VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - The COVID-19 pandemic presented a good opportunity for bolstering conservation efforts at Borobudur Temple in Magelang, Central Java, according to the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry.

"The COVID-19 (pandemic) in 2020–2021 gave us time to restrict (visits to Borobudur) and, most importantly, time to study the damages that had occurred," the ministry's Director General of Culture Hilmar Farid informed at a Katadata Insight Center (KIC) press conference, which was followed via online means here on Thursday.

The official disclosed that the government had been planning for long to restrict tourists' access to the temple platforms to conserve and improve their longevity, as well as to allow more research to be conducted on the temple.

However, the authorities did not find the right time until the COVID-19 pandemic, which came as a kind of a blessing in disguise for the temple to "rest" and allow it to be intensively studied by researchers, he explained.

Farid said that before the pandemic, thousands of visitors thronged the temple, a world heritage site, and climbed onto its platforms to observe its stone reliefs or take photographs, thereby significantly burdening the structure.

The authorities could only impose a restriction on visits during the pandemic by limiting the number of visitors who could climb the temple daily to 1,200, divided into groups of 150 per visit, he added.

"Actually, if we see in many places in the world, not only in Indonesia, a lot of important cultural heritages, especially world heritage sites, impose the same policy," Farid stated.

He also affirmed that the visit restriction and the decision to increase the entry fee to Borobudur had been decided based on empirical data, instead of personal opinion.

"We cannot establish a policy just by what a person says or by the perception of several people; we should make evidence-based policies," the director general said. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Residents of Munjul Village, Cirebon District, West Java, heard six booms during three earthquakes measuring 3.2 in magnitude that struck the village on Thursday.

"The boom sound was like a truck tire exploding, but the loud noise sounded very close," Saadah (41), a Munjul resident, informed here.

According to her, the first earthquake was felt around 6:30 a.m. local time on Thursday morning, and one hour later, there was another, stronger earthquake.

Then, aftershocks followed in the afternoon around 4 p.m., but with weaker tremors, she informed.

She said she heard six boom sounds during the three earthquakes.

"When the earthquakes occurred, we immediately ran out of home, because of the vibrations and loud sound," she added.

The same thing was related by Fathur, who heard loud booms during each of the three earthquake events.

"Until now we are on alert because earthquake events here are very rare, and only this time it felt quite strong," he said.

Meanwhile, Head of the Center for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BBMKG) Region II - Tangerang Hartanto said the three earthquakes were shallow and were caused due to the activities of the Cirebon Fault.

The last quake occurred at 4:04 p.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) on Thursday.

The results of the BMKG’s analysis showed that the last quake had a magnitude of 2.9 and was located at 6.8 degrees south latitude and 108.62 degrees east longitude. More precisely, it was located on land, 12 kilometers southeast of Cirebon city at a depth of 10 km.

"By observing the epicenter and the hypocenter, the earthquake was shallow and happened due to the Cirebon Fault activity," Hartanto said.

BMKG has advised people to remain calm and not be affected by unreliable information.

Furthermore, the Cirebon Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) confirmed that there was no damage on account of the earthquakes on Thursday. (antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - The Ministry of Health is working with several expert teams to formulate schemes for COVID-19 vaccination and patient treatment that will be applied after the COVID-19 health emergency status is officially revoked later.

"Regarding COVID-19 vaccination, it is still being discussed with expert teams, including determining the actual price if the vaccine has to be paid for," the ministry's Head of Communication and Public Service Bureau Siti Nadia Tarmizi said here, Friday.

The expert teams involved are epidemiologists, the Indonesia Technical Advisory Group (ITAGI), and teams from the ministry's Directorate of Immunization and Directorate of Surveillance.

Tarmizi noted that after the revocation of the emergency status, COVID-19 vaccination will be integrated into the government's routine immunization program.

"Because this vaccination targets adults, maybe it will be like meningitis vaccination or other adult vaccinations," she explained.

She further noted that if a paid vaccination scheme is implemented, then the relevant authority must ensure the availability of vaccines at all service provider health facilities.

"Maybe not all community health centers (puskesmas) provide vaccines like this, but everything is still being discussed," she said.

As for the self-isolation scheme, the cost will be borne by all individuals, including the telemedicine service.

Earlier, President Joko Widodo had decided that Indonesia will soon enter the COVID-19 endemic stage by taking into account the declining daily cases and active cases of COVID-19 and the wide coverage of COVID-19 vaccination.

"We have decided to enter the endemic (phase), but regarding when it will be announced, (it is) being finalized, (and it may be) in one week, two weeks," he said after opening the 2023 National Working Meeting on Government Internal Supervision in Jakarta on Wednesday (June 14).

The first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia was confirmed in March 2020. According to data from the COVID-19 Handling Task Force, as of June 15, 2023, the nation has recorded a total of 6,810,778 COVID-19 cases, 6,638,968 recoveries, and 161,836 deaths. (antaranews)

Australia's most decorated war veteran, found by a civil court to have played a part in the murder of four Afghans while serving in Afghanistan, said he was devastated by what he called an "incorrect" judgement and he would not apologise for his actions.

In his first public comments since the court ruling, Ben Roberts-Smith, holder of the Victoria Cross and other top military honours, said he remained proud of his actions in Afghanistan, where he served in the Special Air Service on six tours from 2006 to 2012.

An Australian federal court judge on June 1 dismissed Roberts-Smith's defamation case against three newspapers for articles accusing him of violating the rules of engagement and killing unarmed Afghans. In his ruling the judge said the newspapers had proven substantial truth in their reporting. read more

"I'm devastated with the result, it's a terrible outcome and it's the incorrect outcome," Roberts-Smith told television network Nine Entertainment (NEC.AX) at Perth Airport baggage claim late on Wednesday.

"We haven't done anything wrong so we won't be making any apologies," he added.

Asked if he remained proud of his actions in Afghanistan, Roberts-Smith replied "of course I am."

The civil court defamation finding required a lower threshold of proof than a criminal court would. Roberts-Smith, 44, whose portrait hangs in the Australian War Memorial, has not been charged with any crimes.

Still, the judgment was embraced by the defendants and representatives of the media and defence industries as a win for public interest journalism and transparency in relation to Australia's military conduct abroad.

Roberts-Smith was not in court for the judgment, which followed 110 days of hearings spread over a year, and was photographed by media in Bali, Indonesia, at the time. He was more recently photographed in New Zealand, where he caught a flight to Australia.

"We will look at it (the judgement) and consider whether or not we need to file an appeal," Roberts-Smith said in the brief airport interview. "We'll just have to work through it and I'll take the advice as it comes." (Reuters)