Jakarta – Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan's decision to extend the transitional large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) policy for another 14 days has raised mixed reactions from the public.
Griffith University epidemiologist Dicky Budiman said extending the PSBB was indeed part of Jakarta's strategy to fight against the pandemic.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Teachers Association (PGRI) of Bogor has requested the central government to vaccinate teachers prior to school reopening.
PGRI Bogor head Muhammad Usman Tonda expressed his hopes for a teachers' vaccination program during a dialogue with members of the House of Representatives Commission X on Tuesday.
Bandung – State-owned pharmaceutical company PT Bio Farma has allocated 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine final product made by China's Sinovac Biotech for health workers in the country, president director Honesti Basyir has said.
Andi Hajramurni and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Makassar – The exposure of a number of regional election candidates and current leaders to COVID-19 has somewhat marred this year's celebration of democracy in various parts of the country.
Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – Indonesia recorded the highest daily death toll in the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday, when the country also extended the longest run of three-digit deaths for the 18th day in a row.
It recorded 171 coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 18,171. The previous record was 169 deaths reported on Nov. 27.
Jakarta – The son and son-in-law of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo won mayoral elections in their respective city on Wednesday, according to quick count results by credible research agencies.
Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 33, followed the step of his father by winning the mayoral race in the family's hometown of Solo, Central Java, in a landslide.
Rizki Fachriansyah, Budi Sutrisno and Nina A. Loasana, Jakarta – Divergent accounts between the police and the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) over the deaths of six of the group's members in a purported altercation in the early hours of Monday have sparked questions from observers, calling for transparency into the incident.
Jon Afrizal, Jambi – The residents of two villages in Jambi who have suffered recurring fire disasters have welcomed La Nina's arrival to the province, which has brought additional rainfall from October to December.
Jakarta – The government must check the readiness of each school throughout the country before embarking on the controversial school reopening plan amid the recent spike in new COVID-19 cases, the Association for Education and Teachers (P2G) has said.
Jakarta – National COVID-19 task force chief Doni Monardol has advised the public to remain at home during the year-end holidays due to potential extreme weather in the next two to three weeks.
Riska Rahman and Arya Dipa, Jakarta/West Java – The Financial Services Authority (OJK) expects the newly passed Job Creation Law to help spur the issuance of municipal bonds and sukuk among regional administrations, which have faced bureaucratic hurdles.
Jakarta – Hundreds of polling station officers across 12 regencies and cities in South Sulawesi have shown reactive results after taking COVID-19 rapid tests ahead of the simultaneous regional elections, which fall on Wednesday.
Resty Woro Yuniar (South China Morning Post) – More than 100 million people are eligible to vote in Indonesia's regional elections on Wednesday (Dec 2), making it one of the largest such events in the world during this pandemic year.
Ati Nurbaiti, Jakarta – Tomorrow more than 106 million Indonesians will vote for elect nine governors, 224 municipal regents and 37 mayors. The vote will take place despite concern over the poor security measures taken against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jakarta (Reuters) – Indonesia's state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma said on Tuesday (Dec 8) that interim data on trials it was conducting on vaccines produced by the Chinese company Sinovac showed up to 97 per cent efficacy.
Ben Bland – The children of five of Indonesia's first six presidents followed their parents into politics, reflecting the dynastic power that permeates much of Asia. Indonesia's seventh president, Joko Widodo, was meant to be different.
Sandiaga Uno has contracted COVID-19, the politician confirmed, shortly after his wife tested positive for the disease.
The former Jakarta vice governor and losing vice presidential candidate in 2019 shared the news after he took a PCR test yesterday.
What would have been a crucial piece of evidence in the alleged shootout between the police and members of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road simply does not exist due to a "technical malfunction" at the scene, according to toll road operator Jasa Marga.
Farouk Arnaz & Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The Indonesian Police on Tuesday welcomed a plan by the National Commission on Human Rights, or Komnas HAM, to launch probe into the killings of six Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) members during a police chase a day earlier.
Introduction
Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – An area of natural forest the size of 1,500 football fields has been cleared since January in an oil palm concession in Indonesia's easternmost region of Papua by a company that ultimately supplies major traders and global brands.
Egi Adyatama, Jakarta – The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (KontraS) on Tuesday strongly criticized the fatal shooting by police personnel against six members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) on Monday, Dec 7.
Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman, Jakarta – State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga saw signs of recovery in its operations and finance nearing the end of the year, following the loosening of pandemic curbs that boosted vehicle traffic, particularly in the trans-Java toll road network.
Jakarta – The General Elections Commission (KPU) is determined to provide a way for self-isolating and hospitalized people with COVID-19 to exercise their voting rights in the simultaneous regional elections (Pilkada) on Wednesday, and is sending local poll administrators (KPPS) to hospitals and isolation facilities to collect their ballots.
Hendartyo Hanggi, M Julnis Firmansyah, Jakarta – Executive director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, on Monday urged for the police institution's transparency in reporting about the shooting of Islam Defenders Front (FPI) members, mainly, what caused it in the first place.
Jakarta – An expert has expressed his concerns over public resistance to a future COVID-19 immunization program caused by hoaxes surrounding the vaccines being developed.
The opposition could have a knock-on effect on other immunization programs in the country.
A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil, Jakarta – On Nov. 20, 2018, the Supreme Court accepted the case review filed by the Finance Ministry that challenged the 2017 court ruling that ordered the Jakarta administration to terminate its partnership with private water companies PT PAM Lyonnaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra).
Adrian Wail Akhlas, Jakarta – Indonesia has spent Rp 637.3 billion (US$45 million) to procure a coronavirus vaccine from China as the government prepares for a mass vaccination program. The country received its first vaccine shipment on Sunday.
James Massola – The arrival of 1.2 million Sinovac vaccines in Jakarta is, for President Joko Widodo, desperately welcome news given his country has been hit harder by COVID-19 than any other in south-east Asia.
Tan Jia Ning, Singapore – Pollsters in Indonesia have been unerring since direct presidential elections were introduced in 2004.
But this unblemished track record – largely due to survey methods and consistent voter behaviour – will be sorely tested at the upcoming regional elections because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rizki Fachriansyah, Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have shot dead six people thought to be supporters of Islam Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab in response to a purported attack on police officers at the Jagorawi toll road in the early hours of Monday.
Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman, Jakarta – The government on Friday released a shipment of exports worth US$1.64 billion by 133 large and small businesses to seek alternative markets and to revive Indonesian trade, which has slowed during the COVID-19 crisis.
Rizki Fachriansyah and Galih Gumelar, Jakarta – Indonesia's ongoing battle against corruption appears to be making little headway as fewer people expressed enthusiasm for the government's efforts to prevent illicit transactions and prosecute graft perpetrators over the past two years, a recent study by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) has found.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has urged the government to cancel school reopening in January 2021 if the regional elections will go ahead as scheduled on Wednesday, citing concerns of COVID-19 transmission even if both events were conducted with health protocols.
Anwar Siswadi (Contributor), Jakarta – Fatigue has struck doctors and nurses working amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that has lasted for 9-months so far in Indonesia, the same is experienced by laboratory professionals examining Covid-19 samples, especially amid the current rise in confirmed cases.
Bayu Marhaenjati, Jakarta – Six people believed to be members of hardline group Islamic Defenders Front, or FPI, were killed in a highway shootout just after midnight on Monday, police said.
Friski Riana, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Dewi Anggraeni on Monday said the suspect naming of Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) should be the momentum for the government to fix its procurement of goods and services.
Nina A. Loasana, Jakarta – The Jakarta administration has extended the transitional period of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) for another two weeks starting Monday until Dec. 21, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the capital city.
Jakarta – The Indonesian government has appointed three new spokespersons for COVID-19 procurement and vaccination affairs following the arrival on Sunday of 1.2 million doses of a candidate vaccine from Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
Dian Septiari, Jakarta – The first consignment of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by China's Sinovac Biotech has arrived in Indonesia, but the government still has to wait for emergency use authorization before starting the vaccination program, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has said.
Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – The surge in coronavirus cases continues in West Java where daily numbers have been reaching four digits for the last three days, putting them on a par with the newly caseloads in worst-hit Jakarta.
Jakarta – West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil has blamed Thursday's spike of 1,648 daily cases in the province on data discrepancies.
The governor said that 1,000 of the 1,648 cases reported by the Health Ministry came from outdated data.
"So we can not call it a surge," Ridwan said on Friday, adding a similar issue was reported in Central Java.
Niniek Karmini, Jakarta – Indonesia's social affairs minister turned himself in to anti-corruption authorities on Sunday to face charges of taking bribes related to the government's COVID-19 aid distribution.
Jakarta – The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has reported an update on COVID-19 fatalities in medical and health workers, with a total of 342 deaths, almost nine months after Indonesia announced its first cases of the disease.
Jakarta – As a COVID-19 survivor, gynecologist Ulul Albab describes the disease as a wake-up call for him to pay more attention to his body.
Jakarta – Indonesia has lodged a formal protest with Britain after a UK-based separatist leader announced an interim government-in-exile for the restive Papua province.
Mineral-rich Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, has been dealing for decades with a low-level separatist insurgency, as well as poverty and communal tensions.
Jakarta – It has been over nine months since President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced the first COVID-19 cases in Indonesia in March, but the country has yet to see much improvement in its testing rate.
Rizki Fachriansyah, Jakarta – Social Affairs Minister Juliari Batubara has been named a suspect in a graft case involving the distribution of COVID-19 social aid.
Heru Andriyanto, Jakarta – An angry President Joko Widodo rebuked Social Affairs Minister Juliari Peter Batubara on Sunday for allegedly stealing funds from the humanitarian assistance program intended for the poor during the coronavirus pandemic.
Fana Suparman, Jakarta – Social Affairs Minister Juliari Peter Batubara was named a corruption suspect on Sunday for allegedly collecting fees from the Rp 5.9 trillion ($416 million) worth of social assistance package of the government Covid-19 response.