Indonesia’s Director General for America and Europe of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Muhammad Anshor and US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph Donovan signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) on promoting strong cyberspace cooperation in Jakarta Sept 28.

"International cooperation in the cyber realm, including with the United States, is important to address the continuous evolution of challenges and problems in cyberspace," Director General Anshor remarked as quoted from a statement from the US Embassy on Monday.

The LoI embodies the commitment of the two countries to boost cooperation in cyberspace as agreed during President Joko Widodo`s visit to the United States in October 2015.

"The Letter of Intent builds on existing partnerships and deepens cooperation on cyberspace that supports our vibrant democracies and economic growth," Ambassador Donovan noted.

The signing ceremony was also attended by representatives of the relevant ministries and institutions in Indonesia including the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs; State Cyber and Crypto Agency; Indonesian National Police; and relevant units in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The LoI will become the framework for advancing cooperation and development of national cyberspace capacity and for empowering the newly established State Cyber and Crypto Agency as Indonesia`s focal point for executing cybersecurity tasks.

Several areas of cooperation highlighted under the LoI are: discussion on the development of national cyber strategy; national incident management capabilities; capacity building and cooperation in countering cyber crime; and increasing cybersecurity awareness.

The two countries will work on an action plan to identify concrete activities under the LoI. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian government will accept foreign donation for victims of the magnitude-7.4 earthquake and a subsequent tsunami that devastated Palu and Donggal, Central Sulawesi Province, on September 28, 2018.

"Last night, President @jokowi authorized us to accept international help for urgent disaster-response and relief. I am helping to coordinate assistance from private sectors around the world. Please message me at my social media accounts or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ," Thomas Lembong, head of the Investment Coordinating Board, noted on its Twitter account, @tomlembong, Monday.

Meanwhile, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, said he had coordinated the matter with Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi.

"I just contacted the foreign affairs minister in New York. She said that the president has expressed willingness to accept international assistance in accordance with our needs. It means we welcome international offers. It will be latter coordinated with the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs," he stated.

The Agency and the Foreign Affairs Ministry are currently preparing the mechanism and procedures in line with the existing regulations, he added.

He, however, said the government will not declare the earthquake and tsunami in Palu and Donggala a national disaster, although the government welcomes foreign aid. (ANTARA)

The National Police (Polri) will again send 1,400 personnel to Palu, Central Sulawesi, to help secure, evacuate, and rehabilitate the conditions there after a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Friday.

Police Public Relations Division Chief Inspector General Setyo Wasisto remarked in Jakarta on Monday that the 1,400 personnel will be sent to Palu soon.

He said thousands of police from North Sulawesi, West Sulawesi, Gorontalo, and South Sulawesi will be deployed to guard several shops to prevent cases of looting in future.

Wasisto appealed to the public to not commit criminal acts and violate the law by forcibly taking non-food items, such as electronic goods and gold.

He ensured that the military (TNI)-Polri had continued to send basic necessities, such as food, medicine, and other equipment to the earthquake and tsunami victims.

Wasisto also appealed to volunteers and several mass organizations keen to send logistical assistance to Palu to coordinate with the Indonesian National Police to get escort. (ANTARA)

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani confirmed that the government had disbursed Rp560 billion on-call funds for handling the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Palu City and Donggala District, Central Sulawesi Province.

"We have agreed on disbursement of the funds last Saturday. They are disbursed today (Monday, Oct 1)," the finance minister remarked at the finance ministry building in Jakarta on Monday.

The on-call funds are standby funds prepared by the government to handle financial matters during emergency disaster conditions until their resolution.

Mulyani explained that the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) will decide on the utilization of the funds for the handling of the disasters. The Rp560 billion funds can still be increased.

The BNPB can deploy health teams and military as well as police personnel using readily available funds for disaster emergencies.

"The BNPB prepares a pool of funds. It is the agency that will determine the regions that do have high priority," the minister remarked.

In addition, Sri Mulyani emphasized that disaster management in Central Sulawesi was still focused on saving victims affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi.

"We still have not entered the process of identification, let alone rehabilitation, because now, we are racing against time, as many of our brothers are still buried," she remarked.

In the meantime, the Team of Quick Action (ACT) stated here on Monday that the death toll in Friday`s Donggala-Palu earthquake and tsunami had risen to 1,203.

"The number of dead has reached 1,203 at several spots. The largest was in Petobo, which was swept and leveled to the ground by the tsunami," Vice President of ACT Insan Nurrohman stated.

A total of 700 bodies were recorded in Kelurahan Petobo, 10 at Wirabuana Hospital, 201 at Undata Hospital, 50 in Mesjid Raya Mosque, 161 at Bhayangkara Hospital, 35 at the Tawaeli sub-district, two in the village of Kayumalue Pajeko, five in the village of Kawatuna, seven in Pos Pol PP, and 32 at the Madani hospital.

Insan said the death toll is feared to rise, as there were still many missing, including 61 foreign nationals, and 540 seriously injured being treated at several hospitals.

He said 16,732 people were accommodated at evacuation camps in 123 locations in the city of Palu and the districts of Donggala, Sigi, and Parigi Moutong.

"Communication and electricity services were cut off following reports received of the impact of the earthquake and tsunami in Palu and Donggala, " Insan noted. (ANTARA)