VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Consul General in Sydney, Heru Hartanto Subolo, has stressed the significance of cooperation between Indonesia and Australia to face global challenges, especially in the health and environment sectors.

The consul general delivered his remarks at the inauguration of the Centre for Environment and Population Health (CEPH), Hub for Global Health Security, at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, according to a statement received by Antara in Sydney on Monday. "I encourage more collaboration, cooperation and connection between Griffith University, specifically the Centre for Environmental and Population Health, the Hub for Global Health Security, which was inaugurated today, with universities and related institutions in Indonesia," the Subolo Consul General said.

He added that cooperation, collaboration and connections will make Indonesia and Australia more productive and effective in responding to global and environmental security.

Griffith University has invited Consul General Subolo to deliver a speech during the inauguration of this institution along with other representatives of fellow countries, namely, the Chinese Consul General in Brisbane and the Vietnamese Embassy in Canberra.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Queensland State Government and Australian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade were also present at the inauguration ceremony and gave speeches.

Former Indonesian Minister of Environment, who is also the Indonesian President's Special Envoy for Climate Change, Rachmat Witoelar, and his wife, Erna Witoelar, were also present.
Indonesia, China and Vietnam are countries where the CEPH establishes partnerships.

With Indonesia, the CEPH has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indonesia Muslim University in Makassar (South Sulawesi) in October 2014 on research seminars, training events and workshops.

Griffith University’s CEPH is an academic centre that provides international collaboration with a focus on research, including theories and practices on global health promotion, conservation, disaster risk management and global health security.

"At the end of August 2018, President Joko Widodo and Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, expanded the partnership between Indonesia and Australia into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. I hope the CEPH can contribute to the implementation of people-to-people connections with the new partnership," Consul General Subolo said.

He underlined the commitment of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Sydney to facilitate the cooperation that has been established and the one which will be built in the future between the centre and its partners in Indonesia. (ANTARA)

The Istiqlal Grand Mosque is under renovation in accordance with President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi's) instruction, and the work is expected to be completed in March 2020, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono stated.

"In line with the instruction of President Jokowi, we have embarked on a major renovation of Istiqlal since May 2019," the minister remarked in a statement in Jakarta on Monday.

The renovation work will cover the mosque's inner section and outer landscape whose open green area is to be expanded, from 29 percent to 35 percent of the total area.

The minister had paid a visit to Istiqlal Mosque, located in Central Jakarta, on Saturday to review the progress in the renovation.

Once the renovation is complete, the Istiqlal Mosque is expected to become the pride of not only Indonesian Muslims but also the nation, the minister emphasized.

The mosque will be equipped with a two-story parking area, with a capacity to accommodate some two thousand cars.

Offices and an Islamic education park, located in the basement, will also be renovated.

To expedite the renovation work, the number of construction workers has been increased, from some 200 to at least 400.

PT Waskita Karya is the executing contractor, and PT Virama Karya is the consultant for construction management.

The renovation contract is valued at Rp465.3 billion sourced from the 2019-2020 State Budget, with the number of working days reaching 300.

Measuring a total area of 109,547 square meters, the Istiqlal Grand Mosque building is 80,948 square meters large. It has a capacity to accommodate 200 thousand Muslim worshippers.

The foundation stone was laid by Indonesia's First President Sukarno on August 24, 1961, and the construction took 17 years. President Suharto inaugurated it as the national mosque on February 22, 1978.

Istiqlal, which means "Independence," is the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia and located near the Presidential Palace. (ANTARA)

Latvia supports Indonesia’s candidacy as a United Nation Human Rights Council member from 2020 to 2022, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkvis confirmed during a bilateral meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in Jakarta Friday. “I reiterate my encouragement for Indonesia in many international organizations. I believe that our mutual relations in UN agencies have been doing fine so far, and we will keep supporting Indonesia in UN Human Rights Council,” Rinkvis said after the meeting.

In its nomination as a member of the council, Indonesia addressed a theme of “Indonesia True Partner for Democracy, Development, and Social Justice”.

In the election which will be held at the 74th UN General Assembly in New York next November, Indonesia will compete with five other Asia Pacific countries, which are China, Japan, South Korea, Iran, and the Marshall Islands.

She was optimistic about the votes that Indonesia would gain in the election, including from Latvia, Marsudi admitted.

“Earlier, the Foreign Minister of Latvia had stated that he would give positive consideration, so hopefully his country will totally support our country,” she said.

During the process of nominations, Indonesia has received support from a number of countries, all unilaterally and reciprocally, she continued.

“Numerous countries had stated that they would support Indonesia unilaterally, which means we don’t need a reminder for payback. But we will consider it whenever they need assistance,” Marsudi noted.

Previously, Indonesia had been a member of the Human Rights Council on four occasions, in 2006-2007; 2007-2010; 2011-2014, and the 2015-2017 period.

Through this candidacy, Indonesia aims to continue to involve actively and constructively in promoting and respecting human rights and basic freedoms. (ANTARA)

An English Language Training for 18 ASEAN disaster response officers held by the Indonesian government in collaboration with the United States Embassy is focusing on disaster management.

"The instructors have very broad language proficiency, but they try to communicate in the context of disaster management," Director of the Executive and Custom Language Programs, Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) at Monterey, Alicia Brent Nurse, said in Jakarta, Friday (19/07/2019).

In the English language training for disaster response officers, there was also a communication environment and context such as working with a national unity system in a simple way, she explained.

Thereafter, the disaster response officers who were trained also implemented the framework of the disaster system and each of them took on a different role in the class.

This aims to make everyone participate in and truly contribute the knowledge they have, she explained.

"Even though their English competence is still low, we continue to encourage them to expose as many things as they know," she said.

In addition, disaster officials are also encouraged to collaborate and exchange ideas regarding disaster management with other people in their fields.

In this case, the ASEAN disaster response officers would learn from each other, she said.

"For me personally, doing this is very challenging, as this will enrich knowledge and closeness to the environment," she said.

Collaboration among members or disaster response officers in ASEAN must include the knowledge of English language skills which would make it easier to respond to things, Director of the Regional English Language Office (RELO), the US Embassy, Jakarta, Dr. Bradley Horn said.

This is the reason for holding an English language course. (ANTARA)