The Public Works and Public Housing Ministry has prepared a national program to restore the street drainage system.

Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono noted in a statement here on Monday that one of the ministry's infrastructure programs in 2020 pertained to recovery of the street drainage system to be conducted nationwide.

"We have prepared a special national street drainage recovery program. Street drainage work is only a small part in a road construction project, so the contractor did not optimally work on it. In the northern coast of Java, we will reopen the street drainage covered by construction," he revealed.

The Directorate General for Highway Construction (Bina Marga) has prepared the design for the program, Hadimuljono remarked.

He explained that the road drainage system should be connected to the local sewage system to prevent rainwater from accumulating and damaging the streets.

Another program, under the Directorate General of Highway Construction, concerns the development of a suspension bridge in isolated villages in remote areas.

In 2020, the ministry will also renew its ministerial decree in 2015 on the status of national road. The status is to be renewed every five years.

Currently, a total of 47,107 kilometers of road in the country are designated as national road, bearing the white and yellow paint marking.  (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has reiterated the importance of the next commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for the 2019-2023 period to possess strong managerial skills.

"The role of the KPK leadership is crucial. We also discussed various issues arising dynamically in the corruption prevention and eradication efforts for this four-year period. The president truly understands and follows the existing dynamism," Yenti Ganarsih, chairperson of the selection team, remarked after meeting with Jokowi at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Monday.

It is a challenge for the nine-member team to select future KPK commissioners with strong managerial skills, Diani Sadia, a member of the team, remarked.

To help identify the right candidates, the team held meetings with the KPK leadership and officials of the Attorney General's office on June 12 as well as with Chief of the Indonesian Police General Tito Karnavian on June 13.

The team had also met with 27 chief editors of print, electronic, and online media.

On July 2, the team is scheduled to hold a meeting with former KPK commissioners, NGO activists, and prominent religious figures.

The team also gathered inputs from officials of various government institutions, including the Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) and the Anti-Narcotic Agency (BNN).

Those aspiring to become KPK commissioners can apply during the period between June 17 and July 4, 2019. (ANTARA)

3 Indonesian fashion brands participated in the pop up store at L'Exception, a well-known concept store in the Forum des Halles area, central Paris, to be exact. Two of the fashion brands have routinely exhibited their work in the Paris Fashion Week series, the SOE Jakarta brand and WilsenWillim, but for the first time explored their participation in the pop up store in Paris for 10 days from 14-23 June 2019.

"This is a very good opportunity to see interest in fashion design from Indonesia not only in the local community of Paris but also in foreigners, given the location of this pop up store in the center of tourists," said Diaz, lead designer WilsenWillem. SOE Jakarta, is optimistic that its design is able to meet the current trend of sustainable and ethical fashion and states that "we always involve handweavers from various regions in Indonesia for the development of materials used".

In addition to these 2 designers, there are also 1 Indonesian brand specifically to hold workshops on making accessories from leather, namely Kaula Leatherworks which will take place on 26-29 June 2019.

The implementation of the pop up store was organized by a fashion agency in Paris called Rendezvoo which raised the theme of French Kiss Asia, involving 7 countries namely Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China, and France.

The opening program was packaged in the cocktail concept, which took place June 13, 2019 at L'Exception. About 300 French buyers, designers, actors and journalists present were presented with various Indonesian snacks and drinks. In addition there are also Indonesian music that accompanies the festive atmosphere of the event. Also present were Ms. Nur Indah Sari, wife of the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Paris, who wore Indonesian batik. Indonesia's Trade Attache, Megawati, revealed that the existence of snacks and Indonesian music aimed to create an Indonesian atmosphere, so that the invitees were more comfortable seeing the work of Indonesian designers.

French needs for fashion products are quite large with a trend of increasing demand by 6.16% during the 2016-2018 period, especially for apparel products classified as HS 62 and 61 (Articles of apparel and clothing accessories). This is in line with Indonesia's ability to export the HS product group to France with the trend of an increase in exports of 6.04% over the same period, and a 4.58% export growth in the HS product code from USD 90,556,635 in 2017 to USD 94,705,127 in 2018. (Source: Indonesian Embassy in Paris)

The groundbreaking of PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama (CNI) ferronickel smelter in Wolo Sub-district, Kolaka District, Southeast Sulawesi, was conducted by Energy and Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Arcandra Tahar and Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms Minister Syafruddin.

PT CNI smelter has the capacity of processing nickel with 5 million tons of ore and 230,000 tons of ferronickel output with 22 percent of nickel content - 24 percent per year, according to data available at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry received by Antara in Jakarta on Sunday.

The smelter was built using rotary kiln electric furnace (RKEF) technology. Electricity requirements for smelter operations are estimated to reach 350 MW.

In his remarks Arcandra stated that natural resources play an important role in supporting national development. Even so, the principle to utilize natural resources must be based on Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, which is controlled by the state and as much as possible for the prosperity of the people.

Interpretation of being controlled by the state, Arcandra said, is that natural resources are managed by Indonesians using domestic-developed technology and domestic funding.

"In accordance with the mandate of the law, we want this nickel to be processed (domestically) and to extend the processing chain so that it can produce added value," Arcandra noted.

The construction of a purification facility or smelter is an implementation of the policy of increasing mineral added value as mandated in Law No. 4 of 2009 concerning Mineral and Coal Mining.

The groundbreaking smelter is also a commitment of the government to further encouraging mining businesses in support of the downstreaming acceleration in the mining sector.

"This is what we want (the construction of a smelter) so that it can produce value-added effects that are greater than just selling raw materials," Arcandra said.

The smelter is targeted to start operating by the end of 2021.

"The construction of the main infrastructure and support for the ferronickel smelter is targeted for completion in December 2021 with a total investment value of Rp14.4 trillion," said PT CNI President Director Derian Sakmiwata.

The construction of this smelter will continue to be overseen by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry by monitoring development progress regularly every six months and also the availability of reserves of nickel ore for the operation of refining facilities.

With the construction of refining facilities in Southeast Sulawesi province, it is expected to be a driving force for the regional economy, especially in Kolaka District and its surroundings. (ant)