VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Egypt's current Permanent Representative of Egypt to the UN Osama Abdekhalek, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad H. Mansour, and Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun interact on the day of a meeting of Members of the United Nations Security Council for voting on a proposal to demand that Israel and Hamas allow aid access to the Gaza Strip at UN headquarters in New York on Dec 19, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton) -- 

UNITED NATIONS: A United Nations Security Council vote on a bid to boost aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip has been delayed by another day as talks continue to try and avoid a third US veto of action over the two-month long Israel-Hamas war, diplomats said on Tuesday (Dec 19).

The 15-member council was initially going to vote on a resolution - drafted by the United Arab Emirates - on Monday. But it has repeatedly been delayed as diplomats say the UAE and the US struggle to agree on language citing a cessation of hostilities and a proposal to set up UN aid monitoring. 

When asked if they were getting close to an agreement, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters on Tuesday: "We're trying, we really are."

The draft resolution would demand Israel and Hamas allow and facilitate land, sea and air deliveries of aid to and throughout the Gaza Strip and ask the United Nations to monitor humanitarian assistance arriving in the Palestinian enclave.

Diplomats said the United States wants to tone done language that "calls for the urgent suspension of hostilities to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access, and for urgent steps towards a sustainable cessation of hostilities."

The United States and Israel oppose a ceasefire because they believe it would only benefit Hamas. Washington instead supports pauses in fighting to protect civilians and allow the release of hostages taken by Hamas.

Washington traditionally shields its ally Israel from any Security Council action. It had already twice vetoed Security Council action since an Oct 7 attack by Hamas that Israel says killed 1,200 people and saw 240 people taken hostage.

Israel has retaliated against Hamas by bombarding Gaza from the air, imposing a siege and launching a ground offensive. Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health officials. U.N. officials warn of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza with the majority of the coastal Palestinian enclave's 2.3 million people driven from their homes.

Diplomats said that Washington is also unhappy with a proposal in the UAE draft resolution that asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish a monitoring mechanism in Gaza "to exclusively monitor all humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza provided through land, sea and air routes of those states that are not parties to the conflict."

Limited humanitarian aid and fuel deliveries have crossed into Gaza via the Rafah crossing from Egypt, subjected to monitoring by Israel, but UN officials and aid workers say it comes nowhere near to satisfying the most basic needs of Gazans.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Tuesday that on Sunday 102 aid trucks and four tankers of fuel had entered Gaza via the Rafah and 79 trucks entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom.

"This is well below the daily average of 500 truckloads (including fuel and private sector goods) that entered every working day prior to 7 October," it said in a statement.

Earlier this month the 193-member UN General Assembly demanded a humanitarian ceasefire, with 153 states voting in favour of the move that had been vetoed by the United States in the Security Council days earlier.

A seven-day pause - during which Hamas released some hostages, some Palestinians were freed from Israeli jails and there was an increase in aid to Gaza - had ended on Dec 1//CNA-VOI

Indonesians head to the polls on Feb 14, 2024, in what has been called the world's biggest single-day elections. (File photo: Reuters/Willy Kurniawan) - 

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA: Indonesia’s financial intelligence government agency has found suspicious transactions involving trillions of rupiah related to the upcoming legislative elections. The transactions – one trillion rupiah is about US$64.4 million – implicate thousands of individuals with “various political affiliates”, said the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK).

"We have observed irregularities that signal potential illicit payments,” PPATK head Ivan Yustiavandana told local media.

“We are talking trillions, we are talking very large numbers, we are talking thousands of names, we are talking about all political parties.” 

The discovery occurs ahead of over 204 million Indonesians casting their votes on Feb 14, 2024 in what has been called the world's biggest single-day elections. 

Besides a new president and vice-president, Indonesians will also elect about 20,000 national, provincial and regency level parliamentary members, as well as senators. 

In November next year, Indonesians will elect their governors, regents and mayors.

PPATK did not name any candidates involved but said the investigation was into the accounts of people listed as registered legislative candidates.

According to the Jawa Pos news site, suspicions began when the PPATK noticed the special campaign fund accounts (RKDK) of parties, which are used to finance political campaigns, were relatively stagnant, if not flat.

Political parties are required to provide initial campaign fund reports and special campaign fund accounts (RKDK) to Indonesia’s General Elections Commission (KPU) no later than 14 days after they are determined as election participants, according to the commission’s website.

An RKDK account for campaigning parties must be set up before the campaign period, which began on Nov 28, and closes after the counting of votes ends.

While the RKDKs remained relatively stagnant, the financial intelligence agency noticed significant transactions in other accounts of the registered legislative candidates, which reached trillions of rupiah and dramatically increased in the second half of this year.  

"This indicates a discrepancy. We wonder, where does the financing come from if the RKDK is not active?" Mr Ivan reportedly said. 

President Joko Widodo on Tuesday instructed law enforcement agencies to follow up on the findings of PPATK, according to Tempo. 

“Everything must be done according to the existing rules … According to the rules, there will be legal procedures,” he said. 

The discovery has highlighted the “power of money” in Indonesia’s elections, an anti-corruption official told CNA.

According to research by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), success in legislative and regional head elections is 95.5 per cent determined by money, said Mr Amir Arief, the commission’s director of Anti-Corruption Socialisation and Campaign//CNA-VOI

Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), Arief Prasetyo Adi (second from the right), during a meeting with the Indonesian Ambassador to India, Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi (second from the left), in New Delhi, India, on Monday (December 18, 2023). (ANTARA/HO-Bapanas/rst) - 

The National Food Agency (Bapanas) is exploring cooperation with India to strengthen food availability and thereby, stabilize food prices in Indonesia. Bapanas head Arief Prasetyo Adi visited New Delhi, India, to discuss the cooperation with the Indonesian Ambassador to India, Ina Hagniningtyas Krisnamurthi.

"The Indonesian government aims to ensure food availability and stabilize food prices for domestic interests and trade balance. This goal requires support from many parties and stakeholders, including the support of friendly countries," Adi said in a statement received on Tuesday.

His visit to India was prompted by the Indian government's restrictions on trade. Indonesia needs rice supplies from India to strengthen domestic rice stocks.

Earlier, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) directed the agency to ensure the availability of Government Rice Reserve (CBP) stock of 3 million tons. As of December 5, 2023, CBP stocks controlled by state-run logistic company Bulog stood at just 1.5 million tons.

"This visit is part of Indonesia's efforts to ensure that food availability in Indonesia comes from the best sources at competitive prices. This visit also aims to optimize cooperation with various parties in providing domestic food," Adi said.

Besides reviewing cooperation related to rice supply, he also persuaded India to fulfill the availability of 150 thousand tons of buffalo meat for domestic needs.

During the meeting, Ambassador Krisnamurthi conveyed the need to increase investment in Indonesia to encourage advanced development.

Besides meeting with the ambassador, Adi was scheduled to visit Lulu Mall and the meat processing industry in Lucknow. He will also go to Aurangabad and Mumbai to complete several agendas related to food in India. 

To maintain food prices in Indonesia, the government is distributing CBP to the community to keep the prices from soaring due to crop harvest failure caused by El Nino//ANT-VOI

Illustration : Green Economy - 

Voinews, Jakarta - The implementation of the green economy is not an obstacle, but a new opportunity for future economic growth, said deputy for economy at the Ministry of National Development Planning, Amalia Adiningrat Widyasanti, on Tuesday.

"When we implement the green economy massively and thoroughly, it will definitely create a new opportunity for Indonesia's economic activities, contributing to economic growth acceleration," she said.

Widyasanti made the statement at the launch of the "Policy Brief of Greenpeace Indonesia and CELIOS: The Fate of the Green Economy Transition in the Political Year".

She explained that in the national long-term plan for 2025–2045, the transition to a green economy involves several main focuses.

The first focus is transitioning toward clean and renewable energy, with the renewable energy mix targeted to reach around 60 percent by 2045.

Second, implementing environmentally friendly transportation, or green transportation. Third, applying a circular economy to industries and people's daily lives.

"The implementation of the green economy is a main focus of the Golden Indonesia (vision), starting from 2025 to 2045, as an integral part of Indonesia's economic transformation efforts," she said.

Regarding the challenges, she emphasized the need to make the necessary preparations, including increasing human resources, adopting clean technology, and expanding the supporting ecosystem through policies and regulations that support the green economy in various sectors.

"Implementing a green economy requires major changes that must be supported by a good ecosystem and joint efforts to achieve sustainable economic growth for the next 20 years," she said.

Several policies, such as increasing energy efficiency, a just energy transition, developing smart grids, and implementing a circular economy, are considered the basis for those changes.

Widyasanti also emphasized the importance of providing fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for environmentally friendly products.

She added that the green economy push is not only limited to the energy transition, but also extends to strengthening other pillars to achieve sustainable economic growth in the next two decades.

Therefore, Indonesia is strengthening its commitment to embrace the green economy as a foundation for economic growth in the future, she added//ANT-VOI