VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

OJK logo - 

Member of the House of Representatives' (DPR's) Commission XI Masinton Pasaribu pressed for swift action from chosen members of the Board of Commissioners of the Financial Service Authority (OJK) against violations in the financial service industry.

Pasaribu in a press statement here on Saturday said that members of the Board of Commissioners of the OJK should not only showcase analytical capabilities but also demonstrate fast-moving leadership on the field to prevent and act against suspected violations in the financial service industry.

To this end, the OJK should also be able to handle problems in the current age while also paying attention to the regulation that stipulates their position, Pasaribu remarked.

Article 22 of Law No. 21 of 2011 on the OJK clearly stipulates that the OJK Commissioner Board should not have a conflict of interest with financial service institutions that the OJK monitored.

Pasaribu underscored the importance of responding to the challenge of fast developments in the financial service industry in the digital age.

These developments include investment in the capital market, banking, and insurance in which there are various types of fast-developing investment practices with various product packages, he remarked.

The OJK holds high authority through the OJK Law. Their regulating, monitoring, action, and provision of protection and aid to the public should truly be optimal and fast, he remarked.

The 2022-2027 OJK Commissioner Board Member Candidate Selection Committee, led by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, has begun the fourth-stage selection process.

This process is an interview for 29 OJK commissioner board member candidates.

In an official announcement on Wednesday, the committee held the interview from March 2, 2022, to March 5, 2022.

On Wednesday, the committee interviewed seven candidates. Meanwhile, 11 candidates were interviewed on Friday, while the rest of the 11 candidates were interviewed on Saturday//ANT

Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection's Women Rights Protection Deputy Ratna Susianawati during a webinar titled "Gap Trend in the World and Indonesia: Economical, Gender, and Ecological Context" here on Friday (March 4, 2022). ANTARA/Zubi Mahrofi/FR - 

Multi-party synergy, or pentahelix, has become the strength to realize gender equality, Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection's Women Rights Protection Deputy Ratna Susianawati stated.

"This means that gender equality is ensuring the distribution of roles, duties, and functions, so that the relation between women and men becomes a partnership," the deputy noted during a webinar on Friday.

"This issue cannot just be resolved by one institution," she affirmed.

Gender equality is not always about women but rather it is also about equal role, function, position, and workload between men and women, Susianawati emphasized.

"We cannot ignore the gap while talking about gender equality," Susianawati remarked.

"Women should be given a space within a certain segment for the decision-making process that can finally be fair and equal for all strata of society," she remarked.

Gender gap exists for several reasons, comprising patriarchal social and cultural values, gender bias products and regulations, incomprehensive and partial understanding of religion, the deputy highlighted.

In addition, the lack of confidence, determination, and consistency in women to fight for their rights, a mistaken perception and understanding by decision makers toward the meaning of gender equality and justice are other factors.

The government's commitment to realizing gender equality is unquestionable, Susianawati remarked.

This is apparent from the Constitution that provides assurance, protection, and rights' fulfillment that is also stipulated in other regulations and technical laws.

"Discussion on women's issue cannot be separated from Indonesia's commitment to ratifying Law No. 7 of 1984. This became a space that should be our collective responsibility," she affirmed.

Earlier, W20 Chairwoman Hadriani Uli Silalahi noted that the W20 will cooperate with the engagement group and working group in G20 to ensure that the issue of women and gender empowerment is included within the G20 declaration//ANT

Construction of permanent housing in Lumajang District, East Java Province. (ANTARA/HO-PUPR Ministry/rst) - 

The Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) has expedited the completion of construction of permanent housing (huntap) for communities affected by the eruption of Mount Semeru in Lumajang District, East Java.

"The construction of huntap is one of the government's efforts to restore the community affected by Mount Semeru's eruption that occurred in December 2021. The type of this huntap is a 36-square meter house built in Sumbermujur Village, Candipuro Sub-District," Director-General of Housing at the PUPR Ministry, Iwan Suprijanto, noted in a press release on Saturday.

Suprijanto remarked that the government had built 1,951 huntap since January 2022, with a budget of Rp350.55 billion, with the Simple Healthy Instant House (Risha) method and knock-down construction that can be conducted quickly.

Suprijanto explained that prospective residents of the huntap had been determined according to name per address by the Lumajang District Government.

He also confirmed that currently, some 1,154 units were handled, 800 units were installed with Risha panels, and some 200 of them were covered with roofs.

"Vice President Ma'ruf Amin had directed us to complete the construction of huntap before Eid al-Fitr," he stated.

Suprijanto expressed optimism that the huntap, equipped with public and social facilities, would offer benefits to affected residents.

In addition, reconstruction in disaster-affected areas will not only rebuild damaged houses, but the newly built houses are also expected to be safer than the previous ones.

The construction of huntap was conducted by the Directorate General of Housing at the PUPR Ministry along with State-Owned Enterprises: PT Brantas Abipraya and PT Hutama Karya.

The huntap will be used to relocate residents affected by the eruption from seven villages -- Sumbersari, North Kebondeli, South Kebondeli, Curah Kobokan, Gumukmas, Kamarkajang, and Kajar Kuning -- in Lumajang District.

Apart from the permanent houses, the relocation area will also be equipped with other facilities to fulfill the residents' daily needs, such as public facilities, mosques, schools, sports facilities, fields, green open spaces (RTH), markets, and burial sites.

In addition, the PUPR Ministry will build a clean water installation sourced from the Tunggeng River, with the target to serve two thousand housing units and to conduct bamboo reforestation//ANT

FILE PHOTO: Members of Taliban security forces stand guard among crowds of people walking past in a street in Kabul, Afghanistan September 4, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer - 

Afghanistan is inching closer towards economic collapse six months after the Taliban seized power, the Red Cross said on Friday (Feb 25), with a paralysed banking system stymieing international efforts to get financial aid into the war-ravaged country.

Organisations such as the Red Cross have been forced to rely on informal money exchanges to move cash in to pay the salaries of some workers, although most of Afghanistan's estimated 500,000 state employees have now worked without pay for months.

"The banking system is totally paralysed. The central bank is not operating," International Committee for the Red Cross Director General Robert Mardini told Reuters, adding that it is paying some 10,000 doctors and nurses using the informal 'hawala' money transfer network.

Mardini said on a call from the capital Kabul that the international community and the Taliban needed to find a pragmatic solution to get the banking system up and running as Afghanistan was hanging by a thread.

"You cannot just run the country on hawala system. There needs to be a political negotiation for this. But the clock is ticking," Mardini added.

Afghanistan's new rulers have appealed to the international community to help the country and have pressed for billions of dollars of frozen assets overseas to be released.

The Afghan economy depended on aid before the western-backed government was overthrown last year by the hardline Islamist Taliban, who are under unilateral sanctions that have made foreign banks reluctant to facilitate aid money transfers.

The United States has sought to allay fears of those providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan of falling foul of sanctions and said it would free up US$3.5 billion in frozen Afghan central bank assets on US soil to help Afghans.

Mardini said the Red Cross would soon request an additional US$50 million from donors for aid to Afghanistan this year, on top of an already budgeted 150 million Swiss francs (US$161 million).

"Humanitarian aid is needed more than ever," he said//CNA