VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Bambang Soesatyo has urged the Environment and Forestry Ministry to set up task force in each province to prevent land and forest fires.

"I urge the Environment and Forestry Ministry to set up a special task force in each region tasked with taking preventive steps to prevent land and forest fires," he said in Jakarta on Sunday.

In response to the historical record of land and forest fire cases, the ministry should take the initiative to set up task forces at a region level.The task forces are tasked with taking preventive steps to deal with land and forest fires, he said.

The task forces will be very ideal if their personnel are made up of central and regional government apparatuses, military and police personnel, customary community members and th Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) employees.

"It is very important for such task forces to coordinate with the BMKG to see the weather trend particularly during the dry spell," he said.

The ministry could map areas which need such task forces based om the historical record of land and forest fire cases and the behavior and attitude of the nearby community.

If the steps can be taken consistently and seriously the government regulation number 45 of 2004 will be able to prevent and reduce land and forest fires, he said (ANTARA)

Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla arrived at Westin Hotel New York, Grand Central, US, on Saturday night local time to attend the annual meeting of UN General Assembly 2019 at the UN Headquarters.

Upon arrival at the hotel Kalla and spouse were welcomed by Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, Communication and Information Technology Minister Rudiantara, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan, and Ambassador Mahendra Siregar.

The vice president will lead the  Indonesia delegation to the meeting and will deliver a speech  titled "Galvanizing Multilateral Efforts for Poverty Eradication, Quality Education, Climate Action, and Inclusion."

During  the Jokowi-Kalla administration in  the period of 2014-2019, Vice President Kalla has always represented President Jokowi at  the event.

The 74th UN General Assembly 2019 will be attended by 100 heads of state/government, three representatives of state leaders, 47 prime ministers, three ministers, two delegation leaders, and 193 representatives from UN  member countries.

On the sidelines of the event, Kalla will hold several bilateral meetings, and join a gala dinner hosted by US President Donald Trump at Lotte New York Palace Hotel (ANTARA)

Director General of Plantations of the Agriculture Ministry Kasdi Subagyono

The government aims to achieve self-reliance in sugar production in 2024 by expanding plasma sugarcane plantations outside Java.

"The government will assist (sugarcane growers) in expanding plasma plantations by providing land, clearing land, and giving seed, fertilizers and technical guidance to them," Director General of Plantations of the Agriculture Ministry Kasdi Subagyono said in a press statement released on Sunday.

He said the country still has great potential to develop sugarcane plantations outside the densely populated island of Java.

Plasma sugarcane plantations have been developed in the provinces of Lampung, West Nusa Tenggara, Southeast Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara and South Sumatra.

He further said the government will also cooperate with companies near plasma sugarcane plantations in providing technical guidance to farmers who will be engaged in sugarcane farming in the plasma land.

Data from the Directorate General of Plantations show domestic sugar consumption reaches an average of 2.8 million tons per year, while national sugar production stands at 2.5 million. To meet sugar needs, the country imports 300 thousand tons of sugar per year.

As a follow up to the directives of the agriculture ministry, the government plans to build 15 more sugar mills between 2020 and 2024 to meet industries' sugar needs estimated at 3.2 million tons in 2029 (ANTARA)

Swiss train manufacturing company Stadler Rail sealed an investment agreement with Indonesian train manufacturing company PT INKA in the form of a joint venture to establish a train factory in Banyuwangi, East Java.

The agreement was inked by Stadler Rail Executive Chairman Peter Spuhler and President Director of PT INKA Budi Noviantoro. It was witnessed by Indonesia's State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno and Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland Muliaman D. Hadad.

The agreement was signed at the Stadler Rail headquarters in Bussnang, Switzerland, according to a written statement issued by the Indonesian Embassy in Bern and received in London on Saturday.

Minister Soemarno stated that the investment will strongly support the development of transportation facilities in Indonesia, taking into account the fact that number of train passengers in the country continues to rise annually.

Ambassador Hadad remarked that in addition to obtaining investment and technology transfer from Switzerland as well as meeting the needs of more trains in Indonesia, the products of the joint venture company also hold potential to be exported to other nations in the Asia region.

The total investment is valued to reach US$100 million to be channeled to produce 125 train carriages annually, and the production will be increased to one thousand carriages per year.

Indonesia's state railway company PT KAI will be the key buyer of train carriages produced by the joint venture company.

The train factory will be built in an area of 83 hectares in Banyuwangi City that has a seaport located as far as three kilometers from the factory, the work on which is expected to be completed in 2020.

Furthermore, in a bid to back human resource development to cater to the needs of this industrial workforce, Stadler Rail will also establish a railway vocational school in Indonesia.  (ANTARA)