March 25, 2022
Deaths and daily Covid-19 cases decrease, Bali's risk zone unchanged + Concerns swirl around perceived cooking oil shortages + Putin wants to attend G20 Summit in Bali + Weekend reads + more
Good morning!
Welcome to The Bali Beat for Friday, March 25. In today’s edition, we have Bali’s Covid-19 risk zone remaining unchanged despite numbers going in the right direction. Concerns continue to circulate regarding cooking oil shortages, price inflation and alleged hoarding. Elsewhere, Putin wants to attend the G20 Summit in Bali later this year. Scroll down for the full wrap on what has been happening in Bali and Indonesia since you last heard from us.
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Weather & Tides
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
The Big News
“Deaths and Daily Cases Decrease, Bali's Covid-19 Spread Risk Zone Does Not Change” from Bali Post (Indonesian): In the past week, the number of daily cases of Bali continues to drop and the number of patients recovering continues to grow more than new cases so that active cases are significantly reduced. Data issued by the National COVID-19 Handling Task Force on Thursday had Bali's risk zone at low (yellow zone). From the evaluation of the National Task Force, Bali experienced a decrease in deaths of 57.1% in the last week compared to the previous week. It said, 53.16% of these COVID-19 deaths came from Denpasar, Badung, and Buleleng. A total of 89.53% of the deaths came from patients over the age of 46. For the COVID-19 recovery rate, this week Bali has reached 94.50%. While the addition of positive cases in Bali has decreased by 41.6% in the same period.
“Badung Cooking Oil Stock Claimed to Be Sufficient but Prices Are Expensive” from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The Office of Cooperatives, SMEs and Trade of Badung Regency ensures that cooking oil stocks in Badung Regency are safe until now. The safety of cooking oil stocks is from the results of monitoring in several markets in Badung, but the price of cooking oil is quite expensive, especially for cooking oil in packaging which reaches a price of IDR 25,000 per liter. Head of Trade of the Cooperative Office and UMK Badung I Ketut Gede Suwedharma said cooking oil stocks are considered sufficient for the needs of the community in Badung. Furthermore, the price of oil in the market varies. "It used to be set at IDR 14,000, but it cannot be applied optimally also by traders in traditional markets," he said.
Context: Other media reports looked at crowds gathering to get cheap oil at a market in Denpasar (Indonesian).
“Putin ‘wants’ to Attend G20 Summit” from The Jakarta Post (Metered Paywall): Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to come to Bali for the Group of 20 Summit hosted by Indonesia later this year, the nation’s envoy in Jakarta proclaimed on Wednesday, despite growing calls from the West to kick Moscow out of the global economic forum over its ruinous war in Ukraine. This has put first-time G20 president Indonesia in the difficult position of welcoming an increasingly isolated leader who ordered the widely criticized invasion, which has pushed global economic recovery from COVID-19 back to the brink of uncertainty, potentially taking the focus away from Jakarta’s own priorities for the club of the world’s largest economies.
Context: In response to the Russian announcement, the Ukrainian ambassador to Indonesia said Putin must be considered as a war criminal.
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Other Headlines
“Indonesia’s New Capital on Shaky Financial Ground” From Asia Times: The Indonesian government is scrambling to find alternative sources of funding after Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corporation withdrew from the US$32.5 billion new administrative capital in East Kalimantan, citing timely return-on-investment issues. Baffling for many financiers is to what extent funding for the new capital can be seen as an investment when it doesn’t appear to have the potential to generate cash flows. Media reports suggest SoftBank’s withdrawal stems from financial setbacks. Last May, its market value fell $55 billion after the company refused to pledge a continuation of buybacks to prop up its stock price. But banking analysts now question whether the Korean-Japanese tycoon was serious about the venture from the start, describing him as a “notoriously phlegmatic investor” who may have been looking to find favor with influential figures in the Widodo administration.
Vaccination Update
“Klungkung Villages Targeted for at Least 50% Booster Coverage” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian): The Klungkung Regency Government has targeted every village for a booster vaccination rate of at least 50%. This is to support face-to-face learning which is planned to be held on April 1, and also to open tourist destinations. The same thing was also stated by the Regent of Suwirta. He was very disappointed because the achievement of booster vaccination for Nusa Penida District was still very low. Therefore, he immediately jumped directly to motivate residents in Kutampi Village and Sakti Village to get vaccinated. With loudspeakers installed in the village hall, the Regent of Suwirta invited the surrounding residents to immediately carry out booster vaccinations.
More...
Nation: “84,834 More People Receive Booster Vaccines in Indonesia” from Tempo
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Ministry Seeks to Add 5,000 Graduate Doctors Per Year” from Antara: To meet the demand for medical professionals across Indonesia, the Health Ministry is aiming to increase the number of doctors graduating from universities by increasing their quota by five thousand every year. "Currently, there are still distribution shortages of doctors in some regions," Deputy Minister of Health, Dante Saksono Harbuwo, said on Thursday. Indonesia is still facing difficulties in ensuring equitable distribution of health workers, he noted. In fact, 671 community health centers in Indonesia, 50% of which are located in Maluku and Papua regions, do not have any doctors. Meanwhile, the other 5,644 Puskesmas do not have all nine types of health workers.
More...
Nation: “Police Officers Urged to Secure Upcoming 2022 Eid Al-Fitr Homecoming” from Antara
Nation: “Jakarta Starts Easing Covid Restrictions in Stages” from Antara
Nation: “Transportation Organization Laments Latest Mudik Travel Requirement” from Tempo
Economy & Infrastructure
“Three Day MotoGP Turnover IDR 43 Billion” from Suara Bali (Indonesian): The MotoGP on March 18-20 saw a turnover of IDR 43 billion according to the Mataram City Government. Mataram Mayor H Mohan Roliskana said there was a revolving fund of IDR 43 billion sourced from transportation, culinary, accommodation and souvenirs, with the percentage for hotel accommodation and others reaching 30%. "The amount of turnover of IDR 43 billion is the result of macro calculations carried out by economic observers from Mataram University Dr Prayitno Basuki," he said on Wednesday. "This is a real impact and is predicted to rise again, because the results delivered are still the result of macro analysis," he said.
Context: In related news, the MotoGP left 51 tons of garbage (Indonesian) — double that of the WSBK.
More...
Nation: “Tesla's Plan to Build Factory in Indonesia Falls Through” from The Straits Times (Paywall)
Nation: “Economic Value of Biodiesel at US$4 Billion Says Energy Ministry” from Antara
Nation: “Low-carbon Development Backbone of Green Economy Says Bappenas” from Antara
Bali Reopening
“Visa on Arrival Bali Entries Reach 2,959, Most From Australia” from Suara Bali (Indonesian): - Foreign tourists using visas on arrival to enter Bali continue to grow. A total of 2,959 VoAs have been issued immigration since the rule took effect. "Until now there have been 2,959 VoA applications," said the Head of the Ngurah Rai Class Immigration Office, I Gede Surya Mataram, on Thursday. He said in the beginning, foreign tourists applying for VoA can could be counted with a finger. At that time the maximum application was seven people, but now the number is in the hundreds. On March 19, there were 459 people, on March 20 there were 349 people, and on March 21 there were 478 people. Judging from the top five countries of origin, Australian tourists apply for the most VoA at 645 people, then Singapore with 315 people, the United States with 277 people, France with 229 people and the United Kingdom with 204 people.
Context: This is up from a reported “about” 2,000 (Indonesian) using VoA as of Tuesday. Elsewhere, businesses are complaining that Kuta remains very quiet (Indonesian), while in Ubud, business is starting to pick up (Indonesian).
Weekend Reads
“Golden Kids” from Couchfish
“Rain Shaman at MotoGP is Latest Lightning Rod for Religious Pluralism” from South China Morning Post (Metered Paywall)
“Indonesia Is Surviving the Omicron Wave. But Is It Really Time to Remove Mask Rules?” from University at Melbourne
“Land Conflicts Over the US$3 Billion Mandalika Tourism Project Are Revving Up” from South China Morning Post (Metered Paywall)
Of Interest
“Bali Safari Park Welcomes Healthy Baby Komodo Dragons” from Coconuts Bali
“Video of Naked Man in Traffic, Police Conduct Search” from Bali Puspa News (Indonesian)
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How You Can Help Bali
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