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Vice President Ma'ruf Amin delivers a speech at the opening of the Commemoration of International Day of Anti-Narcotics in Jakarta, Friday. (26/6/2020). (vice president's secretariat)

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin called for standardizing the handling of COVID-19 and narcotics, psychotropic medications, and drugs that guarantee the people’s rights to live and develop optimally.

"The handling of narcotics and COVID-19 necessitates the application of similar standards, specifically to provide guarantee and protect the rights of people to live, grow and develop optimally," Vice President Amin stated while delivering a speech at the opening of the commemoration of International Day of Anti-Narcotics in Jakarta, Friday.

Amin emphasized that the common enemies, in the form of COVID-19 and drugs, should be eradicated since they were grave threats.

If the threats are not immediately addressed early on, then development could bear a major brunt.

"Both COVID-19 and drugs are serious threats. The impact is multidimensional, from the state to the smallest section of society, specifically the family," he remarked.

In a bid to eradicate drugs, the vice president lauded the performance of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) that promoted the Prevention, Eradication of Abuse and Narcotics Dark Circulation (P4GN) Program.

"Many real achievements have been achieved, so as to reduce the prevalence of drug abuse, which in had reached 2.23 percent in 2011 to 1.80 percent in 2019," the vice president pointed out.

Based on these achievements, the government will continue with the P4GN program through the issuance of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 2 of 2020 that instructs all cabinet levels to take national action on P4GN.

"The government is strongly committed to continuing the program and narcotics eradication. Presidential Instruction Number 2 of 2020 has been ratified. Its contents instruct the entire Indonesian Cabinet, attorney general, National Police chief, Armed Forces commander, head of BIN, non-ministerial level government institutions, governors, district heads, and mayors to carry out the P4GN National Action," he remarked.

International Day of Anti-Narcotics, an initiative of the United Nations (UN), is commemorated on June 26 every year. The theme for observing International Day of Anti-Narcotics in Indonesia aligns with the situation presented on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. (ANTARA)

94 Rohingya refugees, including 30 children, are finally evacuated to North Aceh's land on June 25, 2020. ANTARA/Khalis

Rapid diagnostic tests for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were conducted on 94 Rohingya refugees stranded in North Aceh District, Aceh Province, Lhokseumawe Mayor Suaidi Yahya stated.

"We are conducting rapid tests to ensure that the Rohingya refugees are free of COVID-19," he stated in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, on Friday.

Rohingya Muslims were tested on the night of Thursday (June 25) at their refugee site located in the quarantine area of the Immigration Office in Peuntet, Lhokseumawe City, after being rescued from the sea on Lancok Coast, North Aceh District.

The rapid tests were deemed necessary to conduct since the Rohingyas are international refugees. If any of them contract COVID-19, they will be immediately isolated, he remarked.

"We hope the results will come negative. However, if they test positive for the disease, they will be quarantined independently at this site," he stated.

The Lhokseumawe administration will coordinate with various parties, including the Government of North Aceh, for the supply of logistics to asylum seekers from Myanmar.

Yahya remarked that the government will also continue to provide security and conduct supervision of the refugees, with the support of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI) and Police (Polri), as well as the COVID-19 Task Force team and other elements.

"The cost of logistics for the Rohingya will be borne first by the government, specifically the North Aceh government, and we will also support it," Yahya affirmed.

On Wednesday (June 24), the 94 Rohingya refugees were rescued by three Aceh fishermen, as their damaged boat had begun sinking in the waters of Aceh.

The Rohingyas, comprising 49 women, 15 men, and 30 children, were evacuated to the fishermen's boat and received drinking water and food.

After the boat filled with refugees remained adrift in the waters, awaiting to land at the beach, the North Aceh government on Thursday finally agreed to accommodate the refugees after an UNHCR local officer made assurance of facilitating the handling of the refugees.

Empathetic local Aceh villagers helped the refugees to disembark from the boat to land amid torrential rains and bustling winds.

"We are sad since there were many children on the boat. The weather was inhospitable. Poor them," Amran, Lancok resident, who helped the refugees to land, stated.

Oktina, a protection associate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), expressed her gratitude to the local residents and North Aceh government for helping the Rohingyas.

"The most important aspect is to first rescue them and give them food and drinking water, as they had been adrift at sea for months," Oktina emphasized. (ANTARA)

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin during the ceremony to commemorate the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Jakarta on Friday (June 26, 2020). ANTARA/HO-Public Information and Communication of the Vice Presidential Secretariat/sh

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin has highlighted the criticality of international cooperation to crack down on illicit drug trafficking in Indonesia, as it is viewed as a transnational crime.

"Narcotics is a transnational and extraordinary crime. Hence, efforts to handle this must involve all stakeholders. International cooperation is the pressing need of the times to cut its distribution chain," Amin remarked during a ceremony to commemorate International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Jakarta on Friday.

Amin suggested that one approach to combat drug trafficking was by consistently curbing its market to reduce supply and demand.

"High supply and demand is one factor that has driven drug trafficking. The preventive measure, through the demand reduction strategy, and legal measures, through the supply reduction strategy, must be conducted consistently," he expounded.

Citing the UN data, Amin stated that 275 million, or some 5.6 percent of the world’s population in the age group of 15 to 64 years old, have consumed drugs.

In Indonesia, drug abuse increased in 2019 and involved 3.6 million people, from 3.37 million people involved in drug abuse in 2017.

"Data of the BNN (National Anti-Narcotics Agency) showed that drug abuse in Indonesia in 2017 had involved 3.37 million people in the age group of 10 to 59 years. In 2019, data showed that the figure had reached 3.6 million. In 2018, the number of cases of drug abuse among students had reached 2.29 million," he stated.

Millennials in the age group of 15 to 35 years are susceptible to drug abuse, and it could negatively impact the quality and productivity of the country's human resources, Amin stated.

Millennials in the next decade will be the successors of the previous generation, so they have to be healthy and productive.

"They have to live happily and be free of drugs," he added.(ANTARA)

Craftswomen paint on bags at a home-based business in Gelam village, Sidoarjo, East Java on Tuesday (June 23, 2020). (ANTARA FOTO/Umarul Faruq/hp)

Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, Teten Masduki, said he is optimistic the government, institutions, and state-owned enterprises budget for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would help boost the national economy. As much as Rp735 trillion of funding has been allocated to the budget, he revealed.

"We are optimistic that if the Rp735 trillion is channeled for the MSME (revival) budget, the economy can be reactivated," the minister said during a discussion on Thursday in Jakarta.

To encourage more MSME activities, he said, his ministry is pushing both supply and demand side growth.

The MSME budget, he continued, makes up a large part of efforts to boost demand for MSME products that can be absorbed by the market.

"We have to maintain (MSMEs) as our market is rather significant with 250 million people (being served by such businesses). If there is commitment among the people to buy from MSMEs, it will increase the demand for (products made by) MSMEs,” he said.

At present, the ministry is preparing a digital catalog and a page specifically for MSMEs with the help of the Government Institution for Provisions of Goods and Services (LKPP).

"Along with the LKPP, we are carrying out trainings and formulating packages on the provision of MSME products in the e-catalog," he informed.

Furthermore, the ministry has granted relaxations on MSME loans through installment delays, credit subsidy, tax amnesty, and provisions for new, more affordable capital for MSMEs to ensure their productivity is maintained.

"There are around 60.66 million MSMEs that have been connected with funding, banking institutions. We have opened the doors as wide as possible for MSME players that have yet to be connected to funding (sources), so they can immediately propose funding schemes to institutions and be included in the relaxed program with low interest (schemes),” he explained.

Meanwhile, MSMEs that can no longer operate their businesses will be included in the ministry’s social assistance program.

"They are mostly from the ultra micro (segment), we have included them in the social assistance program," he said. (ANTARA)