VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Member of House Commission VI Nevi Zuairina said she supports the government to focus more on solving the Covid-19 pandemic by directing all resources owned by the state to control the outbreak, with the same focus of populist economy that has been attached to business actors in various sectors.

"The fundamental problem is that the absorption of the budget that has been set for Covid-19 is very minimal, far from the expectations, which range from only around 19 percent or Rp135 trillion from the Rp695.2 trillion budget at the end of July 2020. If this condition continues, the pandemic impact will never go away," Nevi said on Monday.

The politician said that Indonesia is facing a world economic crisis because of Covid-19. Nevi suspects that the persistence of the people's spending situation will be helped during Regional Election, where people who own resources and cash spend their funds, which indirectly increases the circulation of money in the market.

She said this is just a hypothesis that needs deeper research, so the government has various scenarios for rapid action based on data and analysis.

She said the right policy will withstand the recession by strengthening the foundations of a populist economy with a focus on managing health.

Nevi believes that assistance to the people through the National Economic Program (PEN) provided by the government can strengthen the people's economy with various considerations.

"I still hope that the Government will focus on health management and on solving the pandemic, which is at the same time saving the economy of the poor," she said.

"The state of the pandemic in our country has not changed. Maybe we need to evaluate where did we go wrong. We also need to evaluate the management of the state budget for handling Covid-19," she concluded. (RRI)

President Joko Widodo said that the main focus of the government's work at the moment is to deal with public health problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then economic recovery.

"Once again, I would like to order the ranks of the Committee for COVID-19 and Economic Recovery, the Minister of Health, the National Army, and the National Police, so that matters relating to COVID-19 really become our focus, and the economy (affairs) will follow," the President said at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Monday.

"This means that our focus remains, number one health, is handling COVID-19. Because the key is here," he said when opening the Plenary Cabinet Session on Health Management and Economic Recovery for Strengthening Reforms in 2021.

In a session attended by Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, ministers, and heads of national institutions, the President emphasized that if the public health condition improves, the economic condition will also improve. Handling public health, he said, was the key to recovery from a crisis because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Once again, if the handling of COVID-19 is good, if the health is good, the economy will also improve," he said. He added that the acceleration of efforts to recover the domestic economy very much depends on the results of implementing policies on handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Do not let us have health matters, this COVID-19 affair has not been handled properly, we have started, restarted, in the economic sector. This is also very dangerous," he said.

According to data from the Covid-19 Task Force, as of Sunday, the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia reached 194,109 cases with 138,575 patients recovering from Covid-19 infection and 8,025 patients who died. (Antaranews)

Indonesia coronavirus recent cases exceeded 3,000 for four consecutive days, with new cases on Sunday recorded at 3,444 and brought the total tally of infections to 194,109, according to the country's Task Force for COVID-19 Response.

A report released by the Task Force on Sunday showed that 2,174 people have recovered from COVID-19, making the total recoveries stand at 138,575.

Meanwhile, the death toll has reached 8,025, with 85 people succumbing to the disease within the last 24 hours.

On Thursday, the task force reported 3,622 new cases within 24 hours.

The figures suggest that Indonesia has 47,509 active cases (patients still receiving treatment or undergoing self-isolation) and 89,701 suspects are under surveillance.

The authority on Sunday has examined 27,979 specimens from 13,225 people at 320 laboratories across the country.

Since the first confirmed cases emerged in Indonesia in March, the authority has checked a total of 2,433,752 specimens from 1,401,513 people.

COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in 34 provinces, with 489 cities and districts affected by the pandemic.

As of Sunday, five provinces have recorded the highest number of recent cases, namely Jakarta with 1,176 new cases, East Java 303, West Sumatra 244, Central Java 233, and South Sulawesi 209.

Jakarta has recorded the highest number of confirmed cases at 46,333.

Six provinces reported no new cases on Sunday, namely Jambi, Riau Islands, Central Sulawesi, North Maluku, Papua, and West Sulawesi. (Antaranews)

Social Affairs Minister Juliari P Batubara ensures adequate rice supply to send to 10 million families in the Family Hope Program (PKH) until October.

"Bulog's (State Logistics Agency's) rice supply is adequate for 10 million PKH beneficiaries who will receive 15 kg per household per month in August, September, and October," the minister said in a statement on Sunday.

The rice aid would be disbursed in two stages, where each household would receive 30 kg in September and 15 kg in October, he elaborated.

Besides implementing the social safety net scheme, the synergy between the ministry and the State Logistics Agency will help the distribution of rice stock in Bulog's warehouses, Batubara said.

"Bulog can absorb more farmers 'rice, and this can improve the farmers' welfare," he added.

Rice aid is a program under the Social Safety Net (JPS) scheme to cope with the social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program also aims to absorb farmers' rice production.

Director-General of Social Empowerment at the Social Affairs Ministry Edi Suharto said the ministry has the responsibility to ensure that beneficiaries will receive qualified rice for consumption.

"We guarantee the rice quality. We have to monitor this starting from packaging and distribution. We have to check the process in Bulog's warehouses," Suharto said.

After the packaging process in the agency's warehouses, the rice will be delivered directly to beneficiaries' houses. PT. Bhanda Ghara Reksa (BGR) and PT. Dos Ni Roha (DNR) were appointed to transport and deliver the rice. (Antaranews)