Day: July 26, 2021

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Extended community activity restrictions (PPKM) are needed in Indonesia since the recovery of public health needs to be prioritized at present, Institute For Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) Program Director Esther Sri Astuti has opined.

“The general (priority) in the fight against the pandemic right now is actually the health sector, not economy,” Astuti said at an online discussion here on Monday.

It, however, does not mean that the economic sector is not important, but it is not the sector that should be prioritized amid the current increase in COVID-19 cases, she clarified.

It would be futile to prioritize economic recovery over health as it would result in an increase in the number of deaths, the program director remarked.

“Any amount of funds and energy expended will be a waste,” she said.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia currently stands at 3.17 million, a relatively high number compared to other ASEAN nations such as Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Singapore, Astuti noted. Hence, the PPKM must continue to be enforced until the number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia starts to decline, she stated.

As an example, Astuti pointed to the way China tightly isolated itself when the number of COVID-19 cases in the nation spiked.

As a result, China’s economic growth contracted 6.8 percent in the first quarter of 2021, she said.

However, once the number of cases started to decline due to the strict closure, vaccination acceleration, as well as optimal tracing and testing, the country’s economy managed to grow slowly, she noted.

“So, the (Indonesian) government does not need to be afraid to implement the PPKM,” Astuti asserted.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has built community-based self-isolation shelters in Jakarta’s densely populated settlements for residents exposed to COVID-19 with mild to no symptoms.

Secretary General of PMI Sudirman Said confirmed that the shelters will be managed along with the local neighborhood (RT/RW) heads.

The shelter’s prototype was planned at three locations: Gatot Subroto Avenue, Lot 97, Mampang Prapatan District, South Jakarta; Cipayung District, East Jakarta; and Kelapa Gading Integrated Light Rail Transit (LRT) shelter, North Jakarta.

“In each shelter, we not only build the structure but also educate the community how to live in self-isolation,” Said explained at the Paramadina University campus, Jakarta, Monday.

Said noted that the basis for the implementation of controlled isolation was the community closest to the isolation site.

The rationale behind it is that all closest local communities, who are involved in the controlled isolation, will instruct and educate themselves and others, while the community health center will partake in monitoring the health, according to Said.

“The controlled isolation system will start by collecting the residents’ data from neighborhood heads. There is also a COVID-19 Task Force for neighborhoods that will record the data,” he expounded.

“Then, after the isolation tents are put up, each of them will be coordinated by two officers, one from the RT/RW and one from the local Red Cross, who will record who is eligible to enter,” he explained.

Controlled isolation shelters are being built to reduce family clusters and placate the burden on hospitals in accommodating COVID-19 patients, he remarked.

Said informed that his team had selected isolation areas that are quite large, easy to reach, and in proximity to the residents’ settlements.

Said inspected the self-isolation location in the courtyard of the Paramadina University Campus at around 11:40 a.m. local time. The plan was to erect two shelter tents that can accommodate up to 24 people.

Furthermore, in Cipayung District, East Jakarta, three tents are put up on the grounds of Paramadina University. They can accommodate up to 36 people.

Meanwhile, the Kelapa Gading LRT shelter does not use tents but utilizes office spaces, with a capacity of up to 25 people and can accommodate families.

Source: Antara News

For GH, a sexual violence survivor, the trauma of further harassment after reporting the assault has been unimaginably intense.

She said that after she reported the assault, several individuals related and even not related to her insulted and intimidated her, and exhibited a dismissive attitude as if to show her attacker’s intentions towards her were, somehow, justifiable.

GH’s experience is not singular. Sexual abuse victims often face victim-blaming, denial, and even lawsuits from their perpetrators after they approach the authorities to make a formal complaint. This has, unfortunately, been the case for thousands of sexual abuse victims who have come forward to officially reveal or report their assault.

According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), such inappropriate responses are the result of several factors. One of them is the lack of a proper legal basis for justice and protection assurance for sexual assault victims, it said.

Committed to women’s rights, particularly the rights of sexual violence victims, the Women’s Commission is currently fighting for the passage of the Sexual Violence Eradication Bill (PKS Bill), which has been pending since 2012. Despite its importance, the proposed bill is yet to be passed by the House of Representatives (DPR RI), it said.

It is normal for any proposed bill to attract support and opposition from the public.

Supporters of the RUU PKS have called for its immediate passing, while those opposing it have called for a more cautious approach, arguing the proposed bill should not “liberate free sex”. The ensuing debate has been the main cause behind the bill failing to be passed by the assembly.

Sexual violence emergency

In 2014, two years after the start of the fight for the PKS Bill, the commission declared a sexual violence emergency in Indonesia. Unfortunately, the emergency has remained unresolved even after seven years.

According to commission chief, Maria Ulfah Anshor, more than 46,689 sexual violence cases have been recorded by the commission in the 8 years from 2011 to 2019.

She added that the recorded number of cases do not cover all such cases in the country, as sexual violence victims often decided to hide their experience, instead of making a formal report to the commission or the police.

One of the factors that demotivate victims from reporting their assault is the inadequacy of the Indonesian Criminal Code (KUHP) to attend to the victim’s rights, she said. The current Criminal Code regulates only persecution against sexual violence perpetrators, but does not provide deficient protection, recovery, and compensation assurance for victims, she explained. According to the commission, the scope of sexual violence regulated in the Criminal Code is too narrow as only rape, molestation, and penetrative sexual assault are defined by the code.

Other forms of sexual violence often reported by victims, such as forced marriage, sexual exploitation, forced sterilization, forced prostitution, sexual slavery, and sexual torture are exempted from the scope of the code, Anshor said. This demonstrates the Criminal Code’s inadequacy in regulating sexual violence, she added.

She then stressed the importance of the passage of the RUU PKS as a way for the government to show its commitment to providing a path to justice for sexual violence victims and to protect their constitutionally endowed rights.

New hope for sexual violence victims

After failing to pass the law during the previous legislative period, the House’s Legislative Committee proposed that the PKS Bill be included in the 2021 annual National Legislative Programme.

Three parliamentary factions proposed the inclusion of the PKS Bill to the annual programme — the National Democratic Party (Nasdem), the Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P), and the National Awakening Party (PKB) factions.

The motion was passed with unanimous support, which Anshor has lauded as the right step that exhibits the parliament and the government’s commitment to eradicate sexual violence in the country. After the motion received unanimous support from MPs, the Legislative Committee formed a working committee for the PKS Bill. The working committee is headed by legislator of the Nasdem Party, Willy Aditya, who has said he is optimistic the bill would pass this year.

Dialogue and discussion are important to pass the law, as lack of dialogue among opposing sides has caused the proposed bill to stall in the assembly for years, Aditya stated.

A dialogue is also necessary to defuse concern from religious conservatives that the PKS Bill will legalize free sex or liberate the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) movement, he added.

Recently, the working committee has held four public hearings involving multiple parties on PKS Bill. Support groups, opposing groups, legal experts, gender experts, psychologists, and religious figures are among those who have been invited to such public hearings, he said.

Aditya also noted that three contentious points have stalled deliberations on the bill in the parliament. They comprise the concept of sexual consent, which has been decried by conservatives who have held it means “allowing free sex”, social control, and boundary between public-private affairs that the proposed bill must accommodate, he elaborated.

Continuous dialogue among parties could help the bill drafters to draft a proper regulation while avoiding ambiguous rulings, and also resolve the three contentious points, he said.

With support from all sides for the urgently-needed PKS Bill, a new hope for justice for sexual violence victims is expected to emerge in the future.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Deputy speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI), Sufmi Diasco Ahmad, has expressed support for the government’s decision to extend the enforcement of public activity restrictions (PPKM) to suppress COVID-19 transmission.

“I support the extension of the enforcement of PPKM. This is a hard decision. However, it has to be taken to save our (Indonesian) people’s lives,” he remarked here on Monday.

He said he also agreed with President Joko Widodo on the success of the PPKM.

The program has suppressed the number of COVID-19 positive cases, he said. However, the program has not reached the target of realizing a significant decline in cases to 10 thousand per day, he added.

According to the Indonesian COVID-19 task force’s official website, Indonesia added 38,679 cases on July 25, 2021.

“Hence, the public has to comply with the enforcement of activity restrictions,” Ahmad stressed.

He also urged all citizens to continue to observe the health protocols strictly, saying the key to any government regulation against the pandemic is people’s awareness of the need for compliance with protocols.

Such awareness includes avoiding crowds, he said adding, hence, people should not hold any demonstrations amid the pandemic.

He noted that the government highly appreciates public aspirations. However, he said he was concerned by the emergence of a new COVID-19 infection cluster due to a recent demonstration.

“To Indonesian people, please be patient. Let’s hope this extended enforcement of PPKM Level 4 can reduce the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases significantly. We will not surrender to this situation,” he remarked.

Ahmad, who is also DPR RI’s COVID-19 task force coordinator, further stated that the government has allocated an enormous budget for people affected by the pandemic for the social cash transfer program (BST) and other stimulus.

Hence, all Indonesian residents must support the government’s attempts to curb COVID-19 transmission by getting vaccinated and following the health protocols, he added.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The ulema have played an important role in raising public awareness amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in encouraging the public adoption of the 5M protocols, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas has said.

The 5M protocols prescribe wearing masks, washing hands, reducing mobility, staying away from crowds, and maintaining a safe distance.

“I believe that the public listens to the ulema. Ulemas play an important role in raising public awareness. I want to reiterate that the context of ulama and leader is very important in efforts to end the pandemic and protect the community,” Qoumas said while delivering a speech at the 46th anniversary of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) in Jakarta on Monday.

The minister then praised the MUI anniversary event, themed ‘Ulema, Leader, and the Community Unite in Facing the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impacts’.

According to him, the handling of the pandemic cannot be undertaken by the government alone, but requires the participation of the entire community.

The MUI, as a guardian of the agenda of Muslim unity, is considered important in efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic, Qoumas said. It can be at the forefront of educating and inviting the public to reduce transmission and death rates, he added.

Meanwhile, the government as the leader has issued various restrictive policies to protect all levels of society, he said and invited scholars to help make every government policy a success.

“Various restrictions have been issued by the government to provide life protection. Vaccination and drug delivery programs continue to be intensified so that Indonesia can immediately accelerate the achievement of herd immunity,” he added.

The Wisma Atlet Emergency Hospital in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta was treating 4,245 COVID-19 patients as of Sunday (July 25, 2021), according to the hospital’s spokesperson, Colonel Aris Mudian.

“The patients comprising 2,170 men and 2,075 women are being treated in Tower 4, 5, 6 and 7,” he said in a statement that ANTARA received here on Sunday.

The number of patients decreased from 4,534 after 289 patients were discharged from the hospital, he informed. Overall, the number of recovered patients at Wisma Atlet has reached 115,542, he added.

Based on the same data, 959 patients have been referred to other hospitals by Wisma Atlet and 505 others have succumbed to the coronavirus disease in the period from March 23 to July 25, 2021 8.00 a.m. local time, he said.

During the same period, 121,251 patients have been registered at the Wisma Atlet Hospital, and 117,006 people have been discharged from the hospital, he added.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia needs 2,500 tons of oxygen per day to meet soaring demand amid an exponential spike in COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said.

“Our daily oxygen requirement stood at 400 tons before the Eid al-Fitr festivities, and now (it) has climbed to 2,500 tons. Meanwhile, our production capacity is 1,700 tons per day,” he informed at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Monday. Every 1 thousand oxygen concentrators can produce nearly 20 tons of oxygen per day, he added.

“The donation of 17 thousand (oxygen concentrators) has begun to arrive (in Indonesia). We plan to buy 20 thousand (oxygen concentrators) that we will distribute to all hospitals with isolation rooms. Thus, patients in dire need of oxygen can inhale oxygen produced by the oxygen concentrators,” Sadikin said.

He expressed the hope that the arrival of oxygen concentrators would reduce the need for procuring oxygen cylinders in large quantities.

The second strategy to meet the country’s oxygen requirement is utilizing the extra production capacity of domestic oxygen manufacturers, he said.

“It is true, we must use liquid oxygen for hospital ICU rooms since their oxygen requirement every minute is high. To offset the lack of oxygen need, we will utilize the extra capacity of domestic oxygen producers and the extra production capacity of other companies producing oxygen, such as steel nickel and fertilizer producers,” he added. The excess oxygen will be distributed to all provinces across Indonesia, he said.

“Once again, may we distribute the oxygen to all hospitals in the country. We also would like to express gratitude to social organizations and neighboring countries for their oxygen assistance to Indonesia,” he remarked.

Source: Antara News