VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta - The United States (US) supports Indonesia in its efforts to fight the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic by extending assistance worth US$2.3 million (some Rp36 billion).

The donation was readied through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Embassy in Jakarta stated on Friday.

Heather Variava, US Chargé d’Affaires in Jakarta, announced that the US Government, through USAID, will offer emergency aid, worth $2.3 million to Indonesia, under the US’ global efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19.

This emergency assistance will support ongoing efforts of the Ministry of Health, Presidential Staff Office (KSP), and Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB).

"For over 50 years, we have partnered with the Government of Indonesia, through USAID and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on pressing health issues, including infectious diseases," Variava noted.

"As the Government of Indonesia joins the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, we are committing additional emergency funding to support their disease prevention, detection, and response efforts," she affirmed.

The US government is financing this assistance from USAID’s Emergency Reserve Fund for Contagious Infectious Diseases. The US government is extending these funds to multilateral institutions and programs led by the USAID implementing partners in individual countries.

The assistance to Indonesia’s COVID-19 response will be instantaneously channeled to bolster lab capacity, expedite testing, and streamline disease tracking at the community level.

It will also boost risk communications to provide the public with reliable, verifiable information to keep all informed on ways to protect themselves and those around.

"Indonesia is ready to work along with other countries in forging collaboration to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including the US Government, to support us in handling the COVID-19 pandemic," Acep Somantri, director for International Cooperation Affairs, Ministry of Health, stated.

The US government remains committed to working alongside partner countries, including Indonesia, in combating the deadly pandemic to ensure health security for one and all.

Since an infectious disease, such as coronavirus infection, can become a threat everywhere, the US has called on other donors to contribute to the global efforts to combat the COVID-19 crisis. (ANTARA)

Mount Anak Krakatau in Lampung that began erupting on Friday at 10:35 p.m. local time has continued to bellow ash until Saturday morning at 5:44 a.m. local time, Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) stated.

In its first eruption on Friday evening, the erupting Mount Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa) sent ash some 657 meters into the air, according to the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center (PVMBG), BNPB Spokesman Agus Wibowo noted in a statement in Jakarta on Saturday.

The column of ash that appeared gray and of moderate to thick intensity tended to drift to the north, he stated, adding that the center's seismograph recorded a 38-minute-and-four-second long eruption of amplitude 40mm.

While drawing reference to the Lampung Selatan Disaster Mitigation Agency's (BPBD's) reports, Wibowo remarked that the local residents of Rajabasa Sub-district in Lampung Selatan District were quoted as saying at 4 a.m. local time that they did not smell sulfur and volcanic ash.

Rains reportedly began lashing the neighborhood areas of Way Mulih, Way Mulih Timur, and Kunjir sub-districts. Local residents who fled their houses also began returning back.

"However, several of them remain cautious of the situation," he stated.

The volcano’s alert status was at level II, or caution. The Lampung Selatan Disaster Mitigation Agency’s personnel have appealed to locals to stay calm since Mount Anak Krakatau's volcanic activities had subsided.
As of Saturday morning, no reports of damages were received following the eruption, but local military and police personnel remained on standby to assist the authorities of villages and sub-districts, he stated.

The volcano has repeatedly erupted over the past years.

On Dec 31, 2019, the volcano in Sunda Strait also erupted, emitting a nearly one thousand-meter-high ash column into the air.

The Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation (PVMBG) of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry observed a column of thick gray-to-black ash billowing out of the volcano and reaching as high as one thousand meters from its crater, or 1,157 meters above sea level, when the volcano erupted at 6:51 a.m. local time.

The seismogram recorded the eruption, with a maximum amplitude of 44 millimeters and a duration of one minutes, 33 seconds, according to the center's statement. (ANTARA)

A cloud of ash column reaching a height of up to 3,000 meters from the peak of Mount Merapi (on April 10, 2020. (ANTARA)

Mount Merapi, situated at the border of Central Java Province and Yogyakarta, erupted on Friday, emitting a cloud of ash column up to three thousand meters from the volcano's peak.

Merapi erupted at 9:10 a.m. local time, with a duration of 103 seconds and an amplitude of 75 millimeters (mm), the Geological Disaster Investigation and Technology Development Agency (BPPTKG) stated on its official Twitter account on Friday.

Mount Merapi’s eruption is the second time since it first erupted on April 2, 2020, with an ash column reaching a height of three thousand meters, a duration of 345 seconds, and an amplitude of 78 mm.

The BPPTKG has, until now, maintained the status of Mount Merapi at level II, or "alert," and recommended against conducting climbing activities, except for the purposes of investigation and research relating to disaster mitigation.

People were also advised to not conduct activities within a three-kilometer radius from the summit of Mount Merapi.

The BPPTKG has urged people to stay calm and not panic and to take precautionary measures against ash rain following the eruption. (ANTARA)