VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta.  Indonesia experienced 873 natural disasters during the period from January 1 to March 21, 2021, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB).

Natural disasters to have struck the country were largely floods followed by whirlwinds and landslides, the agency noted in a statement on Sunday.

The natural disasters comprised 16 earthquakes, 80 incidents of forest and land fires, 369 incidents of floods, 175 incidents of landslides, 220 incidents of whirlwinds, and 12 incidents of tidal waves as well as abrasions.

The disasters affected and displaced a total of 4,138,853 people, claimed the lives of 277 people, rendered 12 people missing, and injured 12,421 others.

Some 54,430 houses were damaged, including 4,984 houses that incurred serious damage, 5,907 houses that suffered moderate damage, and 43,539 houses that were slightly damaged.

Furthermore, 1,709 public facilities were damaged, including 860 school buildings, 663 worship facilities, 186 health facilities, 290 office buildings, and 106 bridges.

Head of BNPB Doni Monardo had earlier pressed for intensifying disaster literacy in order to boost disaster risk preparedness.

"Disaster literacy must be conducted since elementary school, because the earlier one gains information on disaster management, the better it is," he affirmed.

Monardo expressed belief that imparting literacy since an early age can provide knowledge to the community on the importance of disaster mitigation.

"Information will continue to be disseminated at any time to remind the public, as disasters can occur at any time," he remarked. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) departed for East Java Province on Monday morning to review a vaccination campaign and inaugurate infrastructure.

The presidential aircraft, Indonesia-1, with the president and his entourage on board, took off from the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base, East Jakarta, at around 7:30 a.m. local time, according to a press release from the Presidential Office on Monday.

Upon arrival at the Juanda International Airport, Sidoarjo District, Jokowi headed to the Wibawa Delta Hall to review the implementation of the mass vaccination process.

From Sidoarjo, the head of state was scheduled to travel to Pasuruan District to inaugurate the Umbulan Drinking Water Supply System located in Sidepan Winongan Village, Winongan Sub-district.

The presidential entourage will later depart for Jombang District to review another mass vaccination campaign.

From Jombang, Jokowi will return to the Juanda International Airport, where the presidential aircraft will fly him home to Jakarta.

Members of the presidential entourage comprised Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Heru Budi Hartono, Military Secretary of the President M. Tonny Harjono, Commander of Presidential Guards Maj. Gen. TNI Agus Subiyanto, and Deputy for Field Affairs Protocol, Press, and Media of the Presidential Secretariat Bey Machmudin. (Antaranews)

Jakarta. Vice President Ma'ruf Amin urged the local governments to speed up the COVID-19 vaccination process and increase the number of vaccine recipients in order to attain national herd immunity at the earliest.

"I am optimistic of the current eight thousand vaccinations per day being increased to achieve herd immunity within a year. For the vaccination target of 20-50 thousand in Lampung today, I am upbeat about it being increased again," Amin remarked while observing the COVID-19 vaccination at the Lampung Governor's Office complex here on Monday.

While witnessing vaccination in the province, the vice president lauded the process being conducted by increasing the number of examination tables to accelerate the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"I just observed the vaccination in Lampung Province, and I saw the process was good enough. There were four to five additional tables. The first table was set to check the blood pressure to find out how ready the patients were to be vaccinated and how high their readings were," the vice minister noted.

On the occasion, Amin also emphasized that despite being vaccinated against COVID-19, the people should remain consistent in adhering to the health protocols and complying with the micro-scale community activity restrictions (Micro PPKM).

"Health protocols should not be abandoned, as people, who have been vaccinated, may be affected by (COVID-19) if they do not apply health protocols. Hence, wear a mask, keep your distance, wash your hands, avoid crowds, and also obey the micro-scale PPKM," the vice president emphasized.

Based on the Lampung Provincial Health Office data, as of March 20, 2021, some 95.29 percent of the health workers received the first dose of the vaccine, while 82.95 percent received the second dose of the vaccine.

Meanwhile, 13.71 percent of the public servants of the Lampung provincial government were administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 3.27 percent received the second dose. (Antaranews)

Jakarta.  Vice President Ma'ruf Amin boarded the BAe RJ 85 Presidential Aircraft from Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Army Air Base,  here on Monday, for Lampung to witness the COVID-19 vaccination and construction of the Way Sekampung Dam.

The vice president departed at 7 a.m. local time and arrived at the Lampung Radin Inten II Airport at 7:40 a.m. local time for the work visit. Lampung Governor Arinal Djunaidi and several members of the Lampung Province Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) greeted the vice president upon his arrival.

After observing the COVID-19 vaccination at the Lampung Governor's Office complex, the vice president, in the company of Pringsewu District Head Sujadi and the head of the Mesuji Sekampung River Basin Center, then observed the construction of the Way Sekampung Dam in Pringsewu of Lampung Province.

The work to construct the Way Sekampung Dam had reached 92-percent completion and will be ready in July. The designed capacity of the dam is 68 million cubic meters.

The dam was built to store water for irrigation to an area of 55,373 hectares. Meanwhile, water stored in the dam is also used for irrigation development in the Rumbia Extension area spanning 17,334 hectares.

Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Doni Monardo and Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono also accompanied Amin during the work visit. (Antaranews)