March 30, 2022
Bali hotel association proposes visa-free entry for ASEAN nations + Visa on Arrival coming to Jakarta, Manado and Surabaya + Abandoned newborn found by satay seller + more
Good morning!
Welcome to The Bali Beat for Wednesday, March 30. In today’s edition, we have Bali’s hotel association asking for free visas to come on stream for visitors from ASEAN nations, while elsewhere in the country, Visa on Arrival is to be expanded to Jakarta, Manado and Surabaya, though no starting date has been provided. Back in Bali, a satay seller in Dalung found an abandoned infant — thankfully in good health. 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
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Daily Covid Update
National Figures
Local Figures
The Big News
“PHRI Proposes Visa-Free Entry For ASEAN Countries” from Kumparan (Indonesian): To accelerate Bali's tourism revival, the government is asked to consider offering free visas for countries in the Southeast Asia region. This was stated by the Deputy Chairman of the Environmental Culture and Public Relations Board of the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI) Bali, I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya, on Tuesday. "We are proposing visa-free as before. In the past, Indonesia granted free visas for ASEAN countries that came to Indonesia up to 14 million people in 2019 and those to Bali reached 6.3 million," he said. Currently, with the implementation of Visa On Arrival and quarantine-free hotel occupancy rates have reached 25% which was previously only 15%. In addition, the arrival of foreign tourists per day is close to the number of a thousand people.
“Visa on Arrival Coming to Jakarta, Manado and Surabaya” from Tempo: The Indonesian government is determined to expand the visa on arrival policy for foreign tourists landing at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Juanda Airport in Surabaya, Sultan Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, and Sam Ratulangi Airport in Manado. The policy was initially given to tourists only from 42 countries who landed in Bali, Batam, and Bintan. “We see that the number of foreign tourist arrivals is rising and this VOA expansion will be conducted gradually and in a sustainable fashion,” said Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno on Tuesday.
Context: No date was supplied for when visa on arrival will become available at these airports.
“Newborn Baby Found by Satay Seller” from Kumparan (Indonesian): A newborn baby was found by a satay seller in Dalung, wrapped in plastic by the side of the road. Kasi Humas Polres Badung Iptu Ketut Sudana, on Tuesday said the discovery of baby happened on Monday night. "The baby boy weighed 3.2 kg long by 49 cm with mature sapodilla-colored skin in good health and for a while the baby was entrusted for treatment," he said. According to a witness named Usman, at that time he was selling satay and then heard the sound of crying babies. At first, he thought the cry came from the son of the merchant in the front shophouse where he was selling. However, then the cry felt close to where it was selling. Then he saw the black plastic in the pile of garbage moving in front of the place where he was selling. "Out of fear, he took some people around the site to approach the plastic and open it," Sudana said. So, the witness was shocked because inside there was a baby boy still with his umbilical cord.
Context: This is the second case like this over the last few days, with a baby found in a canal in Denpasar on Sunday, in that case sadly the infant had died (Indonesian).
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Other Headlines
“MAKI to File Pretrial Motion against Trade Ministry over Cooking Oil Mafia” from Tempo: The Indonesian Anti-Corruption Community (MAKI) planned to file a pretrial lawsuit against Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi and the Trade Ministry’s Director-General of Consumer Protection and Trade Order for not revealing the cooking oil mafia. “This lawsuit is a reaction to the Trade Minister's broken promise about revealing suspects of cooking oil mafia,” said MAKI Coordinator Boyamin Saiman on Tuesday. MAKI is set to file the lawsuit to the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday. Boyamin argued that there were a consumer protection crime and a trade crime behind the shortage and high price of cooking oil. The scarcity is also allegedly caused by the mafia. According to Boyamin, Trade Minister claimed he had pocketed the names of potential suspects for hoarding cooking oil and planned to announce the names on March 21. The ministry had even acknowledged the modus operandi carried out by the alleged perpetrators. “This action allegedly violates Articles 106 and 107 of the Trade Law concerning hoarders,” said Boyamin.
Vaccination Update
“G20 Supports Indonesia to Issue Vaccine Certificate Verifying System” from Antara: G20 member states have thrown their weight behind Indonesia’s effort to issue a vaccine certificate verifying system to facilitate global travelling, the Health Ministry stated. "We call it a universal verifier for vaccine certificates. Thus, there will be one universal portal to verify countries joining this universal verification,” expert staff for health technology at the Health Ministry Setiyadi said on Monday. Setiyadi remarked that the portal will be able to identify whether travelers have been vaccinated against COVID-19. All G20 member states except for China have conducted a trial for the universal portal. China is still in the technical process. Meanwhile, Global Health Advisor OECD, Nick Tomlinson, noted that countries should increase interoperability of different international systems. “Vaccine certificates have been issued in different formats. Any agreement on ways to connect the certificates will be a good step, and later, we need to ensure a safe, reliable, and sustainable system,” he stated.
More...
Nation: “Epidemiologist Highlights Importance of Booster Dose for Older Adults” from Antara
Nation: “Booster Dose as Exodus Requirement Is the Right Policy Says Virologist” from Antara
Health Protocols (Prokes) & Health Services
“Gov't Urged to Anticipate Covid Spike After Eid” from Antara: People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Bambang Soesatyo has urged the government, which has allowed people to join the 2022 Eid homecoming exodus, to anticipate any potential spike in COVID-19 cases after the holiday. “I urge the government, that has allowed people to join Eid exodus this year, to anticipate so that a spike in COVID-19 cases after the 2022 Eid al-Fitr holiday will not occur,” he said on Tuesday. Such anticipation can be done by requiring people who want to join the Eid exodus to get the booster shot. The government must also establish policies and take concrete measures to prevent a spike in cases, while still strengthening COVID-19 testing, especially for travelers, he said. "This is to detect and prevent the entry of new variants that can cause a spike in new cases," he said.
Economy & Infrastructure
“Liquor Sales Up 24.84%” from Antara Bali (Indonesian): The Directorate General of Regional Customs Bali reported an increase in liquor sales in Bali on March 29, reaching IDR 754.24 billion, up 24.84% compared to 2021 of IDR 604.14 billion. "This is one of the economic and tourism indicators in Bali is starting to bounce back and recover," said Head of Bali Customs and Excise, NTB and NTT Susila Brata, on Tuesday.
More...
Nation: “Measurable Fishing Can Generate IDR 12 Trillion in Tax Revenue” from Antara
Nation: “Indonesian Gov't Pushes Economic Transformation in Village” from Antara
Nation: “Four Indonesian Clean Energy Firms Get Green Fundings” from Tech In Asia (Paywall)
Nation: “Pertamina Should Anticipate Fuel Demand Surge During Eid Homecoming” from Antara
Education
“Klungkung Has 200 Children Out of School” from Nusa Bali (Indonesian): The Klungkung Education, Youth and Sports Office is still recording 200 children choosing to drop out of school. This condition is caused by environmental factors and poverty conditions. Head of Disdikpora Klungkung I Ketut Sujana acknowledged the data. He said 200 children dropped out of school spread across four sub-districts in Klungkung Regency. However, the most or about 50% are in Nusa Penida Subdistrict. "This year six children have been successfully polled to return to school. From the previous data, children dropped out of school in Klungkung 206 people, "said Sujana on Monday. Sujana does not know exactly what caused the children not to continue school. Because the new data collection is done at the village level, but based on information obtained in the village, the children mostly come from underprivileged families. "However, there are also those who come from capable families so it is possible because of environmental influences," sujana said.
Of Interest
“Thoughts on the Redevelopment Plans for Seminyak to Kuta Beaches” from Bali Post (Indonesian)
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