Indonesia Highlights: 6.2 Richter Scale Earthquake Hits West Sulawesi Province | Investigators Collect DNA on Sriwijaya Air SJ 182 | President Jokowi to Wrap Up Mass Vaccinations in 2021

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia continues to grapple with manmade and natural disasters in the first weeks of 2021, as the government sent aid to the province of West Sulawesi.

The province’s Majene regency was struck by a deadly 6.2 Richter scale earthquake that killed and injured hundreds of people and displaced thousands of others.

The Indonesian Police’s forensics experts have found the DNA of the 62 people onboard Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ 182 when it crashed in waters off Jakarta.

They also found more human remains as well as debris from the Boeing 737-500, as the search for the downed plane is extended to waters off the city of Tangerang in neighboring Banten Province.

And last but not least, President Joko Widodo also ordered the mass vaccination of 181 million Indonesians to wrap up by the end of this year, months before the designated target of 2022. Read on for more of these stories, as curated by our editors:

DOKUMENTASI KEMENSOS Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini and National Board for Disaster Management [BNPB] head Doni Monardo head to the West Sulawesi Regency of Majene after the area was hit by a 6.2 Richter scale earthquake on Friday (15/1/2021)

6.2 Richter Scale Earthquake Hits Indonesia’s West Sulawesi Province

A 6.2 Richter scale earthquake has struck the West Sulawesi regency of Majene in the early hours of Friday, January 15. The disaster killed 34 persons, injured 637 others, and displaced 15 thousand people.

“The epicenter of the quake is six miles northeast of Majene at a depth of 10 kilometers. The earthquake does not have the potential to cause a tsunami,” said Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency [BMKG] Earthquake and Tsunami Mitigation Head Daryono.

The West Sulawesi Provincial Administration reported that the disaster “damaged 62 houses and public buildings.” They added that “the earthquake also isolated [Majene and Mamuju] from the outside world, after it cut the Trans-Sulawesi road.”

The earthquake caused dozens people to be buried in the rubble, including a girl identified as ‘C’. Her plight, which was caught on video, raised awareness about the disaster nationwide.

President Joko Widodo expressed his condolences for the earthquake, and ordered National Board for Disaster Management [BNPB] head Doni Monardo and Minister for Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini to lead relief efforts there.

Source:

https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/01/16/001507974/62-richter-scale-earthquake-hits-indonesias-west-sulawesi-province?page=all#page2. 

KOMPAS.com/GARRY LOTULUNG Indonesian National Police Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) personnel haul a body bag containing the remains of a victim of Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ 182 on Friday (15/1/2021)

Indonesian Investigators Collect DNA of Those Lost on Sriwijaya Air SJ 182

Indonesian investigators are starting to make out the fates of the passengers and crew of Sriwijaya Air Flight SJ 182, nearly a week after the airliner went down off Jakarta on January 9, 2021, as it was en route to Pontianak, West Kalimantan, .

“The Indonesian National Police Disaster Victims Identification Unit [DVI] have collected 140 DNA samples of the victims from their families,” said police spokesman Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono on Friday, January 15.

The chief of the Police’s DNA Laboratory, Police Chief Dr. Ratna, reiterated Rusdi. “We managed to identify five victims from Flight SJ 182 today,” she noted.

“The number brought the number of those confirmed to have died in the disaster to 17 people. Relatives of four victims have claimed their remains for burial.”

National Search and Rescue Agency [Basarnas] chief, retired Indonesian Air Force Marshal Bagus Puruhito announced that investigators “have recovered 272 bags from the crash site [on Friday, January 15].”

“We are still looking for the black box containing the Cockpit Voice Recorder or CVR.”

Basarnas also decided to “expand the search [for Flight SJ 182] from the Thousand Islands to waters off Tangerang, Banten Province."

Source:

https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/01/16/032257874/indonesian-investigators-collect-dna-of-those-lost-on-sriwijaya-air-sj-182?page=all#page2. 

HO/SETPRES/AGUS SUPARTO President Joko Jokowi Widodo on Wednesday received the first shot of the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Chinas Sinovac pharmaceutical company in Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday, January 14.

President Jokowi Aims to Wrap Up Covid-19 Vaccinations by End of 2021

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has urged Indonesian health workers to speed up the mass vaccination of the Covid-19 vaccine on more than half of the country’s population from the original target of 2022.

“I have ordered [medical authorities] to accelerate the vaccination of more than 181 million Indonesians to be completed by the end of 2021,” he said. 

“The vaccine is a game-changer [against Covid-19], as it can determine whether we can get back to work or our children can go back to school. It also key on whether we can worship in peace or if we can jumpstart the national economy.”

He also assured the public that the vaccines are safe.

President Jokowi aims to vaccinate 181 million Indonesians to gain herd immunity against the coronavirus.

Indonesia has stockpiled 426 million Covid-19 vaccines from Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Novavax to vaccinate to vaccinate this number of people through 2022.

The Food and Drug Agency [BPOM] has issued the Emergency Use Authorization for the vaccines, which exceeded the 50 percent efficacy rate set by the World Health Organization or WHO.

The Indonesian Ulama Council [MUI] also stated that the vaccines meet Islamic halal standards.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/01/15/21045491/jokowi-saya-telah-perintahkan-vaksinasi-covid-19-tuntas-sebelum-akhir-2021?page=all#page2.