the task force's head, Heroe Poerwadi, stated here on Saturday.

They might have received assistance to fill up the online registration forms available on the Yogyakarta Health Office's official website by local government officials, he remarked.

Officials at neighborhood and community units in the city are among those assisting the elderly residents to get registered, Poerwadi noted.

Some 29 thousand of the 45 thousand registrants will get inoculated on April 5, while 7,775 elderly residents in Yogyakarta have received the first shots since March 8.

Some 28 others had received the first and second shots. Recipients of the first shots are required to wait for 28 days before getting the second jab, Poerwadi remarked.Some 13 hospitals around Yogyakarta are serving the COVID-19 recipients. The government's data shows that the city has some 46 thousand senior citizens.

Early this month, President Joko Widodo had paid a visit to Yogyakarta to observe the implementation of the government's national vaccination program in the city.

Some 19,900 people, including traders, shop owners, shopkeepers, and workers in Beringharjo Market, Malioboro Street area, Yogyakarta, were inoculated on March 1, 2021.

President Joko Widodo is upbeat about a recovery in the tourism and economic activities in Yogyakarta following the implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination program.

Indonesia has been striving to win the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since the government officially announced the country's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.

The government has rolled out a nationwide vaccination program this year to contain the spread of infections.The Health Ministry estimates that the vaccination of some 181.5 million people under the national program will take 15 months.

Indonesia's COVID-19 infection rate crossed one million cases on January 26, 2021.

To attain herd immunity and free the nation from the clutches of the pandemic, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has stressed on the need for successfully administering the COVID-19 vaccine to the targeted population.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease has dragged Indonesia into serious public health and economic crises//ANT