VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta. The National Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 has arrested 13 suspected terrorists in four provinces in the wake of Sunday's suicide bombing outside the Cathedral Church in Makassar, the capital of South Sulawesi province.

The 13 suspected terrorists were picked up in South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, Jakarta, and West Java provinces, chief of the National Police, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, said during a press conference in South Sulawesi on Monday.

"In Makassar (South Sulawesi), Densus arrested four people, identified by their initials as AS, SAS, MR, and AA," he informed.

Prabowo said the four suspected terrorists had links to the two suicide bombers, identified by their initials as L and YSM, who carried out the attack outside the church. They belonged to the same study group called Villa Mutiara, he added.

He said the four suspected terrorists played different roles in the bombing attack, including providing doctrine, preparing a plan for jihad, and buying materials to make the bomb used in the attack.

While making the Makassar arrests, Densus 88 also simultaneously searched the homes of suspected terrorists in Condet, East Jakarta and Bekasi, West Java.

From the two locations, Densus 88 nabbed four suspected terrorists, identified by their initials as A, AH, AJ, and BS.

During their search, Densus 88 also seized bombs and explosives as evidence.

"The police found five active bombs, axis bombs, five large jars containing explosive chemicals, sulphur, flashfolder, and thermometer. These materials, weighing 4 kilograms, were to be processed into explosives. Other explosives, weighing 1.5 kilograms, were also found," Prabowo informed.

In Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, Densus 88 arrested one suspected terrorist, bringing the number of suspected terrorists from Jamaah Ansharut Daullah (JAD) to be arrested to five.

"In total, five suspects have been arrested. As the investigation is still underway, (more suspects) will be arrested in the near future," the police chief said.

He urged the public to remain calm and not to panic while the police investigate the terror act and chase the terrorist groups.

"I call on the public to remain calm and not to panic over the terrorist issue. It is our duty to investigate it thoroughly," he remarked. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. The National Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 has arrested four suspects in connection with the suicide bombing outside Cathedral Church in Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi Province, on Sunday morning.

"Since the bombing attack yesterday, we have arrested four suspects, identified by their initials as AS, SAS, MR, and AA," chief of the National Police, General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, said during a press conference in Makassar on Monday.

The four suspected terrorists played a role in the bombing attack, he said adding, they belonged to the same study group called Villa Mutiara.

Prabowo said their roles included giving doctrine, preparing a plan for jihad, and buying materials to make the bomb used in the suicide bombing attack, Prabowo informed.

The police chief said the suicide bombing involved two persons, identified by their initials as L and YSF.

The motorcycle-borne suicide bombers, a married couple, died on the spot, while 20 people, including security officers and civilians, were injured in the attack.

Police had earlier said that L and YSF, who worked as private employees, were members of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), which had once operated in Jolo, the Philippines.  (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi said the Indonesian government will build a national fish storage center under a solicited scheme or the government's initiative.

"Our President's direction is to carry out a solicited development, meaning that the government will begin to acquire 200 hectares of land and prepare basic infrastructure," the minister said at a press conference after a limited meeting with President Widodo in Jakarta on Monday.

The Minister of Transportation said that eastern Indonesia is rich in fish.

According to the report of the Marine and Fisheries Minister, there are many things that can be made effective so that fishing functions can be scaled up, he noted.

"From there, we see that to make a national fish storage center, it is not enough that the existing ports are developed or used, but we need one port where the port is shared with industrial areas," he pointed out.

Therefore, the government has decided to carry out development under the solicited scheme, he added.

The government will thereafter conduct a cooperation auction between government and business entities (KPBU), with an investment value of approximately Rp5 trillion, he informed.

In addition, he said, there is an opportunity to develop the area over 900 hectares, of which 700 hectares would be released by the private sector.

"We also discussed that the construction period was two years, but we want to restructure the fishing count methods so that for the past two years, we can operate the two ports in Ambon," he explained. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Chief of PT Bio Farma, Honesti Basyir, has said that Indonesia has been listed among the 10 countries in the world that are leading in vaccinating their people against COVID-19.

"Thank God (Alhamdulillah), Indonesia is considered to have been leading in its vaccination program. As of March 27 (2021), 10.4 million vaccine doses have been given to the people and we are included in the top 10 among other countries in the world," he said during a meeting with the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Monday.

During the meeting, he said that Indonesia is ranked 9th, after the United States of America, China, India, Great Britain, Brazil, Turkey, Germany, and Russia, followed by France, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates.

"Our position is even better than some countries in Europe. Of course, we must maintain this and continue to increase the speed of vaccination because we are also racing against the mutation of the virus itself," he said.

The speedy vaccination campaign in Indonesia was supported by the readiness of the vaccine supply itself, he pointed out. In addition to reaching commitments with several vaccine developers a while back, Indonesia has also been one of the countries to have conducted clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine, he added.

In addition, the support of a number of ministries/agencies for the vaccination program has also been a factor driving the speed of the vaccination program, he explained.

"This speed will determine how Indonesia can achieve herd immunity in approximately 15 months. Maybe, hopefully, if it can be faster," he said.

Furthermore, he said that up until March 28, 2021, as many as 7.2 million doses of the first stage of vaccination have been administered. As for the second stage of vaccination, the number of doses administered has reached 3.2 million.

For 2021, Indonesia has secured most of the shots needed to achieve herd immunity, which is pegged at 426 million doses, he revealed. The Indonesian government, through state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma, has entered into contracts to purchase raw materials for vaccines and finished vaccines with a number of developers for 329.5 million vaccine doses.

"In addition, there is an option to increase the supply. We are optimistic that the need for vaccines will be met. Most of it will be done in 2021. Even if it crosses to 2022, we hope that by the first quarter of 2022, everything can be resolved," he reiterated. (Antaranews)