Gorontalo A total of 9,415 residents of Gorontalo, whose homes got inundated by flooding that swamped the city recently, are still staying at a temporary shelter.

“The floodwaters have begun to recede, but our homes are still inundated. Only my husband returns to check on the condition of our home while we stay put in this shelter,” Martin, a resident of the Bugis area, stated here on Saturday.

Martin spoke of her family’s decision to stay at the shelter since they were able to receive food from public kitchens.

“What is lacking here is drinking water and blankets. We have sufficient clothes that we brought along from home. Food is also available here,” she remarked.

Head of the Gorontalo disaster mitigation office (BPBD) Sumarwoto did admit to the task of supplying food to so many evacuees being quite overwhelming.

“Only three public kitchens in Gorontalo City are functioning to supply ready meals to some 9,415 refugees. We are striving to fulfill their needs,” he revealed.

Recently, floods swamped the four sub-districts of Hulondalangi, Kota Selatan, Kota Timur, and Kota Barat in Gorontalo.

In Boalemo District, floods submerged the two sub-districts of Dulupi and Tilamuta.

Bone Bolango’s four sub-districts — East Suwawa, Suwawa, South Suwawa, and Botupingge — were also flooded.

Flash floods had earlier swamped 43 villages in Gorontalo City and Bone Bolango District on June 11, 2020.+

Source: Antara News

Jakarta President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) affirmed that online learning had become part of the new normal and also projected it to become the next normal in Indonesia.

“Online study has become a new normal and it will also become the next normal. I believe there will be several new normal practices that are more innovative and productive,” Jokowi stated at the opening of the Indonesian Rector Forum (FRI) Virtual Conference at the Presidential Palace, Bogor, West Java, on Saturday.

The head of state highlighted the rapid pace of development in online study since the COVID-19 pandemic had encumbered all forms of face-to-face learning in the country.

The president believes that Indonesia, particularly its higher learning institutions, have learnt a crucial lesson from the pandemic.

“The crisis has compelled us to develop new ways, establish new norms, and develop new worthiness and standard,” Jokowi pointed out.

Higher learning institutions hold a strategic position during such a crisis to develop science and technology and to produce productive and competitive youths that are eager to fight for humanity and development in Indonesia, he emphasized.

“I need to stress here that such a noble task could not be fulfilled in ordinary ways, as we only have a small opportunity. It could not be achieved through routine work or ordinary ways,” he noted.

“Of course, we should avoid getting caught up in administration matters. We have to transform and develop new ways and strategies that are smart, short-cut, and out-of-the-box,” the president explained.

The head of state has also urged universities to focus more on the mental and physical well-being of students.

“Universities should build the students’ character to have a strong mindset and noble morality and to firmly uphold the principles of Pancasila (the state ideology),” he stated.

Campuses across Indonesia should foster a conducive environment that can fortify the students’ nationalism and embrace unity in diversity.

“Uphold high standards of integrity and values of anti-corruption, tolerance, and respect for democracy. We are responsible for their future and also the future of Indonesia,” Jokowi affirmed.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has appealed to Indonesian universities to foster the spirit of mutual help, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I invite FRI, the Indonesian Rector Forum, to function as more than just a communication forum. The FRI should be developed into a forum of mutual care, a forum of sharing, notably those, who are capable of helping those who are not and the haves to help the poor,” the head of state remarked at the Bogor Presidential Palace, Bogor, West Java, on Saturday.

“I understand that the issue of tertiary education is very complex, I understand. I realize that FRI has thousands of members, with varied abilities. There are universities competing at the global level, but there are also universities facing shortages of lecturers, having poor library facilities, and lacking classrooms. I am cognizant of this reality,” the president remarked.

Hence, Jokowi has called on universities to share their experiences online.

“Share the curriculum and syllabus, library collections online, lecturers and lectures online to advance together and to help all university students throughout Indonesia to also progress. I believe that the FRI can do this,” Jokowi noted in his opening remarks at an online conference of FRI.

In addition to collaborating with fellow universities, President Jokowi also called on universities to actively collaborate with industries, including industrial estates located in proximity to their respective areas.

“If there is an industrial area nearby, collaborate with it, open a faculty or a department or a study program whose scientific characteristic is close to the industrial estate to enable cooperation in research and technology and the development of pure science,” he remarked.

President Jokowi urged universities to be proactive and prompt in forging such cooperation and collaboration.

“Let us capitalize on the current demographic bonuses to help superior youngsters to progress ahead in life and to develop an advanced Indonesia,” the president affirmed.

The head of state is upbeat about Indonesia emerging as a high-income nation when it marks the 100th anniversary of independence in 2045.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) shed light on varied efforts to lift Indonesia out of the middle income trap and become a high-income nation.

At the Indonesian Rector Forum Conference, held virtually from the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java on Saturday, Jokowi noted that several countries in the world had spent decades, even hundreds of years, being trapped in the middle income status.

“That is what we do not want. The question is whether we have the opportunity to get out of the middle income trap. My answer is firm and that is we do have a big opportunity and substantial potential,” he remarked.

On July 1, the World Bank had raised Indonesia’s status, from a lower-middle income country to an upper-middle income nation, as Indonesia saw its Gross National Income per capita rise to US$4,050 in 2019, surpassing $3,840 recorded in 2018.

The Gross National Income (GNI) refers to the total amount of money earned by a nation’s citizens, businesses, including goods and services produced and sold overseas, and foreign investment.
Despite the status upgrade, Indonesia is still a middle-income country. To this end, President Jokowi reminded that Indonesia had huge potential to record a status upgrade once again to become a high-income nation, with several requirements.

Firstly, Indonesia should have in place efficient infrastructure while also establishing a competitive, speedy, and goal-oriented work system, the president elaborated.

Furthermore, Indonesia requires superior, productive, innovative, and competitive human resources.

“This is where the strategic position of higher education is, specifically to develop science and technology and to produce competitive young people always willing to fight for humanity and the progress of Indonesia,” he stated.

To this end, the president emphasized that a normative approach cannot be adopted to improve the quality of human resources but instead new strategies and breakthroughs were required to accelerate further.

“We must change, look for new ways, develop new strategies, and look for smart shortcuts, all of which are out-of-the-box,” he stated.

The president then invited rectors and stakeholders in the education sector to capitalize on the peak demographic bonus that will be enjoyed by Indonesia by producing superior youngsters to develop an Onward Indonesia.

“Indonesia will soon be established for one century in 2045, a mere 25 years away. Let us make history, let us prove we are not trapped in the middle income status, and let us prove that in 2045, Indonesia can become a high-income country for all people,” President Jokowi stated.

Source: Antara News

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The European Union (EU) has welcomed Indonesia’s decision to provide a safe-landing and humanitarian assistance to 99 Rohingya refugees stranded off the northern coast of Aceh last week.

“The rescue of Rohingya refugees who face dire conditions is a tribute to international law and proves the generosity of the people and government of Indonesia,” EU’s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy spokesperson, Nabila Massrali, said in a statement on Thursday.

In cooperation with Indonesian authorities, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and other humanitarian organizations, the EU will mobilize humanitarian support to address the most urgent basic needs of affected refugees, she said.

“While we respect the humanitarian actions of the Indonesian government, the plight of the Rohingyas cannot be resolved with humanitarian actions from benevolent countries. The root cause of suffering of the Rohingya refugees is in the State of Rakhine, Myanmar, (from) where they were originally evicted by force,” Massrali stressed.

The EU has said it hopes for the government of Myanmar to create conditions that would allow the people of Rohingya ethnicity to return safely, sustainably, with dignity, and in a voluntary manner to their place of origin, including through credible implementation of the recommendations of the Rakhine State Advisory Commission, which has been ratified, and in accordance with the temporary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice.

The EU has also urged countries in the region, including ASEAN member states, to engage more with the Myanmar government to ensure that the country increases efforts towards finding equitable and sustainable solutions to the issue, in line with the principles of international law and human rights.

Source: ANTARA News