Indonesia Highlights: KPK Arrests South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah | Indonesian Health Minister Aims to Vaccinate 38 Million Indonesians by June 2021 | Mount Merapi Continues to Spew Hot Clouds

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK has detained South Sulawesi governor Nurdin Abdullah for an undisclosed graft case, damaging his standing as anti-graft, clean public official.

Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin repeated his aim of vaccinating 38 million Indonesians by the end of next June, when the country’s second vaccination drive ends. He highlighted the need to vaccinate the elderly, due to their frail physiques.

And Mount Merapi, Indonesia’s most active volcano, was last seen spewing hot clouds of 1000 meters into the atmosphere. Read on for these news items in Indonesia Highlights:

YouTube/KPK Screenshot of KPK investigators going through money used as evidence of kickbacks from South Sulawesi governor Nurdin Abdullah, Saturday (27/2/2021)

KPK Arrests South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah

The Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] has jailed South Sulawesi Governor Nurdin Abdullah in the early hours of Sunday, February 28, after investigators arrested him in a sting in the South Sulawesi provincial capital Makassar on Friday and brought him to Jakarta for questioning.

KPK chairman Firli Bahuri said Nurdin and his accomplices will be held at the KPK’s holding cells at the Military Police headquarters in Guntur, Jakarta for 20 days, from February 27 to March 18. He added that the men will also undergo self-isolation in accordance with Covid-19 health protocols.

“We detained Nurdin, after we were able to prove that he accepted kickbacks in procuring an infrastructure project in South Sulawesi,”said Firli. “We also detained his accomplices Edy Rahmat, an official in charge of draining and clearing farmland, and contractor Agung Sucipto.”

In all, the KPK questioned and arrested six people in the corruption case, which they have yet to disclose as “the investigation of the case is ongoing.”

The case stained Nurdin’s reputation as an antigraft official. He won the 2017 Bung Hatta Anti-Corruption Award for promoting good governance during his tenure in charge of the regency of Bantaeng.

The feat and his clean reputation carried Nurdin to victory in the 2018 gubernatorial race against disgraced former Football Association of Indonesia [PSSI] head and graft convict Nurdin Halid, whom he beat by 700 thousand votes or 1.86 million to 1.16 million votes.

Source:
https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/28/01501781/usai-ditetapkan-sebagai-trsangka-kpk-langsung-tahan-gubernur-sulsel-nurdin. 

Dok. Pemprov Jatim Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa monitors mass vaccination of the elderly at the Samator Building in the provincial capital Surabaya, Saturday (27/2/2021)

Indonesian Health Minister Aims to Vaccinate 38 Million Indonesians by June 2021

Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin aims to vaccinate more than 38 million people in the country’s second vaccination drive, which will last until the second quarter of the year at the end of June 2021.

“[The vaccines are allocated] to 21 million elderly people, as they are at risk [from Covid-19], while 16 million are for public services personnel,” said Budi in Surabaya, East Java on Saturday.

“However, the government cannot [push for vaccinating the elderly] alone. We need support in the form of capital from the public.” Budi also called for other areas to use their resources to facilitate vaccinating the elderly.

East Java governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa agreed.

“Public services personnel are vulnerable [to Covid-19] because of their exposure to the pandemic, while the elderly’s frail health put them at risk,” she noted. “We hope that mass vaccinations will facilitate these citizens' needs,” she said.

Indonesia’s bid to vaccinate the elderly was hampered by unclear information on registering fo the vaccine, as well as larger than expected queues in hospitals and other health facilities.

Indonesia authorized Covid-19 vaccines for the elderly after tests in Brazil in early February indicated that the Covavax vaccine made by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac is safe to use for older people.

The bulk of Covid-19 vaccines used in Indonesia comes from Sinovac, though the country also received other vaccines from the AstraZeneca, Novavax and Pfizer pharmaceutical companies.

Source:

https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/27/18273521/menkes-targetkan-38-juta-orang-sudah-divaksin-covid-19-pada-akhir-juni-2021. 

Twitter/@BPPTKG Hot clouds going up to 1000 meters cover Mount Merapi on Friday (26/2/2021)

Mount Merapi Continues to Spew Hot Clouds

Mount Merapi continues to live up to its billing as Indonesia’s most active volcano, after the mountain was seen to spew hot clouds up to 1000 meters into the atmosphere.

“The seismographs detected the hot clouds at an amplitude of 28 millimeters. The phenomena lasted 99 seconds,” said Geological Disaster Research and Technology Center head Hanik Humaida on Saturday.

The BPPTKG has put Mount Merapi on level III alert of Siaga [Watch], the second highest level below the level IV advisory of Awas [Beware] since November 2020. Observers have seen hot and molten lava flows down the volcano.

The heightened volcanic activity caused the mass evacuation of hundreds of people living on its slopes, and shut down all economic activity.

Source:

https://regional.kompas.com/read/2021/02/27/21292971/gunung-merapi-kembali-keluarkan-awan-panas-guguran-meluncur-hingga-1000