VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) expressed gratitude to workers of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) and its regional offices nationwide for their dedication to assist and mitigate those severely affected by catastrophes.

"I know that anytime disasters strike, you all are ready for being deployed to rescue and mitigate our people. In this opportunity, I want to thank you," he remarked while addressing the participants of BNPB's national coordinating meeting here on Tuesday.

Despite the hard work and dedication of BNPB workers and other volunteers in helping the people in disaster zones, President Jokowi reiterated the need to reduce the socio-economic sufferings of both those affected and the state.

The potential catastrophes and occurrences of natural disasters tend to rise with every passing year. As a result, people are prone to social and economic losses owing to damage to infrastructure facilities and ongoing threats of climate change and human factors.

Hence, President Jokowi highlighted the significance of finding permanent solutions related to preventive and mitigation efforts. Thus, Indonesia can prevent or at least significantly reduce the potential occurrences of disasters.

As a precautionary measure against the paramount impact of tsunami, for instance, planting mangrove seeds in coastal areas is deemed necessary. "In my recent visit to Sukajaya Sub-district in Bogor District, I had also emphasized the need to halt the recurrence of landslides," he noted.

To this end, President Jokowi highlighted the significance of conducting soil rehabilitation and replanting trees with solid and multiple trunks there.

Harkat Jaya Village in Sukajaya Sub-district, Bogor District, is one of the areas in West Java Province that bore the maximum brunt of this early January's catastrophe.

According to BNPB's spokesman, Agus Wibowo, flash floods and landslides swamped a wide range of areas in various sub-districts in the provinces of Jakarta, West Jakarta, and Banten.

The flash floods, caused by high-intensity rainfall in early January, submerged several areas of 18 sub-districts in Bekasi District, 17 sub-districts in Jakarta, and 13 sub-districts in Bogor District and Tangerang City respectively.

The disaster also affected 12 sub-districts in Bekasi City; 11 sub-districts in Depok City; and six sub-districts in Lebak District, Bogor City, and Tangerang Selatan City respectively, Wibowo stated.

Consequently, floodwaters, submerging houses, led to the forced displacement of 149,537 residents of Bekasi City in West Java Province. They were accommodated at 97 temporary shelters, while 11,474 Jakartans also took refuge and stayed at 66 temporary shelters.

The catastrophe had also claimed at least 60 lives and resulted in two others going missing, Wibowo added. (ANTARA)

The Riau Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) deployed a team to handle the recent attacks of wild Sumatran tigers (panthera tigris sumatrae) on four cows, owned by residents of Rantau Bertuah Village, Siak, Riau.

The team members were dispatched from the Minas Elephant Training Center to ensure that the incident had indeed occurred in Rantau Bertuah Village, Minas Sub-district, as reported by local residents, the agency's head, Heru Sutmantoro, informed journalists here on Tuesday.

The villagers found carcasses of two baby cows. It is assumed that they had been attacked by the hungry Sumatran tigers, he remarked, adding that his team's members had coordinated with local police and military officers, as well as the village authorities, and owners of the dead cows.

He noted that after examining the footsteps inside the concession area of PT Arara Abadi around a kilometer away from the village, the team members confirmed that the Sumatran tigers were behind the attack.

The villagers also reported to have lost four cows, but two carcasses had, so far, been discovered, while two other cows were yet missing, he remarked, adding that the owners might have left the cows there to graze on the grass inside the plantation company's area.

The human-tiger conflicts continue to occur in Sumatra Island.

In 2019, the South Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) had confirmed 15 tiger attacks in South Sumatra Province that resulted in the deaths of five people and injuries of 10 others.

From November to December 2019, the conservation office had investigated six reports of tiger attacks. Hasibuan stated that the first attack took place on November 16, 2019, in which a 19-year-old tourist had got injured.

Following the incident, a Sumatran tiger also attacked a 58-year-old farmer in Lahat District that resulted in fatal injuries.

In the third report of human-tiger conflict on December 2, another farmer was injured, and he had witnessed a mother tiger and her cub at the location of the incident in Rimba Candi Village, Pagaralam City, South Sumatra Province.

ANTARA noted that in Indonesia, Sumatran tigers (Pantera Tigris Sumatrae) were the only surviving tiger species, as the country had already lost two sub-species of tigers to extinction: the Bali tiger that became extinct in 1937 and the Javan tiger in the 1970s.

Sumatran tigers, the smallest of all tiger species, are currently a critically endangered species only found on Sumatra Island, Indonesia’s second-largest island.

The tigers are on the brink of extinction owing to deforestation, poaching, and conflicts between wild animals and local people owing to their dwindling habitats.

The exact figure of Sumatran tigers left in the wild is ambiguous, though the latest estimates range, from under 300 to possibly 500 at 27 locations, including in the Kerinci Seblat National Park, Tesso Nilo Park, and Gunung Leuser National Park.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), their numbers have decreased, from some one thousand in the 1970s.

The 2009 report by the forestry ministry points to conflict with humans beings being the biggest threat to conservation. The report cited that on average, five to 10 Sumatran tigers have been killed yearly since 1998. (ANTARA)

Bangka Belitung islands provincial government will cooperate with state-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina to expedite construction of a catalyst factory to offer added value to the abundant Kaolin raw materials in the province.

"We have visited Pertamina to ensure cooperation for the construction of this catalyst factory," Bangka Belitung Governor Erzaldi Rosman Djohan stated here on Tuesday.

Djohan noted that the province had profuse amounts of Kaolin -- the raw material of catalyst used in oil processing -- that had yet to be optimally utilized to improve the economy of the local community.

“These kaolin-based catalysts have, so far, been regularly imported from the United States since most of the world’s petroleum companies use the catalyst for petroleum processing,” he expounded.

He also spoke of Bangka Belitung having good quality kaolin that had, in fact, drawn foreign companies to invest in building a kaolin-based catalyst factory.

"The process (of cooperation) can be carried out through collaboration with Pertamina. This is going to be an extraordinary investment, so we cannot waste this opportunity," Djohan suggested.

He pointed out that Kaolin from the province had, so far, only been exported to China without first being processed, so it had no added value.

However, Djohan also noted that huge investment funds will be required to build a catalyst factory. Hence, the expected cooperation with Pertamina can offer some benefits to the province and people.

"We would like to thank Pertamina for supporting this cooperation plan, and the construction of a catalyst factory would hopefully be realized immediately," he remarked. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian government has banned the import of live animals from China following the coronavirus outbreak in the country, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has said. "The government has banned the import of live animals from China. If (live animals) have been imported, they will be returned since the disease can be transmitted from humans to humans and wild animals," he said at the Bogor Presidential Palace Tuesday.

He made the remarks after attending a limited meeting headed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to discuss the preparedness to face the impact of the coronavirus.

The policy followed the government's decision to ban all newcomers arriving from mainland China and those staying in mainland China for 14 days from entering and transiting Indonesia and to temporarily suspend the issuance of visas on arrival for Chinese citizens.

The policy does not apply to the import of goods including horticultural goods such as garlic and fruits because the goods are not related to the transmission of the disease, he said.

The government is mulling further action including studying the impact of the outbreak on the national economy, he said.

"We will keep monitoring (the spread of coronavirus) in China until mid-February. The outbreak is expected to last until mid-February and their quarantine will be evaluated at the end of February, so we will do the same," he said.

Responding to the decline in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Indonesia, he said the government will encourage domestic travelers to visit various tourist destinations in the country.

"The government will encourage travels to tourist destinations in Bali, Batam, Bintan and Manado by offering special tariffs. We will also encourage domestic conferences and MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Convention and Exhibition) to be held in the tourist resorts to boost the numbers," he said.

The live animals the government has banned from being imported include reptiles, Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto said.

"The decision is that we ban the import of live animals. All live animals such as turtles, snakes and reptiles are banned because they are related to the virus," he said. (ANTARA)