Category: Internal Affairs

Indonesia urged Myanmar’s military to swiftly implement the five-point consensus (5PC) and immediately provide access to the ASEAN Special Envoy to commence its duty as per the mandate of the ASEAN leaders through the 5PC.

“As a family, the ASEAN has extended a helping hand through the 5PC. Unfortunately, to date, there has not been significant progress in the implementation of the 5PC,” the Indonesian Foreign Ministry noted in a press statement here on Tuesday.

Indonesia lauds the international community’s support for the ASEAN’s 5PC, according to the ministry in its release issued to coincide with the one year of the seizure of power by the military in Myanmar that Indonesia has strongly deplored.

“Indonesia will continue to provide assistance and utmost priority for the safety and well-being of the Myanmar people,” the statement noted regarding a five-point consensus reached on ways to tackle the political crisis riddling the country.

In the 5PC reached during a summit held in Jakarta on April 24, 2021, the ASEAN leaders called for: the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar; constructive dialog among all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people; mediation to be facilitated by an envoy of the ASEAN’s chair, with the assistance of the secretary-general; humanitarian assistance provided by ASEAN’s AHA Centre; and a visit by the special envoy and delegation to Myanmar to meet all parties concerned.

Source: Antara News

Governor of Jakarta Anies Baswedan on Tuesday visited Bio Hok Tek Tjeng Sin Temple in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, and conveyed Chinese New Year greetings to visitors praying at the temple.

“We are visiting Bio Hok Tek Tjeng Sin to greet visitors and convey Chinese New Year greetings. Gong Xi Fa Cai (may you have a prosperous year),” Baswedan said at Bio Hok Teng Tjeng Sin temple in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, on Tuesday.

The governor expressed the hope that a new spirit and energy to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic will grow in the Water Tiger year (Chinese calendar system).

The Chinese New Year is a celebration of unity and togetherness, as harmony among the people is accomplished through common might and must be maintained by mutual understanding, the former Education and Culture Minister remarked.

He expressed his gratitude to Jakarta branch head of the Supreme Council for Confucian Religion in Indonesia (Matakin), Liem Liliany, for her efforts towards promoting unity and harmony among the people, particularly adherents of the Confucian faith in the province.

“I also want to express my gratitude to the Temple administrator, as well as to Mrs. Liliany who have led Jakarta’s branch of Matakin for their effort in maintaining unity and harmony,” Baswedan said.

The governor also said he wishes that people would use the new year to spend time with families and parents.

“This is the tradition that we must keep together. Happy Chinese New Year, we hope our daily activities will be endowed with success and ease,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, Matakin Jakarta branch head Liliany thanked Baswedan for his surprise visit to the Temple.

“We hope this Water Tiger 2573 Kongzi Li year will bring peace for all of us, as this is a difficult year primarily because of the COVID-19 Omicron variant,” she said.

Source: Antara News

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD called on the public to make Lunar New Year a momentum to jointly maintain peace.

“Let us create peace and prosperity together with the teachings of the religion we adhere to as a form of our obedience to the God Almighty,” Mahfud MD noted in his video uploaded on the ministry’s YouTube channel here on Tuesday.

In the broadcast, the minister also extended Chinese New Year greetings to Confucians in Indonesia.

“Happy Chinese New Year 2573 Kongzili. I am Mahfud MD, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia wishing a Happy Chinese New Year 2573 Kongzili to Confucians and all citizens of the nation who celebrate it,” he stated.

The minister expressed optimism that the nation’s problems would be overcome, especially at the turn of the year, from the Year of Metal Ox to the Year of Tiger.

“Hopefully, all problems would be resolved,” the minister stated.

Mahfud MD ended his statement by saying “Gong Xi Fa Cai” to the people celebrating Chinese New Year.

“Gong Xi Fa Cai” means congratulations as well as a prayer to get immense luck.

Chinese New Year celebrations commenced since Monday night at several pagodas spread across various regions in the country. Those who celebrate the turn of the year offer prayers to the gods and ancestors to seek for luck for the next year.

For this year, members of the ethnic Chinese community and their descendants as well as Confucians commemorate the arrival of the Year of the Water Tiger.

Several Chinese people in Indonesia believe that the Year of the Water Tiger will bring immense luck.

According to several Chinese community leaders, this optimism aligns with the efforts to restore the economy affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Antara News

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, has said that Bali will be reopened for international travelers from February 4, 2022.

“The government is also conveying that we will reopen international borders in Bali on February 4, 2022,” he informed while issuing an online press statement on the evaluation of public activity restrictions (PPKM), accessed from here on Monday.

The minister said that the reopening of Bali for international travelers is aimed at reviving the province’s economy, which has been battered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The reopening of Bali’s international borders is also only for international travelers who are not Indonesian migrant workers, he informed.

Pandjaitan, who is also the deputy chairman of the COVID-19 Handling Committee and National Economic Recovery (KPC PEN), affirmed that the reopening will be conducted gradually in stages.

Currently, Bali offers two additional quarantine options to international travelers: they can undergo bubble quarantine at five hotels with a total of 447 rooms, or six live-on-board ships that have received the Cleanliness, Health, Safety, and Environment Sustainability (CHSE) certification from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, he informed.

Earlier, the Indonesian government had opened Bali’s borders for foreign tourists by opening international flights at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport on October 14, 2021.

However, in early December 2021, the government had restricted entry for Indonesian international travelers arriving either by air, sea, or land. The provision was regulated in the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs (Inmendagri) Number 65 of 2021.

As per the regulation, the entrance to Indonesia via the air route has only been opened at three airports: Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Banten, Raja Haji Fisabilillah Airport in Riau Islands, and Sam Ratulangi Airport in North Sulawesi.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Government has extended Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) outside Java and Bali from February 1–14, 2022.

“This is based on the level of the pandemic assessment, whether it is related to the level of community transmission or the level of case transmission, the death rate, hospitalization, and the response related to testing, tracing, and treatment,” Coordinating Minister for the Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, said at a press conference on Monday.

The daily positive coronavirus cases outside Java and Bali have jumped to 499, with local transmission accounting for 496 cases and three cases detected in foreign travelers (PPLN), he informed.

As of January 30, 2022, two deaths have been reported due to COVID-19, with active cases reaching 3,326, he said. With 61,713 active cases recorded nationally, the proportion of active cases outside Java and Bali is currently pegged at 5.4 percent, he added.

However, Hartarto reminded all people to remain vigilant since the effective reproduction number, or RT, in Sumatra has swelled to 1.02, Kalimantan 1.01, Maluku 1.08, Papua 1.05, Nusa Tenggara 1.03, and Sulawesi 1.

“Based on data from the Ministry of Health, in several provinces such as North Sumatra, East Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, and Jayapura city, the Omicron cases came from local transmission,” he noted.

Hartarto said he hoped that booster vaccinations outside Java and Bali can be increased, according to the direction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), since the booster vaccination rate outside Java and Bali is only 1.6 percent. The number is still quite far from the national level of 2.3 percent, he noted.

Second dose vaccinations outside Java and Bali are also still below 50 percent, with West Papua recording 47.6 percent coverage and Papua 27.4 percent, he said.

In addition, the minister further asked that the bed availability in hospitals outside Java and Bali be increased from 7 percent, as well as North Sumatra, where it is still at 5 percent, East Kalimantan and Papua (2 percent each), North Sulawesi and South Sulawesi (1 percent each), while the national rate is 13.89 percent.

However, in the implementation of the extended PPKM outside Java-Bali from February 1 to 14, 2022, there are several areas whose levels have been reduced, he informed.

Currently, there are 164 districts/cities at PPKM Level one, 219 districts/cities at Level two, and three districts/cities at Level 3, namely Jayawijaya district, Yapen district, and Jayapura city, he said.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI) has called for a more comprehensive policy involving various aspects for mitigation and adaptation to address the impacts of climate change.

“The climate change policy must be comprehensive by taking into account the mitigation aspect and its adaptation that include loss and damage,” Head of WALHI’s Division of Environmental Studies and Law, Dewi Puspa, stated while speaking at a discussion on Environmental Review 2022 on Monday.

Such a comprehensive policy is important since Indonesia, as an archipelagic country, is among the nations affected by climate change .

The factors of loss and damage owing to climate change is also important to encourage accountability from industrial and developed countries that contribute to the current climate crisis, she remarked.

The discussion, in particular, highlighted the dominance of disasters triggered by the climatic condition occurring in 2021.

Data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) showed that in 2021, Indonesia was hit by 3,116 disasters, mostly hydrometeorological ones, comprising 1,310 incidents of floods, 815 extreme weather events, and 633 landslides.

WALHI called on the younger generation to be actively involved in saving the environment.

“It is a good thing that based on results of various surveys, young people show interest in environmental issues and climate change. We see this as a good thing to multiply the youth movement for saving the environment,” she remarked.

Source: Antara News