February 13, 2023 – Page 2 – Indonesia News Gazette

February 13, 2023

Ministry highlights importance of extreme poverty data validation

The Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture has emphasized the importance of extreme poverty data validation for obtaining accurate and on-target results for poverty eradication programs.

“The ministry is reminding the importance of validating extreme poverty data so that it (the data) becomes accurate and interventions can be carried out on target,” the ministry’s expert staff for sustainable development Agus Suprapto said when contacted on Monday.

Extreme poverty data validation is currently being carried out in regions, he noted.

“Accurate data will support the extreme poverty eradication acceleration program through various policy strategies,” he said.

It will help ensure that key programs to reduce the burden of expenses on the community, increase people’s income, and reduce the number of pockets of poverty run well, he said.

Based on Presidential Instruction Number 4 of 2022 on extreme poverty eradication acceleration, regional heads have been tasked with deciding the target data of extremely poor families, depending on the results of village meetings and proven by official reports of the meetings, he explained.

In addition, regional governments need to develop programs and activities in the District/City Regional Government Work Plan and allocate budgets from regional budgets (APBD) to accelerate extreme poverty eradication, including updating data on beneficiaries, which include their names and addresses.

“If during the validation process, it is found that there are extremely poor families who have not been included in the list (of beneficiaries), then they can be coordinated with the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture,” he informed.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy encouraged all parties to optimize three key programs related to extreme poverty eradication.

The first is social assistance and subsidies to ease the spending burden of extremely poor people.

The second program involves community empowerment to help increase the income of extremely poor people, and the third program concerns the development of basic infrastructures to reduce pockets of poverty.

The government is targeting to eradicate the extreme poverty rate from four percent to zero percent in 2024, Effendy noted.

Source: Antara News

February 13, 2023

Ministry sets up media center to improve cultural content management

The Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry has established a Cultural Media Center (BMK) as a technical implementation unit (UPT) to improve the management of the dissemination of cultural media, publications, and content.

The BMK will be responsible to the Directorate of Film, Music, and Media of the ministry.

“The establishment of the BMK is an implementation of (the mandate of) the Law (Number 5 of 2017) on the Advancement of Culture,” director general of culture at the ministry Hilmar Farid said in a statement received on Sunday.

The BMK can become a solution for current problems in the culture sector, namely the absence of content curation, unorganized material dissemination, slow response to false information, and lack of integrated management of intellectual property, he informed.

Farid said that cultural governance, which can improve community welfare, is urgently needed so that it can mitigate the impacts of an economic crisis, which is likely to occur in the future.

“Cultural advancement must provide big opportunities to the people. Hence, the government is obliged to facilitate the development of community-initiated culture through systematic management,” he added.

Meanwhile, director of film, music, and media at the ministry Ahmad Mahendra said that currently, there are many problems that are hindering the implementation of the mandate of the Law on the Advancement of Culture.

“If it (the problems) continues, it will hamper the establishment of (new) cultural works and expressions as well as their sustainability,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, head of the BMK Retno Raswaty said that she expected the formation of the UPT to help realize more integrated management of public information and increase the community’s cultural identity and people’s welfare resilience.

“That is why, in order to anticipate problems that could disrupt the future (development) of Indonesian culture, (the operationalization of) BMK is required. Hence, the management of publications and intellectual property of cultural works can be integrated through the UPT BMK,” she added.

Culture is one of the bargaining powers that provide Indonesia with a strong influence at the international level through cultural diplomacy, thus the management of cultural media needs to be carried out well to disseminate it to the global community, she said.

According to the Regulation of the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry Number 29 of 2022 concerning the organization and work procedure of the BMK, the UPT will produce, utilize, and hold partnership management, as well as promote and publish cultural content.

The BMK has three focuses, namely creating a society with good media literacy, making publication platforms a key cultural ecosystem, as well as developing cultural intellectual property as common property.

Source: Antara News

February 13, 2023

Winning over Jakartans key to implementing congestion charging

Congestion charging might be unpopular, but other cities have shown it works to get traffic moving. The Indonesian government could take note.

Congestion charging is coming to Jakarta, despite public opposition. Evidence from around the world shows it is the best policy to get traffic flowing in Indonesia’s congested capital.

The traffic in Jakarta is getting worse. Economic growth has led not only to rapid urbanisation, but also to the metropolitan area sprawling into endless suburbs. Commuters in private cars have caused the city centre to suffer from heavy traffic congestion increasing travel times, air pollution, energy consumption, and causing serious economic loss.

As far back as 2004, an Integrated Transportation Master Plan for greater Jakarta, known as Jabodetabek, proposed a congestion charge.

Early attempts to reduce congestion included requiring each vehicle to have at least three passengers during peak hours. But people offered themselves, or their children, up as passengers to get around the rule, which led to its abandonment in 2016. Then, the government tried an odd-even licence plate policy. A three-month trial of ERP technology took place in 2014.

But since the end of last year, the government has been preparing the groundwork for implementing an ERP policy. The ERP is aimed to be in place by 2024 and is expected to cut private vehicle use by about 30 percent.

Congestion charging has been successfully implemented in countries around the world, from Singapore and London to Stockholm and Milan. The UK capital effectively reduced car traffic by up to 18 percent after the first year of congestion price implementation.

Yet, congestion charging is a challenging policy to implement. Indonesia’s various attempts to date have failed. And congestion charges have been rejected by the people of Edinburgh, New York City and Manchester, among others. The public glare surrounding the referenda on some of these proposals led to their rejection by 70–80 percent of voters.

It is social and legal issues rather than technical hurdles that will make the ERP difficult to implement in emerging cities like Jakarta. The public is generally sceptical about such a policy, and car users typically oppose it.

But one investigation found emphasising certain aspects of traffic congestion can lead to greater acceptance of congestion charges.

People who had “awareness of the city’s environment” and “awareness of the problem of cars in society” were the most accepting of congestion charging. Emphasising the problem of cars and their negative effects on the air and environment of Jakarta could be key to winning over the doubters.

If implemented correctly, the ERP could alleviate some of the relentless traffic jams of Jakarta. The social and legal issues are still the government’s homework that is yet to submit. But the greater challenge will be convincing Jakartans that the charge is in their best interests.

Source: 360Info

February 13, 2023

Ministry discusses publisher rights regulation with platform providers

Officials from the Ministry of Communication and Informatics have met with representatives from digital platform providers Google and Facebook to discuss the publisher rights regulation.

“Yes, I have officially met with Google and Facebook, alright. We invited some platforms, but only Google and Facebook came. And indeed, we gave them opportunity to give inputs on the draft (regulation),” Director General of Information and Public Communication at the ministry Usman Kansong informed here on Monday.

He did not disclose the details of the matters discussed during the meeting, but said that the two companies listed the items in the regulation that they agreed and disagreed with.

He said that those inputs will be discussed further. “Their inputs, some will be discussed, too. Not everything can be accommodated, alright,” he added.

The draft of the publisher rights regulation will still need to be discussed with other stakeholders, such as press organizations, the Law and Human Rights Ministry, State Secretariat, Cabinet Secretariat, and digital platform managers.

Currently, the government is preparing the regulation.

There will be two main aspects covered in the regulation, the first being cooperation among digital platforms, such as Google, Meta, Twitter, and the national mass media.

The digital platforms will be required to establish cooperation with media companies through negotiation, which will result in a business-to-business equivalent agreement should they wish to display content from the latter.

The second aspect pertains to a distinct agency that would function as an entity to oversee, control, and mediate both parties, that is digital platforms and media.

The Communication and Information Ministry has recommended that the Press Council serve as the agency in question since it has been carrying out the functions of monitoring, regulating, and controlling the national mass media since its inception.

Source: Antara News

February 13, 2023

Indonesia readies road map for Timor Leste’s full ASEAN membership

Indonesia, as the chair of ASEAN this year, is preparing a road map to support the full membership of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste in the regional association.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) made the announcement in a joint statement issued with Timor Leste Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak at Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java province, on Monday.

“In principle, Timor Leste has been accepted as a member of ASEAN. A road map for full membership is being readied, led by Indonesia as the current chair of ASEAN,” Widodo informed.

He said that he was pleased with the acceptance of Timor Leste as a member of ASEAN, in accordance with the results of the ASEAN Summit 2022 in Cambodia.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said she believes that Timor Leste’s ASEAN membership could contribute to improving the stability and prosperity of the region.

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister of Timor Leste, Adaljiza Albertina Xavier Reis Magno, had joined the 32nd ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC) meeting in Jakarta on February 3, 2023, as an observer.

However, the ACC still needs to discuss the further steps for Timor Leste to obtain full membership of the ASEAN after the country’s initial participation in the meeting.

Magno had described joining the ASEAN as a very important moment in Timor Leste’s history.

Timor Leste supports ASEAN as a center for growth, in accordance with the theme of Indonesia’s 2023 ASEAN chairmanship, she added.

In addition, she said that the membership is important because her party realizes that no country is free from the problems and dynamics that occur at the regional level.

Prime Minister Ruak’s visit on Monday was his third official visit to Indonesia. He had earlier visited Indonesia as the president of Timor Leste in 2014 and 2015.

During the latest bilateral meeting, four memorandum of understanding (MoUs) in the economy, education, and industry sectors were inked by the two countries.

Source: Antara News

February 13, 2023

Village govts must get involved in poverty data updation: MPR

Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Bambang Soesatyo has asked village governments to get involved in the updation of poverty and population data, saying they are the ones that know their respective areas best.

“Data on poverty and other population profiles can be inputted digitally by village governments from village offices to the Ministry of Home Affairs,” he said in a written statement received here on Monday.

This will allow the Ministry of Home Affairs to have real and accurate big data on poverty or other population data sourced directly from the 83,458 villages in the country, he pointed out.

“Thus, we will no longer need to be busy about seeking poverty data,” he said.

He made the statement after receiving a visit from representatives of the Indonesian Village Governments Association (Apdesi), the Indonesian Village Officials Association (PPDI), and the National Village Consultative Council Association (Abpednas) in Jakarta on Monday.

Soesatyo believes that it will not be hard for village governments to participate in updating poverty and population data because every village has been equipped with computers and other digital devices that can support them in preparing the data.

According to him, village governments’ involvement in data updation can prevent the recurrence of errors in poverty data.

He further highlighted that there are many people who are not poor but are receiving social assistance, while many people who are poor are not receiving the assistance.

“This is due to inaccurate poverty data because of not involving village governments,” he added.

The meeting on Monday was attended by Apdesi chairperson Surta Widjaja, Abpednas chairperson Indra Utama, PPDI chairperson Widhi, Apdesi Advisory Council (MPO) chairperson Asri Anas, Apdesi secretary general Anwar Sadat, and Abpednas secretary general Deden Shamsuddin.

Source: Antara News

February 13, 2023

Police’s Brimob to compete in UAE SWAT Challenge

The Indonesian Police has sent off its best personnel of the Mobile Brigade Corps (Brimob) for Al-Raweyah, Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to participate in the fourth UAE SWAT Challenge competition in the country.

“I hereby send off 20 best personnel of the Police’s Brimob to participate in the fourth UAE SWAT Challenge in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates,” (Brimob) Commander Commissioner General Anang Revandoko said at the send-off ceremony in Depok, West Java, Monday morning.

The Brimob personnel will represent Indonesia in its second participation in the competition hosted by the Dubai Police, he noted.

Revandoko remarked that the participation of the personnel would enable the Indonesian Police to gauge its capability relative to police units worldwide.

In his remarks, the commander also urged the departing Brimob personnel to uphold the good image of Indonesia, the Indonesian Police, and Brimob.

“Maintain and uphold the dignity of the nation and the country, as well as the Police’s Mobile Brigade Corps,” Revandoko affirmed.

On its UAE SWAT Challenge debut in 2019, the Brimob sent its Gegana Detachment, known for its special functions in bomb disposal and counter-terrorism, and successfully secured the 18th place from 49 participants.

During that time, Brimob sent two groups — Brimob A and Brimob B teams — for the competition. The two groups focused on the assault event out of the challenges competed in the event that comprised the assault event, obstacle course, tower event, officers’ rescue, and tactical event.

The Brimob B team ranked 18th, while the Brimob A team was placed 26th, according to the UAE SWAT Challange’s website.

It shows that despite not ranking among the top 10 in that event, the two teams topped several SWAT units from other countries, including NYPD from the United States, GROM from Russia, and Special Anti-Terrorist Unit from Serbia.

Source: Antara News