INDONESIA KEEN TO SEE REALIZATION OF CHINESE INVESTMENT COMMITMENTS by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 30, 2015 (Antara) - Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has visited China twice since becoming Indonesia's president in October 2014, indicating his serious intention to establish closer ties, politically and economically, with the world's most populated nation.

        During Jokowi's second visit to China in March 2015, Indonesia received a total investment commitment of US$68.44 billion, primarily for funding in the infrastructure and fisheries sectors.

       The meetings between President Jokowi and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, have helped enhance investment growth in the two countries, said China Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA)'s Deputy Director Yang Yihang when visiting Jakarta in April 2015.

ASEAN, UN URGED TO HELP DEAL WITH ROHINGYA CRISIS by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 26, 2015 (Antara)-  The Rohingya crisis has spiraled out of control and affected the Southeast Asian region, with thousands risking their lives and several others dying at sea while attempting to evade prosecution, discrimination, and poverty in Myanmar.

       Currently, more than 1,750 Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees are being accommodated in four temporary shelters in Aceh Darussalam province after being rescued from sea by the local fishermen.

       Of the total, 564 are in Punteut, Blang Mangat sub-district, in Lhokseumawe city, North Aceh; 672 are in Kuala Langksa, Langsa; 476 are in Bireun Bayeun, Rantau Selamat sub-district, East Aceh district; and 47 others are in Aceh Tamiang district.

       The Aceh provincial administration and people have helped to accommodate them, provide them with food and clothing, and have given medical treatment to those who are ill, after being adrift at sea for nearly three months.          

TANJUNG PERAK SEAPORT TO SUPPORT GOVT'S MARITIME AXIS VISION By Fardah

 Jakarta, May 23, 2015 (Antara) -- Throughout his presidential election campaign, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo had emphasized on reviving the country's past, on finding riches at sea, and had termed it as one of his ambitions.

        As he was inaugurated as Indonesia' seventh president in October 2014, he declared his vision of transforming Indonesia into a global maritime axis. 
   A crucial step toward his maritime axis idea is enhancing inter-island connectivity and upgrading port infrastructure within the Indonesian archipelago, which comprises more than 17 thousand islands and spans nearly 6 million square kilometers.

SUMATRA ANTICIPATES WILDFIRES IN UPCOMING DRY SEASON By Fardah

    Jakarta, May 23, 2015 (Antara) -- Sumatra Island, particularly Riau province, was affected by wildfires in forest, peatland or plantation areas every year over the last 17 years.

         Therefore, NGOs and Sumatran people lauded President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo for visiting Riau in November 2014, a month after his inauguration.

         During the visit, President Jokowi had vowed that there would not be anymore peatland fires in Riau next year (2015).

         In March, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Forestry Siti Nurbaya had released data on the decline in the number of hotspots across the country.

GOVT EXTENDS FOREST CLEARANCE MORATORIUM, VOWS TO LISTEN TO NGOs By Fardah

     Jakarta, May 20,2015 (Antara) -- President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has extended the moratorium on granting new concessions over forest and peatland areas by two years, after it expired on May 13.

        The news about the extension of the moratorium was released by the Cabinet Secretariat after President Jokowi received Environmental Affairs and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya at the State Palace in Jakarta recently.          
   Indonesia's forests, which is the third largest in the world after those in Brazil and Congo, holds some of the world's most diverse ecosystems---from endangered orangutans and rhinos to Rafflesias, the biggest flowers on earth.

        The extended moratorium on forest clearance is crucial to help realize the country's commitment to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Indonesia by 26 percent by 2020 and by 40 percent with international support.    

BATAM OFFERS CHENG HO SEA VOYAGE EXPERIENCE TO TOURISTS by Fardah

   Jakarta, May, 19, 2015  (Antara) - Tourists in Batam city, Riau Islands Province, can revisit the experience of the heroic sea voyage once undertaken by legendary Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho that led him to nine cities in Sumatra and Java Islands.

        The admiral's silk road expedition is being replicated in a new marine tourism attraction called, "The Cheng Ho Sea Route: Archipelagic Sailing," which covers Batam, Aceh Darussalam, Palembang in South Sumatra, Bangka Belitung, Jakarta, Semarang in Central Java, Cirebon in West Java, Surabaya in East Java, and Bali.

        Admiral Cheng Ho, whose original name is Zheng He, his Arabic name is Haji Mahmud Shams, and his Indonesian name is Dampo Awang, was a famous Chinese sailor and explorer who had sailed to Malacca in the 15th century.

INDONESIA PROVIDES TEMPORARY SHELTERS TO ROHINGYA REFUGEES, INVITES INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 19, 2015 (Antara) - More than 1.5 thousand asylum seekers, mostly Rohingyas from Myanmar and some Bangladeshis, were stranded in Indonesian waters after being adrift for over three months at sea while attempting to reach Malaysia or Australia.

         Some 1,418 asylum seekers are now being accommodated in North Aceh, Langsa, and Aceh Tamiang Districts in Aceh Province, and 96 others in Langkat District, North Sumatra Province.

        The migrants, including women and children, were suffering from severe dehydration and starvation when they were rescued by the local fishermen. Several of them have been admitted to the local health community centers for intensive medical treatment.

          According to Reuters, some 25 thousand migrants, mainly Rohingyas and few Bangladeshi, fled their countries on boats in the first three months of this year, with several of them being smuggled or trafficked to Thailand and being held in camps until they paid to reach the Malaysian border.

ROHINGYAS, DISCRIMINATED AGAINST AND UNWANTED IN MYANMAR, OTHER ASEAN NATIONS By Fardah

Jakarta, May 16, 2015 (Antara) -- Thousands of Rohingya Muslims aboard wooden boats were stranded at sea for months, trying to escape the poverty and discrimination they faced in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, their own country that does not want them.

       On May 15, 2015, some 648 Rohingya asylum-seekers were found stranded in the Malacca Strait some 20 miles from Pusong Beach, East Aceh district, Aceh Darussalam province, and were finally rescued by local fishermen.

       They fled their homeland aboard two vessels. After one of them sank, all the refugees on board the boat were transferred to the barge.

        When the refugees were found by some local fishermen, they were found suffering from severe dehydration and starvation as they had been floating aboard the barge for many days before being rescued. 

NEWS FOCUS - JOKOWI ADMINISTRATION ALLOWS FOREIGN MEDIA ACCESS TO PAPUA by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 11, 2015 (Antara)- The administration of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has announced its decision to lift restrictions on the foreign media in Papua, after it granted clemency to political prisoners in the country's easternmost province a day earlier.  
       President Jokowi stated that the foreign media are now free to enter Papua, similar to how they have access to the other provinces in Indonesia.

     "Beginning today, Sunday, I allow foreign journalists if they want to visit Papua just like the other regions," President Jokowi remarked after attending a grand harvest in Wapeko, Kurik Sub-district, Merauke District, Papua Province, on May 10, 2015.

          Henceforth, the nation should think positively and promote mutual trust, which has disappeared lately.

        "Do not ask that question, that is enough," Jokowi responded when questioned about a fact that foreign journalists usually prefer to cover the activities of illegal armed groups.

INDONESIA PLANS TO STOP SENDING DOMESTIC HELPERS ABROAD BY 2018 By Fardah

     Jakarta, May 9, 2015 (Antara) -- Lack of job opportunities and poverty are among factors that made Indonesia one of the world's largest suppliers of migrant workers, including domestic helpers, overseas.

         Among the largest recipients are Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, and South Korea.

         Taking care of some five million migrant workers (according to 2012 data) overseas is no easy task as the government has to spend a lot of time, energy, and money on protecting them. However, it is merely the logical consequence of the government's inability to create enough jobs for its people at home.

         The administration of President Joko Widodo has planned to stop the sending of domestic helpers abroad by 2018, by when the country's economic growth rate is expected to improve significantly.

SAIL TOMINI EXPECTED TO GIVE LONG TERM ECONOMIC BENEFITS by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 8, 2015 (Antara) - The international maritime event Sail Tomini and Boalemo Festival 2015 were jointly launched by nine ministers, two governors, and two district heads at the Epicentrum Hotel, Jakarta, on May 5, 2015.

         The theme of the annual event is "The Pearl of Equator for Future Life" and its logo depicts a Phinisi traditional sailing boat of Sulawesi.

        The logo and theme are in accordance with the vision of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in developing Indonesia, the world's largest archipelagic nation, as a maritime axis.

         President Joko Widodo once said that Indonesia's future was on the sea and that the government would continue to strengthen its maritime sovereignty in line with its declaration of the concept of the world maritime axis.

         "We have to be convinced that our future is on the seas," said  Jokowi  in his address at the commemoration of the Archipelagic Day in Kotabaru, South Kalimantan, in December 2014.  

MARY JANE'S CASE DRAWS SYMPATHY FROM INDONESIAN NGOs by Fardah

    Jakarta, May 8 (Antara) - The legal case involving Filipino migrant worker Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso, a death row convict, has drawn significant attention, particularly from Indonesian NGOs and legal experts, as it helped put the country's legal enforcement process in the spotlight.      
   The execution of Mary Jane on April 29, 2015, was delayed following a new development in her case in the Philippines that now requires her testimony.

        The last-minute reprieve came after Mary Jane's recruiters Maria Kristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilo reportedly surrendered to law enforcement authorities in the Philippines, admitting they had tricked Mary Jane into being an unwitting drug mule, resulting in her death penalty.    
    Moreover, Mary Jane is suspected to be a mere victim of human trafficking in the Philippines.

CONSTRUCTION OF TRANS-SUMATRA TOLL ROAD FINALLY BEGINS By Fardah

Jakarta, May 2, 2015 (Antara) -- The plan to construct the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road, which will stretch over two thousand kilometers from south to north Sumatra, was made in 2012.

         Three years later, in April 2015, the groundbreaking ceremony of this ambitious project was finally held and officiated by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo.

         President Jokowi laid the first cornerstone of the Bakauheni-Terbanggi Besar Lampung segment of the Trans-Sumatra Toll Road in Sabahbalau village, South Lampung district, Lampung province, which is located in the southern part of Sumatra Island, on April 30.

         The project's Bakauheni-Terbanggi Lampung segment is 140.41 kilometers long and covers the three districts of South Lampung, Pesawaran, and Central Lampung.

MINISTER MAHARANI TO LAUNCH SAIL TOMINI IN JAKARTA NEXT WEEK by Fardah

   Jakarta, May 1, 2015 - Sail Tomini, the seventh edition of the international maritime event Sail Indonesia, will be officially launched by Coordinating Minister for Culture and Human Resources Development Puan Maharani in Jakarta on May 5, this year.     
   The peak event of Sail Tomini will be organized in Pangi Beach, Parigi Moutong district, around 75 kilometers west of Palu city, Central Sulawesi, on September 19, 2015. 
   "As the host, the provincial administration of Central Sulawesi wants to make the launch of Sail Tomini 2015 a success," Deputy Governor of Central Sulawesi Soedarto stated while chairing a coordination meeting held to discuss the launch preparations last week.   
   President Joko Widodo is scheduled to officially inaugurate Sail Tomini, which is part of the annual international maritime event Sail Indonesia.