VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A screenshot of President Joko Widodo delivering a statement on the development of COVID-19 on Friday (January 28, 2022). (ANTARA/Desca Lidya Natalia) - 

President Joko Widodo has asked asymptomatic COVID-19 patients or those with mild symptoms to utilize telemedicine services to ease the burden on hospitals.

"When your PCR test result is positive without experiencing any symptoms, you can conduct self-isolation at home for five days. If you have symptoms such as cough, runny nose, or fever, please use the telemedicine service or go to the community health center or the nearest doctor," he said at the Bogor Presidential Palace on Friday.

According to the President, telemedicine is one method to ease the burden on health facilities.

"This is important so that our health facilities can focus on handling (COVID-19) patients with severe symptoms and patients suffering from other diseases who need intensive care," he explained.

Indonesia is currently witnessing an increase in daily COVID-19 cases, especially of the Omicron variant, he said.

The increase is predicted to continue for several weeks, he noted.

By learning from the surge in Omicron cases that occurred in several countries earlier, the government has made a lot of preparations to deal with the potential surge, President Widodo said.

"Improvement in various health facilities and infrastructure has been adjusted to the character of the Omicron variant, which is different from the previous variant and requires different handling," he noted.

He said that one of the improvements made by the government has been in the provision of telemedicine services.

"Not all Omicron cases need direct (health) services because the symptoms are not dangerous. The most important thing is to minimize (social) contact; this will prevent (COVID-19) transmission from getting wider," he informed.

The President also appealed to the community to remain calm and not panic.

"Always implement health protocols, reduce unnecessary activities. I invite all of you to take care of your health as well as possible to boost immunity," he remarked.

The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indonesia in March 2020. According to data provided by the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of January 28, 2022, at least 4,319,175 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the country, while 4,131,333 people have recovered and 144,268 people have succumbed to the virus//ANT

Communication and Informatics Ministry's Secretary General Mira Tayibba. (kominfo.go.id)

The Indonesian government, through its Communication and Informatics Ministry, invited ASEAN nations to support the Indonesian G20 Presidency's agenda this year, the Ministry's Secretary General, Mira Tayibba, noted through a press statement on Friday.

"The importance of digital technology in expediting post-COVID-19 recovery is mirrored in the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF) that underscored the importance of inclusive digital transformation," Tayibba stated during the 2nd ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting (ADGMIN-2).

Indonesia's G20 Presidency upholds the theme "Recover Together, Recover Stronger". Three priority issues will be brought to this international forum: inclusive global health architecture, digital-based transformation, and energy transition.

The ministry, as the leader in the Digital Economy Working Group (DEWG), highlighted collective efforts to utilize digital technology to handle COVID-19 and build a strong ecosystem to respond to future crisis.

The priority issues that Indonesia will bring within the DEWG G20 are post-COVID-19 recovery and connectivity; digital skill and literacy; cross-nation data flow.

The digital sector is experiencing a growth in the ASEAN, especially during the course of the pandemic, as member countries utilize digital technology for economic recovery.

The digital ecosystem in the ASEAN that continues to grow plays an important role in recovering the economy after the pandemic to become more resilient and comprehensive.

The ministry deemed there should be an exchange of ideas between ASEAN nations to continue bolstering regional cooperation in the digital sector akin to what has been described in the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025.

"It should be remembered that post-COVID-19 recovery and digital transformation should be conducted concurrently," Tayyiba noted.

"By strengthening regional cooperation in the digital sector, the ASEAN could realize its opportunity to recover together and recover stronger," she stated.

The government is ready to strengthen collaboration and cohesiveness of cooperation between ASEAN member countries to achieve an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable post-pandemic economic recovery. "Digital transformation should be inclusive, so that the positive and productive benefits from the digital space could be felt by the entire group of people with no exceptions," she remarked//ANT

A screenshot of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD. He said the recent incidents of violence in Maluku, West Papua, and Papua were not caused by ethnic, religious, racial, or intergroup-related issues. (ANTARA/Genta Tenri Mawangi) - 

The situation in Maluku, West Papua, and Papua has returned to normal following isolated incidents of violence in the provinces, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD, has confirmed.

"Alhamdulillah (thank God), the situation is now under control," Mahfud remarked after a coordination meeting here on Friday.

Indonesian Military Chief General Andika Perkasa, military and police chiefs from the respective areas, officials from the Home Affairs Ministry, the Indonesian Police headquarters, and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) attended the meeting, which was held virtually.

The meeting discussed civil clashes in Haruku, Maluku, and in Sorong, West Papua, as well as the shooting of three soldiers in Gome, Puncak district in Papua by armed separatists.

During the meeting, Mahfud received reports on the causes behind the clashes in Haruku and Sorong.

The minister assured that the clashes were not caused by ethnic, religious, racial, and intergroup-related issues (SARA).

"None of them were related to SARA. Please do not expand the issues; there was no SARA," he stressed.

The clash in Sorong, West Papua was sparked by a fight between two groups, which led to a fire at a club, he said. Seventeen people died in the fire, Mahfud informed.

The West Papua police have questioned 31 people and named two as suspects in the incident that occurred on January 25, 2022.

Meanwhile, the clash in Haruku Island, Central Maluku district, Maluku on January 25, was ignited by overlapping claims over village territory.

"In Haruku, (the clash) was sparked by overlapping claims over village territory. This was a pure land conflict," Mahfud said.

Furthermore, the shooting of three soldiers in Papua by separatist terrorists on Thursday (January 27) was the outcome of a change in the approach to the handling of the Papua conflict, he opined.

Mahfud then asked the Indonesian Military chief to evaluate the new approach to prevent more casualties, especially among civilians//ANT

Solar panels installed at a hybrid power plant in Cilacap, Central Java, on October 6, 2021. (ANTARA PHOTO/IDHAD ZAKARIA/FR) - 

The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry is cooperating with PT Pembangkitan Jawa-Bali (PJB), a subsidiary of state-run PLN, which is working with Ujung Pandang State Polytechnic (PNUP) for developing renewable energy.

"This collaboration is very relevant with the government's vision where vocational education becomes the industry's frontline in Indonesia," director general for vocational education at the ministry, Wikan Sakarinto, said in a written statement issued on Friday.

"This is in accordance with the vocational education strengthening vision. This cooperation is one of the programs to ensure integration between vocational education and the working world that have to come closer," he added.

The cooperation involves close synchronization for developing programs that could hone the skills of vocational education graduates and create innovations, he said.

This cooperation is being undertaken under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between PT PJB and PNUP, he informed.

Meanwhile, PT PJB's human resources and administration director noted that the collaboration with PNUP, a vocational university, is relevant for the development of renewable energy.

"PJB's target for 2025 is to have 25 percent renewable energy utilization. To this end, for Sulawesi, we require design energy specification, operator that all should have certification," he informed.

Cooperation with PNUP will be beneficial in figuring out solutions for human resource development through innovations done by PT PJB, he said.

"One of PT PJB's best achievement indicators within the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) is currently the Automatic Vibration Monitor Calibrator (AVATOR) as Indonesia's most prospective work," he highlighted.

AVATOR is a low-cost vibration tester for power plants, he said. The device aims to test vibration monitoring devices that are the heart of a generator engine's protection, he added.

Meanwhile, PNUP director Muhammad Anshar said that the renewable energy cooperation with PT PJB fits with the polytechnic's goals for supporting the renewable energy application implementations master's study program.

"We laud PT PJB for choosing to cooperate with PNUP as a part of innovating in renewable energy," he remarked//ANT