VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Coordinating Minister of Human Development and Cultural Affairs Muhadjir Effendy underscored the importance of vigilance and preparedness for disaster potentials to avoid risks to human lives.

"Make vigilance and preparedness in facing possible disaster risks a lifestyle," Effendy said in a statement here, Tuesday .

The minister remarked that the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) had recorded 3,350 natural disasters this year until December 12, 2022, dominated by hydrometeorological disasters due to extreme weather, such as flooding and landslides.

Apart from hydrometeorological disasters, Indonesia is also prone to geological disasters, such as tectonic earthquakes, liquefaction, tsunami, and volcanic eruption, he added.

"Even recently, Indonesia must bear losses and is mourning the (scale of destruction and impacts due to the) Cianjur earthquake (on November 21)," he remarked.

The condition highlighted the need to rev up preparedness in facing disaster risks on account of the increasing trend of disaster occurrence in Indonesia, the coordinating minister remarked.

Effendy emphasized the importance of the active roles of the public and all stakeholders in reducing disaster risks.

"Disaster mitigation is not only the responsibility of the government but it also needs support from all parties," he noted.

While emphasizing the importance of the pentahelix approach in disaster mitigation efforts, the minister underlined that the government, academics, the business sector, the public, the media, and the police and military must work together to perform the task.

Effendy said that improving on-site data, which must be provided promptly and accurately, is essential, as the data will be considered to decide proper measures for disaster mitigation.

Hence, all parties must work together to continue renewing disaster data, as the government continues to encourage cross-sectoral coordination, he added. (Antaranews)

Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin urged public prosecutors to study the new Indonesian Criminal Code passed by the parliament on December 6.

"Ensure you understand every offence in every article, so you could apply the charge appropriately when the Criminal Code is enforced (in three years)," Burhanuddin stated at the closing ceremony of a public prosecutor training, as per the statement here, Wednesday.

The attorney general said that prosecutors will have three years to study the new Criminal Code, as it will be enforced only in 2025 after being passed by the House of Representatives (DPR RI) this month.

Every public prosecutor's office must organize group discussions and activities by involving academics and practitioners to internalize the new Criminal Code and achieve a common understanding of the code, he emphasized.

Burhanuddin stressed that as legal practitioners, prosecutors should exhibit their personal quality and capability in developing legal arguments as well as conduct their duty well and familiarize themselves with legal cases.

Only through determination in study and practice, a prosecutor will become familiar with the systematic structure of legal thinking to discover, unravel, and justify covert aspects in a legal event, he underlined.

"Hence, you will have high accuracy in analyzing and resolving a legal issue in society," he said.

The attorney general said that apart from honing cognitive skills, public prosecutors must also improve personal sensitivity while facing legal cases to present humane law enforcement for the people.

Personal sensitivity will allow public prosecutors to prioritize humanity and conscience in criminal cases with minor losses involving poorer and vulnerable residents, he added.

"Remember, a prosecutor, apart from having critical thinking, is also urged to have a soft sense of humanity," Burhanuddin stated.

He noted that an ideal public prosecutor is one who could combine cognitive capability and personal sensitivity.

"If a prosecutor could combine those aspects simultaneously, certainly, a unified mindset, capacity, and quality of an ideal prosecutor will be realized," the attorney general remarked. (Antaranews)

Chief of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) General (Ret.) Moeldoko encouraged universities to strengthen their research and innovation programs to face various increasingly complex challenges in the food sector.

"We need more innovation to increase productivity, improve quality, substitute exported commodity, and increase food product competitiveness," he said in  a statement on Wednesday.

Indonesia has ample food potentials that had yet to be optimized, Moeldoko noted. Hence, researches and innovations are deemed necessary to develop these potentials, so Indonesia can dominate the global competition in the food sector.

The KSP head also underlined the impacts of climate change that became a current-day challenge to achieve national food security.

He expressed concern over the shift of climate patterns in Indonesia that tended to be wet for the past two years.

"We have been experiencing wet (climate) for more than two years, and I am afraid that we may have dry (climate) with the same length of period," he remarked while receiving the visit of the chancellor of Bina Insan Lubuklinggau University, Sardiyo.

Sardiyo said his side is currently preparing to develop an agricultural Techno Park as a research and development area.

Establishment of the facility is a collaboration opportunity among the education and industry players to produce agricultural products that can be directly utilized by the public.

"We have readied four hectares of fertile land. We sought support from the Presidential Staff Office, so that the plan can be realized soon," the chancellor stated.

Earlier, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had emphasized that the potential global economic challenges in 2023 included food crisis, decline in export values, as well as financial crisis.

"Regarding the economic condition in 2023, once again, we must remain careful and vigilant since there are potentials of financial crisis, declining exports, and food crisis that may also trigger social and political problems," he stated. (Antaranews)

The 5.2-magnitude earthquake in Bali on Tuesday was triggered by the Flores back-arc thrust activity, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported.

"By observing the location of the epicenter and the depth of the hypocenter, the earthquake was shallow and occurred due to the Flores back-arc thrust activities,” the head of BMKG’s Earthquake and Tsunami Center Daryono confirmed here on Tuesday.

He said that the earthquake was centered at 8.29 degrees south latitude and 115.62 degrees east longitude.

Its epicenter was located undersea at a depth of 30 kilometers and lay 1 km east of Kubu, Karangasem, Bali, he added.

The earthquake occurred at 5:38 p.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) on Tuesday in the Karangasem eastern coast area. It was felt at a Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) of III-IV, meaning many residents felt the tremors indoors.

The earthquake was felt in Mataram, North Lombok, Central Lombok, and West Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, at an intensity of III MMI, meaning the vibrations were felt inside the house and were similar to those produced by the passing of a truck.

The quake was also felt in Tabanan, Kuta, Buleleng, and East Lombok at an intensity of II MMI, meaning the vibrations were felt by some people and caused light, hanging objects to sway.

As of 6:30 p.m. in Jakarta, BMKG's monitoring showed 21 aftershocks, with the largest magnitude recorded at 4.6.

"The modeling results show that this earthquake does not have the potential for a tsunami," Daryono added.

As of 8 p.m. Jakarta time, several buildings were reported to have been damaged. They included four houses in Baturinggit Kelod hamlet, Baturinggit village, and one house in Pagubugan hamlet, Manggis village.

Balimed Hospital in Karangasem was also damaged in the earthquake. So far, there have been no victims in the quake. (Antaranews)