VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. The plastic recycling industry, which is helping build a sustainable ecosystem, has a great role to play in the national economy, according to Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.

"The national plastic recycling industry plays a crucial role in fulfilling demand for raw materials and promoting the competitive edge of the domestic downstream plastic industry," he said in Bekasi district, West Java on Monday.

So far, no other material has been able to replace plastic in food and beverage packaging in Indonesia, he pointed out.

However, the use of plastic has an impact on the environment if it is not handled properly, he said. Hence, the plastic recycling industry, which can encourage a sustainable ecosystem, has a great role to play, he added.

According to data from the Industry Ministry, the national demand for plastic raw material has reached 7.2 million tons per year. However, the domestic industry is only able to meet 2.3 million tons of it in the form of virgin plastic.

Meanwhile, the national plastic recycling industry only contributes 913 thousand tons of the total need of 2 million tons per year and the remaining 1.087 million tons must be imported.

Indonesia needs more plastic recycling industries to create a sustainable ecosystem and reduce its dependence on imported plastic, Kartasasmita said.

The plastic recycling industry also creates jobs for nearly 4 million scavengers, he added. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. The Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) has added two warships to its fleet to maintain security and uphold the law of the sea.

The addition of the two warships — KAL Pandang I-1-72 and KAL Sarudik I-2-18 — is an integral part of the development of TNI AL's force, Naval Chief of Staff Admiral, Yudo Margono, said in a press statement released on Monday.

"The two ships are ready to maintain security and uphold the law of the sea, which is the manifestation of the duties of professional, modern, and strong TNI AL soldiers," he said while inaugurating the ship-naming and launch of the two ships at Halte Slipway of PT Palindo Marine in Batam on Monday.

The ship-naming and launch of the two 28-meter long and 6.2-meter wide ships is proof that Indonesian dockyard company PT Palindo Shipyard Marine Batam is able to support the strategic industry in the field of state defense in the sea, he added.

PT Palindo has been able to accomplish its duties as a developer of defense technology and supporter of defense industry policy to reduce the country's dependence on foreign-made ships and achieve self-reliance in the defense industry, he noted.

He said ship-naming is part of a series of ceremonial activities in the development of warships, which cover first steel-cutting, keel laying, ship-naming, launching, delivery and receiving, commissioning and inauguration.

"Through this activity, I stress that the presence of KAL Pandang and KAL Sarudik will be able to increase the TNI AL's performance in carrying out its duties. Hence, the 28-meter long warships should be manned by professional and strong human resources so the warships can be operated and maintained optimally, supported by good management of the naval base," Margono said.

The two 90 tonnage warships are equipped with one 20-mm caliber cannon and two 12.7-mm caliber sub-machines. The warships run on a main engine 2x 1.397 kW (MAN 12V D2862 LE476 @ 2.300 RPM) and diesel generator 2x 63 kW, 50 Hz, 380 VAC (Perkins PDM 63 @ 1.500 RPM), according to the press statement. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. The environmental aspect has become the prime factor in the development of the new capital of Indonesia in East Kalimantan province, Minister of National Development Planning, Suharso Monoarfa, said.

"The development (of the new capital city) pays very much attention to the environment. In fact, we (will) reforest arid and barren land," Monoarfa, who is also head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said following a meeting with architects and designers of the new capital city in Jakarta on Monday.

He said the development of the new capital city will take into account environmental conservation and that it will be conducted in coordination with the Environment and Forestry Ministry.

"The process of planning and designing the state capital has calculated all (aspects). The process has followed acceptable principles and above all, it does not violate the law," he added.

In regard to the development of the state palace, he assured that Bappenas and the Public Works and People's Housing Ministry have harmonized the materials for the masterplan and urban design of the new capital city.

During Monday’s meeting, Suharso discussed several issues, including the design of the state palace, with representatives of the Association of Regional and Urban Planners (IAP), Indonesian Architects Association (IAI), and the Indonesian Urban Designers Association (ARKI).

Representatives from the Indonesian Landscape Architects Association (IALI) and the Green Building Council of Indonesia (GBCI) also attended the meeting.

The discussion on the design of the state palace is still in the early stage, the minister said adding, it may still be discussed further with architects and planners.

"I would like to thank architects from AP, IAI, IARKI, IALI, and GBCI as well as the general public for the inputs. We are thinking of an eagle-shaped building, so we discussed how is its architecture and security," he stated. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Home Minister Tito Karnavian on Monday issued a ministerial instruction to extend the imposition of micro-scale public activity restrictions (PPKM-Mikro) for the fifth stage in 20 provinces.

Referring to the Ministerial Instruction No.7/2021, the enforcement of PPKM-Mikro, which had been put in place for 12 consecutive weeks, has been extended from April 6 to April 19, 2021.

The PPKM-Mikro policy has so far been enforced in 20 provinces, including Aceh, Riau, South Sumatra, North Kalimantan, and Papua.

For provinces that are yet to impose it, the Home Ministry's instruction suggests that they keep strengthening the implementation of health protocols in their areas.

ANTARA reported earlier that the PPKM-Mikro policy is part of the government's preventive measures to help bring down Indonesia's COVID-19 infection rate.

As of March 28, 2021, Indonesia has set up 7,664 command posts in 15 provinces to impose PPKM Mikro, according to the Indonesian government's COVID-19 task force.

The 7,664 command posts are in charge of prevention measures for 12,619,259 households in 193,550 neighborhood units, the COVID-19 task force revealed.

The PPKM-Mikro policy has been enforced, but all regions must exercise caution in the wake of potential threat of COVID-19 transmission, it added.

In addition to the imposition of PPKM Mikro, the government has launched a nationwide vaccination program since January 13 this year as part of efforts to win the fight against the coronavirus.

The Health Ministry estimates a time period of 15 months will be required to vaccinate about 70 percent of the country's total population under the national program.

"We need 15 months to accomplish it. The time-frame for conducting the vaccination is counted from January, 2021 to March, 2022," the Health Ministry's spokesperson for the vaccination program, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, stated recently.

During the period, the government is targeting to inoculate about 181.5 million people, including 1.3 million paramedics and 17.4 million public sector workers in 34 provinces, she informed.

Tarmizi noted that the first phase of the government's immunization program has been divided into two periods: January-April, 2021 and April, 2021-March, 2022.  (Antaranews)