VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOI,Jakarta - Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita has assured that Indonesia will only use domestically manufactured pipes in its household gas networks.

"My duty is to ensure that all the pipes used for (household) gas networks are made at home," he said after attending an internal meeting with President Joko Widodo at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

Indonesia has a plethora of pipe manufacturers that are capable of supplying quality pipes for the country's household gas networks, Minister Kartasasmita pointed out.

"There are plenty of pipe companies in Indonesia," he said.

He further said that it is necessary to lay down standards for pipes produced by domestic companies. However, he expressed confidence that national pipe manufacturers have the capability of producing quality pipes.

Earlier, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto informed that the government is aiming to connect 2.5 million houses to gas networks by next year.

"Currently, the gas networks have only been connected to 835 thousand houses, 241 thousand of which were funded by PGN (state-owned gas company), while the government funded the rest," he informed.

The minister said that this figure is still far below expectations, especially compared to the initial target of four million houses.

The government is currently making significant efforts to provide at least 2.5 million houses access to the networks by 2024, he added.

"The initial target was to reach 4 million houses by 2024, but it turned out to be difficult to achieve. Hence, we hope that we will succeed in shooting the number from 835 thousand to 2.5 million in collaboration with private actors," he said.

According to Hartarto, the government is considering revising a presidential regulation to allow the private sector to take part in the development of the gas networks.

Through the revised regulation, the government will make the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources in charge of public-private partnership schemes, he informed. (ANTARA News)

VOI, Jakarta - Negotiations between Hollywood studios and the SAG-AFTRA actors' union were suspended on Wednesday as the two sides clashed over streaming revenue, the use of artificial intelligence and other issues at the core of a three-month work stoppage.

The breakdown in talks interrupted attempts to end labor tensions that have put most U.S.-based film and television production on hold, cost the California economy billions and left thousands of crew members without work.

SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July. The union resumed negotiations with studios last week after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) ended its work stoppage.

The WGA deal had raised hopes for a quick resolution with actors until the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), late on Wednesday, said talks were suspended once it reviewed the most recent union proposal.

"After meaningful conversations, it is clear that the gap between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA is too great, and conversations are no longer moving us in a productive direction," said the AMPTP, which represents Netflix (NFLX.O), Walt Disney (DIS.N) and other media companies.

SAG-AFTRA, in a letter to members issued early Thursday, said it had negotiated "in good faith" with studios "despite the fact that last week they presented an offer that was, shockingly, worth less than they proposed before the strike began."

"It is with profound disappointment that we report the industry CEOs have walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter our latest offer," union negotiators said.

One issue of contention is a SAG-AFTRA demand for a share of streaming revenue delivered as a bonus to cast members. The AMPTP said the proposal "would cost more than $800 million per year, which would create an untenable economic burden."

SAG-AFTRA countered that the AMPTP had overstated the cost by 60% and accused the studios of "bully tactics."

The union also said studios "refuse to protect performers from being replaced by AI," while the AMPTP said it had promised to obtain actors' consent before using any digital replicas of their likenesses.

On issues such as general wage increases and residuals for high-budget streaming shows, the AMPTP said it had offered the same terms that were ratified by the WGA and the Directors Guild of America, but that SAG-AFTRA rejected them.

Members of the WGA approved a new three-year contract with major studios this week, five months after the union called a strike. The new contract provides pay raises, some protections around AI use and other gains. (Reuters)

VOI, Jakarta - The Ministry of Social Affairs focuses on building the independence of persons with disabilities to implement the Makassar Recommendations on Disability Inclusive Development and Partnership.

Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini noted in her statement here on Thursday that her side is focusing on realizing economic independence for people with disabilities in need of jobs.

"We carry out (programs) to train them to open businesses, so they can be economically independent," she remarked.

The Makassar Recommendations resulted from the ASEAN High-Level Forum on Disability Inclusive Development and Partnership Beyond 2025 taking place in Makassar on October 10-12, 2023.

The forum was attended by around 200 participants and was part of Indonesia's ASEAN Chairmanship.

Rismaharini said she is focused more on making disabled people generate income by owning an enterprise instead of being employed by other individuals, as they need more assistance devices during their mobility.

The minister pointed out that physically disabled people will face issues if they need to leave their homes to get to work.

"Hence, if they can be independent and work from home, the handling is easier," she remarked.

According to the minister, if disabled people work in companies, the place they work at must provide access that involves a lengthy process.

"There is a law that stipulates a need for providing accessibility to facilitate their mobility," the minister remarked.

Moreover, Rismaharini stated that the latest integrated social welfare data (DTKS) includes disabled people, who can receive assistance from the government.

She explained that assistance for disabled people will be based on their needs, for instance, three-wheeled vehicle assistance for entrepreneurship that can facilitate physically disabled persons.

Rismaharini noted that entrepreneurial opportunities for disabled persons have increased along with digital marketing.

The ministry also opens market access for products made by disabled craftsmen. (ANTARA News)

VOI, Jakarta - The Indonesian Migrant Worker Protection Agency (BP2MI) urged the Japanese counterpart to increase the quota for Indonesian Migrant Workers (PMIs) under the government-to-government (G to G) scheme, especially in the caretaker sector.

"We asked the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS) to increase the quota for PMIs in Japan, especially for caretakers," Head of BP2MI Benny Ramdhani noted in a statement received here, Thursday.

During his working visit to Japan to strengthen governance for PMI's placement and protection, he remarked that increasing the quota was one of the highlighted issued conveyed to JICWELS.

His side also suggested to Japan to reconsider the two-year experience requirement after having a Certificate of Registration (STR) for nurse positions. BP2MI considers these requirements as being difficult to fulfill for PMIs.

"The nurse quota is difficult to achieve. The requirements are quite difficult for PMIs to fulfill. We hope the requirements could be lowered," Ramdhani remarked.

He also called on the Japanese counterpart to change the quota pattern for nurse and caretaker placement.

"If the nurse quota cannot be met, prospective Indonesian migrant workers can fill the caretaker position," he stated.

His side then also raised a request to expand language training and interview test locations, considering that Indonesia is an archipelagic country.

"If interviews are only held in Jakarta, our prospective PMIs from other cities will have difficulty to access the location. (This is) especially since it requires more money to travel to Jakarta," he explained.

He then offered three new locations representing each region, such as in Surabaya, Manado, and Medan.

Responding to the proposal from BP2MI, the International Operations Section I of the Japan Foundation, Noguchi Yuko, stated that the proposed expansion of language training and interview tests is difficult to realize.

"If we add more training locations, we have to ask the Japanese government for more budget," Yuko remarked.

Yuko then suggested to the Indonesian government to discuss this matter at the government level. On November 20, the Indonesian government can propose it at the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA).

Meanwhile, Managing Director of JICWELS, Kataoka Yoshikazu, stated that job opportunities for nurses and caretakers under the IJEPA framework began in 2008 and received a positive response.

"We have received various feedback from medical agencies that employ Indonesian migrant workers. Indonesian workers work really hard and are kind. The agencies are satisfied with their performance," Yoshikazu stated.

He remarked that in the national exam held in March 2023, the passing rate for Indonesian migrant workers in caretaker positions was 67.3 percent.

"This figure is the highest figure in history. The graduation rate for nurse positions is also quite high," he noted. (ANTARA News)