January 19, 2022
Production of Omicron detection tools to begin by end of January + Floating hotels readied for MotoGP + Digital nomad island scheme on Karimun Jawa attracts controversy + more
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National Figures
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The Big News
“Omicron Early Detection Tool's Production Completed by January-end” from Antara: Production of the S-Gene Target Failure, or PCR test, for virus detection in 4-6 hours, as an early indication of the Omicron variant, would be completed by January-end 2022, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said. "Now that we have prepared it, the production is expected to be completed by the end of this month, and later on, we will distribute it," the minister said on Tuesday. Sadikin noted that the SGTF tool is a solution to detect the Omicron variant in Indonesia following the use of genome sequencing tools that were relatively expensive and took longer periods of time to produce results, ranging from six to seven days.
“Pinisi, Pelni Ships Provided as Floating Hotels for MotoGP Spectators” from Antara: The government provided Pinisi and Pelni ships as floating hotels to address housing shortage during MotoGP racing at Mandalika, on March 18-20, Presidential Chief of Staff's Deputy I, Febry Calvin Tetelepta said. "The hotel capacity in Lombok is only 16,000, so the government will increase the lodging capacity according to the tickets sold, which are approximately 63,500, by providing Pinisi ships and Pelni ships as floating hotels," Tetelepta said on Tuesday. The government will also optimize the homestays managed by residents as well as buildings for Special Tourism Residential Facilities located in Mandalika, Gili Air, Gili Trawangan, and Gili Meno. Apart from floating hotels, President Joko Widodo said the government has built 300 homestays. He is keen that the MotoGP has a positive effect on the community's economic growth.
Context: This story noted the location of five campgrounds (Indonesian) which will also be used to house guests. In related news, Mandalika projects have failed to meet the target of 70% for use of local labor, citing a skill shortage within the local population as the primary cause (Indonesian).
“Selling Houses to Foreigners on Karimun Jawa, Local Residents Worry About Being Left Out and Evicted” from BBC Indonesia (Indonesian): Advertisements for selling houses on Karimun Jawa by a company called PT Levels Hotels Indonesia or "The Start Up Island" to foreigners has sparked controversy. Based on the PT LHI website, the price of a house on The Start Up Island is priced at IDR 800 million. So far, The Start Up Island project - which was initiated by a Spanish citizen - claims to have sold 170 houses in eight months. The head of the Jepara Regency PUPR Service, Ary Bachtiar, said PT LHI has the right to build. "And there is no plan to transfer the rights from the PT to the buyer, because the hotel or resort building is not sold, but leased," Ary said. Local resident Bambang Zakaria said the presence of foreigners living in luxury and in their own world will create a new social sphere that is impossible to integrate with locals. "In time, this will become a 'Kampung Bule', because for them the land here is said to be 'cheap'. We will be left out, eventually leaving our own village," he said.
Context: A previous report had stated the development was outside Karimun Jawa National Park (Indonesian). The Start-Up Island homepage makes no mention of the properties being leased, rather suggesting buyers gain a concession for 79 years and eleven months . This is one of a number of “start-up private island” schemes in Indonesia targeted at digital nomads. Another is off the coast of Ampana in Sulawesi.
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Other Headlines
“Garuda Launches Wisata Nusantara Program to Expedite Tourism Recovery” from Antara: Garuda Indonesia has launched the ‘Wisata Nusantara’ program to support the #DiIndonesiaAja movement for expediting national tourism recovery. Garuda Indonesia and the Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry are collaborating through the program to optimize tourism at five super-priority destinations -- Lake Toba, Borobudur Temple, Mandalika Area, Labuan Bajo and Likupang-Manado, president director of the airline, Irfan Setiaputra, said. Tourists will be given special price offers and bundling packages for land arrangements, he said. The program will cover reservations made from January 17–January 23, for travel between January 17 to December 31.
Context: In related news, Garuda is preparing flights for the 2022 Hajj despite there being no word from Saudi Arabia yet on if Indonesians will be permitted to enter. A third of all Indonesian overseas deaths associated with Covid-19 have occurred in Saudi.
Vaccination Update
“Half-dose Booster for Recipients' Safety” from Antara: Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin has said that the government is providing half-dose heterologous booster vaccinations to ensure recipients’ safety and to facilitate vaccinators’ work. "The heterologous vaccination has been studied in other countries a lot. The vaccination method has become a preference since it provides multiple protection," he said on Tuesday. "We have noted that, on average, antibody level produced by primary vaccination is about 100–200. Once a person is injected with a half dose of the booster vaccine, the antibodies rise to a level of 7,500–8,000," the minister said.
More...
Nation: “Indonesia Passes 300 Million Covid-19 Vaccine Doses” from The Jakarta Globe
Nation: “Red and White Vaccine Development Remains a Priority” from Antara
Nation: “President Jokowi Urges Residents to Get Booster Vaccines” from Antara
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Indonesia Offers Adequate Quarantine Places for Foreign Travelers” from Antara: COVID-19 Task Force spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito affirmed that the capacity of quarantine places for foreign travelers was still adequate. Quarantine facilities, with 22,476 beds, are available for foreign travelers arriving at the Soekarno-Hatta Airport. The spokesperson noted that a quarantine facility with 3,038 beds, has been readied at Surabaya’s Juanda International Airport, 303 beds at Manado’s Sam Ratulangi International Airport, 2,084 beds at Batam, 330 beds at Tanjung Pinang Port, 576 beds at Nunukan Port, 650 beds at Aruk, 593 beds at PLBN Entikong, and 24 beds at PLBN Motaain. Adisasmito explained that of the 123,313 people who entered via Soekarno-Hatta Airport from December 1 to January 15, 3,923 passengers had contracted COVID-19, while 567 were infected with Omicron.
Context: A notable omission in the above statement is Bali, though a related story notes that Bali’s supply of quarantine hotels has increased to 66 properties (Indonesian).
More...
Nation: “Omicron Cases in Indonesia Increase to 840” from Antara
Nation: “Jakarta Deputy Gov: 20% Covid-19 Isolation Beds Occupied” from Tempo
Province: “Bali Gov’t Gives Go-ahead for Ogoh-ogoh Parades, but Village Leaders Concerned” from Coconuts Bali
Economy & Infrastructure
“Indonesia to Require Palm Oil Export Permits” from Reuters: Indonesia will require palm oil exporters to obtain permits for their shipments and ask producers to declare how much palm oil they plan to sell domestically, senior officials said on Tuesday, amid efforts to control soaring cooking oil prices. The world's biggest producer and exporter of palm oil has been trying to bring down domestic cooking oil prices that have climbed about 40% from a year earlier, in line with high global palm oil prices. Authorities will also introduce a single price for cooking oil sold in the local market and bring in rules to avoid "subsidy leakage", Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi said. The policy will be imposed for six months.
More...
Nation: “RI Slashes 10.37 Million Tons of Carbon Emissions From Power Plants” from Antara
Nation: “Government Devising Direct Electricity Subsidy Scheme” from Antara
Nation: “Deputy Speaker Denies Discussion on National Capital Bill Was Hurried” from Antara
Bali Reopening
“Domestic Travelers ‘Not Enough’ to Revive Bali Tourism” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): Bali’s tourist sector has been relying on domestic travelers since the government closed the borders at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this approach has not been enough to support the industry, especially accommodation businesses. The number of trips to Bali by domestic travelers rose by 19.81% to 8.61 million in 2020, Statistics Indonesia data show. Over the same period, foreign arrivals at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport plunged by 83.02% to 1.05 million. The increase in domestic arrivals can be attributed largely to people moving to Bali temporarily while office occupancy in Jakarta and elsewhere was reduced to stem the pandemic.
Of Interest
“Indonesian Tidal Bore Thrill-seekers Find Themselves the Face of the Tonga Tsunami” from Coconuts Jakarta
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