KALIMANTAN FOREST TO REMAIN INTACT DESPITE CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT by Fardah

Selasa, 27 Ags 2019 20:07

Daerah : Jakarta

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Joko Widodo (Jokowi) administration has assured that the development of the capital city will not damage the environment and vowed that East Kalimantan forests will remain intact.

This comes after the government announced that parts of North Penajam Paser and Kutai Kertanegara Districts in East Kalimantan Province would be the location for the country’s new capital expected to be inaugurated in 2024, the year when Jokowi’s second term will end.

President Jokowi told the media August 26, 2019 that the two districts were selected, as they faced the least risks from natural disasters, including floods, earthquake, tsunamis, forest fires, and landslides.

Moreover, they are strategically located in the heart of Indonesia and near Balikpapan and Samarinda that are developed cities. Hence, basic infrastructure and facilities already exist. Besides, the government owns 180 thousand hectares of land there.

The decision to move from Jakarta was based on a three-year study conducted by the government.

"The results of the studies concluded that the ideal location for a new capital city will be part of North Penajam Paser District and part of Kutai Kartanegara District in East Kalimantan," President Jokowi, who has been re-elected for the 2019-2024 term, noted.

The work is expected to start in 2021 and cost up to Rp466 trillion (US$32.3 billion) to be covered by the State Budget (Rp74.44 trillion), Public-Private Partnership scheme (Rp265.2 trillion), and private investment (Rp127.3 trillion).

Relocating the capital city in Kalimantan has triggered debates on both sides. The island, also known as Borneo, is considered “the lung of the world” as it is home to vast forests that help absorb CO2.

RELOCATING INDONESIA'S CAPITAL TO KALIMANTAN, "THE WORLD'S LUNG" by Fardah

Jumat, 23 Ags 2019 22:24

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) on August 16, 2019, officially announced his plan to move Indonesia’s capital city to Kalimantan Island and asked for the Parliament’s permission for that purpose.
On August 22, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Sofyan Djalil spoke of East Kalimantan as the most likely location for the new capital city. However, Jokowi later denied the assertion and said that studies are still on to decide the location.
In May 2019, Jokowi visited Kalimantan to look for a location for his plan and one of the options was Bukit Soeharto (Soeharto Hill) Forest Park located in Samboja Sub-district, Kutai Kartanegara district, East Kalimantan Province. Between 200,000 and 300,000 hectares are needed to host the new capital city.
Pros and cons emerged in the public regarding Kalimantan also known as Borneo, as the host of the capital city to replace Jakarta. Several young people recently interviewed by TVOne expressed their objection. They specifically mentioned that Kalimantan has so far served as "the lungs of the world", and the massive development needed to build a new capital city would destroy a part of the island's forests.
Located near Balikpapan City, Bukit Soeharto Forest Park hosts the Wanariset Samboja Orangutan Rehabilitation and Reintroduction Center, as well as an education forest managed by the University of Mulawarman.
Balikpapan also has the Sungai (River) Wain Protected Forest (HLSW) which has extraordinary biodiversity including endangered fauna such as sambar deer, orangutans (Pongo pygmaues), sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), and nearly 200 species of birds.
Surrounding Balikpapan, there are also many primary forests, mangrove forests, seagrass beds, and coral reefs on its coastal area.

90 cyclists from 22 nations pursue glory in Tour d'Indonesia by Fardah

Jakarta , AUg 2, 2019 (ANTARA) - An enthralling adventure that started from Central Java’s Borobudur Temple and will conclude on Bali Island is set to test the mettle of 22 countries’ 90 cyclists participating in Tour d'Indonesia (TdI).
The UCI category 2.1 international cycling race of TdI 2019 was kicked off from the 9th-century Borobudur Temple, the world's largest and oldest Buddhist temple located in Magelang, Central Java Province, on Aug 19, with 18 domestic and foreign participating teams. The cyclists are expected to reach the finish line on Bali Island, one of the world's most famous tourist resort, on Aug 23.
The TdI 2019 comprises five stages, notably Candi Borobudur-Ngawi, stretching 178 kilometers (km); Madiun-Batu, 157.7 km; Batu-Jember, 195.9 km; Jember-Banyuwangi, 150km; and Gilimanuk-Batur UNESCO Global Geopark, 143.6km.
Of the 18 teams, the four Indonesian teams are Indonesia's National Team, PGN Road Cycling Team, Custom Cycling Indonesia (CCI), and KFC Cycling Team.
The foreign participants comprise those from France, Greece, Spain, and England, Parama Nugroho, chairman of the Bank BRI Tour d’Indonesia, remarked.
"We have made comprehensive preparations and are content that all regional heads, whose cities fall on the race's route, fully support the event," he emphasized.
Australian cyclist Angus Lyons emerged as the supreme winner of the first stage in a tightly contested race.

PEACE DIPLOMACY A PRIORITY IN KASHMIR ISSUE

Sabtu, 17 Ags 2019 20:24

Daerah : Jakarta

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Nearly four million Kashmiris have been under lockdown with movement restrictions and a near communications blackout since August 4, 2019, as the Indian Government recently revoked special status accorded to Indian-administered Kashmir in its Constitution.
In the lead-up to the move, India sent tens of thousands of additional troops – joining 500,000 already there - to the disputed region, imposed a crippling curfew, shut down telecommunications and the Internet, arrested hundreds of Kashmiri political leaders, and turned parts of the main city of Srinagar into a fortress of roadblocks and barbed wire.
The latest developments have escalated the tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan formally asked the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) recently to hold an emergency session to address the situation.
As a non-permanent member of the UNSC, Indonesia, however, believes that dialogue and communication between Pakistan and India would be more desirable to resolve the Kashmir problem.
From Indonesia's point of view, peace and security diplomacy must be prioritized in dealing with the Kashmir issue. Indonesia is also of the view that the solution to the problem should be sought bilaterally by Pakistan and India. A bilateral solution is a key to this problem.
Teuku Faizasyah, spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, said in a statement on August 15, 2019 that it would be better for Pakistan and India to hold a dialogue to resolve the Kashmir problem, because a communication deadlock has led to information scarcity, giving rise to various interpretations that have only led to an escalation of the problem.
In the UN Security Council, Indonesia emphasized the importance of the two countries exercising restraint and resolving the problem bilaterally, Febrian Alphyanto Ruddyard, Director General of Multilateral Cooperation of the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry, said.

EMPOWERING INDONESIAN DIASPORA TO ACCELERATE NATIONAL HRD

Sabtu, 17 Ags 2019 22:57

Daerah : Jakarta

By Fardah

Jakarta, 17/8 (Antara) - Some seven million Indonesians living overseas are a huge asset for national development if they are synergized with the Indonesian governments programs.

Supporting the Indonesian Vision of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) for his second term (2019-2024), the Fifth Congress of Indonesian Diaspora (CID-5) was organized in Jakarta, from Aug 10 to 13, 2019, by the Indonesian Diaspora Network-Global (IDN-Global).

Themed Empowering Indonesia's Human Capital, the congress discussed efforts to strengthen the role of the Indonesian diaspora in improving the quality of human resources in their home country.

"We chose this theme because human resource is the Indonesian diasporas biggest strength. We believe human resource development is the key to Indonesia's future," Gerald Eman, the president of IDN-Global Mark told the press prior to the CID-5.

Dino Patti Djalal, chairman of the Indonesian Diaspora Network-Global (IDN-Global) Board of Trustees, believed that if the Indonesian Diaspora is synergized with the governments programs, the impact would be enormous.

"The diaspora can function as an accelerator for the development of Indonesian human resources in the future and this could be the key for Indonesia to become the giant of Asia," said Djalal, who is also a senior diplomat and former Indonesian Ambassador to the United States.

The CID-5 is a biannual event organized to connect Indonesians living abroad and create a platform for them to contribute to national development.

Some 5,000 participants comprising Indonesian diaspora from around the world, government officials, religious figures, politicians, celebrities, artists, athletes, innovators, academics and youth leaders attended the event.

QUALITY HUMAN RESOURCES WILL MAKE INDONESIA DEVELOPED NATION

Jumat, 16 Ags 2019 23:45

By Fardah

Jakarta, 16/8 (Antara) - At the beginning of the first term of his presidency in 2014, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had expressed his ambition to develop Indonesia into a maritime axis and revive the country's past maritime glory.

One of the keys to realizing this ambition is by building competent and professional human resources in the maritime field.

And now, as his first presidential term draws to a close, Jokowi, who has been reelected for the 2019-2024 period in the 2019 Presidential Election, unveiled his vision to make Indonesia a developed country and one of the worlds economic powers, by relying on the quality of human resources and mobilization of its economic resources.

"We are the fourth largest population in the world. Most of them are young people. Our middle class population grows rapidly," the President said while delivering his address on the Government Statement on the Bill in the State Budget for the 2020 Fiscal Year and Its Financial Note before the Plenary Session of the House of Representatives (DPR) at the Parliament Building, August 16, 2019, a day prior to the Indonesian National Day.

Indonesia currently has a population with a productive age constituting 68 percent of the total population of 267 million.

The government's determination to make Indonesia a developed nation reflects in the 2020 fiscal policy themed A State Budget to Accelerate Competitiveness through Innovation and Improved Quality of Human Resources.

Therefore, the State Budget Bill focuses on five main aspects, notably strengthening the quality of human resources, accelerating infrastructure development in support of economic transformation, strengthening social protection programs, improving the quality of fiscal decentralization to boost regional autonomy, and anticipating global uncertainty.