Day: March 18, 2023

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Ministry urged the police to thoroughly investigate a sexual violence case in which two girls aged nine and four were exploited in Baubau City, Southeast Sulawesi.”The ministry hopes that this case can be resolved rightfully in order to achieve a sense of justice for the victims,” the ministry’s Deputy for Special Protection of Children Nahar stated here on Saturday. Currently, Nahar said, his side has conducted intensive coordination with the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency in following up on this case. The ministry also said it planned to send criminal experts as per the request of the province’s office of women’s empowerment, child protection, population control, and family planning (P3APPKB). “Due to the shortage of criminal experts, both in Southeast Sulawesi and Baubau City, we will send criminal experts. Let us supervise this legal process together, so that the law is truly enforced and gives a sense of justice to the victims,” Nahar explained. He emphasized that the ministry is committed to providing assistance to victims. ccording to Nahar, Baubau City’s related technical unit reached the victims’ home on January 5, 2023, a day after their mother reported to the unit. “Social workers conducted an initial assessment on February 14, and a psychological counseling service was provided,” Nahar revealed. Furthermore, he said, doctors will provide complete physical health services to the victims that will be followed up by advanced psychological treatment and assessment by social workers. s the victims still go to school, coordination will be conducted with the local education office, so they can continue with schooling. The sexual violence case was reported by the victim’s mother to the Baubau Police Station at the end of last year. After an investigation, the police named the victim’s 19-year-old brother as a suspect. However, the victim’s mother denied the accusation of her son being the perpetrator and insisted that he was not the wrongdoer. “This certainly needs to be investigated again and proven in the law enforcement process,” Nahar remarked.

Source: Antara News Agency (ANA)

Jakarta (ANTARA) – A Health Ministry official has said that the program for providing uro-nephrology services must be made available at all hospitals under the ministry’s management as part of the health sector transformation.”Uro-nephrology service is very important because the number of liver disease patients in Indonesia is always increasing,” acting secretary of the ministry’s Directorate General of Medical Services, Sunarto, said at a press conference held by Kandou Central Hospital, which was accessed online from here on Saturday. He cited data from the ministry, which showed that up to 2022, as many as six million people had developed chronic kidney failure. Of them, at least 100 thousand underwent hemodialysis, and 2,350 took continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), he added. Hence, ministry-owned hospitals must offer liver transplant surgeries since the ministry is striving to offer the best medical care for everyone, he said. “The Health Ministry has realized that this cannot be done alone, thus it is expected that these hospitals give good guidance to fellow ministry-owned hospitals, (as well as) on a regional scale,” he added. He urged the management boards of the hospitals to follow three directives aimed at transforming the medical health system in Indonesia that have been issued by Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin. The first is for hospitals to provide the best services, which are on par with those of their counterparts in neighboring countries, or even in Asia, Sunarti said. The second is for the hospitals to support nine prioritized diseases, he added. “Means that these hospitals should not become exclusive, but instead inclusive. Supporting, giving proportion, knowledge for neighboring hospitals,” he elaborated. The third is for ministry-owned hospitals to serve as a meaningful platform for research in order to improve the quality of services. Sunarto then commended Manado Kandou Central Hospital for successfully performing the first liver transplant in the eastern region of Indonesia. He said he expected the hospital to consistently improve medical services for other types of diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke, among others.

Source: Antara News Agency (ANA)

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Chair of the FIFA U-20 World Cup Local Organizing Committee (LOC), Erick Thohir, ensured that all pitches in the designated six stadiums will meet the requirements, including the pitch standard.Thohir stated here on Saturday that the provision of a pitch stitching machine recommended by FIFA will improve the quality of pitches that are capable and worthy of hosting FIFA’s second-largest event. “The pitch stitching machine, recommended by FIFA to improve the field quality to the World Cup’s standard, is already here in Indonesia. Currently, the machine is in Bali to improve the I Wayan Dipta Stadium’s pitch quality,” he explained. He remarked that the pitch stitching machine will also be transported to other designated stadiums. The organizing committee has scheduled the pitch stitching process that will take place from Saturday (March 18) up to early May. The stitching of real and synthetic grass aims to modify the grass density. fter Bali, the British company, Sisgrass, that operates the machine will go to Surabaya, Jakarta, Solo, Bandung, and finally Palembang. “With each stadium taking a week to complete and (the machine) needing to be transported between cities, we ensured the stitching work for the six pitches for U-20 will be completed on time,” Thohir remarked. Thohir, who is concurrently the chairperson of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI), said this is a matter of pride, because of the upcoming U-20 event, six pitches in Indonesia can be at par with FIFA and the world standards. Sisgrass is a world leader in the design, manufacture, and installation of natural and synthetic sports surfaces. Grass stitching technology has been used in the World Cup finals as well as European, African, and Asian football championships. The 2023 U-20 World Cup is scheduled from May 20 to June 11 and will be attended by 24 countries, including the host Indonesia, which will be divided into six groups.

Source: Antara News Agency (ANA)

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia highlighted the importance of collaboration in pursuing downstreaming.The minister affirmed that Indonesia offers vast opportunity for collaboration to countries meeting the requirements to work together. The minister delivered the remarks during a speech at the Faculty of Administration at the University of Indonesia, Depok, West Java, on Friday. Indonesia is fully aware that it cannot singlehandedly develop the downstreaming aspect, he stated. Thus, they are establishing opportunities for collaboration with other countries that had met the requirements for the goal. “Currently, we need support and collaboration in terms of tech, in particular. We collaborate with China and some other countries. We convince them that Indonesia is a (great) place to put (their) investment in,” he remarked as quoted from a statement recently received. The minister noted that the government consistently pursued efforts to build Indonesia’s image as a great place for investment. The decision to put a stop to raw material exports to focus on downstreaming is also coupled with the opportunities for collaboration with other countries, he pointed out. Rector of the University of Indonesia Ari Kuncoro also seconded that investment will drive collaboration in the tech sector. He also highlighted the Investment Ministry’s function as a gateway to collaboration in Indonesia. “Investment brings technology in and creates collaboration. Through technology, the country can make a great leap towards national advancement in 2045. Collaboration is important to improve the economy and save up budget in the midst of global turmoil. This Investment Ministry is responsible as the gateway of investment into Indonesia, for which the benefits will end up in regions,” Kuncoro elaborated.

Source: Antara News Agency (ANA)

Palangka Raya, C Kalimantan (ANTARA) – The Central Kalimantan Provincial Government held the Bakesah storytelling competition on Friday to support the preservation and revitalization of regional languages.”Our effort in this competition is revitalizing the regional languages because we have to admit that the younger generation has started to leave local languages behind,” Head of the Central Kalimantan Culture and Tourism Office Adiah Chandra stated, as conveyed by Cultural Officer Gauri Vidya Dhaneswara here on Saturday. Dhaneswara remarked that the Bakesah Competition is part of the 2023 Tambun Bungai Festival. The office head believes that through such a cultural and tourism agenda, the provincial government has striven to revive the community and the youth’s enthusiasm to study and enhance literacy regarding regional languages. “This indirectly hones their local language proficiencies as well as part of our efforts to revitalize and reintroduce their first language,” he explained. The Bakesah competition was a storytelling contest based on the theme of heroism and local wisdom in Central Kalimantan, such as legends and folklore that are commonly known. Each participant was given a maximum of 10 minutes to tell a story, and they were allowed to bring or equip themselves with tools or devices or wear traditional clothing that could support their performance. During the storytelling, participants were allowed to speak Indonesian combined with their respective local languages that align with the theme or origin of the story. The competition was attended by 18 people in the age bracket of 15-40 years, with judges being culture admirers Guntur Talajan and others. The assessment encompassed aspects of performance, storytelling ability, mastery of story material, and storytelling techniques, such as voice volume, articulation, intonation, and tempo. Unsu Sulasti, a participant from Katingan District, said she was happy to join the contest. “I am happy to contribute to this activity. This is my first time participating in the Bakesah competition. I hope I can give my best,” she remarked.

Source: Antara News Agency (ANA)

Jakarta (ANTARA) – Schools must highlight sensibility for religious freedom and law supremacy in their learning process, according to the Presidential Staff Office.”The use of public space must be equal, from one religion or belief to another, different genders and different races. This is so important to be (taught) to our students,” main expert at the Presidential Staff Office Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin noted in a statement received here on Saturday. Dzuhayatin remarked that the challenge to preserve national diversity has become increasingly difficult with how advancements and extensive use of social media also allowed for the spread of discrimination and stigmatization. She delivered the remarks during a workshop on intercultural religious literacy in Semarang, Central Java, on Friday, March 17. Dzuhayatin deems it crucial for teachers to remain alert of intolerant behaviors or outlooks that people often normalize. She cited UNESCO’s document titled “Tolerance: The Threshold of Peace which detailed intolerant behaviors” that included insults, stereotyping, suspicions, accusations, alienation, discrimination, and segregation of people as per different races, religions, and sex or gender. Dzuhayatin opined that developing the teachers’ capability on intercultural religious literacy can serve as a means to foster such sensibility. There are three components of this literacy that a person must have, with the first being personal competence, wherein one understands his or her own beliefs and the relation to people of different beliefs; comparative competence wherein they understand other beliefs and the way these other beliefs view this person’s outlook; and lastly, collaborative competence, which is the ability to find a middle ground between this person and another with different belief, so as to pursue collaboration, she elaborated. “Religious freedom does not mean doing as one pleases. It has to refer to law supremacy. Thus, intercultural religious literacy narratives are necessary as an introduction to the enforcement of law supremacy,” she remarked. On the same occasion, Sirector of Human Rights Dissemination at the Law and Human Rights Ministry Sri Kurniati Handayani Pane affirmed that national diversity often sparked violence and conflicts. Hence, she deemed it necessary to educate people of the ethics and etiquettes in order to establish a common consensus. Pane pressed for the need to instill a spirit of multiculturalism among students through empathy, equality or equity, and tolerance. “One group should not dominate and violate the rights of other groups,” Pane noted. She stressed that education is important so as to prevent discrimination on any basis.

Source: Antara News Agency (ANA)

We hope these issues would be addressed by the Government of Malaysia through Minister Sivakumar Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia and Malaysia continue the discussion on optimizing the protection of Indonesian migrant workers (PMI).Indonesian Minister of Manpower Ida Fauziyah stated during her working visit to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday, that she had met with Malaysian Government officials to discuss ways to optimize protection for migrant workers and solve problems related to them. “Main issues regarding the implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the placement and protection of PMI are fair law enforcement and residual issues of PMI protection,” she noted in a press release here on Saturday. Fauziyah pressed for addressing other problems in the placement and protection of Indonesian migrant workers, such as repatriation, recalibration policies, system integration as per the process flow, and dissemination of migrant workers recruitment information according to the applicable mechanism. “We hope these issues would be addressed by the Government of Malaysia through Minister Sivakumar, as this is an integral part of the agreement between the two countries in implementing the MoU that was signed,” she affirmed. Ida is confident that Minister Sivakumar and other relevant ministries and agencies would support optimizing the implementation of the MoU on cooperation regarding the placement and protection of Indonesian workers in Malaysia, especially those working in the domestic sector.

Source: Antara News Agency (ANA)