State-owned electricity firm PT PLN has recovered electric power to Balaraja Extra High Voltage substation in Banten Province, and furthermore it will be channeled to Suralaya steam-fueled power plant (PLTU) to gradually recover its operation to reach its capacity of 2800 MW of electricity.
In addition, power supply from Gandul Extra High Voltage substations in Depok, West Java Province, will be channeled to Muara Karang gas and steam power plant (PLTGU) to supply electricity to the Indonesian capital city, Jakarta.
Acting President Director of PLN Sripeni Inten Cahyani said here on Sunday that the power supply to Jakarta was expected to recover within three hours.
"We apologize for the inconvenience today, and currently all efforts have been made to recover the Java-Bali power system, especially in the area of West Java, Banten, and Jakarta," Cahyani said.
The company has focused on power supply to PLTGU Muara Karang and PLTGU Priok to recover the system in the capital city.
Previously, PLN has recovered the operation of hydro-generated power plant (PLTA) Saguling and PLTA Cirata which are functioned as power stabilizer, and, at the same time, supply the electricity to PLTU Suralaya through Cibinong, Depok, Gandul, Lengkok, Balaraja and Suralaya extra high voltage substations.
PLTU Suralaya is expected to return to its normal operation within six hours to normalize power system in West Java and Banten.
Blackout that affected thousands of homes and public facilities in West Java, Jakarta, and Banten was caused by several troubles in the extra high voltage 500 kV transmission of Ungaran - Pemalang.
"PLN has taken its best efforts and will have evaluation to prevent recurrence of today's incident," Cahyani said.
The Health Ministry has appealed to all Health Offices as well as hospitals in provinces, districts, and cities to immediately report any cases of food poisoning caused by liquid nitrogen-treated snacks.
“The Health Ministry will carry out monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (of the cases) in all regions of Indonesia," director for referral health services at the ministry Yuli Astuti Saripawan said in a statement issued on Thursday.
It is very important to pay attention to this appeal since the ministry has received a report on an extraordinary incident (KLB) of food poisoning caused by the consumption of snacks made with liquid nitrogen, which are locally called chiki ngebul in West Java province, she added.
Local governments and Health Offices have been asked to directly report their findings on food poisoning cases to the Directorate of Referral Health Services of the Health Ministry, Adhyatma Building, Floor 4 (R.409), H.R. Rasuna Said Street Block X5, Lot 4–9, South Jakarta, 12950.
They have also been asked to contact the Working Team for Other Referral Health Services over the phone (088215992763) or on email.
"I expect that all parties will immediately report if a case of food poisoning due to the consumption of the smoked snack is found," Saripawan added.
A number of students from Ciawang 2 Public Elementary School, Leuwisari sub-district, Tasikmalaya district, West Java province, were suspected to have suffered food poisoning after consuming snacks made with liquid nitrogen near their school.
The children reportedly experienced several symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea. They were provided medical treatment at the local community health center.
The Health Ministry had earlier issued a warning on the risk of consuming “ice smoke,” a snack containing liquid nitrogen, after a child in Ponorogo district, East Java province, was reported to have been burnt by a flame that suddenly appeared due to the nitrogen added into his snack. (antaranews)
The central government will help the East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) government build dams in the northern region of Timor Island to control flooding during the rainy season, Governor Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat has said.
"Regarding the control of rainfall that causes flooding in Kupang district, in the future, the regional government and the central government will prepare a plan for the construction of dams in rivers in the northern part of Timor Island to stem the flow of river water," Laiskodat informed in Kupang, NTT, on Thursday.
This is related to the government's efforts to anticipate flash floods, such as those that hit several areas in Kupang district, he added.
The governor explained that dams can help stem river flow and anticipate the overflow of river waters during the rainy season.
"If we are able to control the water flow and stem it, Kupang district will have abundant water reservoirs. Besides preventing flooding during the rainy season, the community will not have water problems during the dry season as well," he added.
He said that the stored water can be used for the development of the agricultural sector because the construction of dams is beneficial not only for preventing floods but also for agriculture.
"Seeing from the current conditions, we will not build a bridge in the future but we will build a dam. The construction of the bridge will be adjusted to certain conditions and needs," he disclosed.
The governor also lauded all parties who helped evacuate the community, helped in the construction of disaster posts, and repaired bridges for residents.
Laiskodat said he hopes that the people affected by the disaster can return to activities related to the agricultural business by optimizing the use of existing agricultural land by planting corn.
“The NTT provincial government, through the Agriculture Service, will provide assistance such as seeds and others to support our people,” he emphasized. (antaranews)
West Java Governor M. Ridwan Kamil has asked Bandung city residents to improve the neighborhood watch system to reduce crimes at night, including street crimes.
"But why are there so many crimes? This is our collective duty. It means that there is our social system that must be perfected. That's why we are improving neighborhood watch. Does (it mean) the security personnel will not work when neighborhood watch is conducted? Not necessarily, no. Security is a collective obligation," he said in Bandung on Thursday.
Social media users had likened Bandung city to the fictional Gotham city. This was in view of a spike in street crimes in the city.
Governor Ridwan Kamil said that he had coordinated and discussed the issue with the authorities.
He said his administration has ensured that the police continue to work to maintain security and public order.
"I have coordinated (on this), there have also been many arrests. So, this is social dynamics. This is an example, alright: crime is human nature. If there is a crime, it is not necessarily because the police are not working, but indeed some groups of people have the nature to break the law," he said.
The governor said that based on data collected at the end of 2021, the crime rate in West Java was relatively low compared to the province's population of nearly 50 million.
"The question is, are they being dealt with? There was an answer last time. You also quoted the number of crimes in West Java in 2022 compared to dozens of provinces, we rank 10th. We are only 7 thousand at the end of 2021 compared to 30 thousand in other provinces whose population is one-fifth of West Java; so if you use statistics, West Java’s crime rate is very low," Kamil said.
Even so, he said he believes that rampant street crime must still be addressed.
"However, what's known as crime involves humans in all state systems with complete security in every way. It is crime — it just exists because it is human nature, so the question is: have the police taken action? They have taken action," he added. (antaranews)
The Finance Ministry has provided general allocation funds (DAU) of Rp370.80 billion for provinces, districts, and cities in West Papua and Southwest Papua for January 2023.
Preparations for allocating the funds to 12 regional governments had been conducted since December 2022, with the total disbursement made by the State Treasury Office (KPPN) reaching Rp370.80 billion, head of the West Papua office of the Directorate General of Treasury, Bayu Andy Prasetya, said in Manokwari on Tuesday.
"On January 2, 2023, all KPPNs, those being the Manokwari, Sorong, and Fakfak KPPNs, transferred the allocation fund for January 2023 period to the Regional General Cash Accounts (RKUD) of each regional government in the West Papua and Southwest Papua regions," he informed.
He said that the mechanism for distributing the 2023 DAU was different from the one adopted last year, under which the fund distribution was made through the State Treasury Office (KPPN) of the respective region.
"Changes in the policy and mechanism for disbursement of general allocation funds are aimed at bringing closer and improving services to regional governments," he explained.
Overall, the fiscal capacity of West Papua in 2023 is Rp29.83 trillion, an increase of Rp2.09 trillion compared to 2022, when the fiscal capacity consisted of spending on institutional ministries and allocations for Transfers to Regions (TKD).
"Ministry and institution spending amounted to Rp8.05 trillion, an increase of Rp120 billion, and the allocation of TKD for West Papua and Southwest Papua provinces amounted to Rp21.78 trillion, an increase of Rp1.97 trillion compared to one of 2022 of Rp19.81 trillion," Prasetya informed.
Of the total general allocation fund, Rp72.72 billion has been disbursed to West Papua province, Rp32.88 billion to Manokwari district, Rp41.77 billion to Fakfak district, Rp25.01 billion to Teluk Bintuni district, Rp31.47 billion to Kaimana district, Rp13.49 billion to Arfak Highlands district, Rp27.06 billion to Sorong district, Rp22.78 billion to South Sorong district, Rp23.28 billion to Raja Ampat district, Rp23.98 billion to Tambrauw district, Rp23.04 billion to Maybrat district, and Rp33.27 billion to Sorong city.
"In accordance with the Finance Minister Decree Number 44/KM.7/2022, in the event that the regional government does not submit regional financial data or information, a delay in the distribution of general allocation fund block grants can be made," he said. (antaranews)
The Tourism and Culture Office of West Java has said that it will accord greater focus to developing tourism villages in 2023 to attract more tourists.
"Tourism villages have the potential to bring foreign tourists to West Java. The focus of tourism development is also in line with the existing regional regulation. Thus, this is what we are currently strengthening in West Java," Head of the West Java Tourism and Culture Office Benny Bachtiar said here on Tuesday.
In order to develop tourism villages to attract foreign tourists, the office will seek inputs from the Indonesian diaspora in Australia to discuss the needs of foreign tourists that West Java will need to cater to, he informed.
"Diasporas usually bring tourists to Indonesia but not to West Java because West Java is deemed not yet ready," he said.
According to Bachtiar, tourism villages can serve as an option for foreign tourists visiting West Java region. For that reason, tourism villages have become the most important thing and will be focused on in 2023.
"Because until now, West Java has not been able to provide a tourist destination that has been requested by foreign tourists. Nevertheless, we are trying to attract local or foreign tourists," he said.
The progress of tourism development in West Java has been quite good. In 2022, five West Java tourism villages were included in the list of the top 50 Indonesian Tourism Village Awards (ADWI) from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy.
The five tourism villages were Cisande Village in Sukabumi District, Gegesik Kulon in Cirebon District, Alam Endah Village in Bandung District, Selasari Village in Pangandaran District, and Saung Ciburial Village in Garut District.
"Inshallah (if God wills), we will invite the diaspora to discuss the infrastructure that is needed or can attract foreign tourists to visit West Java," he said. (antaranews)
During a meeting with the Consul General of the People's Republic of China, Xu Yong, on Tuesday, East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa offered to export porang and bird’s nests to China.
"I express my hope to export porang and bird’s nests to China," the governor said after meeting with Consul General Yong at Grahadi Building, Surabaya.
East Java is the largest porang producer in Indonesia, Parawansa noted. Porang is a food source that is low in carbohydrates and calories and is protein-free, she added.
"I hope that later the Consul General can invite investors to come here, see the factory directly, or invest in building a factory here to expand market potential for East Java porang farmers," she said.
In addition to porang, Parawansa also discussed exports of bird’s nests. According to her, of the total national production of bird’s nests, 30 percent comes from East Java.
Given the large production, she said she believes that East Java bird’s nests can meet the needs of toddlers in China as the commodity is popular among them.
"If we can find trade common ground for the two commodities, it will bring a great impact for porang and bird’s nests farmers in East Java," she added.
During the meeting, Parawansa also broached several cooperation programs in the fields of economy, education, culture, and tourism between East Java and China.
In the period from January–October 2022, trade between East Java and China in various commodities was significant, with exports valued at US$2,697.87 million and imports recorded at US$5,869.01 million, leading to a deficit of US$3,171.14 million.
This led to China ranking as the third largest export destination for East Java. As a country of import origin for East Java, China ranked first.
According to data, in the period from 2010 to the third quarter of 2022, Chinese investment in East Java flowed into 361 projects, with the investment value recorded at US$368.67 million. The biggest business sectors were trade and repair, the food industry, basic metal industry, and metal goods except for machinery and equipment.
Consul General Yong, who has served for one month in East Java, said he is optimistic that cooperation with East Java will continue to increase in the future.
"I hope that we will become strategic partners who can develop various collaborations in the fields of economy, education, tourism, and fisheries, for the welfare of people in both regions," Parawansa disclosed. (Antaranews)
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno highlighted that the number of workers in the tourism industry and creative economy had tripled to three million from the target in 2022.
"We only aimed for an additional of 1.1 million workers in 2022. However, the number has reached three million. This is three times bigger than our prediction," Uno noted at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Monday.
Thus, there were more than three million jobs in the tourism industry and the creative economy in 2022, he remarked.
He stated that increasing employment in the tourism industry and the creative economy will boost people's welfare and increase their income.
Uno had submitted a report to President Joko Widodo on Monday regarding the revival of the tourism and creative economy sectors that have been quite visible as compared to during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the 2022 Christmas and 2023 New Year holidays, the number of tourists, both local and foreign, had increased at various tourism destinations, he stated.
"The revival has been very visible and the target for foreign tourist arrivals has been exceeded this year. From the target of 3.6 million, we have achieved 5.2 million foreign tourists. The increase is almost 70 percent above the target," the minister remarked.
In addition, the added value from the creative economy industry has reached Rp300 trillion in 2022 or exceeded the target set by the government, he noted.
Uno outlined that one of the challenges in 2023 is to increase tourism growth, albeit remaining careful of the dangers of health risks following the lifting of the implementation of community activity restrictions (PPKM).
"PPKM's revocation will bring more foreign tourists to us. We will remain on alert to maintain tourism activities that have a lot of economic impacts that can help us to recover and grow bigger in 2023," he stated.
According to the minister, after the PPKM revocation on December 30, 2022, tourist destinations were immediately thronged by tourists. He believed the decision will accelerate the revival of the tourism sector and the creative economy.
"Yesterday, the concert in Labuan Bajo was full of six thousand participants, and almost every activity in leading destinations, Bali, and five other super priority destinations were packed. This is very exciting, and we will maintain the momentum of this recovery," Uno concluded. (Antaranews)
The Home Affairs Ministry has issued Circular Letter Number 900.1.9/9095/SJ, asking regional heads to support and ease the implementation stages of the 2024 General Elections.
According to a statement received on Monday, the circular has been signed by secretary general of the Home Affairs Ministry Suhajar Diantoro.
Such support from regional governments is mandated by Article 434 of Law Number 7 of 2017 concerning Elections.
It is also in accordance with the Circular of the Chairperson of the General Elections Commission (KPU) Number 1164/PP.04-SD/04/2022 concerning supporting the central government and regional governments in establishing an ad hoc body for the implementation of the 2024 election.
In the circular, Diantoro outlined a number of supports that need to be provided by local governments, such as providing facilities for sub-district election committees (PPK) and voting committees (PPS).
Regional governments are also required to deploy personnel to assist in the establishment of the PPK and PPS secretariats.
In accordance with the law, the PPK secretariats must be established no later than January 10, 2023, while the PPS Secretariat needs to be formed no later than January 24.
Furthermore, regional heads have been asked to give permission to civil servants to register for PPK, PPS, voting organizing group (KPPS), and voter registration committee (Pantarlih), especially if there is no registrant from the general public who meets the requirements.
Regional governments have also been asked to deploy community security units (Satlinmas) to maintain public order during the 2024 General Elections.
In addition, local governments have been asked to support health checks and the issuance of certificates of physical and mental health at government-owned health centers to fulfill the administrative requirements for registering as members of the ad hoc body.
"(Local governments also need to provide) support for the dissemination of the establishment of the ad hoc body to the community for the implementation of the 2024 election,” Diantoro added. (Antaranews)
The number of Indonesians who have received the third dose or the first booster of the COVID-19 vaccine reached 68.57 million as of 12 p.m. local time on Monday, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force reported.
According to data received from the COVID-19 Task Force in Jakarta, the number of residents who have received the third dose increased by 33,831 on Monday, bringing the total to 68,571,382.
Overall, 29.23 percent of the 234,666,020 targeted recipients have been vaccinated with the third dose so far.
Meanwhile, the number of recipients of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine increased by 12,376 to 174,784,256, or 74.48 percent of the total target.
The number of first dose recipients increased by 8,410 to 204,034,974, or 86.92 percent of the total target.
The number of recipients of the fourth dose, which is currently still reserved for health workers and the elderly, increased by 3,101 to 1,173,063.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin said that vaccinations will need to continue to be increased in 2023.
Vaccination is the responsibility of the community for protecting themselves and those around them from the risk of COVID-19 transmission as the government intervention in the form of the public activity restrictions (PPKM) policy has been revoked.
"The use of masks is recommended for narrow closed spaces and crowded situations. We return it to the community, if you feel healthy in the open air, you may not wear a mask,” the minister said.
According to Sadikin, the government is responding to the pandemic-to-endemic transition by reducing public health interventions, but the public needs to increase awareness by measuring their health themselves.
"President Joko Widodo is encouraging community participation,” the minister said.
COVID-19 vaccinations must continue despite the revocation of the PPKM policy on December 30, 2022, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said earlier.
The Java-Bali PPKM coordinator assured of the availability of medicines and vitamins during the pandemic-to-endemic transition.
"Vaccination must continue to run in line with the provision of medicines and vitamins at health facilities during the transition period. In addition, the availability of oxygen must also be maintained," he said.
The public health emergency and national disaster status still apply for COVID-19 considering the global situation, Pandjaitan added.
The government has also formulated a strategy to prevent a spike in cases if a new variant emerges later.
Currently, there are 17 whole genome sequencing (WGS) laboratory networks that can gather information to handle such variants.
The government will also measure community resilience every six months and prepare a booklet to assist people in taking action if there are new cases, he informed.
He said that the decision to revoke PPKM was taken after considering the controlled COVID-19 situation, a high level of community immunity (95.8 percent), better health capacity readiness, and fast economic recovery.
The success in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic was also the result of the integration of policies by various elements, starting from the central government, local governments, the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI), National Police (Polri), health workers, academics, and the community based on data-based work, science, and the use of technology, he added.
"This success must be applied in other development policies," he emphasized. (Antaranews)
The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD asked the public to participate in overseeing the 2024 General Election agenda, and maintaining peace in the life of the nation and state in the 2023 political year.
"In 2023 there will be a number of important political agendas; constitutional agenda ahead of 2024 elections," Mahfud said in a live broadcast on national TV to welcome the new year on Saturday night.
Mahfud emphasized that Indonesians are determined to hold the elections on schedule. He underlined the importance of efforts to monitor the political agenda so that it can run peacefully and smoothly.
Mahfud reminded that some election stages will be conducted in 2023 and they must be guarded properly.
Some of these activities are the presidential and vice presidential candidacy, as well as the candidacy for members of the House of Representative (DPR), Provincial House of Representatives (DPRD), and District/City House of Representatives.
"We hope our life will remain peaceful and orderly," he said. (antaranews)