VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

A phinisi ship in the Golo Mori waters, Komodo Sub-district, East Nusa Tenggara District, NTT Province. ANTARA FOTO/Kornelis Kaha.

The Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) will develop Tana Mori in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai District, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), into a high-end tourist resort and facilities to support G20 and ASEAN Summits in 2023.

"We plan to make Tana Mori a high-end resort in Labuan Bajo akin to Bali's Nusa Dua," Development Director of state-owned ITDC Edwin Darmasetiawan stated during a video conference on Friday.

The central government has urged ITDC to develop priority tourism destinations, such as Mandalika in NTB, Labuan Bajo in NTT, and Likupang in North Sulawesi.

With the objective of supporting implementation of the G20 Summit and ASEAN Summit planned to be held in NTT in 2023, ITDC has been tasked with developing its infrastructure and facilities in Tana Mori and Tana Naga, in cooperation with PT PP (Persero) Tbk.

The development projects will comprise MICE (meetings, incentives, conferencing and exhibitions) facilities and two five-star hotels to accommodate leaders of G20 member countries, including the United States, China, and Russia.

"They do not want to be in one hotel, so there must be at least two or three hotels for other delegates too" he pointed out.

Funding has been proposed through state equity participation (PMN) in addition to private investment.

"I am very optimistic that we would be able to complete it at least in 2022. The event will be held in 2023, but our obligation is to prepare the venue with all supporting aspects, both property and infrastructure, by the end of 2022," he stated.

Meanwhile, Managing Director of the Labuan Bajo Tourism Authority Agency Shana Fatina estimated that 10 thousand guests would be attending the international events.

The agency has begun making preparations for the development of requisite infrastructure and facilities to support the summits as well as for meeting the long-term targets of the tourism sector. (ANTARA)

Mount Sinabung erupts on Saturday (Aug 8, 2020)

Mount Sinabung, located in Karo District, North Sumatra Province, erupted on Saturday morning, producing an ash column that reached nearly two thousand meters high above the volcano’s peak, or some 4,460 meters above sea level.

This eruption was the first to have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic following the one on June 9, 2019, that created a massive column of ash reaching a height of up to some seven thousand meters above the peak, or approximately 9,460 meters above sea level, according to a press statement issued by the Sinabung Volcano Observation Post of the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) in Medan, North Sumatra, on Saturday.

The ash column was observed to be gray to brown in color, with moderate to thick intensity, and leaning eastward.On the seismogram, the eruption was recorded with a maximum amplitude of 120 mm and a duration of approximately 1 hour and 44 seconds.

Currently, the alert status of Mount Sinabung is at Level III. Local residents and visitors are also prohibited from venturing within a three-kilometer (km) radial radius of the summit of Mount Sinabung and a sectoral radius of 5 km for the south-east sectors, and 4 km for the east-north sectors.

In the event of an ash rain, the people are advised to wear masks while venturing outdoors to lower the health impact of the volcanic ash.

Local people living near riverbanks, whose upstream are in the vicinity of Mount Sinabung, are urged to remain vigilant to the dangers of lava floods. After remaining inactive for four centuries, Mount Sinabung has sprung back to life since 2010 and erupted sporadically. The natural disaster has led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people.

The government relocated the displaced people to new permanent settlement areas away from the volcano.

Mt Sinabung's eruption had claimed two lives in 2010 and 15 lives in 2015. The last known eruption, prior to recent times, occurred in the year 1600. (ANTARA)

Jakarta (VOI News) - The COVID-19 pandemic will leave a profound impact on the world in various fields. Rivalries between great powers are intensifying, trusts among countries are diminishing, the virtue of international cooperation is being questioned. This was conveyed by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi in her keynote speech at the virtual 53rd ASEAN Day celebration, Saturday (8/8). She said the COVID-19 pandemic had tested the values ​​of ASEAN solidarity and cooperation. For this reason, she invited all ASEAN Member States to continue to work together in fighting the pandemic.

"Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has put the ASEAN values of solidarity and cooperation to the test. But since the start of the outbreak, ASEAN has been quick to respond from sharing information to facilitating repatriation of citizen; from keeping trade moving, to helping those who are in need. Support from our external partners is also essential in building our regional health resilience and preparedness. This crisis has shown that being inward looking is not an option. Cooperation and collaboration are central to ASEAN response to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," said Retno Marsudi.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi added that ASEAN must always work together to maintain regional peace and stability and not to be dragged into the storm of geopolitical tension or being forced to choose sides. Therefore, she continued, ASEAN must remain at the forefront of turning rivalry into cooperation and turning distrust into strategic trust. (VOI / AHM)

The chairman of the National Economic Recovery and COVID-19 Management Committee, Erick Thohir,  said Friday Indonesia would need to prepare USD4.5 billion or roughly Rp65.9 trillion to purchase 320-380 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for Indonesia’s 290 million people. 

“If the price per dose of vaccine is USD15, we can estimate that [we] will need USD4.5 billion. That excludes syringes and the manpower,” said Erick in a virtual discussion with Kumparan on Friday, August 7.

Erick Thohir mentioned that the Health Ministry currently had Rp24.8 billion for the handling of the COVID-19 crisis and planned to allocate the sum for the vaccine’s down payment. 

Indonesia’s vaccine development is currently under clinical trial by state-owned pharmaceutical firm Bio Farma in partnership with China’s Sinovac Biotech. If everything runs as planned, mass immunization is bound to come in January or February 2021.  

So far, the purchase will be based on the development of the national vaccine. However, after the vaccine gets mass-produced, Erick Thohir assured that it would not be sold freely. “If it is sold freely, the rich will be the first to be injected because they would pay first. It just can’t be done like that,” Erick said. 

Indonesia plans to distribute the vaccine—once it is found—to regions that are hit the hardest by COVID-19. (tempo.co)