Rp 1.2T Aid for Food Stalls and Street Vendors
The government has allocated Rp 1.2 trillion in financial aid for food stalls (wartegs) and street vendors (PKL), which will be distributed across one million people, said Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati. Each recipient will receive Rp 1,200,000.
To ease tensions between the national military (TNI), the national police (Polri), and street vendors that have been ongoing since the implementation of emergency PPKM, TNI and Polri have each been assigned to manage and distribute Rp 600 billion worth of aid. Sri Mulyani said the Ministry has prepared electronic administrative and verification systems to maintain the distribution of financial aid.
Relevant link:
What to Do with Your Kids In the Pandemic?
As traveling continues to be worrisome, and malls remain closed for kids aged 12 and under, it is a good time to look into ways to keep your family entertained.
For starters, a movie marathon never hurts. Sign up for online streaming services to tap into a wide range of shows: from documentaries to children’s shows, Indonesian and foreign movies, and sports. Alternatively, go to YouTube and set up some workout and dance videos in the living room, relax by watching cooking videos, or put on some music tutorials and learn along.
Need an educational experience? Visit Google Arts & Culture to explore virtual exhibits from over 2,000 museums worldwide, play interactive art games, view artworks up close, learn art history, or print out their offline activity books for some screen breaks. For more educational toys and books, check out online shops Make a Whiz and Game Montessori on Instagram.
If your kids like travel, a virtual tour may be something to look into. The Ministry of Tourism features free docuseries and 360-degree photos of Indonesian destinations such as Labuan Bajo, Candi Borobudur, and Lake Toba. For more variety, check out virtual tour packages at DigiTiket and Eventbrite, which feature international tourist destinations and even company visits.
Are your kids really, really itching to stretch their legs? Many cafes and restaurants outside of malls now offer outdoor dining, so go and have a treat. Outdoor sports facilities such as the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium have also now been reopened to the public. Going outdoors is possible as long as you maintain your hygiene, keep a safe distance, and plan your trip well to avoid crowds.
Related links:
AmCham Meets BPJPH
AmCham Indonesia held a courtesy meeting with the Halal Product Assurance Agency (BPJPH) yesterday, Sept 9. Members were able to talk with Siti Aminah, Head of the Halal Cooperation and Standardization Center; and Dr. Subandriyah, Coordinator of Halal Product Cooperation at BPJPH on behalf of Dr. H Mastuki, BPJPH acting head.
With the issuance of the draft decree on types of products mandatory to be certified halal and ongoing uncertainty over international cooperation schemes for halal certification, AmCham member companies were eager to have an open discussion with the BPJPH team. BPJPH gave an overview of the certification scheme for imported products and highlighted the importance of having a government-to-government (G2G) agreement in order to provide a mutual recognition agreement (MRA) between Indonesia and other countries for the recognition of foreign halal bodies.
BJPH also clarified several pressing issues, including the progress of the draft decree and comments from World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries, the use of BPJPH’s new halal logo, and products exempted from halal certification obligations.
AmCham hopes to continue fostering good relations with BPJPH and other stakeholders on this far-reaching issue.
Local Governments to Sanction Residents Receiving Vaccine Boosters
The Ministry of Health has asked local governments (provinces and districts/cities) to impose sanctions on unauthorized individuals who have received the third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine or booster, as all forms of vaccination oversight come under the jurisdiction of local governments. Ministry of Health Spokesperson for Covid-19 Vaccination Siti Nadia Tarmizi said that, based on the current regulations, the booster program is only for health workers, assistant health workers, and support personnel who work in healthcare facilities.
Related link:
Indonesia’s Covid-19 Deaths Lowest in 2.5 Months
Indonesia saw 334 new deaths yesterday, Sept 9, the lowest in 2.5 months, and part of a steady decline in recent deaths, new daily and active cases, according to Ministry of Health data. There were also only 127,829 active cases, a fall from 132,823 the previous day.
Related link:
PeduliLindungi Data Migrated, Fake Website Blocked
The government has migrated the official Covid-19 contact tracing app PeduliLindungi system to the National Data Center, managed by the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) together with telecommunications firm Telkom, the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), and other related ministries, to improve data security. A special team has also been formed to help monitor data security.
Kominfo has also blocked a fake website, pedulilindungia.com. With the fake site displaying similar attributes to the official PeduliLindungi.id site, Kominfo spokesperson Dedy Permadi urged the public to be more aware of other fake sites and applications in order to avoid disinformation and personal data theft.
The only official Covid-19 website is PeduliLindungi.id and users can download the official app on Google Play Store or App Store.
Relevant links:
- https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20210909121130-25-691906/pemerintah-migrasi-sistem-pedulilindungi-untuk-proteksi-data
- https://katadata.co.id/desysetyowati/digital/6139e04a39dd7/kominfo-blokir-situs-palsu-pedulilindungi
AmCham Cares: Caterpillar Foundation
The Caterpillar Foundation has donated an additional $200,000 to Hope Worldwide to support Indonesia’s Covid-19 relief efforts.
Funding from the Foundation will help Indonesia’s health system deliver care to families and communities by providing 75 oxygen concentrators and 600 pieces of personal protection equipment (PPEs) to 15 community health clinics (PUSKESMAS) in Jakarta and Batam.
“We will continue to monitor the situation closely and act with urgency,” said Caterpillar Foundation President Asha Varghese. “Through partnering with relief organizations, we are helping fight the spread of Covid-19 and giving front-line workers resources to act quickly and save lives.”
As part of the Foundation’s ongoing response to Covid-19 and commitment to building stronger, more resilient communities, this is the second Indonesia-specific donation focusing on Covid-19 relief efforts. Last year, the Foundation gave $207,000 to Hope Worldwide, resulting in 1,200 PPEs delivered to 31 hospitals and clinics and 1,200 sets of food baskets given to vulnerable families.
AmCham HR Committee – Vaccinations and Mitigating the Pandemic
AmCham's Human Resources Committee held its third discussion of the year virtually on Sept 8, with five speakers: Peter Surja (Ernst & Young Country Managing Partner), Mira Buanawati (Kraft Heinz Head of Legal and Corporate Affairs), Budi Suhartono (Air Products Indonesia HR Country Manager), Damian Scherers (AGS Country Manager) and Milind Gadre (Vision-Ease Asia President Director). The aim of the meeting was to discuss Covid-19 vaccinations and how companies are mitigating the effects of the pandemic.
A survey conducted at the beginning of the session showed most companies present had vaccinated their employees, with 72 percent saying over 75 percent of employees had received their first jab and 33 percent saying 50 percent-75 percent had received the second jab.
Peter said that since the vaccination program was launched by the government and made accessible for everyone, EY had strongly encouraged employees to actively look for information from any available source and get vaccinated.
Mira said Kraft Heinz's vaccination program was part of the company’s commitment to staff, and, as of August, 87 percent of its employees had been vaccinated.
Milind said that even with the massive flow of information by the government there were still challenges from those who did not want to or could not be vaccinated. For those unwilling, the company used the personal approach to convince them, including providing an updated video of the pandemic situation for employees. This served as a form of peer pressure to generate enthusiasm and increase the number of people seeking vaccination.
Companies agreed that once all staff are fully vaccinated it will be safer to go back to the office, but in the meantime, the need for flexibility remains.
“AGS needs to be creative in mitigating the pandemic. As a movers company, most of our employees cannot work from home. This is why we established a strict protocol to keep all stakeholders safe,” said Damian.
“Working from home can be challenging. At Air Products we make sure protocols are adhered to and encourage our employees to practice self-care, such as maintaining healthy habits, reaching out for help while staying connected to the network, and getting the work done,” said Budi.
Indonesia Covid-19 Oxygen Appeal Update
The Global Task Force on Pandemic Response is continuing its efforts to provide oxygen to Indonesia. As indicated in our update last week, the oxygen effort includes financial donations to the Indonesian NGO the YCAB Foundation, through its Oxygen for Indonesia (OFI) initiative. OFI is raising funds to purchase PSAs, which are large-scale oxygen-generating machines. More detailed information on this effort can be found below. For companies considering donations, we hope this additional information will be helpful for due diligence purposes.
- The total cost of oxygen PSA (from procurement to construction to delivery) is approximately $150,000. There will be additional costs of installation, transport, etc, which is about 30 percent of the costs above for these plants. Thus the price range is $150,000-200,000 for these 366 liters per minute (LPM) plants, per the graphic below. A 240-bed hospital requires roughly 550 LPM oxygen supply.
- The Ministry of Health's procurement target is 50 plants for the country, of which OFI is trying to get at least 20 300 LPM plants. Some 60 percent of Indonesia’s provinces do not have oxygen production capacity, therefore much of it needs to be delivered.
- OFI is currently working with two vendors: SmartGas (Singapore) and Big Start (Australia). Both firms’ oxygen generators come from China. SmartGas has limited stock and produces the machines in four to six weeks. Big Start says it can produce them within two weeks. Oxygen for Indonesia has signed for five oxygen PSAs from Big Start Global and the estimated lead time until arrival is 20 days after receipt of full payment. The cost of air delivery is around $20,000 and freight is $3,000. The table below compares different models from the two vendors. The situation is fluid and the table will be updated regularly.
- OFI acts as a group buying provider for PSAs. The goal of combining orders is to reduce prices through bulk buying, share the workload, and ensure access to oxygen in the target hospitals. Payment to the vendors is primarily done through foundations that have joined the movement (Kitabisa Foundation, for example) and donations can be made online. Donations are tax-deductible for US taxpayers.
- OFI uses specifications from the Ministry of Health for the 200 and 300 LPM oxygen generators. Using these specs and its network, it has arranged discussions with suppliers and partners. OFI requires that each quote include: the oxygen generator PSA plant; the module so that the plants can be used to install oxygen cylinders; and, a one-year installation and service contract from a local Indonesian partner.
- Quotes do not include: freight costs from the factory to the warehouse; import duties, warehouse storage, and costs of moving the generators from the airport to the MoH warehouse; and construction costs at the local hospital (this varies by geography). The transport costs from the MoH warehouse to the hospitals will be borne by MoH or the Jakarta Provincial Health Office. Maintenance costs that are not included in the original quote will be borne by MoH or the Provincial Health Office. For costs that are excluded and not borne by MoH, OFI will calculate the costs for the donor based on their orders so the donors can include these in their calculations.
- MoH is the decision-maker regarding which hospitals will receive the equipment. If a donor requests that their donation be allocated to a specific geography or facility, OFI will work with MoH to try to accommodate. Note that not all hospitals have the space and infrastructure to install oxygen generators.
- MoH is responsible for coordinating with the hospital recipients for installation and readiness. The MoH is the receiving agent when the PSAs are imported. They are transported to the recipient hospitals by the Ministry using a free QR tracking and delivery platform OFI startups have provided.
- The Ministry has selected hospitals in priority cities and regencies where these PSAs will be installed. They have been communicating with the hospital recipients but have not made the list of hospitals public.
- As OFI negotiates for additional bulk purchases of 5, 10, or 20 PSAs from various vendors, potential donations from Chamber members can help in lowering the cost per unit.
If your company is interested in making a donation, please contact John Goyer at [email protected].
Support Independent Journalism: Subscribe to The Jakarta Post
In these difficult times, our hometown English language newspaper, The Jakarta Post, is more important than ever. Given the difficulties of physical circulation and the economic slump, the Post needs to boost its online subscribers – a goal we heartily support at AmCham Indonesia. Quality English language news is vital for our businesses, our home offices, and the flow of information out of Indonesia. It is for this reason, that we are urging all of our members and readers to subscribe to JP! Information is what will help get us through this crisis. Below is information about how to sign up.
JP Premium Digital Subscription Packages
https://www.thejakartapost.com/packages
Monthly subscription – Rp 50,000
Yearly subscription – Rp 600,000
Now is the Time to Join AmCham!
 |
We offer a full slate of meetings, events, and information for our community online. But we can only do this through the support of our members. If you are not yet an AmCham member, please join now.
AmCham Indonesia is open to all companies with an interest in US business relations and we have many non-American members. We are a community and we welcome you!
Reach us at [email protected] or click below!
AmCham Office and Events
 |
The AmCham Office is on the work-from-home status and all face-to-face meetings and events have been postponed. We are having a number of meetings online using the Zoom platform. You will be notified of virtual meetings as they are scheduled.
What is Your Company Doing on COVID-19?
Please let us know what measures your company may be taking in the form of donations and other assistance to help Indonesia during this time of confusion and concern. Contact [email protected] with your news. We would like to publicize the ways that our AmCham companies are pitching in.
Stay well
We urge you to send us press releases and other information that we can pass on to the broader AmCham community. If you have items of interest, please email material to [email protected]. Follow this link to information provided by the US Embassy
Stay safe, call a doctor if you have a high fever, cough, or difficulty breathing. Stay healthy above all else.
AmCham Update is AmCham's regular newsletter on developments related to the pandemic crisis and other issues in Indonesia. It is edited by AmCham Managing Director A Lin Neumann and written by the AmCham Staff. Paul L Goddard is the Managing Editor
