GENERAL NEWS AND HEADLINES

PKS politician asks govt to ensure availability of health facilities
Kompas (https://tinyurl.com/y42kg53m)

Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Kurniasih Mufidayati pointed out that COVID-19 cases in Indonesia were increasing by almost 4,000 every day, with Jakarta alone seeing daily increases of 900 to 1,200 cases. Kurniasih said this should serve as a reminder to the government not to balance economic and health affairs in handling the pandemic.

Kurniasih asked the government to ensure that health facilities across all regions were prepared to accommodate COVID-19 patients. Moreover, decision-making must be supported by the involvement of health and epidemic experts.

The Health Ministry has also been advised to be more transparent in reporting anything COVID-19-related, especially in terms of the availability of health facilities and the conditions of health workers.

As of Wednesday, Indonesia had reported a total of 228,993 COVID-19 cases and 9,100 deaths.

 

Beware of scammers posing as antigraft body: KPK chief
Tempo (https://tinyurl.com/yxpkujwa)

Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chief Firli Bahuri said there were parties posing as the KPK and extorting money from regional government officials.

“Recently, the KPK has received many reports of blackmailing by parties who are posing as the KPK, in areas such as Bengkulu, Bireuen Aceh and most recently in Ciamis, West Java,” Firli said in a written statement on Thursday.

According to Firli, this modus operandi is being used to scare and expose regional government officials suspected of being involved in development projects in their area, where the private sector is receiving grants from regional administrators.

 

Air Force forms cyberunit to anticipate cyberwarfare, attacks
The Jakarta Post (https://tinyurl.com/y37tmuzr)

The Indonesian Air Force established a cyberunit to anticipate future threats of cyberwarfare, specifically attacks against the force’s infrastructure. Air Force chief of staff Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo inaugurated the unit in a ceremony Wednesday.

The cyberunit was established under the force’s security and encryption agency. Fadjar said the unit would be tasked with preventing and responding to cyberattacks committed against the Air Force’s infrastructure, which was usually carried out by exploiting various security holes.

“The increasingly unpredictable forms and threats of warfare are a challenge for militaries around the world, including the Indonesian Air Force. We hope the cyberunit can address this problem,” Fadjar said during the inauguration ceremony as reported in a statement.

 

BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS NEWS AND HEADLINES 

Sri Mulyani welcomes ADB’s regional wide tax reform proposal
Bisnis Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/y6e46d9k); CNN Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/yxjdmdx5); Antara News (https://tinyurl.com/yxpgre4z); Tirto (https://tinyurl.com/yys4bqnb)

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati welcomes the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) initiative to establish a regional hub in an effort to boost tax to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of Asia-Pacific countries, which is still below the 15 percent threshold. The initiative is introduced at the ADB’s 53rd annual meeting in Jakarta today. The hub will help facilitate knowledge sharing, overcome tax evasion, and weather the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among member states. Sri Mulyani said the ADB’s initiative is in line with the Indonesian government effort to improve the country’s tax ratio through partnership with international organizations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF),and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

 

Coal production reaches 370 million tons in August
CNBC Indonesia (https://tinyurl.com/yx9rmkbf)

According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry data, Indonesia’s accumulative coal production from January to August reached 370 million tons, or 67.3 percent of the government’s production target. In August, coal miners mined 44.19 million tons, a slight increase compared to the previous month’s figure at 43.75 million tons. Nevertheless, coal reference prices downed from US$52.16 per ton to $50.34 per ton.

 

Gapasdap protests against short-sea shipping routes
Investor Daily (https://tinyurl.com/yxwxflnd)

The River, Lake, and Water Transportation Operators Association (Gapasdap) has protested against short-sea shipping routes that collides with ferry crossing routes. “The collision occurs due to regulatory disharmony in the Transportation Ministry,” Gapasdap chairman Khoiri Soetomo said. Ferry crossing route is under the authority of Sea Transportation Directorate General while short-sea shipping under the Land Transportation Directorate General, Khoiri explained. The Tanjung Wangi-Lembar ferry crossing route, for instance, collides with the Lembar-Padangbai and Ketapang Gilimanuk short-sea shipping routes. Another example is route collision between Ciwadan-Panjang and Merak-Bakaheuni.

 

Akbarindo: Half of construction companies close down, as projects stall
The Jakarta Post (https://tinyurl.com/y5a3y3b7)

Around 50 percent of the country’s construction companies have permanently shut down their business as of July, with small firms taking the biggest hit, amid project delays and cancellations in both the public and private sectors. Indonesia Building Contractor Association (Akbarindo) chairperson Agusti Mirawat said small contractors in rural areas were losing business, as local administrations cut their budgets for infrastructure projects and maintenance to fund COVID-19 containment measures. “We hope the Public Works and Housing Ministry will restart the infrastructure projects in rural regions that were canceled by local administrations,” Agusti said. But the public works ministry’s budget has been slashed by Rp 34.5 trillion (US$2.3 billion) as part of the government’s latest budget reallocation program to finance the government’s COVID-19 mitigation effot and economic stimulus.

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