Indonesia Highlights: Jakarta is the World’s Most Vulnerable City to Environmental Risks: Report | Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Drops among Indonesians | Indonesian Military Thwarts Smuggling of Motorcy

KOMPAS.com – Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, was named the riskiest city globally due to severe air pollution, according to a new report from Verisk Maplecroft.

Indonesia's Health Ministry announced the results of a survey regarding people’s attitudes toward the Covid-19 vaccination program. The survey showed the rate of people's willingness to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 reached 80.8 percent.

Below are the editors’ picks stories published on Kompas.com:

Jakarta is the World’s Most Vulnerable City to Environmental Risks: Report

Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, was named the riskiest city globally due to severe air pollution, according to a new report from Verisk Maplecroft.

The report, which was quoted by CNBC, said that Jakarta also faces perennial threats from flooding and seismic activities.

The city of about 10 million people also suffers from heavy traffic and is flood-prone as it is reportedly one of the fastest sinking cities in the world.

In 2019, President Joko Widodo revealed plans to move the Indonesian capital from Jakarta, which is on Java island, to Kalimantan island. However, the project was stalled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Besides Jakarta, other Indonesian cities that also face the greatest risks from environmental problems are Surabaya and Bandung, which came at fourth and eighth, respectively.

Based on the report, Asian cities are facing the greatest risks from environmental hazards including extreme heat, climate change, and natural disasters.

Among the 100 cities most at risk, 99 of them are in Asia - with 37 in China and 43 in India.

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2021/05/14/113634426/jakarta-duduki-posisi-pertama-di-dunia-sebagai-kota-paling-terdampak-bahaya?page=1

Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Drops among Indonesians: Health Ministry

KOMPAS.COM/RAMDHAN TRIYADI BEMPAH A health care worker is administering Covid-19 vaccine to one of the senior citizens in Bogor, West Java on Saturday, April 24, 2021.

Indonesia's Health Ministry announced the results of a survey regarding people’s attitudes toward the Covid-19 vaccination program. The survey showed the rate of people's willingness to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 reached 80.8 percent.

"The percentage of people who are doubtful about getting the vaccine has decreased to 19.2 percent from 28.6 percent from January to March 2021. This shows that our program to raise public awareness of the importance of the vaccination is going well," said Health Ministry Secretary General, Oscar Primadi, during an interview with Kompas TV Thursday, May 13.

The results of the survey indicate good news to jointly break the chain of transmission of the Covid-19. Now that vaccines are being rapidly rolled out covering a large amount of the population in hopes that the pandemic may eventually come to an end.

Head of Public Policy for Facebook in Indonesia, Ruben Hattari, said the survey was conducted by the University of Maryland in partnership with Facebook and involved 178,988 respondents in the period January 10 to March 31 this year.

The survey described the level of discipline in implementing health protocols and the level of public willingness to join the Covid-19 vaccination program. It also measured self-reported levels of doubt on the Covid-19 vaccine, reasons for doubt, reliable sources of information, and key behaviors such as wearing masks and social distancing in public space.

Besides Indonesia, Oscar said, people from 200 countries and country states also participated in the survey. The data collected in the survey maintained the privacy of all respondents.
"This survey was conducted by prioritizing the privacy of the respondents and is one of the surveys we conducted to tackle the Covid-19," said Ruben.

Several vaccines for Covid-19 are currently being developed in many countries, including Indonesia. Vaccines are key to developing herd immunity, and thus keeping the most vulnerable people healthy, while also accelerating the return of normalcy in social and economic interactions.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/14/151020274/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-drops-among-indonesians-health-ministry.

Indonesian Military Thwarts Smuggling of Motorcycle Parts to Timor Leste

Dokumen Satgas Pamtas RI-Timor Leste Sektor Timur Members of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Border Security (Pamtas RI-RDTL) Task Force are on patrol to check the border.

Personnel from the Indonesia-Timor Leste Border Security (Pamtas RI-RDTL) Task Force thwarted the smuggling of motorcycle spare parts to Timor Leste.

"They tried to smuggle out some items to Timor Leste through a mouse trail at Halimuti in Silawan village, East Tasifeto district, Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara," said Lieutenant Colonel (Inf) Bayu Sigit Dwi Untoro, East Sector commander of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Border Security Task Force, Friday, May 14.

Besides motorcycle spare parts, Bayu added, the officers found instant noodles, perfume, and medicines for chicken livestock.

Bayu explained that the case was first discovered when members of his team conducted regular patrols at a number of border points between the two countries. At a river, which was the scene of the incident, the military members saw the alleged smuggler and individuals from Timor Leste were communicating by using flashlights.

"After they took the evidence to the riverbank, our personnel then approached the perpetrator," Bayu said.

However, as soon as the Indonesian military (TNI) members approached, the people immediately fled to Timor Leste and left behind a number of the contraband items, which were then seized.

"This is a challenge for us to catch the perpetrators and hand them over to the authorities to process them under the law. We hope we can provide deterrent sanctions for both the perpetrators and others who intend to do so," said Bayu.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/14/170227274/indonesian-military-thwarts-smuggling-of-motorcycle-parts-to-timor-leste.