Day: September 14, 2021

The transportation sector has largely suffered since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced people to stay indoors, as mobility is a key requirement for players in the sector to earn revenue.

Among the transportation businesses, the railway business in the country has been considered among the most affected since it largely relies on passengers to generate revenues.

Indonesian railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) served a mere 186.8 million passengers following the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 compared to 429.2 million passengers the previous year.

KAI Commuter, a subsidiary of the PT KAI serving commuter line, experienced a similar decline: its passenger count tanked to an average of 300 thousand passengers per day from an average of one million passengers per day.

As a result, the company incurred losses in its daily revenue to the tune of Rp24.2 billion, with revenues dipping to Rp800 million from Rp20-25 billion.

KAI also cut its capital expenditure in 2020 from Rp12 trillion to Rp9 trillion as a strategic move to patch up the cash flow leak.

This fueled concerns over whether the state-owned railway company could keep its business on track, while supporting the government’s policies pertaining to curbing COVID-19 transmission through the enforcement of a series of restrictions.

State-owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir said that the company needed to slash its operation during the pandemic, but it should continue to improve in a bid to survive.

“The President has advised us that we must hijack the momentum of the crisis in order to make big leaps,” Thohir remarked.

He then urged KAI to continue to bolster the culture of mutual cooperation so that it is in a better position to face the changing times.

Optimizing Freight Trains

KAI President Director Didiek Hartantyo said that the company has three key strategies for facing the current challenges so that it can grow strong amid the pandemic.

“Adaptation, innovation, and collaboration have become the critical keys for KAI to remain growing amid the current crisis,” he highlighted.

Through those three key strategies, KAI will need to think out of the box to resolve existing problems, including the declining number of passengers which has led to revenue losses, he said.

Apart from passenger trains, KAI believes that freight trains can help its business to perform well despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Hartantyo said.

As of the first half of 2020, KAI’s freight trains have contributed 43 percent to the company’s total revenue, becoming the main revenue source during the crisis, he informed.

The falling number of passengers has driven KAI to optimize the freight train business through some strategic moves, he added.

The company’s freight train volume in August 2020 reached 3.9 million tons, or 6 percent higher compared to 3.7 million tons in July 2020, he said.

In addition, KAI’s retail transportation service Rail Express recorded a surge in freight transport, reaching 10,581 tons, or 73 percent higher in June 2020 compared to 6,103 tons in May 2020, he noted.

By the end of the first half of 2021, the company’s freight train service continued to perform positively, Hartantyo said. It served 28.2 tons from January to July 2021, up 8.9 percent from 25.9 tons during the corresponding period of the previous year.

“The increasing volume of freight that KAI has served is very important for the company to survive amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic,” he highlighted.

However, he acknowledged that the pandemic has more or less impacted the company’s target but it is striving to make extra effort by intensifying coordination with stakeholders.

The innovation that KAI has carried out could help contribute to revenue, but the company has not recovered all the losses yet, according to Djoko Setijowarno, a transportation expert at the Soegijapranata Catholic University.

KAI should boost its freight train service that has not been widely chosen yet by customers, especially in Java Island, he advised.

However, the government should also provide fiscal incentives so that customers can switch from trucks to freight trains for transporting cargo, he added.

“The government, through the Finance Ministry, should eliminate the value-added tax of 10 percent for those who utilize freight train services,” Setijowarno suggested.

He said that if the government eliminates this tax, it will trigger multiplier effects, such as reducing the extent of roads damaged due to overloaded and oversized trucks.

Innovating Soft Infrastructure

Apart from causing KAI to boost freight train services, the pandemic has also pushed the company to innovate its soft infrastructure further to offer comfort to passengers traveling by train, thereby helping the passenger count recover.

Through the KAI Access app, customers do not have to come to the station just to cancel a trip and refund their ticket as long as it has been updated to the newest version.

The company has also integrated the boarding system with the PeduliLindungi (to care and protect) app since July 23, 2021 to ensure the security of passengers, KAI’s public relation vice president Joni Martinus said.

“The integrated PeduliLindungi apps and KAI’s boarding system aim to make it easier for customers to go through the document checking process as well as to prevent document falsification,” he noted.

KAI has consistently applied the travel requirements strictly, he said, adding that only those who meet the requirement are allowed to board trains and all requirements are in line with the Transportation Ministry’s Circular No.69 of 2021.

Despite the requirements and restrictions, KAI recorded as many as 156,797 passengers in long-distance trains and local trains, with average daily passengers reaching 22,400 during August 24-30, 2021, an increase of 20.7 percent compared to 129,873 passengers and 18,553 average daily passengers during August 17-23, 2021, Martinus said.

Source: Antara News

The creation of a conducive business climate is a significant factor to the accelerated upgrading and development of MSMEs, said Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs Teten Masduki.

“A conducive business climate is created if productive partnerships and healthy business competition are established between small and large businesses,” Masduki stated during a webinar on Tuesday.

However, MSMEs that are in partnerships, when networked into the global value chain, may still meet obstacles to their development, he added.

The Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded that 93 percent of SMEs had not formed partnerships, meaning the ratio of MSME products in the global value chain is still very low, he explained. Therefore, Masduki considered the existence of Law No. 11 for 2020 on job creation as key to the future of the Indonesian economy.

This law aims to encourage job creation, facilitate new business needs, establish partnerships between small and large businesses, ensure sustainable development, and enable MSMEs to grow and develop in line with the needs of national industries, he stressed.

He then revealed the ministry and the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) are cooperating to create productive partnerships between small and large businesses in both the country’s center and the region, as well as to avoid unhealthy business competition.

Regarding incentives, Masduki said they will be given out to partners as stipulated in the Government Regulation (PP) No. 7 for 2021 while explaining the incentives for Micro and Small Enterprises (UMK), such as local tax reduction, relief and retribution, as well as capital and research assistance, and credit loan interest subsidies.

Incentives for medium and large businesses within such partnerships include local tax reduction, relief and retribution, he added.

Incentives are given out for innovating and developing export-oriented products, attracting regional labor, using appropriate and environmentally-friendly technologies, organizing education and training for MSMEs, mentoring for MSMEs, and expanding access for UMKs.

“I think the scope is already very broad in terms of MSME partnerships. The ecosystem is getting better,” Masduki confirmed.

Source: Antara News

The trend of Coronavirus transmissions in Indonesia has been falling in the past 1.5 months but the concern towards new variants is still looming in line with efforts to control its spread. The concern is based on two reasons. First, based on experience in many countries, including Indonesia, this plague is similar to a wave that comes and goes. The potential for this virus to re-emerge is inevitable, so people have been asked to be vigilant.

The second one is virus mutations that have occurred in several new variants. It shows that the hard work of controlling the pandemic is still long and difficult to predict.

Experts have widely discussed the phenomenon of this virus mutation. After Alpha and Delta, the last variant emerging is the Mu variant known as B.1.621 virus.

This variant was first detected in Colombia in January 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies it as a “Variant of Interest” (VOI).

As quoted from Live Science on September 3, the VOI label means that the prevalence of this variant is increasing in several regions. The mutations tend to affect the characteristics of the virus, such as transmission or disease severity.

Vaccine resistant

According to WHO, the Mu variant has a constellation of mutations that exhibit potential traits to escape vaccine immunity.

Preliminary data from laboratory studies suggest antibodies produced in response to COVID-19 vaccination lack the ability to neutralize the Mu variants.

However, these findings still need to be confirmed through further research. WHO states that more research is required for a better understanding of the spread of Mu variant.

Besides the Mu variant, WHO is currently monitoring four other VOIs, namely Eta, Iota, Kappa, and Lambda. While still monitoring the previous Variant of Concern (VOC), namely Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta.

So far, the Mu variant has been detected in 39 countries, including South America, Europe, and the United States. According to Medpage Today, a study from the University of Miami detected this variant in nine percent of cases at the Jackson Memorial Health System in Miami.

Although less than 0.1 percent of all COVID-19 cases worldwide have the Mu variant, it accounts for 39 percent of cases in Colombia and 13 percent in Ecuador and has increased its prevalence in the region.

Regarding its transmission, health authorities in the United Kingdom noted that it does not spread very quickly and is no more contagious than the Delta variant but has the ability to evade vaccine-induced immunity.

Beware of the virus

It is natural that the new variant of the coronavirus raises concerns in the midst of the current sloping daily cases. In fact, the declining number of the outbreak has made all parties breathe a sigh of relief.

That is why the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) Member, Fahira Idris, has warned about the need to always watch the epidemic situation. The regulation to prevent the spread of Mu variant must be formulated and implemented immediately.

The declining number of COVID-19 daily cases could give the government a chance to formulate a comprehensive strategy to prevent the Mu variant’s entry.

In addition, another important thing is to develop an practical scenario if this variant enters Indonesia. The scenario aims to prevent a spike in cases like Indonesia had just experienced due to the Delta variant.

The surge in Delta cases is a valuable lesson for both government and the community to be prepared when the Mu variant enters Indonesia.

International borders should be the most effective filter for the arrival of the Mu variant. International entrances, especially air and sea, must be tightened from now on.

All parties must learn from the Delta variant strike, which resulted in the second wave in Indonesia.

Even though the current cases are starting to decrease and the vaccination program is running, it is not yet the time to be euphoric. Many countries that feel it is safe to relax restrictions, even waiving the obligation to wear masks, are now experiencing a spike in cases.

The decrease in cases also does not mean that tests and tracing should be relaxed. It must be optimized so that the positivity rate can fall below five percent, according to WHO standards.

The point is that there should not be another spike in cases like last July, which overwhelmed hospitals and health workers, increased death rates, and caused various effects of oxygen scarcity.

The current decline in daily cases should not make people complacent. The most appropriate thing is to put forward an alert and anticipatory attitude.

Virus natural behaviour

Fortunately, the COVID-19 Handling Task Force has observed the development of the new variant at the global level and then determined the anticipation of its spread in Indonesia.

One of the essences of anticipating it is to strengthen the awareness of all parties regarding the potential for transmission of new variant mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.

This alert was also conveyed by the Government Spokesperson for COVID-19 Handling, Dr. Reisa Broto Asmoro, in the online “Siaran Sehat Kesiapsiagaan Hadapi Varian Baru” or Broadcast for New Variant Preparation on September 13.

It is also important to note that virus mutations can replicate. The more viruses multiply and change hosts, the more likely they are to mutate.

But the mutation of the virus is a natural form that is adapting and wants to survive. In that adjustment, not all effects of mutations on a virus are harmful.

During the mutation process, the virus can destroy itself or survive and have a greater absorption capacity. For example, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a variation of a series of mutations from the SARS-CoV-1 virus that caused the SARS outbreak in many countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan, in 2002.

This mutation is a way of living from virus to evolve. The task of all parties is to study, monitor, and understand, so that this mutation is anticipated with the right protection.

Although COVID-19 has been determined by WHO to be included in the VOI category, all parties need to be aware when a new variant due to mutations from the SARS-CoV-2 virus occurs and enters the VOC category.

One of the anticipations is the cooperation of all parties to reduce community mobility to prevent the spread of virus mutations in COVID-19. The high mobility between regions and even the mobility of people between countries can be a factor for mutations.

Borders tightening

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Vaccination from Ministry of Health Siti Nadia Tarmizi also spoke about the Mu variant potential in Indonesia. The government continues to make various prevention efforts in anticipation of new mutations such as the Mu variant being found in Indonesia.

Although in fact, the variants circulating in Indonesia today are mostly Delta variants, there is information regarding the Mu variant which is classified as VOI that needs to be considered.

The government must continue to ensure that travelers from foreign countries do not bring the Mu variant or other types of variants.

The government cooperates with various parties to ensure tightening, guidance, supervision, and screening, especially in airports with international arrivals to monitor new variants.

This step needs to be taken since more people are resuming travel from one country to another.

Therefore, screening and monitoring of traffic and mobility of people between countries must be strengthened, so that the potential for Mu entry can be anticipated early on.

No one wants a new wave of COVID-19 after the spread of the Delta variant starts to slow down. Therefore, the sloping development of the epidemic should be addressed with vigilance, not euphoria, let alone debauchery.

Source: Antara News