VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated the Minangkabau International Airport train called Minangkabau Express at the airport station in Padang, West Sumatra, on Monday.

"Means of mass transportation, such as the airport train, will continue to be increased to overcome traffic congestion in urban areas," the president remarked.

The Minangkabau Express is the third in Indonesia after the Kualanamu airport train in North Sumatra and Soekarno-Hatta airport train in Jakarta. In addition, the Solo airport train in Central Java and the Light Rail Transit to support the Asian Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, are being built.

"The airport train, MRT, LRT, and busway are among the examples of mass transportation that will continue to be developed," Jokowi emphasized.

The mode of transportation can became one of the alternatives for people in the capital of West Sumatra Province, Padang, to reach the airport in a relatively short period of time. The Minangkabau Express train serves passengers en route the Simpang Haru Station-Minangkabau International Airport, with a travel time of 40 minutes. On the way, the train stops at Tabing Station and Duku Station. The train of four carriages, with a total capacity of 393 passengers, serves 10 trips daily. ( antara )

Indonesia and other ASEAN member-states are ready to strengthen their commitment to green development based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.

Under the Paris Agreement within the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Indonesia has committed unconditionally to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 29 per cent in 2030.

The target could be increased to 41 per cent if the country receives international support.

During the 5th Singapore Dialogue on Sustainable World Resources on Friday, the National Development Planning Minister, Bambang Brodjonegoro, said that Indonesia continued to set some aggressive targets to reduce greenhouse gas emission.

After establishing a framework for managing forests and peat lands, Indonesia was currently turning its attention to other large carbon producers, such as the transportation and energy sectors.

"Forests and peat have been (managed) pretty good, but energy, especially renewable energy, is still left behind. This is what we want to be accelerated, for example, by bringing in investors and setting a more appropriate pricing scheme," said Brodjonegoro.

The Singapore Minister of Environment and Water Resources, Masagos Zulkifli, said that as the Chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) for 2018, Singapore had set a theme of endurance and innovation, which included tackling climate change as one of its priorities.

Singapore was also aware of its role to establish partnerships within Asean by conducting the Special Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change Control Action in July 2018 and the establishment of the Asean Smart City Network, which would build the capacity of Asean cities to achieve sustainable urban development.

Meanwhile, the Filipino Senator, Loren Legarda, explained that her role as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and Climate Change had helped in her country harmonizing a larger policy to align energy, climate, agriculture and food issues with public and private financing.

"The private sector is ready to support by incorporating public-private partnerships to grow the green sector, such as renewable energy," the environmentalist said.

At the same time, she said, large corporations had begun integrating climate change control targets into their business models.

The SIIA`s 5th annual dialogue was attended by 350 industry experts, corporate leaders, and regional decision makers. (ANTARA)

President Joko Widodo spoke about the cruelty of terrorism at a fast-breaking gathering with officials of state institutions, cabinet ministers and business leaders at the state palace in Jakarta on Friday.

"I wish to speak a bit about the terrorism in the police`s Mobile Brigade Headquarters (in Jakarta), in Surabaya, Sidoarjo and Riau," he said.

"I wish to say that children have been involved in the recent incidents. What I wish to underline is how cruel and vile the ideology of terrorism is that it has brought children to the field for operations," he said.

He reminded all that the terrorists` ideology had already entered families. "We hope there will be no more families in Indonesia being devastated because of this ideology," he said.

Families had to build optimism among the children and not teach them the ideology of terrorism, the President said. "Families must build optimism among children, give them good marks, teach them civility and not the opposite. Everything will vanish if it is ideology of terrorism that is being taught," he said.

The fast-breaking gathering was attended by the Supreme Court chief judge, Hatta Ali, the House Speaker, Bambang Soesatyo, the chairman of the Regional Representatives Council, Oesman Sapta Odang, the TNI (military) commander, Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, the Istiqlal Mosque imam, Nazaruddin Umar, the Islamic figure, Din Syansuddin, the general chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Muhaimin Iskandar, the Deputy Speaker, Fadli Zon, and business leaders from Kadin (chamber of commerce), Hipmi (entrepreneurs association), and Apindo (employers association). (ANTARA)

Spokesman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Gerry Rice extended condolences to victims of terrorist attacks in Indonesia.

Gerry Rice made the remarks during today`s IMF regular press briefing in Washington DC.

"We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims who`ve died under these terrible terrorist attacks in Indonesia," he said.

"As you can imagine, we are monitoring developments, working closely with our Indonesian partners to ensure the safety of all participants attending the 2018 Annual Meeting in Bali next October," he added.

He looks forward to having a successful meeting, and the Indonesian authorities are making extraordinary efforts to make sure that is the case, and he is working closely with them on that.

"The cooperation is excellent and we`re confident that we will have a successful annual meeting in October," he remarked. (ANTARA)