VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya explained about the reform of environmental and forestry governance in Indonesia in a virtual meeting forum between the Environment Ministers of the G20 countries.

Siti said that Indonesia is armed with three strengths in developing the environment and forestry, namely moral, intellectual, and financial strengths.

"Moral strength is the embodiment of the constitutional mandate, intellectual strength is obtained from various technical cooperation in environmental and forestry management with the international community, and funding strength is obtained from national priorities in the allocation of funding sources and from cooperation with other countries," she said in a written statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday,

On this occasion, Siti said one of President Joko Widodo's vision is providing a good environment for the people. She also added that since 2011, the government has implemented a moratorium on issuing new permits, and has now stopped new permits for the use of primary natural forests and peatlands. 

The government has also taken corrective action to reduce the rate of deforestation and continues to strive to improve forest landscape restoration, accelerate social forestry programs, and increase the effectiveness of conservation management.

Siti said the role of the businesses in land rehabilitation had also been increased. A land area of ​​102,000 hectares (ha) has been planted with the participation of the business permit holders. From the state budget funds, 100,000 to 200,000 hectares are planted per year. 

The mangrove forest area also does not escape the rehabilitation program. The government is targetting to rehabilitate 637,000 ha of critical mangrove areas out of 3.3 million ha of mangrove forests in Indonesia, which has started in 2020.

The Indonesian government is very serious about promoting habitat sustainability and biodiversity by developing corridors connecting fragmented habitats.

Since 2018, the government has evaluated all oil palm plantation concessions and company licenses. They identified that 1.34 million ha of land in the concession could be retained as High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF).

The Indonesian government is also consistent in applying Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Analysis in significant land-use plans such as food storage development.

She said that conservation areas that have been recognized as World Heritage Sites, Ramsar, and others are also being maintained.

They also improve best practices from the results of field research, educational forests, and community forests in Indonesia. (Antaranews)

New Zealand fell into its deepest economic slump on record in the second quarter as its battle against the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed business activity, official data showed on Thursday.
Gross domestic product contracted a seasonally adjusted 12.2% quarter-on-quarter, its sharpest quarterly contraction on record and largely in line with forecasts of a 12.8% decline from economists polled by Reuters. GDP fell 12.4% year-on-year.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand had forecast a quarterly and annual GDP decline of 14% in its August statement.

Growth has been hit by a standstill in economic activity as a strict nationwide coronavirus lockdown in April and parts of May forced almost everyone to stay at home and businesses to shut.

The GDP data confirms New Zealand’s worst recession, defined as two straight quarters of contraction, since 2010, with GDP in the March quarter falling 1.6%.

In comparison, second-quarter economic growth in neighboring Australia which enforced a less stringent COVID-19 lockdown fell 7.0%, while the United States recorded a 9.1% drop.

But economists say New Zealand will bounce back faster, while other nations are still struggling to contain the coronavirus.

“We expect the June quarter’s record-breaking GDP decline to be followed by a record-breaking rise in the September quarter,” said Westpac Senior Economist Michael Gordon.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s government, which faces an election on Oct. 17, has said success in suppressing the virus locally is likely to help recovery prospects.

Treasury forecasts released on Wednesday showed that while New Zealand’s response to COVID-19 helped lessen the short-term economic shock, massive debt and continuing disruptions will delay full recovery.

Economists say the GDP data will have little impact on the central bank’s policy, which is expected to hold interest rates at a record low of 0.25% at its meeting on Sept. 23. (Reuters)

Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P Batubara raises awareness of the rights of people with disabilities, including the right to have the opportunity to work.

"Although there are still many shortcomings from the government to meet the needs of people with disabilities, I invite everyone to be optimistic. The government cannot work alone and need cooperation with all parties, including the private sector," Juliari said in a press release, in Jakarta, on Thursday.

He explained that Law Number 8 of 2016 concerning People with Disabilities regulates, among other things, the fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities to have job opportunities.

According to Article 53 of the law, he continued, the government, local governments, state-owned enterprises, and regional-owned enterprises have an obligation to employ people with disabilities with a quota of at least two percent of the total number of employees or workers.

Private companies, according to the provisions, are obliged to employ persons with disabilities of at least one percent of its total employees.

The Minister of Social Affairs reminded the government, business entities, and private companies to carry out the law.

To support the fulfillment of these obligations, the Minister provides a vocational center to train people with disabilities.

The Ministry also coordinates with other ministries and government agencies to provide public facilities that are friendly to persons with disabilities.

Special Staff to the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Angkie Yudistia, stated that fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities is a shared responsibility.

"The mandate of the law lies with the Ministry of Social Affairs, but the Ministry of Social Affairs cannot work alone. Ministries, other institutions, and all of us must collaborate with each other because this is a human rights issue," Angkie said. (Antaranews)

The government is proposing a labor-intensive National Economic Recovery (PEN) program through Coral Reef Restoration at Sanur Beach, Serangan, Nusa Dua, Pendawa Beach, and Buleleng waters, Bali.

This is done to help coastal communities in Bali to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, especially in the marine sector and marine tourism.

"The PEN program is one of a series of activities to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on the economy," Andreas A Hutahaean, the head of marine conservation management and small island empowerment of the coordinating ministry for maritime affairs and investment, said on Wednesday.

"For Nusa Dua waters, this is one of the target locations for our PEN program, because it is included in one of the 5 coral reef restoration points that will be carried out in Bali and the place for the Indonesia Coral Reef Garden (ICRG),” Andreas said.

Andreas explained that Bali is the only area that has been proposed to receive PEN funds for coral reef restoration, with a total submission of Rp 115 billion. This labor-intensive program will absorb a workforce of 10,000-11,000 people.

"In addition, Bali was chosen because it is a marine tourism destination with its underwater beauty that many tourists are looking for. Bali is also a foothold for the economy of the community and local governments. So amid the weakening economic growth in Bali, the central government is here to provide a trigger to turn the economy from below," he explained.

There are 5 areas for implementing the PEN program in Bali, namely Pandawa Beach, Nusa Dua Beach, Sanur Beach, Serangan Beach, and Buleleng.

The PEN program is expected to start in early October and will be distributed through labor-intensive programs. The PEN program is one of a series of activities to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.

Apart from handling the health crisis, the PEN program in response to the decline of community activities that have an impact on the economy, especially the informal sector or MSMEs. (RRI)