February 25, 2022
Ministry to consider reactivating Visa on Arrival for Bali + Bali enacts new bubble system for international visitors + Govt accused of overreach with health insurance push + Weekend Reads + more
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The Big News
“Ministry to Consider Reactivating Visa on Arrival Scheme for Bali” from Antara: Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno revealed that his ministry will contemplate reactivating the visa on arrival scheme in Bali. Uno said he would consider several inputs to expedite economic and tourism recovery in the province that includes reactivating the visa on arrival scheme. "Tourism industry actors suggested that the visa on arrival scheme be reactivated while Bali reopens its doors to international tourists," the minister said. The minister also committed to improving existing regulations to relieve the bottleneck in obtaining electronic visas by cutting red tapes, costs, and the time to process applications.
Context: In a related story regarding the proposed ending of quarantine, Governor Koster suggested that as only 1 of 150 passengers on two Singapore Airlines flights tested positive for Covid, quarantine was not needed. The positive case recorded on the Garuda flight from Narita (which carried only 12 passengers) was not mentioned (Indonesian) by the Governor. Between February 1 and 20, 992 foreign visitors flew direct into Bali.
“Bali Enacts New 'Bubble' System for International Visitors” from Tempo: The Covid-19 Handling Task Force has issued a new health protocol policy in the form of a travel bubble mechanism in Bali on Wednesday. This policy is applied to people who arrived from traveling overseas in the past 14 days, both Indonesian citizens and foreign nationals. The bubble system is a corridor-based travel system meant to separate people into groups that are based on contact tracing history and travel history and the general public. This essentially organizes people’s activities and limits them to certain locations, hotels, ships, or other facilities accommodating quarantine measures.
“Govt Accused of Overreach With Health Insurance Push” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): The government is now requiring applicants to have active policies in the supposedly universal health insurance scheme in order to access a range of public services, from legally selling and buying land to applying for a driving license, in its bid to sign up as many new policyholders as possible. The requirement was laid out in a Presidential Instruction signed by President Joko Widodo on Jan. 6 but which attracted little public attention. The new scheme has been met with objections from critics, who argue that despite Jokowi's good intentions, the government should instead focus on improving the management of the National Health Insurance (JKN) program and restoring public faith in the Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan), which runs the JKN.
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Other Headlines
“As Dutch Say Sorry for Atrocities, is it Time for Jakarta to Address Its Own Dark Past?” from South China Morning Post (Metered Paywall) : A recently published study in the Netherlands that revealed the Dutch’s systematic use of extreme violence in Indonesia during the revolutionary war in the 1940s has prompted calls for Indonesia to address its own dark past, including genocide committed against Indonesian residents who were suspected communists and leftists, or from the ethnic Chinese community, in the 1960s. Indonesia’s Human Rights Commission has called for the Widodo administration to investigate some gross human rights violations in the past, including the 1965-1966 massacre against teachers, farmers, labourers, Chinese-Indonesians and other suspected communists and leftists. It is estimated that at least 500,000 were killed during the genocide.
Context: See also the story in The Conversation, listed in the Weekend Reads section below, for more on this subject.
Vaccination Update
“WHO Says Indonesia, Vietnam to Get Support From mRNA South Africa Hub” from Agence France-Presse: The World Health Organization said Wednesday it would establish a global biomanufacturing training hub in South Korea to serve poorer countries wishing to produce their own vaccines, insulin and cancer treatments. The UN health agency also announced that the mRNA hub in South Africa would provide support to an additional five countries: Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Serbia and Vietnam. The announcement comes after six African countries were chosen earlier this month to establish their own mRNA vaccine production with support from the hub.
More...
Nation: “Second Dose Coverage Reaches 142.5 Million” from Antara
Nation: “Ministry Presents Merah Putih Vaccine's Halal Certificate to PT Biotis” from Antara
Nation: “Expedite Administration of Second, Third Vaccine Doses Says Police Chief” from Antara
Nation: “Industrial Zones Should Not Hesitate in Seeking Additional Vaccines” from Antara
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Active Covid Number Hits New High but No Spike in Hospitalizations” from The Jakarta Globe: The total number of active Covid-19 cases reached a new high on Thursday and surpassed the previous record when the Delta was the dominant variant in the middle of last year. Indonesia currently has 586,113 active coronavirus cases, beating the previous record high of 574,135 cases on July 25, government figures show. But the current Covid-19 situation differs from last year: the surge in caseloads has not translated into a spike in hospitalizations. “The weekly number of Covid-19 hospitalizations is 9.02 per 100,000 population as of Wednesday, a very moderate figure compared to 33.69 per 100,000 population recorded on July 17 of last year,” Health Ministry spokeswoman Siti Nadia Tarmizi said.
Economy & Infrastructure
“Tokopedia, Shopee, Bukalapak Cited in U.S. Notorious Market Report” from Tempo: The United States Trade Representative on Thursday issued its 2021 notorious markets report on Thursday which lists 42 marketplace that are involved in selling counterfeit goods and piracy. Those listed are familiar among Indonesians as three online marketplace giants; Tokopedia, Shopee, and Bukalapak. “The global trade in counterfeit and pirated goods undermines critical U.S. innovation and creativity and harms American workers,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai. “This illicit trade also increases the vulnerability of workers involved in the manufacturing of counterfeit goods to exploitative labor practices, and the counterfeit goods can pose significant risks to the health and safety of consumers and workers around the world.”
More...
Nation: “Online Shopping Contributes to Increase in Plastic Waste” from Antara
Nation: “VAT To Increase from 10% to 11% from April 1” from CNBC Indonesia (Indonesian)
Nation: “Gov't to Spend Rp400 Trillion to Purchase MSME Products” from Antara
Nation: “Plan to Build Hygienic Fish Market in Mataram, Marine Service Budgets IDR 14 Billion” from Suara Bali (Indonesian)
Badung: “Bali Mandara Toll Fare Rises From February 26” from Republika (Indonesian)
Jembrana: “Sandiaga Wants to Increase Jembrana Cocoa Exports” from CNN Indonesia (Indonesian)
Education
“Educators Question Feasibility of New Curriculum” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim’s push to introduce a new curriculum, dubbed the Merdeka curriculum, has been met with skepticism from teachers, who are not convinced that it is compatible with schools nationwide, although the implementation remains optional. The new curriculum, which will be applicable from this year for early childhood education institutions all the way up to senior high schools, has been touted by Nadiem as an answer to learning loss during the pandemic, particularly since previous curricula were deemed “too full of content”. Unlike the previous curricula, which set out a certain amount of learning hours per week, the Merdeka curriculum sets out annual targets, giving schools more flexibility to structure their teaching programs and learning timetables.
Weekend Reads
“Indonesia's New Forest Capital Heightens Fears for Orangutans' Future” from CNN
“Dutch Government Apologises to Indonesia for War Abuses, but Knowledge of Atrocities Is Nothing New” from The Conversation
“Forgotten Art History: the Art of Chinese-Indonesian Women in the 20th Century” from New Mandala
Of Interest
“After Real Estate Prices Fell Up to 50%, There’s Bargain Beachside Homes in Seminyak and Canggu Ideal for Long-term WFH” from South China Morning Post
“Human Organs Harvested in a Lab for Indonesian Fashion Designer: Brazilian Police” from Vice
“Govt Ensures Orangutans Protected During Development of Capital City” from Antara
“Judge Sentenced Jerinx to 1 Year in Prison” from Detik (Indonesian)
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How You Can Help Bali
Due to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali, tens of thousands of families have found themselves with a greatly reduced income—if any. If you’d like to support organizations working to help those in need, you can see a list of some here.
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