VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Some 14 Iranians stranded for nearly a week in the Meulaboh waters in West Aceh District, Aceh Province, departed, Sunday evening, for the Indian Ocean under the escort of immigration, water police, and rescue personnel.

"We escorted the boat carrying the foreign nationals up to 15 miles to the west (of Meulaboh coast) to the Indian Ocean," Head of the Information and Communication Technology Section of the Meulaboh Immigration Office Adi Hari Pianto stated on Sunday.

The 14 Iranian nationals had been stranded since Jan 27 after their boat encountered an engine malfunction since they were in the Maldives waters. Once repairs were conducted on the boat, they continued their journey.

The 14 Iranian nationals are identified as Lal Muhammad, Annar, Al Abbas, Abdullah, Mohammad Rafiq, Abdul Nasir, Abdullah Fariziq, Jawi, Ismail, Muhammad Rafiq, Nathim, Adam, Syahaqi, and Amir Muhammad.

Before being dispatched to the high seas, the West Aceh district government, along with authorized agencies, had provided them logistics, including rice, clean water, and other basic necessities.

Pianto expressed hope that with the provision of logistics assistance, they would not encounter any shortage of food and drinking water during their journey.

Pianto confirmed that his side had coordinated with the Iranian Embassy in Jakarta to dispatch the Iranian nationals.

"According to the information we had received, the boat, carrying the 14 Iranian nationals, will dock in the Maldives waters where their countrymen have been waiting for them," he stated.

Pianto had earlier remarked that the local fishermen in West Aceh had located the 14 Iranian nationals, whose boat had got stranded in the Indian Ocean, near Meulaboh City, on Jan 28 when the oil pump broke down.

"The boat had stopped operating at the 04° 26' 616 N 064° 22' 488 E coordinates in the Maldives waters and was adrift in the Meulaboh waters in West Aceh District, at a distance of 15 miles from the nearest land," he stated.

The boat, found to have no permits, documents, or a flag, was tugged by a local motorboat to the Meulaboh Port situated at 04° 7' 39.306" N 96° 8' 15.2088 E, he added.(ANTARA)

The government has been commended for its decision to evacuate Indonesians from Wuhan, China's epicenter of the deadly new coronavirus outbreak, and send them for quarantine to a military compound in Natuna, Riau Islands Province.

"The government has made all necessary preparations in accordance with the World Health Organization's (WHO's) observation protocol at an Indonesian Military (TNI) military compound," Charles Honoris, a legislator, noted in Jakarta on Monday.

Honoris, a member of the House of Representatives’ (DPR’s) Commission I, overseeing security and foreign affairs, also lauded 42 members of the evacuation team and the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing that had been actively involved in the evacuation mission.

Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto stated that a total of 238 Indonesians were airlifted from Wuhan, while seven others remained in the Chinese city.

Four of the seven Indonesians refused to get evacuated since they felt more comfortable there, though they had been offered to join the emergency evacuation, while three others failed in the Chinese authorities' health examinations prior to departure, he stated.

The evacuation mission has demonstrated sound synergy and cooperation among related ministries and agencies, Honoris remarked, adding that this experience can serve as a good example while facing tough challenges in future.

Speaking in connection with the government's decision to suspend the free-visa facility for Chinese nationals and scheduled flights to and from Mainland China, he believes the right decision was taken since the safety of all Indonesians should remain a primary priority.

"May the current situation in China get better and the coronavirus outbreak soon be contained," he added.

On Sunday, President Joko Widodo held a limited meeting at the Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta with several cabinet members as well as national police and military chiefs following the evacuation of 238 Indonesians and five members of an advance team from China's Hubei Province.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told journalists following the meeting that the Indonesian government would have placed a temporary ban on flights to and from Mainland China since 00:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

All visitors, coming in from mainland China and been there for 14 days, were also temporarily banned from entering or making a transit in Indonesia, she noted.

In the interim, the government has also put a stop to the visa-free policy and issuance of visa on arrival for Chinese nationals residing in Mainland China. Indonesian nationals are advised to not travel to mainland China.

The limited meeting was held after the government airlifted 243 Indonesian nationals, including five members of an advance team, from Wuhan, the epicenter of the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak.

The new coronavirus has claimed the lives of at least 304 people in China, and a 44-year-old resident of Wuhan, who had received medical treatment in the Philippines, according to the New York Times.

Garuda Indonesia has suspended its flights to and from China since Wednesday at 00:00 a.m. local time to support the Indonesian government's endeavors to halt the spread of coronavirus outbreak that has claimed at least 304 lives in China and one in the Philippines.

The decision to suspend the flight routes from several cities in Indonesia to China was also made by the Indonesian national flag carrier following the World Health Organization's (WHO's) recent declaration on Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The suspension was part of Garuda Indonesia's serious attention to precautionary measures being taken to avert the spread of the deadly virus, the airline's president director, Irfan Setiaputra, noted in a press statement that ANTARA received here on Sunday.

Garuda Indonesia prioritizes the safety of aviation as well as passengers and crew members, he remarked, adding that the suspension was made effective for the flight routes to and from the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou, and Xi'an.

Currently, the airline serves 30 scheduled flights to and from mainland China in a week while its flights to and from Hong Kong are being served under stringent surveillance of related authorities, Setiaputra stated.(ANTARA)

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin along with his wife, Wury Estu Handayani, visited the mourning house in Jakarta on Monday morning to pay their final respects to Salahuddin Wahid, who passed away at 77.

Amin and his wife left their residence for the mourning house after performing the subuh, or dawn prayer, and arrived there at around 5:20 a.m. local time. Amin then led a funeral prayer for the deceased Wahid.

Wahid, better known as Gus Solah, is a prominent figure of Nahdlatul Ulama and had dedicated years of his life to advance education at the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java Province.

Gus Solah, the grandson of national hero Hadratus Syaikh KH Hasyim Asy’ari and younger brother of late Abdurrahman Wahid, Indonesia's former president, is a graduate of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).

"He is so kind to me, and I feel close to him. He is a figure, who has served significantly in matters pertaining to statesmanship and religiosity," Vice President Amin noted in a press statement made available to ANTARA.

During his leadership at the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School, Wahid increased the number of santris, or students, and developed a science-based Islamic boarding school. "This is amazing," Amin stated.

Solah, who ailed from cardiovascular disease, breathed his last on Sunday at around 8:59 p.m. local time after being hospitalized at the Harapan Kita Hospital. He will be laid to rest in a cemetery in the Tebuireng Islamic Boarding School's area on Monday afternoon.(ANTARA)

Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd. (JCR) upgraded Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating, from BBB/positive outlook to BBB+/stable outlook (investment grade), as announced on January 31, 2020.

"JCR’s upgrade on Indonesia’s rating at BBB+/stable outlook reflects the rise in confidence among international stakeholders in the resilience of the Indonesian economy amidst global economic uncertainties," Governor of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjiyo, noted in a statement in Jakarta on Monday.

The BBB+/stable outlook (investment grade) is the highest rating level ever attained by Indonesia. This achievement mirrors the strong commitment of Bank Indonesia and the government as well as other relevant authorities in maintaining Indonesia's economic stability.

Going forward, Bank Indonesia will monitor domestic and global economic developments in utilizing its room to apply an accommodative policy mix to maintain controlled inflation and external stability as well as to support the economic growth momentum.

According to the JCR, the ratings mainly mirror Indonesia’s solid domestic consumption-led economic growth, restrained budget deficit and public debt, and resilience to external shocks supported by flexible exchange rate and credible monetary policies and accumulation of foreign exchange reserves.

Several factors support Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating upgrade.

First, among the reform agenda, infrastructure development has continued to progress faster than the JCR’s expectations. Second, the government has continued to implement fiscal expenditure reforms and curtail budget deficits, with adherence to restraining fuel subsidies. JCR views that Indonesia’s economic and fiscal bases have been strengthened.

The third factor pertains to intensifying efforts to address long-term challenges, including simplification of regulations through a plan to issue the “Omnibus Law” to facilitate foreign direct investment and the development of infrastructure and human capital. Fourth, the Jokowi administration's political base has been reinforced, thereby further strengthening the momentum of economic policy, he remarked.

The JCR views that infrastructure development, which the first Joko Widodo administration started as its top priority in October 2014, has been making steady headway.

The JCR noted that the second Joko Widodo administration clarified its stance to further bolster its reforms by defining a five-priority agenda: (i) infrastructure development, (ii) human resource development, (iii) regulatory simplification through the issuance of the Omnibus Law, (iv) bureaucratic reforms and (v) economic structural reforms aimed at reducing the country's dependence on natural resources. In particular, the Omnibus Law, yet under preparation, is an ambitious effort to integrate the amendment of over 80 laws that pose a hindrance to investment.

Moreover, Bank Indonesia is viewed as having responded to the knotty issue of striking a balance between maintaining external stability and sustaining domestic economic growth momentum through accommodative monetary and macroprudential policies, further strengthened the payment system policy and financial market deepening, as well as coordinated with the government and other relevant authorities.

Since the start of 2019, Bank Indonesia has been seeking to prop up credit supply by banks through a combination of consecutive policy rate cuts and relaxation of macroprudential policies.

Indonesia’s fiscal soundness has been maintained, as the central government debt remains restrained to about 30 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). JCR considers that the Joko Widodo administration has bared fairly feasible plans to cut the fiscal deficit to 1.76 percent of the GDP in its 2020 budget and to hold down the central government debt to below 30 percent of the GDP under its Medium-Term Fiscal Framework.

Furthermore, while continuing to face the need for financial deepening, Indonesian banks have been retaining their soundness, with their capital adequacy ratio and NPL ratio, standing at 23.66 percent and 2.77 percent, respectively, at the end of November 2019.

The JCR had earlier revised the outlook on Indonesia’s sovereign credit rating, from Stable to Positive, and affirmed Indonesia’s BBB (Investment Grade) issuer rating on April 26, 2019.(ANTARA)