VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coinciding with the commemoration of the Youth Pledge on October 28, on Monday afternoon local time, President Joko Widodo inaugurated Youtefa Bridge in Jayapura City, Papua. The name ‘Youtefa’ was taken at the request of the local customary community because the bridge is above the Youtefa Bay.

In his welcoming address, President Joko Widodo said that this bridge becomes a milestone in Papua, which is not only a major symbol of unifying the nation, but also a symbol of the importance of progress towards developing Papua.

The Youtefa Bridge was built in 2015. President Joko Widodo laid the first stone to mark the beginning of the construction of the bridge with 732 meters long and 21 meters wide. This development spent around Rp1.8 trillion. The bridge connects the main area of Jayapura City with Muara Tami District. The budget fund for building the bridge was spent from both the central and regional governments. The composition of the financing is a symbol of good synergy between the central and regional governments. Now, Papua has a new icon, Youtefa Bridge. This bridge with characteristic red curved poles can be an amazing attraction for tourists. In addition, this bridge can also boost economic relations between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, which so far has been through Skouw Cross-border Post (PLBN) located in Muara Tami.

The Youtefa Bridge is a form of the commitment of President Joko Widodo's administration in building infrastructure in Papua. Although there have been security disturbances in Papua lately, which has attracted international attention and criticism of his government, President Joko Widodo has repeated the commitment in the second term of his administration. Papua becomes the first location he visited after his inauguration as president for the 2019-2024 term with Vice President Ma'ruf Amin. It is hoped that with the operation of the Youtefa Bridge, the mobility of both people and goods of Papua can run smoothly and Papua can catch up with the advanced regions in Indonesia.

After being inaugurated along with 33 other ministers, Minister of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Erick Thohir immediately took over the position from the previous Minister, Rini Soemarno in a ceremony at the SOE Ministry in Jakarta last Wednesday. Erick Thohir said afterwards, he would conduct a total evaluation of SOEs in the framework of professionalism and create a good and healthy climate.

Erick Thohir, who has a business background, is also ready to clean up in order to find positive things in order to build and synergize SOEs.

Meanwhile former SOE Minister Rini Soemarno reminded the new Minister to complete the SOE holding company formation program which is part of the president's unfinished program.

Indonesia currently has 115 SOEs. President Joko Widodo often stated that too many SOEs is inefficient. Therefore, the president encouraged state-owned enterprises engaged in the same field to join and form a holding company.

According to Rini Soemarno, the holding companies will eventually form a super holding, such as Temasek in Singapore.

In addition, she also entrusted Minister Erick Thohir to maintain the togetherness and synergy among SOEs, so they remain strong and not become weak due to competing with each other.

Furthermore, Rini Soemarno also instructed SOE Minister Erick Thohir to continue the SOE function in accordance with the mandate of the SOE Act to encourage people's economy. Therefore there are many SOE programs to improve the ability of micro, super micro and small businesses.

Erick Thohir acknowledged that the task of SOEs is very heavy because it is not only demanded as a profit-oriented corporation, but also acts as a locomotive for Indonesia's development. Erick Thohir also wants SOEs, Regionally Owned Enterprises (BUMD) and the private sector not only to excel domestically but also to be able to penetrate the global level.

According to Erick Thohir, this could be achieved if all parties had the same mission to make Indonesia progress in accordance with the name of the new Cabinet “Forward Indonesia”.

Headlines from Kompas entitled “Safety depends on coordination.”

Investigation result of the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) on the cause of the Lion Air Boeing 737 MAX 8 PK-LQP Crash is expected to improve the safety of civil flights. In the future, the Indonesian Government, aviation industries, and flight operators must strengthen their coordination in a bid to support the safety of flights. The National Transportation Safety Committee pointed out that the Lion Air JT-610 Crash is caused by nine factors. So far, plane accidents have always been caused by multiple factors.

Republika entitled “President Joko Widodo inaugurates 12 Vice Ministers.”

President Joko Widodo introduced 12 deputy ministers joining the Cabinet of Indonesia Onward Cabinet on Friday Afternoon (25/10). The 12 deputy ministers were invited by President Joko Widodo on Friday morning to discuss their duties and the challenges that must be faced in the future. In the term of 2014-2019, there were only three deputy ministers: deputy minister of finance, deputy minister of foreign affairs, and deputy minister of energy and mineral resources.

Media Indonesia entitled “Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs needs to anticipate crisis.”

Amid the challenges due to the trade war between the USA and China, President Joko Widodo called on deputy Minister who is related to Economic Affairs to pay attention on trade agreement, investment, infrastructure, and tourism promotion. It was remarked by President Joko Widodo when introducing 12 Deputy Ministers at Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Friday (25/10).

We begin Today in History with the event of 26 October 1979.

South Korean President, Park Chung-hee was killed by the leader of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), Kim Jae-kyu  on 26 October 1979. Park Chung-hee was a former general of the Republic of Korea Army (ROK) and leader of the Republic of Korea in the period of 1961-1979. He was considered to render a service by  modernizing South Korea through export-oriented industrialization, but he was also accused of violating human rights during the additional period of his presidency.

We turn to the event on October 26, 1994.

Two government leaders, King Husain of Jordan along with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed an agreement on October 26, 1994. They called it as peace and the process had begun since the Madrid Conference  in 1991.  The agreement was signed in the peace process between Arabs and Israel, which was supported by the United States.  Based on the peace agreement, Israel was willing to move back from parts of Jordanian territory and Jordan canceled their economic embargo on Israel.

We end Today in History with  the event on October 26, 2010.

Mount Merapi, located in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, was one of the active mountains in Indonesia and it erupted on 23 October 2010. The eruption of Mt. Merapi damaged several villages at surrounding areas. Besides, the eruption of Mt. Merapi killed dozens of villagers around the downhill of the mountain. One of them is Mbah Maridjan, the caretaker of Mt. Merapi.  When Mt. Merapi erupted, there were hot clouds as high as 1.5 kilometers.  The hot clouds rolled down and passed the area where Maridjan lived. Finally,  Mbah Maridjan's body was found a few hours later by SAR team along with 16 other dead people.