Indonesia Highlights: Indonesia Starts ‘Gotong Royong’ Vaccination Scheme for Private Sector on May 17 | Indonesia’s Gojek, Tokopedia Merge to Create Giant Tech Group | Indonesian Minister for State E

KOMPAS.com – Private companies in Indonesia start the vaccination program called Gotong Royong (mutual cooperation) jabs for their employees on Monday, May 17 to curb the spread of Covid-19 and achieve herd community in the country.

Indonesian ride-hailing and payments firm Gojek and e-commerce pioneer Tokopedia are officially merged to create a tech giant called GoTo.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir has recently ousted the directors of Kimia Farma Diagnostika (KFD), a subsidiary of the Kimia Farma state-owned pharmaceutical company. The move came less than a month after police in North Sumatra province arrested five KFD employees at the end of April for reusing old rapid test kits in a racket dating to December 2020.

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

Indonesia Starts ‘Gotong Royong’ Vaccination Scheme for Private Sector on May 17

Private companies in Indonesia start the vaccination program called Gotong Royong (mutual cooperation) jabs for their employees on Monday, May 17 to curb the spread of Covid-19 and achieve herd community in the country.

Based on the Health Ministerial Regulation (Permenkes) No. 10/2021, the cost of acquiring the vaccines will be borne by the employers, while the vaccine will be administered to the employees at no cost.

President Director of Indonesia's state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma Honesti Basyir said two Chinese-made vaccines, Sinopharm and CanSino, will be used for the Gotong Royong Vaccination Program.

“We will first use the Sinopharm vaccine for the Gotong Royong vaccination program,” Honesti told Kompas.com on Sunday, May 16.

“According to the plan, we will use the CanSino vaccine as well,” he added. According to its procedures, the Sinopharm vaccine also requires two doses given 21-28 days apart. Under the scheme, the vaccine recipients will get the same type of vaccine at their first and second jabs.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/17/154354574/indonesia-starts-gotong-royong-vaccination-scheme-for-private-sector-on-may-17.

Indonesia’s Gojek, Tokopedia Merge to Create Giant Tech Group

kompas.com Indonesian ride-hailing and payments firm Gojek and e-commerce pioneer Tokopedia are officially merged to create a tech giant called GoTo.

Indonesian ride-hailing and payments firm Gojek and e-commerce pioneer Tokopedia are officially merged to create a tech giant called GoTo, CEO of Tokopedia William Tanuwijaya said in a statement posted on his Facebook account.

William said that GoTo is an acronym formed from Gojek and Tokopedia as well as symbolizing the spirit of mutual cooperation behind the merger.

“The merging of Gojek and Tokopedia with a strong vision and mission will truly boost the development of the country," William said.

Both Tokopedia and Gojek made the much-anticipated announcement in a video posted on their official YouTube account respectively. Gojek CEO Andre Soelistyo will be CEO of the GoTo group, while Patrick Cao will become GoTo’s president.

Andre will also continue to lead the payments and financial services business namely GoTo Financial, which includes GoPay services as well as financial services and business solutions for business partners.

Meanwhile, Kevin Aluwi will continue to serve as Gojek CEO and William remains at his post as Tokopedia CEO. “Today marks a historic day [for both companies] with the formation of GoTo Group and this also marks the next phase of growth for Gojek, Tokopedia, and GoTo Financial,” said Andre in a statement on Monday, May 17.

According to GoTo, as of December 2020, the group has a registered driver fleet of more than two million, more than 11 million merchants, and over 100 million monthly active users.
Their combined past valuation was $18 billion based on fundraising held in 2019 and early 2020. GoTo recorded a total Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of more than $22 billion in 2020.

The company is backed by many big investors such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Astra International, Facebook, Google, KKR, Visa, Telkomsel as well as Tencent and Temasek.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/17/233058474/indonesias-gojek-tokopedia-merge-to-create-giant-tech-group.

Indonesian Minister for State Enterprises Ousts Directors of Kimia Farma Subsidiary

ANTARA FOTO/Dhemas Reviyanto A file photo of State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir who is also the chief executive of the newly established Covid-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery Committee delivering his speech at an event dated July 17, 2020.

Indonesian Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir has recently ousted the directors of Kimia Farma Diagnostika (KFD), a subsidiary of the Kimia Farma state-owned pharmaceutical company over the Eid al-Fitr or Idul Fitri holidays.

The move came less than a month after police in North Sumatra province arrested five Kimia Farma Diagnostika employees at the end of April for reusing old rapid test kits in a racket dating to December 2020.

Erick decided to give KFD President-Director Adil Fadila Bulqini and General Finances as well as Human Resources Director Ilham Sabariman their marching orders, on grounds that the scandal undermined public confidence in the government.

“We deemed that KFD has strayed from core values of state-owned enterprises, namely serve, protect and work for the common good. Regardless of the individual or their standing, they are free to try another line of work,” he said in a press release on Monday, May 17.

“As a health services company, public confidence stemming from quality service is non-negotiable. [The ouster] is not a punitive measure, but our way of ensuring [Kimia Farma Diagnostika] and other state-owned enterprises comply with those core values.”

The former Inter Milan owner noted that “The existence of the used rapid test ring indicated a weakness in the system. If allowed to continue, it will affect the public’s trust [in State-Owned companies].”

Erick also informed that an independent team of auditors is going through the books of all labs under Kimia Farma, including Kimia Farma Diagnostika.

While both parties reviewed their standard operating procedures or SOP, it did not stop Erick from firing the guilty parties or allowing lawmakers to press charges against them.

Police in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra arrested the five people behind the Kimia Farma Diagnostika rapid test kits ring in an undercover sting at the province’s Kualanamu Airport on April 27.

Investigators said they were tipped by travelers disgruntled with their positive Covid-19 results.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/18/054237874/indonesian-minister-for-state-enterprises-ousts-directors-of-kimia-farma.

Police Arrests 3 People for Raising Flag of RMS Separatist Movement in Indonesia's Maluku

Kompas/Frans Pati Herin The flag of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) was raised in the Halong area, Ambon City, Maluku, Monday, April 25, 2016. The raising was allegedly related to the RMS anniversary, which is commemorated every April 25.

Indonesia's Saparua District Police arrested three people for raising the flag of the South Maluku Republic (RMS) separatist movement in Negeri Ulath, Central Maluku, Maluku province.
Two sympathizers identified by the initial AP, 32, and ML, 43, are farmers in Negeri Ulath.

Both of them, who were arrested on Saturday, May 15, at 10 am local time, are now detained at the local police's detention center.

The other sympathizer, FP, was arrested Sunday, May 16, after raising the pro-independence flag during the 204th anniversary of Pattimura Day to celebrate the national hero Kapitan Pattimura.

"We have also arrested another perpetrator after conducting further investigation," Tribunnews.com quoted Saparua District Police head Police Commissioner Adjutant Roni F. Manawan as saying on Sunday, May 16.

The arrest took place after the authority obtained information from the community police officer in Negeri Ulath. The flags were hoisted in front of residents' houses twice. Two flags were hung on the mango tree behind Ape Manuputty's house at 2:30 am, while the other two flags were flown in front of the house of the Secretary of Negeri Ulath, Wempy Telehala, at 9:55 am.

RMS is a separation movement centered in the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram in Maluku province. Decades ago, the involvement of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) in the movement had sparked suspicion from the Indonesian side regarding Dutch interference in the establishment of the RMS.

Led by then former Attorney General for the State of East Indonesia (NIT), Chris Soumokil, the group declared an independent republic in April 1950. However, in November 1950 the RMS was defeated by the Indonesian forces. This was also one of the efforts to prevent the Dutch from occupying Maluku.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2021/05/17/203503674/police-arrests-3-people-for-raising-flag-of-rms-separatist-movement-in-indonesias.