VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is upbeat about the capital city relocation to East Kalimantan saying that it will have been completed in 2024.

"As we have planned, we will relocate (the capital city)," Jokowi said at Mount Ainslie in Canberra, Australia on Sunday.

Mount Ainslie is a 843-meter high hill in Canberra that has become part of Canberra Nature Park. From the hill, visitors could observe the view of Canberra.

President Jokowi has visited the hill in the company of Chief Executive National Capital Authority Canberra Sally Barnes.

"We have conducted a city design competition a year ago. A study had also been started five years ago, and we have made a decision. We have to wait for the approval of the law before we can conduct the land clearing and start the basic infrastructure development," he elaborated.

Canberra is a "new city" specially designed as the capital of Australia. It was established in 1913, two years after the establishment of the Australian Capital Terrirory (ACT).

As the seat of the government of Australia, Canberra is home to many important institutions of the federal government, national monuments and museums. It also hosts the majority of foreign embassies in Australia, including the Indonesian Embassy.

Indonesia has planned to relocate its capital city to East Kalimantan in 2024.

On December 23, 2019, it announced the “Nagara Rimba Nusa” design as the winner of the design contest for the country’s new capital city.

The government has set aside 256,000 hectares of land for the new administrative centre.

Some 56 hectares of the total land will be the region that is not included in the autonomous province, managed by a city manager, while the rest will be designated as conservation. (ANTARA)

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan - The state needs the press in true perspective to function as the fourth pillar of democracy and play a vital role in maintaining the conducive situation of the state and nation, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.

"As the fourth pillar of democracy, the press is expected to provide information to the public, thwart hoaxes, and maintain the conducive situation of the nation," he stated while addressing National Press Day 2020, in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on Saturday.

He highlighted that the public also needs the press since it is obtaining good, reliable information from journalists joining the press association or a good environment.

Hence, the president noted that the government and various relevant parties had held discussions to issue a regulation in favor of the press so that journalists can perform their duties as properly as possible.

"We hope that through the regulation, we would present the press as being capable of working properly and furnishing sound information to the public since it is the result of good information," he stated.

The president expressed support to journalists to write various stories, including those supporting and criticizing the government's performance to change the situation for the better.

"We hope all pieces of information that journalists convey to the public would deliver maximum benefits. The information includes regional head elections to be conducted in various regions and the government's constant efforts to handle the coronavirus," he stated.

High-ranking state officials, ministers, and ambassadors of friendly countries, as well as thousands of journalists from all over the country, will also be present at the function to mark National Press Day 2020. (ANTARA)

Illustration: an Indonesian Army's MI-17 helicopter  (ANTARA)

Jayapura, Papua - The search efforts to locate the Indonesian Army's MI-17 helicopter which has gone missing in Papua Province since June 28, 2019, were resumed on Sunday by conducting a sweeping aerial operation above the area of Mimin Village, a military officer said.

The aerial operation was carried out by using a civilian chopper, Commander of the 1715 Yahukimo District Military Command Lt.Col.Eko Budi told ANTARA who contacted him from Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province, on Sunday.

Five soldiers joined the aerial operation. During the search mission, the civilian chopper swept the area of Mimin Village because it might be the location of the MI-17 crash, he said.

The Mimin Village area remains regarded by the residents of Pegunungan Bintang District as a sacred natural site, and the search and rescue ground team members did not sweep the area, he said.

"May those involving in the search operation be able to locate the missing chopper," he said.

Regarding this missing MI-17 helicopter, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Andika Perkasa had ever hinted that the search efforts would be continued.

"We are optimistic that all Indonesians will pray for the immediate finding of the missing helicopter," he told journalists after the inauguration of the military academy's graduates in Magelang, Central Java, in July last year.

On July 8, 2019, the search operation to trace the helicopter was conducted by the regional military command personnel along with those from the National Search and Rescue Agency (SAR) and the Indonesian Defence Forces' Headquarters, he remarked.

However, the SAR's efforts to locate the missing helicopter after taking off from Oksibil, Pegunungan Bintang District, on June 28 were hindered by factors including the erratic weather conditions and difficulties on the ground due to inaccessibility to roads.

Consequently, search efforts were conducted through sweeping aerial operations, Perkasa revealed.

Since the day of its missing, search efforts to locate the helicopter have been steadily made by involving a Bell Helicopter 206 and Bell Helicopter 412 bearing registration number HA-5177.

The MI-17 helicopter, bearing registration number HA-5138, was carrying 12 passengers and crew members on board, who had earlier flown to Okbibab to deliver logistics to soldiers serving in the area.

The crew members aboard the helicopter were pilots CPN Captain Aris and CPN Lieutenant Bambang, co-pilot First Lieutenant CPN Ahwar, Head Sergeant Suriyatna, Sergeant Dita, Head Private Dwi Purnomo, and Private Aharul.

The passengers, who were members of the Battalion 725/WRG, comprised Second Sergeant Ikrar Setya Nainggolan, Private Yanuarius Loe, Private Risno, Second Private Sujono Kaimuddin, and Second Private Tegar Hadi Sentana. (ANTARA)

Jakarta - The majority of Indonesians in mainland China had returned to Indonesia following the Indonesian Embassy's call for them to stay in their hometowns while waiting for the return of normalcy as the number of people confirmed to have recovered from the new coronavirus infection has climbed to 2,651.

"The majority of our citizens have returned home. The Chinese authorities have also extended the school holiday," Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun told ANTARA who contacted him from Jakarta on Sunday.

The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing had issued an official statement letter containing a call for Indonesians across China to return home if they had no essential reasons to keep staying to help them get rid of the impacts of deadly novel coronavirus outbreak.

The official statement letter was dated on January 29, 2020, and signed by Coordinator of the Protocol and Consular Affairs at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing Ichsan Firdaus.

Despite the fact that the majority of Indonesians had left China, Ambassador Djauhari Oratmangun said seven Indonesians still stay in Hubei Province, the epicenter of China's novel coronavirus outbreak.

They are all in good health, he said, adding that he holds daily video calls with them to know about their health condition. "Alhamdulillah (Thank God), they are all well," he said.

The Indonesian Government had brought 238 Indonesians home. They were airlifted using a chartered aircraft and arrived in Batam city, Riau Islands Province, on Feb 2. On the same day, they were all flown to Natuna and quarantined.

Before their departure, the health of these 238 Indonesian evacuees had been thoroughly examined by the Chinese authorities before being allowed to board the aircraft.

The Chinese health authorities confirmed that they were all in good health and could be airlifted, according to Indonesian Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto. There were seven other Indonesians who did not join the evacuation.

Four of the seven were offered the opportunity to join the emergency evacuation but refused because they felt more comfortable there, while three others failed the health examinations by Chinese authorities, Putranto said.

The novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan has seriously challenged mainland China as the death toll of this virus has risen to 813. Thus, the death toll of this 2019-nCoV has exceeded that of SARS epidemic.

Considering the rising mortality rate and the number of those infected inside and outside mainland China, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared this 2019-nCoV as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

According to WHO's official website, as of February 3, 2020, there had been 23 countries which have been reported with confirmed 2019-nCoV cases. Among them are Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, USA, and the Philippines.

Indonesia and many other countries are working with the Chinese authorities to evacuate their citizens from Wuhan. The evacuation is part of the accountability of the governments of those countries to their respective citizens. (ANTARA)