VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Flood hit five sub-districts in Bandung District, West Java Province, on Sunday, inundating thousands of houses and forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes.

By 07.00 a.m. on Sunday, the flood affected 11,659 families or 40,844 residents in Bandung District, Manager of the Center for Disaster Control of the West Java Provincial Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) Budi Budiman Wahyu said.

The flood inundated 7,638 houses, 13 schools, and 32 places of worship, with floodwater ranging from 10 cm to 2 m in depth.

Budi said the affected people have evacuated to higher grounds. The number of flood evacuees reached 364 in Dayeukolot Sub-district, 331 in Baleendah Sub-district.

Some of the evacuees are being sheltered at the office of the Dayeukolot Sub-district and the National Karate-Do Institute (Inkanas) Building in Baleendah Sub-district.

The flood followed heavy rains which fell in Bandung District and Bandung City on Saturday and caused Citarum and Cikapundung Rivers to overflow.

The flood also cut off land communication between Andir and Katapang on Sunday, forcing the BPBD to send five inflatable boats, seven fiber boats, and three aluminum boats to carry humanitarian aid including tents to the affected areas.

The BPBD has also sent logistics to flood-hit sub-districts including 35 boxes of instant noodle, 50 boxes of mineral water, 73 pieces of blanket, 50 packages of basic necessities and 59 pieces of mattress. (ANTARA)

Energy Watch Executive Director Mamit Setiawan has expressed regret over PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia's move to stop drilling in the Rokan oil block in Riau Province since it could have a significant impact on the reduction of national oil and gas production.

"Chevron has stopped drilling (in the oil block) while in fact, they are still contractor there until 2021. The move highly disrupts national oil and gas stocks. The decline in national production in 2019 was among others the result of Chevron's move to stop drilling in the oil block," he said in a written statement released on Saturday.

He said the Rokan oil block is the second largest contributor to the national oil production next to the Cepu Block in Central Java Province. The Rokan Block also has extraordinary oil deposits.

"So there is still large potential there. In fact, Chevron also has not exploited a number of wells there. If it continues to stop drilling in the block, the oil and gas production will likely drop again in 2020," he said.

At a hearing with the House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VII in Jakarta on Monday (Jan 20, 2020) PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia President Director Albert Simanjuntak revealed that the company has no longer drilled in the Rokan oil block since 2018 because the block is no longer economical.

The other reason behind the company's decision to stop drilling in the block is that its contract will expire on August 8, 2021 after which state oil and gas company PT Pertamina Hulu will manage it.

Setiawan said Chevron's decision to stop drilling in the Rokan oil block has not only affected the national oil and gas production but also caused difficulties for Petamina to raise production when it starts managing the block in 2021.

He said when Pertamina took over the Mahakam Block the old contractor also stopped drilling in the block during the transitional period. Hence, when Pertamina started taking over the block its production also dropped.

"As a result, all sides put the blame on Pertamina. They did no t know the history that during the period of transition no drilling was allowed What I am worried about is that it will happen to the Rokan block," he said;

During the transition period only six out of 40 wells were drilled after Pertamina intervened in the issue, he said. (ANTARA)

Some 174 Chinese tourists arrived at Minangkabau International Airport in West Sumatra Province on Sunday at around 06.36 a.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) amid a global fear of Wuhan's novel coronavirus outbreak.

West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno and Secretary of the West Sumatra provincial administration Alwis warmly welcomed them at the airport's arrival terminal. They were also entertained with a dance and Talempong (musical) performance.

As part of the Indonesian Government's precautionary measures for halting the spread of coronavirus, the airport's authority screened all passengers arrival from international flights, including the Chinese tourists.

Prior to their arrival, Head of PT Marawa Corporate Darmawi told journalists that 174 tourists departed from Kumning International Airport in Yunnan Province, which is far away from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

Before boarding the aircraft heading to West Sumatra, they had actually been checked by the health authorities at Kunming International Airport to ensure that they did not suffer the symptoms of coronavirus, he said.

The six-day trip of these Chinese travelers to West Sumatra was facilitated by PT Marawa Corporate collaborating with Cocos Tour.

During their stay in the province until Jan 31, the Chinese tourists would visit several popular destinations. "We hope that the coming of foreign tourists to West Sumatra will positively affect local people's economy," he said.

As of Sunday, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of 56 people in China, and many other countries, including the United States of America and Canada, have announced their confirmed cases.

However, none of confirmed cases has been found in Indonesia. Apart from this reality, since the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its official statement on the outbreak of coronavirus in China, the Indonesian Government has stayed alert.

As part of its precautionary measures, thermal scanners have been installed at various airports around the archipelago for screening international passengers.

The thermal scanners are aimed at detecting any foreign tourist suffering from the symptom of this novel (new) coronavirus.

The first case of coronavirus was declared by Chinese authorities after a person with pneumonia was hospitalized in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, according to an official statement of the World Health Organization (WHO).

As published in its official statement on January 9, 2020, WHO revealed that the "Chinese investigators conducted gene sequencing of the virus, using an isolate from one positive patient sample."

As for the outbreak of the coronavirus, ANTARA quoted a WHO report from its official website Thursday that it was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan on December 31, 2019,

In addition to providing care to patients and isolating new cases as they are identified, Chinese public health officials have reported that they remain focused on continued contact tracing, conducting environmental assessments at the wholesale market, and investigations to identify the pathogen causing the outbreak.

WHO is closely monitoring this event and is in active communication with counterparts in China. In line with standard protocols for any public health event, an incident management system has been activated across the three levels of WHO (country office, regional office and headquarters) and the Organization is prepared to mount a broader response if needed.

WHO further revealed that the preliminary determination of a novel virus would assist authorities in other countries to conduct disease detection and response. Over the past week, people with symptoms of pneumonia and reported travel history to Wuhan had been identified at international airports.

"WHO does not recommend any specific measures for travelers. WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the information currently available," it said. (ANTARA)

Tarakan city's health office in the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan has protected its ground workers with N95 masks and medical gloves to prevent them from being infected by any passenger with suspected coronavirus symptoms.

"We have ordered our health workers directly contacting with passengers at the city's airport and seaports to wear N95 masks and medical gloves," Head of Tarakan City's Health Office-Class II Ahmad Hidayat said here on Sunday.

The health workers were also supported with an ambulance unit on standby for evacuating any passenger with suspected coronavirus symptoms to the Tarakan public hospital, he said.

As part of the precautionary measures, thermal scanners had also been installed at the seaports of Nunukan and Malundung as well as Juata Airport to screen passengers arriving from other countries, particularly the Malaysian city of Tawau.

As of Sunday, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of 56 people in China, and many other countries, including the United States of America and Canada, have announced their confirmed cases.

However, none of confirmed cases has been found in Indonesia. Apart from this reality, since the World Health Organization (WHO) issued its official statement on the outbreak of coronavirus in China, the Indonesian Government has stayed alert.

As part of its precautionary measures, thermal scanners have been installed at various airports around the archipelago for screening international passengers.

The thermal scanners are aimed at detecting any foreign tourist suffering from the symptom of this novel (new) coronavirus.

The first case of coronavirus was declared by Chinese authorities after a person with pneumonia was hospitalized in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, according to an official statement of the World Health Organization (WHO).

As published in its official statement on January 9, 2020, WHO revealed that the "Chinese investigators conducted gene sequencing of the virus, using an isolate from one positive patient sample."

As for the outbreak of the coronavirus, ANTARA quoted a WHO report from its official website Thursday that it was informed of a cluster of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan on December 31, 2019,

In addition to providing care to patients and isolating new cases as they are identified, Chinese public health officials have reported that they remain focused on continued contact tracing, conducting environmental assessments at the wholesale market, and investigations to identify the pathogen causing the outbreak.

WHO is closely monitoring this event and is in active communication with counterparts in China. In line with standard protocols for any public health event, an incident management system has been activated across the three levels of WHO (country office, regional office and headquarters) and the Organization is prepared to mount a broader response if needed.

WHO further revealed that the preliminary determination of a novel virus would assist authorities in other countries to conduct disease detection and response. Over the past week, people with symptoms of pneumonia and reported travel history to Wuhan had been identified at international airports.

"WHO does not recommend any specific measures for travelers. WHO advises against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China based on the information currently available," it said. (ANTARA)