VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Halal Label of the Indonesian Ulema Council Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM MUI) / ist

The COVID-19 outbreak did not stop the process of halal certification for the community that could be served suitably and responsibly, according to the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).

"In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Ulema Council Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM MUI) can still serve business practitioners well and be accounted for. We do not want halal certification to stop business in Indonesia," Director of Halal Audit of the Indonesian Ulema Council Food and Drug Analysis Agency (LPPOM MUI) Muti Arintawati informed reporters in Jakarta on Thursday.

Arintawati pointed to proper risk mitigation being applied at the start of the year before the first COVID-19 case was announced in Indonesia. The process of countermeasures began with the number of foreign audits related to halal products.

Even so, Arintawati noted that LPPOM MUI had formed a separate task force in connection with COVID-19, the Coronavirus Crisis Center for public safety, particularly for auditors, employees, and building visitors.


Along with the work-from-home policy, Arintawati remarked that LPPOM MUI had curtailed activities at the office while the halal certification process was yet being conducted, with the Cerol-SS23000 system still active that allows the public to directly monitor developments pertaining to the halal certification process.

Arintawati pointed out that the LPPOM MUI had also implemented Modified Onsite Audit (MOsA), an audit system on March 19, 2020, that aligns with the current needs.

The audit meets the standards of the National Accreditation Committee (KAN) used for the Halal Assurance System (SJH).

Nevertheless, Arintawati pointed out that not all categories, such as slaughter and gelatin products, can be audited by MOsA.

"In general, the audit can be conducted by MOsA. We will test it in stages. Initially, MOsA can only be applied to products for development and extension. After obtaining the right formula, MOsA is tested for new companies," he explained.(ANTARA)

Jakarta (VOI News) - The National Anti-Narcotics Agency (BNN) will virtually commemorate the 2020 International Anti Narcotics Day which falls on Friday, June 26, 2020 and broadcast live by electronic media and live streaming on social medias. In addition, the agency will also hold a virtual charity concert dubbed Konser Slank #HIDUP100% on June 27, 2020. The Head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Heru Winarko at a virtual press conference in Jakarta, Friday (12/06)on the eve of the virtual charity concert, the agency will also launch its new tagline, which is #HIDUP 100%.

"We will also hold a charity concert, which will be held on Saturday night, June 27, next week, where we will collaborate with Kompas, Pos Kota, Slank. And at this event too, in this connection, we will launch our tagline, which was Hidup Sehat Tanpa Narkoba or Healthy Living Without Drugs. We will try, we change, according to the current millennial situation,Hidup 100 persen (Life 100 percent). Now with this 100 percent life, we can develop it for the existing life activities," said Heru WInarko.

Furthermore Head of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Heru Winarko said the result of the fundraising from the charity concert will be donated for the handling of the impact of COVID-19. (VOI / AHM)

Hundreds of Indonesian crew members of the MS Island Princess cruise ship arrived at the Tanjung Priok Harbour in Jakarta on Wednesday (June 10, 2020). (ANTARA/HO-Navy Command I Fleet Document)

A total of 241 Indonesian crew members of the MS Island Princess cruise ship arrived at the Tanjung Priok Port, North Jakarta, on Wednesday.

The crew members were transported from the cruise ship to the dock with the help of four connecting vessels with a capacity of 40 passengers each.

Their disembarkation was carried out by a task force team, in accordance with the health protocols. The ship’s crew and their luggage was sprayed with disinfectant liquid as soon as they arrived at the dock.

Their belongings were also scanned using X-rays at the Customs and Military Police Base, Navy AL III / Jakarta.

Commander of the Indonesian Navy Base III, Brigadier General Hermanto, who served as the task force’s commander, said the crew will be taken to the Pullman Central Park Hotel in Jakarta, where they will also undergo COVID-19 testing.

"If there are any (test) results that come back positive, the (concerned) ship crew members will be taken to the Athlete's Village Emergency Hospital in Kemayoran, Jakarta," Hermanto said in a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The crew will also be required to undergo independent isolation for three to four days, provided that each person occupies one hotel room, he informed. The crew will then continue the independent isolation in their hometowns, he added.

The Bermuda-flagged MS Island Princess cruise ship sailed from Cape Town, South Africa, to Jakarta to complete the permit, Hermanto stated.

The cruise ship, which operates out of Great Britain and the United States, will dock in Jakarta for five days, before continuing its voyage to Manila, Philippines.

The return of 241 Indonesian crew members of the MS Island Princess cruise ship was the 13th such disembarkation overseen by the Navy's Fleet Command I Task Force in Jakarta.

Earlier, on June 8, 2020, the Jakarta Fleet Command Task Force had helped 343 Indonesian crew members disembark from the MV Rotterdam cruise ship at the same location. It was the 12th ship from which Indonesians were repatriated by the task force.

So far, a total of 3,402 Indonesian crew members have been repatriated to Jakarta, and the number is expected to increase until the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

The stakeholders involved in the repatriation efforts include the National Military Force, Police Force, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, immigration officers, port authorities, and Customs officials.(ANTARA)

Director for the Protection of Citizens and Legal Entities Overseas at the Foreign Ministry, Judha Nugraha. (ANTARA

A moratorium on the recruitment of Indonesian seafarers on foreign fishing ships would only serve as a short-term solution to the problem of forced labor at sea, a Foreign Ministry official said.

"The moratorium will not automatically stop the practice. As a short-term solution, it (moratorium) can be done," Judha Nugraha, director for the Protection of Citizens and Legal Entities Overseas at the Foreign Ministry, said at an online discussion on illegal activities in the fishery industry, held in Jakarta on Wednesday.

According to Nugraha, the main challenge for the country is the illegal recruitment of migrant workers.

He cited the moratorium on migrant workers obtaining work in the Middle East as an instance where in spite of a ban, workers were still moving out for employment illegally.

"Moratorium is one option, but it is not the only option. The root of the problem is far more complex than this," he observed.

Nugraha highlighted some cases where the contract between sailors and employers did not specify protection for Indonesian crewmen.

For instance, he said, there were no fixed working hours for the crew, and the skipper had complete authority to decide them. Some sailors disclosed that they worked for a minimum of 18 hours per day, he added.

"There is a need to have standards and protections (laid down) in making the work contract," he averred.

Nugraha said all Indonesian embassies and representatives abroad have a 24/7 hotline service, and that number can be obtained on the Safetravel application.

National Coordinator for the Indonesian Destructive Fishing Watch (DFW), Moh Abdi Suhufan, has warned that human trafficking is just the tip of the iceberg and a serious crime that has continued plague the fisheries industry.

Support from all parties would be needed “to encourage a multidoors solution, among others, through multidoors law enforcement and management”, Suhufan said.

He urged the police to thoroughly investigate cases of human trafficking and forced labor involving Indonesian crewmen working on foreign ships.

The government, he said, would need to take strategic measures, including improvement of management, working conditions at sea, competence and law enforcement, and access to technology for victims so they can file reports. (ANTARA)