VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin along with his wife, Wury Estu Handayani, visited the mourning house in Jakarta on Monday morning to pay their final respects to Salahuddin Wahid, who passed away at 77.

Amin and his wife left their residence for the mourning house after performing the subuh, or dawn prayer, and arrived there at around 5:20 a.m. local time. Amin then led a funeral prayer for the deceased Wahid.

Wahid, better known as Gus Solah, is a prominent figure of Nahdlatul Ulama and had dedicated years of his life to advance education at the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java Province.

Gus Solah, the grandson of national hero Hadratus Syaikh KH Hasyim Asy’ari and younger brother of late Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's former president, is a graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

"He is so kind to me, and I feel close to him. He is a figure, who has served significantly in matters pertaining to statesmanship and religiosity," Vice President Amin noted in a press statement made available to ANTARA.

During his leadership at the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School, Wahid increased the number of santris, or students, and developed a science-based Islamic boarding school. "This is amazing," Amin stated.

Solah, who ailed from cardiovascular disease, breathed his last on Sunday at around 8:59 p.m. local time after being hospitalized at the Harapan Kita Hospital. He will be laid to rest in a cemetery in the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School's area on Monday afternoon.(ANTARA)

Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR) upgraded Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating, from BBB/positive outlook to BBB+/stable outlook (investment grade), as announced on January 31, 2020.

"JCR’s upgrade on Indonesia’s rating at BBB+/stable outlook reflects the rise in confidence among international stakeholders in the resilience of the Indonesian economy amidst global economic uncertainties," Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjiyo, noted in a statement in Jakarta on Monday.

The BBB+/stable outlook (investment grade) is the highest rating level ever attained by Indonesia. This achievement mirrors the strong commitment of Bank Indonesia and the government as well as other relevant authorities in maintaining Indonesia's economic stability.

Going forward, Bank Indonesia will monitor domestic and global economic developments in utilizing its room to apply an accommodative policy mix to maintain controlled inflation and external stability as well as to support the economic growth momentum.

According to the JCR, the ratings mainly mirror Indonesia’s solid domestic consumption-led economic growth, restrained budget deficit and public debt, and resilience to external shocks supported by flexible exchange rate and credible monetary policies and accumulation of foreign exchange reserves.

Several factors support Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating upgrade.

First, among the reform agenda, infrastructure development has continued to progress faster than the JCR’s expectations. Second, the government has continued to implement fiscal expenditure reforms and curtail budget deficits, with adherence to restraining fuel subsidies. JCR views that Indonesia’s economic and fiscal bases have been strengthened.

The third factor pertains to intensifying efforts to address long-term challenges, including simplification of regulations through a plan to issue the “Omnibus Law” to facilitate foreign direct investment and the development of infrastructure and human capital. Fourth, the Jokowi administration's political base has been reinforced, thereby further strengthening the momentum of economic policy, he remarked.

The JCR views that infrastructure development, which the first Joko Widodo administration started as its top priority in October 2014, has been making steady headway.

The JCR noted that the second Joko Widodo administration clarified its stance to further bolster its reforms by defining a five-priority agenda: (i) infrastructure development, (ii) human resource development, (iii) regulatory simplification through the issuance of the Omnibus Law, (iv) bureaucratic reforms and (v) economic structural reforms aimed at reducing the country's dependence on natural resources. In particular, the Omnibus Law, yet under preparation, is an ambitious effort to integrate the amendment of over 80 laws that pose a hindrance to investment.

Moreover, Bank Indonesia is viewed as having responded to the knotty issue of striking a balance between maintaining external stability and sustaining domestic economic growth momentum through accommodative monetary and macroprudential policies, further strengthened the payment system policy and financial market deepening, as well as coordinated with the government and other relevant authorities.

Since the start of 2019, Bank Indonesia has been seeking to prop up credit supply by banks through a combination of consecutive policy rate cuts and relaxation of macroprudential policies.

Indonesia’s fiscal soundness has been maintained, as the central government debt remains restrained to about 30 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). JCR considers that the Joko Widodo administration has bared fairly feasible plans to cut the fiscal deficit to 1.76 percent of the GDP in its 2020 budget and to hold down the central government debt to below 30 percent of the GDP under its Medium-Term Fiscal Framework.

Furthermore, while continuing to face the need for financial deepening, Indonesian banks have been retaining their soundness, with their capital adequacy ratio and NPL ratio, standing at 23.66 percent and 2.77 percent, respectively, at the end of November 2019.

The JCR had earlier revised the outlook on Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating, from Stable to Positive, and affirmed Indonesia’s BBB (Investment Grade) issuer rating on April 26, 2019.(ANTARA)

Garuda Indonesia suspended its to-and-fro flights for Mainland China since early Wednesday at 00:00 a.m. local time to support the Indonesian government's endeavors to halt the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.

The decision was also made by the Indonesian national flag carrier following the World Health Organization's (WHO's) recent declaration on Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The suspension was part of Garuda Indonesia's serious attention to precautionary measures being taken to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, the airline's president director, Irfan Setiaputra, noted in a press statement that ANTARA received here on Sunday.

Garuda Indonesia prioritizes the safety of aviation as well as passengers and crew members, he affirmed, adding that the suspension was made effective for the flight routes to and from the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, and Xi'an.

Currently, the airline serves 30 scheduled flights to and from Mainland China in a week, while its flights to and from Hong Kong remain served under the strict surveillance of related authorities, Setiaputra stated.

Garuda Indonesia will continue to monitor the current situation and provide latest information on its operational flights to its potential passengers. It will also apply a flexible policy on the reschedule and reroute mechanism in connection with the flights to and from China.

Garuda has suggested its potential passengers to regularly check its flight schedules, especially those on cities vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus, on its official website and social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook, he stated.

On Sunday, President Joko Widodo held a limited meeting at the Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta with several cabinet ministers as well as National Police and National Military chiefs following the evacuation of 238 Indonesians and five members of an advance team from China's Hubei Province.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi remarked during a press conference following the meeting that the Indonesian government will have placed a temporary ban on flights to and from Mainland China since 00.00 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

All visitors, coming from Mainland China and having lived there for 14 days, were also temporarily banned from entering or making a transit in Indonesia, she noted.

In the interim, the government has also put a stop to the visa-free policy and issuance of visa on arrival for Chinese nationals residing in mainland China. Indonesian nationals are urged to not travel to Mainland China.

The limited meeting was held after the government airlifted 243 Indonesian nationals, including five members of an advance team, from Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak.

The new coronavirus has killed at least 304 people in China, and a 44-year-old Wuhan resident, who received medical treatment in the Philippines, according to the New York Times.

Chinese authorities declared the first case of coronavirus after a person, with pneumonia, was hospitalized in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, according to an official statement of the WHO.

Over the past weeks, people, symptomatic with pneumonia and reported travel history to Wuhan, had been identified at international airports.

Apart from infecting China, several other countries, including Thailand, Australia, Singapore, the United States, Japan, and Canada, have announced their confirmed coronavirus cases.

However, none of the confirmed cases were found in Indonesia. Apart from this reality, since the issuance of an official statement by the WHO on the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Indonesian government has remained on alert.

As part of its precautionary measures, thermal scanners have been installed at various airports around the archipelago for screening international passengers.

The thermal scanners are aimed at detecting any foreign tourists symptomatic with this novel coronavirus.

Several hospitals in Indonesia's big cities have also made necessary preparations to handle those with suspected coronavirus symptoms. (ANTARA)

Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto confirmed that the total number of Indonesians airlifted from Wuhan, China's epicenter of deadly novel coronavirus, reached 238 while seven others remained in the Chinese city.

"According to the Health Ministry's data, 238 evacuees have arrived," Putranto told journalists in Natuna District, Riau Islands Province, on Sunday.

Four of the seven Indonesians refused to get evacuated because they felt more comfortable though they had been offered to join the emergency evacuation while three others failed in the Chinese authorities' health examinations prior to the departure, he said.

Regarding the Indonesian Government's decision to send the evacuees to Natuna Islands for quarantine, Ansar Ahmad, a member of parliament, suggested that the government take their 14-day incubation period on a naval ship.

"It is better if the evacuees get quarantined on an Indonesian naval ship which is equipped with sufficient logistics and health services," he said commenting on the rejection of several residents of Natuna District on the government's decision.

Ahmad, a member of the Golkar Party Faction at the House of Representatives, said the government should optimally socialize its policy on selecting Natuna Islands in advance because the local people felt fear of the impact of the deadly coronavirus.

He said he could understand the people's fear of being infected by the virus though the Health Ministry had convinced that all Indonesians airlifted from the Chinese city of Wuhan were in good health.

"The coronavirus information spread on social media and mainstream media has made many people feel anxious," he said.

At the same time, a massive socialization for the Natuna District Government as well as local community leaders and people was not available before the quarantine policy was taken, he added.

The new coronavirus has killed at least 304 people in China, and a 44-year-old resident of Wuhan who received a medical treatment in the Philippines, according to the New York Times.

Chinese authorities declared the first case of coronavirus after a person with pneumonia was hospitalized in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, according to an official statement of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Over the past weeks, people, with symptoms of pneumonia and reported travel history to Wuhan, had been identified at international airports.

Besides infecting China, several other countries, such as Thailand, Australia, Singapore, the United States, Japan, and Canada, have announced their confirmed coronavirus cases.

However, none of the confirmed cases were found in Indonesia. Apart from this reality, since the issuance of an official statement by the WHO on the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Indonesian government has remained on alert.

As part of its precautionary measures, thermal scanners have been installed at various airports around the archipelago for screening international passengers.

The thermal scanners are aimed at detecting any foreign tourists symptomatic with this novel coronavirus.

Several hospitals in Indonesia's big cities have also made necessary preparations to handle those with suspected coronavirus symptoms. (ANTARA)