VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Program Specialist for the UNESCO Social Knowledge and Humanities Unit in Jakarta, Irakli Khodeli said in Pekanbaru on Friday that the results of a series of UNESCO MOST Academy will be taken to a higher level, including to the government level. He also explained that the UNESCO MOST Academy will provide a model of social transformation, especially related to the control of smog pollution that often occurs in Indonesia. The UNESCO MOST Academy has gathered a number of participants who come from various backgrounds regarding the handling of smog pollution due to forest fires. Thus, he hopes that the UNESCO MOST results will have a wider impact on handling smog pollution.

“We put together a model of a sustainable transformation from haze to a healthy environment. And this model will be based on lessons learned from this project so we have an evidence of what has worked. We will then convene the key stakeholders in Jakarta. This is the Ministry of Forest and Natural Resources, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education and Culture, Ministry of Health, Peat Land Restoration Agency, MPA villagers that fight fire. So, we bring them together, we demonstrate this model and we decide how to take this to a higher level. Higher level means a broader scope, wide dissemination for higher impact. So that we can reverse the tide of haze happening,” said Irakli.

Furthermore, Irakli Khodeli said that Indonesia is predicted to be affected by Elnino in the coming years. Thus, the model for handling the smog pollution produced by the UNESCO MOST Academy must be brought to a higher level discussion so that Indonesia can reduce the adverse effects of Elnino's arrival in the coming years, including the effects of smog pollution from forest fires. (Ndy)

Forestry practitioner from Bogor Agricultural Institute Bambang H. Saharjo, Friday (Nov 9) in Pekanbaru, Riau, encouraged the government to involve the community in handling the effects of forest fires and haze that often occur in Sumatra. He said that the community has the awareness to reduce forest burning activities to open land, but needs to get attention so that these changes can take place sustainably. Furthermore, according to him, the Indonesian government also needs to make arrangements related to productivity and share markets of products produced from land clearing without burning. This is an effort to ensure that what is done by the community can be continued in the future.

"The desire of the community to change for the better must be appreciated and should be done sustainably. The implementation of the activities in the field should be carried out on scientific rules and in accordance with the applicable rules and not only make momentary satisfaction. The resolution of the fire problem must involve all parties and also should not burden the community" said Bambang Sahardjo.

Furthermore Bambang Saharjo said that the Indonesian government also needs to build trust among the community in an effort to increase awareness of fire control efforts. According to him, this can be done by facilitating the Masyarakat Peduli Api (Fire Care Community-MPA) by increasing the capacity and providing more adequate control facilities and infrastructure. He also encouraged that the use of peat land for agricultural activities which had been initiated by the community, can be supported by the government to guarantee product development and marketing efforts. (VOI/ANDY/AHM)

The United Nations Agency for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) organized the UNESCO Management of Social Transformation Academy or UNESCO MOST Academy from 8 to 10 November 2018. In his remarks at the opening of the UNESCO MOST Academy, Thursday (Nov 8) in Pekanbaru, Riau, Program Specialists for the Social Knowledge Unit and UNESCO Humanities Jakarta Irakli Khodeli said this forum was a place for various parties involved to contribute by sharing experiences related to efforts to deal with the haze hazards. Riau Province is chosen as the host of the meeting because it is considered to be one of the significant areas affected by the environmental and social disaster. In addition to sharing experiences, according to Irakli, the three-day meeting is also expected to produce recommendations and input for the government in taking effective steps in handling smog.

"The idea here is really to take advantage of so many preminent expert, specialist, practitioners, being together for the next two days to exchange our ideas, to learn from each other about what can be done about this important issue of haze air pollution," said Irakli.

The UNESCO Management of Social Transformation Academy or UNESCO MOST Academy in Pekanbaru takes the theme Bioethics and Sustainable Science in Action to Stop Haze Pollution. Irakli Khodeli explained that the bioethics aspect was raised considering the adoption of the Declaration of Ethical Principles in the Relation to Climate Change in 2017. According to him, the declaration underlined the importance of using science as an ethical principle in every decision made by the government, especially regarding climate change.

"All these articles, all these principals, all these concepts, after all the work that goes into it. To elaborate at the international level and create this declaration will amount to zero change if we don’t do something about it. If we don’t find a way to take these declarations and take it to the government at national level, the local level, or take it to the communities and try to translate these into concrete actions, concrete outcomes," Irakli said.

Irakli further hoped that the bioethical approach in a decision making at the government level could help bridge the various interests involved in each issue. (VOI/ANDY/AHM)

The Indonesian delegation led by the Director of the Ministry of Trade's Bilateral Negotiations, Ni Made Ayu Marthini, is conducting the second round of Preferential Trade Agreement (IM-PTA) negotiations on Thursday (8/11), in, Maputo, Mozambique. She told Voice of Indonesia on Thursday that the negotiations were a follow-up to the first negotiations which were completed in June. She hoped that this second meeting could resolve substantive issues and at the end of the year, business actors could immediately use them. This agreement will reduce or eliminate import duty rates for a number of products that are in the interests of both countries.

"We did not choose FTA, Free Trade Agreement nor CEPA, Comprehensive Economic Partneship Agreement. But we chose PTA, Preferential Trade Agreement. This means that we only give preferential treatment for a few products. Why? To speed up, then to be realistic too. So if the country has a new relationship, but its potential exists, we do it like this. With Mozambique, we just decided on 100 products. It is called Tariff lines. So it's faster. So after negotiating twice, there has been a good prospect to complete it," said Ni Made Ayu.

Ni Made Marthini further explained that increasing market access to non-traditional areas, especially Africa, is one of the focuses of President Jokowi's policy in promoting national exports. Mozambique has a large market potential because it can be used as a hub for the entry of Indonesian products into the African region, especially in the South African region. There are still many potential products that have not been maximally explored. Besides that, this country produces raw materials needed by industries in Indonesia. According to her, Indonesia's potential products that can be exported to Mozambique are CPO and its derivatives, Fatty Acid and soap. According to Ni Made, the export of soap from Indonesia is very popular in African countries. (VOI/SEKAR/AHM)