VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Garuda Indonesia appointed ex-president director of state-owned telecommunication company PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia (INTI) Irfan Setiaputra as president director of the national flag carrier at its extraordinary meeting of shareholders here, Wednesday.

"Garuda Indonesia’s president director is Irfan Setiaputra," Sahala Lumban Gaol, who chaired the meeting, noted here on Wednesday.

Setiaputra was the PT INTI president director from 2009 to 2012. He was then appointed to lead several companies, including Cipta Kridatama, Reswarw Minerga Hatama, and Sigfox Indonesia.

Gaol noted that Dony Oskaria was appointed as deputy president director of Garuda Indonesia at the extraordinary meeting of shareholders.

The appointment of new president director and vice president director of Garuda Indonesia was part of the meeting's agenda. The other agenda pertained to a change in the company's organizational structure in response to a proposal from the board of commissioners through a letter, dated December 9, 2019, regarding an extraordinary meeting of Garuda Indonesia's shareholders.

The extraordinary meeting of shareholders was held in line with the Financial Service Authority’s (OJK's) Regulation No. 32/POJK.04/2014 on the plan and organization of a general meeting of publicly listed company's shareholders, according to information from Garuda Indonesia.

Special staff of the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry Arya Sinulingga had earlier noted that the new president director of Garuda Indonesia would be an outsider not embroiled in legal tussles. (ANTARA)

Batam, Riau Islands - The Port Health Office has heightened health checks at the international ports in Batam City, Riau Islands in an effort to anticipate the breaking of the Coronavirus. "In accordance with standards and regulations, we have been on alert for this case starting from early January 2020," said the Head of Batam's Quarantine Control and Epidemiology Surveillance, Romer Simanungkalit in Batam, Riau Islands, Wednesday.

It is necessary to heighten health security measures at all international ports in the city, as these are the entry points for hundreds of thousands of foreign citizens every month, he said.

One of the initial checks is done using thermal scanners that have been installed in all ports, Simanungkalit said.

Every inbound passenger must pass the thermal scanner and have their body temperature checked. If it is high, officers will carry out further checks.

There are two major symptoms that would make a person suspect of having contracted the Coronavirus, namely a fever and the flu, as well as a history of having been infected.

The Batam Port Health Office has 11 thermal scanner devices that have been activated at international ports, both air and sea, including Sekupang, Harbor Bay and Telaga Punggur Harbor.

Special measures have also been taken for passengers from China arriving at the ports.

"When there are passengers from China, all officers would don their masks," he said.

The office also alerted ambulances at ports for suspected passengers with the Coronavirus entering and requiring further action.

"We alert the ambulance, and coordinate with the Health Office if there are passengers who need to be referred," he added. (INE/ANTARA)

The plan to dissolve the Financial Service Authority (OJK) will only reduce the confidence investors have in Indonesia, Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) senior economist, Aviliani, said.

"This is dangerous for the confidence of investors since it gives the impression that we have no long-term confidence in the state institution," he said here on Wednesday

If OJK has not worked optimally to supervise financial institutions, both banks and non-bank financial institutions, then its supervision system must be strengthened and improved, she said.

"If a problem arises, we must think of how to improve the system based on inputs from the public. For instance, if most of the problems are found from non-bank (financial institutions), then the OJK's supervision system must be improved," she added.

"In my view, OJK has started to think of how to tighten non-bank financial institutions as it has done to the banking sector," she said.

Looking ahead, OJK needs to make better and clearer systems and regulations, including a regulation on whether or not an insurance company is allowed to manage investments, she said.

"This means that there are double the number of institutions allowed to issue products. So we must think of allowing insurance companies to focus on insurance businesses, including health and life insurance," she said.

Indef Executive Director, Eko Listiyanto, shared Aviliani's views, saying the plan to dissolve the OJK is not right. "It is not very relevant. What OJK needs to do is improve its supervision system," he said. (ANTARA)

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin urged all partaking in this year's simultaneous regional election to promote a peaceful fiesta of democracy and avoid inflammatory statements and spread of hoaxes that may impinge upon national unity.

"We are optimistic of no issues of ethnicity, religion, race or societal group (SARA) and hoaxes arising that may become a source for triggering conflicts," Amin informed journalists at his office here on Wednesday.

Amin stressed on the need to enforce stringent legal sanctions on violators to prevent the surfacing of conflicts, triggered by factors linked to ethnicity, religion, race, or societal group.

He emphasized that political elites, especially those involved in the regional election, to be held simultaneously in nine provinces, 224 districts, and 37 cities on Sept 23, 2020, should not provoke their supporters.

"I think the political elites have been aware of the fact that we all belong to the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). Hence, please avoid the issues of SARA. To this end, legal sanctions should be enforced," he stated.

Vice President Amin also highlighted the significance of imparting political education to the public at large as part of the combined efforts to build harmonious communities in Indonesia.

Political education can be disseminated at schools and discussion forums that can be accessed by community members to prevent them from being easily provoked by hoaxes and issues of SARA, Amin stated.

The proliferation of hoaxes, hate speeches, and slander has indubitably become a grave problem in Indonesian politics.

To address this problem, Head of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) Advisory Council Din Syamsuddin has also reminded all societal elements of the importance of respecting diverse opinions held by citizens.

Syamsuddin opined that holding different perspectives and political preferences is acceptable, though he requested that none should spread blasphemy. (ANTARA)