VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) held a declaration of joint commitment ahead of the convening of open campaigns to ensure that the parliamentary and presidential elections will run fairly, honestly, democratically, and with dignity.

"With this joint commitment, we must maintain the convening of peaceful and dignified elections," said Chairperson of Bawaslu Abhan Nur In Jakarta on Saturday.

The declaration was attended by Interior Minister Tjahjo Kumolo, Chair of the National Campaign Team (TKN) of the Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin pair, Erick Thohir, Deputy Chairperson of the National Winning Body (BPN) of the Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno pair, Mardani Ali Sera, and the commissioners of the General Elections Commission (KPU).

Abhan stated that a commitment was needed to safeguard the elections from the practices of money politics, and the spread of fake news.

"The people's good understanding in politics is our common hope and an investment in democracy that is very important for this nation," Abhan said.

Therefore, Abhan stressed that in campaign advertisements, as well as open campaigns or mass gatherings due to kick off  on Sunday (March 24) , the elections' participants  must prioritize the ideas of vision and mission rather than proliferate black campaigns in the form of fake and slanderous news.

"This year's elections must present a political practice that  truly educates the life of a dignified nation," Abhan said.

Furthermore, Abhan also called on the people and elections' participants to remain vigilant and improve togetherness and cooperation to create peaceful and fair elections without being disrupted by political turmoil.

"The dignified and peaceful elections are a non-negotiable price. Whoever wins the elections is our brother," he said.

The declaration was also attended by the representatives of the State Civil Apparatus Commission, Indonesian military and police, and Attorney General's Office.

Indonesia's Energy and Mineral Resource Ministry would increase the production capacity of wind power plant (PLTB) in Sidrap District, South Sulawesi within the next two to three years.

"The power plant in Sidrap would be expanded," the ministry's Director of Renewable Energy Harris said in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara on late Saturday.

"Currently the power plant only has the capacity to produce 75 megawatt (of electricity). It would be increased by 50 to 60 megawatt, so it could produce 125-130 megawatt of electricity," Harris said.

Sidrap wind power plant is the first wind power project in the country and the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia.

It has 30 windmills each with 80-meter high tower and 57-meter long propellers. Each tower produces 2.5 MW of electricity.

Sidrap wind power plant is the first commercial plant of its kind developed by PT UPC Sidrap Bayu, and it can power up to 150,000 households with 450 KVA of apparent power capacity.

The power plant located in Sidenreng Rappang (Sidrap) District of South Sulawesi is said to become a pioneer for the development of renewable energy in Indonesia.

President Joko Widodo when inaugurated the power plant in July 2018 has expressed hope that the development of Sidrap wind power plant would help the government to reach its target of 23 percent contribution of renewable energy to the country’s electricity production by 2025.

Five village heads and ten village facilitators from Indonesia were sent to China and South Korea to participate in a Benchmarking Program or comparative study, a participant of this program  said.

"We are assigned to China to join this Benchmarking Program," said Berkati Ndraha, a participant from Gido Subdistrict, Nias District, North Sumatra,  in a short message that he sent to Antara here on Saturday.

Initiated by the Indonesian Ministry of Village, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, this Benchmarking Program was aimed at empowering the village heads, village assistants, and village activists in supporting rural development and community empowerment programs.

The village heads and facilitators joining this program are selected from those passing a performance evaluation and recommended by various parties.

According to Berkati who has arrived in China, the participants of the program consist of five village heads and 10 village facilitators. Two of them represent North Sumatra Province.

"They are sent to China and Korea, and I am one of them," said Berkati Ndraha, a village assistant in Hilizoi Village, Gido Subdistrict.

The participants, including himself and his colleague from Batubara District in North Sumatra Province, would be in China from March 23 to April 2, 2019.  "We were flagged off by Village, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Eko Putro Sandjojo," he said.

Before leaving for China, the participants were received by the Chinese ambassador to Indonesia, he said, adding that this Benchmarking Program was expected to enable him to get insightful information and knowledge about the development of an agricultural economy.

Minister of Village, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Eko Putro Sandjojo said earlier that an overseas comparative study was expected to help improve the participants' competence, and bring about innovation in village management and rural development.

In addition, the participants are also expected to build networks, improve knowledge and open markets between village heads and foreign partners.

For this year, Eko said his ministry had planned to send one thousand participants comprising village heads, village activists, and village assistants to several other countries for comparative studies, including Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The Indonesian Health Ministry recorded an estimated 842 thousand cases of tuberculosis (TBC) in the country last year, down some 200 thousand from 1.020 million the previous year.

Indonesia is currently the world's third largest country in terms of TBC sufferers, Director of Communicable Diseases Prevention and Control of the Health Ministry Wiendra Waworuntu told the press in Jakarta on Tuesday.

The ranking fell one notch compared to last year when Indonesia was second only to India in terms of TBC, she said.

With the number of TBC sufferers estimated at 842 thousand last year, Indonesia is currently ranked third after India and China in terms of TBC, she said.

She said nearly 39 percent of the overall TBC cases in the country have not been found and reported.

Meanwhile, the number of drug-resistant TBC cases is estimated at 4.4 thousand.

She said 52,929 of the overall TBC cases affected children and 7,729 cases affected HIV carriers.

Nearly 89 percent of TBC patients in Indonesia could be cured last year, she said, adding: "TBC can be cured if the patients get routine treatment."

TBC is a direct communicable disease caused by bacteria. It can affect anybody, particularly children, and those who are of a productive age. (ANTARA)