VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jakarta (VOI News) - The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is continously doing its best for the safety of Umrah pilgrims from all over the world including Indonesia. Related to the spread of the corona virus (Covid-19), until now the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is still suspending the implementation of the pilgrimage for pilgrims around the world who want to perform Umrah. This was stated by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Indonesia Essam bin Abed al-Thaqafi in a special interview with Voice of Indonesia at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday (11/03). According to Ambassador Essam bin Abed al-Thaqafi, his side was still waiting for the results of a concrete effort by the Saudi Arabian authority to prevent the spread of the corona virus (Covid-19)

“All what the Saudi government  is doing is because the safety of pilgrims  and the safety of those  are performing Umroh and Hajj  to Saudi Arabia. Indonesia is part of the world . When we suspend  umroh temporarily, it means for the security  and for the safe of those who are coming  to Mecca and Medina. You know  millions of people around the world come to  Mecca and Medina. Now Saudi Arabia is doing the  best  just to make Mecca and Medina  free of the disease  and hopefully Insya Allah very soon everything will be back to normal. Hopefully in Ramadhan  we’ll start receive Umroh performance,” said Ambassador Essam bin Abed al-Thaqafi.

In addition, Ambassador Essam bin Abed al-Thaqafi said that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has not been able to decide about the implementation of the Hajj in 2020 as it is going to be held in the next 4 months. (VOI / Ahmad Faisal / AHM)

Four of seven patients testing positive for coronavirus have shown signs of improving, after being treated at Persahabatan Central General Hospital in East Jakarta.

"One of the two patients (identified as case 20) has shown signs of improving, while the other one (identified as case 24) still complains about difficulty breathing," President Director of Persahabatan Central General Hospital Rita Rogayah said in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The other two patients, who also have shown signs of improving, are an Indonesian crew member from the Diamond Princess cruise liner (identified as case 06) and a 50-year old man who contracted Covid-19 infection abroad, she said.

Rogayah said the hospital is awaiting the result of a laboratory test conducted on swab samples from two patients, identified as cases 06 and 14, from the Research and Development Board (Balitbangkes) of the Health Ministry.

"They have shown signs of improving. If the results of laboratory tests from Balitbangkes indicate that they have tested negative for the virus, then we will deem them as recovered and they can be discharged," she said.

As of Wednesday, the hospital was continuing to treat seven patients diagnosed as having contracted coronavirus and nine patients still being monitored for symptoms of the virus.

The number of patients testing positive for coronavirus at the hospital increased to seven on Wednesday, from five the day before.

The government announced the first death of a Covid-19 patient in Indonesia on Wednesday.

The patient, identified as case 25, died on early Wednesday at around 2 a. m., government spokesperson for COVID-19 issues, Achmad Yurianto, said at the Presidential Palace.

He noted that the 53-year-old patient was suffering from pre-existing illnesses.

"This patient was admitted to the hospital in a serious condition with pre-existing diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, pulmonary issues, and chronic obstruction. This patient was a foreign national. The embassy was updated since the start, and now the process is underway to send her back to her country, as she was accompanied by her husband during treatment," he added. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar stressed that Indonesia could not accept the European Union (EU) energy policy which blamed biofuel from palm oil as a cause of deforestation, describing it as discriminatory.

Mahendra considered the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) and the Derivative Act released by the EU as a major challenge that would prevent the development of more productive and constructive relations between Indonesia and the EU.

"While the focus of the EU renewable energy policy is only limited to deforestation, in fact the environmental damage caused by vegetable oil in Europe goes further than that," Mahendra said, when opening the "Policy Dialogue on Strategic Bioenergy between Indonesia and Sweden" in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Citing the results of research published by Dr. Erich E Dumelin from the University of California, USA, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the productivity of palm oil is some 4 to 9 times greater than other vegetable oils.

In addition, palm oil only requires 19 kilograms of nitrogen fertilizer to produce 1 ton of oil, while other vegetable oils, such as canola (rapeseed), require up to 183 kilograms of the same fertilizer to produce 1 ton of oil.

The results of the study, published under the title Life Cycle Assessment of Palm Oil and Vegetable Oils, and the Environmental Impact of Palm Oil and Other Vegetable Oils (2009), also showed that palm oil only needs 0.01 kilograms of pesticides to produce 1 ton of oil, while to produce 1 ton of rapeseed oil requires the use of 35 kilograms of pesticides.

Referring to the research, Deputy Minister Mahendra emphasized the importance of using the correct perspective when talking about bioenergy or sustainable products, by looking at all parameters in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Indonesia, he said, did not arbitrarily choose one or two parameters of the SDGs to disguise the real destruction that had occurred.

On the contrary, Indonesia considers that the EU's renewable energy policy is only based on one or two targets, which is not appropriate because it does not use comprehensive and objective parameters which are internationally recognized.

"Indonesia will only accept fair treatment on this issue, because the development of vegetable oil must actually meet all SDG parameters. Apart from that, it cannot be accepted because it is discriminatory, " said Mahendra. (ANTARA)

Yogyakarta - King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti of the Netherlands met with Sultan Hamengku Buwono X of the Yogyakarta customary sultanate at the Yogyakarta Palace, Wednesday.

King Willem and Queen Maxima arrived at the Yogyakarta Palace at around 10:52 a.m. local time. Sultan Hamengku Buwono's daughters -- Gusti Kanjeng Ratu (GKR) Condrokirono, GKR Maduretno, GKR Bendara, and GKR Mangkubumi -- greeted the King and Queen as they entered through the Keben gate.

The Sultan, in traditional customary attire and accompanied by his wife, Sultana GKR Hemas, then welcomed the King and Queen. The minister of public works and public housing was also seen at the meeting.

Sultan Hamengku Buwono X invited the two royals to the Gedong Jene side of the palace (Keraton), and after around 30 minutes, they exchanged souvenirs and posed for pictures in the foyer of Gedong Jene.

They were then invited to Bangsal Kencana, the royal hall, to witness a performance of the Beksan Lawung ageng dance that drew attention to the tale of the palace soldiers' spirit to train during the ruling era of Sultan Hamengku Buwono I.

Before ending their visit, King Willem and Queen Maxima were served lunch in the palace's Bangsal Manis.

Sultan Hamengku Buwono X of Yogyakarta stated that no special discussions between the royals were held and "only informal chats."

He further noted that King Willem-Alexander also reminisced about the visit he undertook with his mother, Queen Beatrix, to the Yogyakarta palace back in the day.

"This is his second time here. He visited for the first time with his mother, and now, he has come to visit with his Queen," he noted.

The Dutch royals' visit to the Yogyakarta Palace is a part of the state visit to Indonesia. The King and Queen had earlier met with President Joko Widodo at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday. (ANTARA)