VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government's efforts to combat land and forest fires have received appreciation at the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states in Brunei Darussalam to discuss transboundary haze pollution. "We concluded the meeting only last night. During the two-day session no participant (complained about) transboundary (haze pollution) from Indonesia. We explained our concrete efforts in the field but we must admit that it is very difficult to put out peatland fires," Director of Land and Forest Fire Control of the Environment and Forestry Ministry Raffles B Panjaitan said in a written statement released Wednesday.

"I met with Singapore Minister of Environment and Water Sources Masagos Zulkifli. He thanked the Indonesian government for its efforts to handle land and forest fires and sent best regards to Minister Siti Nurbaya," he said.

The integrated land and forest fire control task force comprising personnel from the military, police, national and regional disaster mitigation agencies, village heads, firefighters, fire brigades of national parks, natural resource and ecosystem conservation agency have continued their efforts to control fires arising from vulnerable areas, Raffles said.

As of August 6, 2019, 38 helicopters and planes have been involved in patrolling and extinguishing land and forest fires in the country.

Of the total, 19 have been deployed in Riau Province, four in South Sumatra Province, six in West Kalimantan Province, five in Central Kalimantan Province, two in South Kalimantan Province and one in Jambi Province.

Until August 5, 2019, helicopters and planes have conducted a total of 24,660 water bombing operations with 90,457,400 liters of water to put out fires in the areas that the team could not reach by land.

In addition, weather modification through cloud seeding has also been conducted, focusing on vulnerable areas. By August 5, 2019, 170 sorties of cloud seeding with 125,616 kilograms of salt have been conducted in the districts of Bengkalis, Siak, Indragiri Hilir, Kampar, Pelalawan, Ogan Ilir, and Meranti Islands and the municipality of Dumai in Riau Province.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) identified at least 18,895 hotspots in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea in the past two weeks and warned people of the possibility of forest and land fires.

"The increasing number of hotspots was due to the current atmospheric conditions and relatively hot and dry weather that tends to scorch plants more easily," BMKG's Deputy of Meteorology Mulyono R. Prabowo stated here Wednesday.

Information on the number of hotspots was obtained from the Terra Aqua Satellite (LAPAN) and Himawari Satellite (Japan JMA) imagery that was then analyzed by BMKG.

Based on the monitoring conducted by BMKG, the number of hotspots in some Southeast Asian regions has increased, from 1,395 as monitored on July 25, 2019, to 2,441 hotspots on July 28, 2019.

Furthermore, the hotspots began to reduce to 1,782 on July 29, 2019, and then to 703 hotspots on August 1, 2019.

The number of hotspots increased again to 3,191 on August 4, 2019, and was concentrated in the Indonesian provinces of Riau, Central Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The hotspots were also detected in some other ASEAN countries of Malaysia (in Sarawak), Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Philippines. 

Indonesia emerged as the overall champions at the 16th International Geography Olympiad" (IGeO) 2019 held in Hong Kong from July 30 to August 5, 2019, grabbing two gold and two silver medals. Indonesia was crowned the overall champion competing against a total of 176 participants from 44 countries.

The country bagged the gold medals through Fernando of Senior High School (SMA) Sutomo 1 in Medan, North Sumatra, and Fayola of SMA Methodist 3 also in Medan. they took the silver medals through Hadyan F. Anshori of Islamic Senior High School (MAN) Insan Cendikia in Gorontalo and Agista Kumala Dewi of SMA Semesta BBS in Semarang.

One of the gold medalists Fayola said she was stunned at being able to contribute a gold medal to the country.

Chief of the Students Sub-directorate of the Directorate of Senior High Schools Development of the Education and Culture Ministry Juandanilsyah congratulated the students for emerging as the overall champions.

"Alhamdulillah (Thank God). The students are excellent. This is the first time Indonesia has emerged as an overall champion at the International Geographic Olympiad and has been able to compete with other excellent countries," he said in Jakarta Wednesday.

In recognition of their achievement, the Education and Culture Ministry will present the students with scholarships if they study at an institute of higher learning, he said.

"Of course, they will receive scholarships," he said. (ANTARA)

The industrial sector contributed the most at 19.52 percent to the national economic growth of 5.05 percent in the second quarter of 2019.

"Our manufacturing industry is growing positively. The spirit and trust of business agents to invest and expand their businesses is also high," Industry Minister, Airlangga Hartarto, said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the manufacturing industry was the largest contributor to the national economic growth in the May-June 2019 quarter, contributing 0.74 percent to the growth.

In the meantime, the agricultural sector contributed 0.71 percent to the economic growth, the trade sector 0.61 percent and the construction sector 0.55 percent.



Three sectors that supported the non-oil/non-gas manufacturing industry in the second quarter of 2019 were the textile and garment industry which expanded 20.71 percent and the paper and paper product, printing and recording media reproduction industry which grew 12.49 percent.

The textile and garment industry grew significantly, driven by the increasing production in several production centers.

The food and beverage industry grew 7.99 percent, fueled by the rising domestic demand and exports.

The performance of the manufacturing sectors exceeded the economic growth in the same quarter. Overall, the non-oil/non-gas manufacturing industry in the second quarter of 2019 grew 3.98 percent year-on-year (yoy).


The minister said the textile and textile product industry has increasingly become competitive in the global market because it has a high competitive edge.

The industrial structure of the textile and textile product industry has been integrated from upstream to downstream industries and its products are well known in the international market, he said.

The Indonesian economy expanded 5.05 percent in the second quarter of 2019, indicating a downward trend owing to the continued export contraction and slow investment growth, the BPS stated.

The figure decreased from 5.27 percent during the same period last year and from 5.07 percent in the first quarter of 2019. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo briefed the participants in the 2019 National Coordination Meeting on Forest and Land Fire Control, Tuesday morning at the State Palace, Jakarta. In his directive, the President conveyed a number of priorities that must be carried out in the context of controlling forest and land fires. First, the President emphasized the priority of preventing forest fires through patrols and detection to monitor the daily conditions of forests and land. The President also encouraged the arrangement of peat ecosystems that was carried out consistently. The President also stressed the importance of taking quick steps in the event of forest and land fires. In addition, the President also underlined the importance of the firmness of law enforcement officials to take action in overcoming cases of forest fires.

“First prioritize prevention through integrated early detection patrols. So that daily conditions on the ground are always monitored. Second, maybe part of BRG, the arrangement of peat ecosystems in the peat hydrological area is really, if the summer is like this, check it right. And must do it consistently. High surface water, soil, so that peat remains wet, maintained continuously, especially in the dry season. Then, thirdly, as soon as possible to extinguish the fire, if there really is a fire, don't let it expand. Water bombing steps, if it's already big, it's also not easy. But it must be done if the fire is already large. Finally, I ask for law enforcement steps. I see it has gone quite well. I monitor in the field, done without compromise,” said Jokowi.

Meanwhile Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto in his report said that the 2019 National Coordination Meeting on Forest and Land Fire Control was held to resolve a number of issues related to domestic forest and land fires.

Ensuring the use of regional forestry-prone areas that can be used by local governments. For example, revenue sharing funds, reforestation funds and village funds. The second is to overcome the difficulty of officers reaching hotspot areas that are sometimes far from road facilities, so cooperation with the Indonesian Military (TNI) is carried out by air lift. And the aircraft has been prepared by the TNI Commander. Third, look for appropriate technology to replace the way traditional farmers who have been farming by burning forests before the rainy season. Fourthly, there is an emphasis on the authorities to carry out law enforcement firmly, indiscriminately, against anyone, corporation or individual. Because they are the main cause of forest and land fires so far,” said Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto.

In the opening of the National Coordination Meeting on Forest and Land Fire Control in 2019, President Joko Widodo was accompanied by a number of working cabinet ministers, the Commander of the Indonesian Military / National Police, and heads of agencies related to the control and control of forest and land fires. The National Coordination Meeting on Forest and Land Fire Control in 2019 was attended by around 350 participants from all over Indonesia, consisting of Regional Heads and related institutions who came from a number of areas vulnerable to forest and land fires. (VOI/ANDY/AHM)