TUESDAY December 1, 2020 3 Dec. 9 declared national holiday More than 100 million voters in 309 regencies, cities expected to choose new regional leaders

Budi Sutrisno donesian Military, the National claring the simultaneous region- had often encouraged voters to concerns. ular, reaching 91,640 activities,” Police and the COVID-19 task al elections day a national holi- go on vacation instead of casting The House has instead asked the agency said, citing data re- The Jakarta Post/Jakarta force, to enforce health protocols day had been a common practice their ballots. the KPU to revise a KPU regula- corded up to Nov. 24. The government has declared during voting. since 2015. “However, it is still necessary for tion to specifi cally include provi- In response to the violations, Dec. 9, voting day in the upcoming “We hope voters will not hesi- Referring to the prevailing law the central government, regional sions prohibiting mass gatherings Bawaslu has issued warning let- simultaneous regional elections, tate to cast their ballots because on regional elections, a regional administrations, election organiz- and to promote online campaigns ters and shut down campaign a national holiday. we are following strict health pro- voting day must be held on a pub- ers and other parties with author- instead. activities in violation of health The decision is stipulated in tocols in handling the materials lic holiday or an off -work day. ity to synchronize policies during Under the new regulation, can- rules, occasionally in collabora- Presidential Decree No. 22/2020, to be used at voting stations,” said “This is so that voters who work the national holiday to avoid ad- didates may host face-to-face tion with local public order agen- which was signed by President KPU offi cial Dewa Kade Wiarsa in nonelection areas, for example verse outcomes,” she added. rallies indoors only when on- cies and the police. Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Friday. Raka Sandi as quoted by a state- residents of South Tangerang The government and House of line campaigning is impossible, At least 21 central and local Ba- The national holiday is hoped ment published on the Cabinet [Banten] and Depok [West Java] Representatives Commission II, and the events must follow strict waslu offi ces previously recom- to provide “the widest possible Secretariat website. working in Jakarta, will lose their which oversees home aff airs, have health protocols and have no mended that pairs of candidates opportunity for citizens to exer- The regional elections include voting rights due to their irrevers- decided to go ahead with the re- more than 50 attendees. and their winning teams avoid cise their voting right”, says the 270 elections conducted on the ible work schedule,” Titi told The gional elections on Dec. 9 despite Bawaslu has recorded 2,126 face-to-face campaigns. decree. same day, with more than 100 Jakarta Post on Monday. recommendations from experts, health protocol violations dur- According to Bawaslu, insuffi - The General Elections Com- million voters in 309 regencies Titi expressed her apprecia- epidemiologists and various en- ing face-to-face campaign events, cient internet networks and lim- mission (KPU) said it would coor- and cities to be involved. tion for the fact that the polling tities, including the Indonesian which began on Sept. 26. ited devices owned by voters had dinate with relevant institutions, Association for Elections and day was set to fall in the middle Institute of Sciences (LIPI) and “In the nearly two months of been the constraints that made including the Elections Supervi- Democracy (Perludem) executive of the week instead of on a long prominent Muslim groups, to the election campaigns, the face- online campaigns the least popu- sory Agency (Bawaslu), the In- director Titi Anggraini said de- weekend or a day prior, as that delay voting day over COVID-19 to-face method was the most pop- lar activity for candidate pairs.

Over 4,600 residents evacuated Closed crossing after Ili Lewotolok eruption

Djemi Amnifu No injuries or damage have smoke thousands of meters into and Nina Loasana been reported. the air several times. The PVMBG has warned resi- Earlier this month, Mt. Merapi The Jakarta Post//Jakarta dents living on the slopes of Mt. in Magelang, Central Java, one of The eruption of Mount Ili Le- Ili Lewotolok of potential cold the most active volcanoes in In- wotolok in , East lava fl ows, especially during donesia, ejected lava around 3,000 Nusa Tenggara, on Sunday morn- heavy rain. Residents, visitors meters into the air, forcing hun- ing has forced 4,628 residents and climbers have been advised dreds of residents living around out of their homes, according to to remain outside a 4-km radius the mountain to evacuate the area. the Lembata Disaster Mitigation from the crater. sits on the Pacifi c Agency (BPBD). The National Disaster Mitiga- Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes The volcano spewed a column tion Agency (BNPB) said local au- and fault lines encircling the Pa- of volcanic ash and smoke 4 kilo- thorities were doing their best to cifi c Basin, making it one of the meters into the air at 9:45 a.m. lo- ensure everyone at the shelters world’s most seismically active cal time on Sunday. followed COVID-19 health rules regions prone to tectonic and vol- The eruption lasted around 10 to reduce the risks of COVID-19 canic eruptions, earthquakes and minutes and brought down pieces transmission among evacuees. tsunamis. of volcanic material as big as co- “However, the local disas- In addition, man-made disas- conuts, said the Center for Vol- ter agency will need more per- ters such as urban fl ooding persist canology and Geological Hazard sonal protective equipment like in many regions. Mitigation (PVMBG). face masks,” BNPB spokesman Last year, Indonesia recorded JP/Wendra Ajistyatama Mt. Ili Lewotolok’s alert sta- Raditya Jati said in a statement 9,384 natural disasters, includ- A Commuterline train passes the Palmerah railroad crossing in Central Jakarta on Sunday. The crossing tus was raised to siaga (watch), or on Monday. ing earthquakes, tsunamis, fl oods, was closed to boost traffi c safety for both motorists and trains. level three of the country’s four- Indonesia has seen several vol- land liquefaction and landslides, tiered alert system, from level canic eruptions throughout 2020. which left 684 people dead. two, waspada (advisory), at 1 p.m. Mt. Anak Krakatau in Lampung This year, as of Sept. 3, the on Sunday. and Mt. Semeru in East Java erupt- BNPB had recorded 1,944 disas- The 4,628 evacuees were taking ed on the same day in April. ters that left 272 people dead. De- refuge at seven shelters across the Mt. Sinabung in Karo regency, spite having frequent disasters, regency as of Monday, including at North Sumatra, erupted in Au- emergency preparedness among the old regent’s offi ce complex, ac- gust after being inactive for more the public is still lacking, experts cording to BPBD Lembata. than a year, spewing ash and have said.

Manggarai women turn to farming to put food on table Markus Makur

The Jakarta Post/East Manggarai, Maria Sedis was picking ripe chil- ies grown on a plot of land belong- ing to Santo Robertus Bellarminus Tilir Parish in the East of East Nusa Tenggara. Her friends, Fantiana Jemina and Kristiana Anu from Kam- pung Tilir were helping her har- vest the popular ingredient to sell in the neighborhood. “We also have sellers from the JP /Markus Makur Ruteng and Mukun markets, who Local empowerment: Fantiana Jemina (left) and Maria Sedis pose had called Father Rusmiadin,” while holding up vegetable seeds on a plot of land cultivated during Maria told The Jakarta Post earli- the pandemic to help their families in Kampung Tilir, Borong dis- er this month. The Catholic priest trict, East Manggarai, in East Nusa Tenggara. helps them market their produce through social media, especially the parish with vegetables,” Ma- should cultivate idle land to get WhatsApp groups. ria said. Her family did not have some money for the family,” he The group has also grown other available land because they grew said. The priest also cultivated the vegetables, such as tomatoes, since coff ee bushes. land, along with other farmers. May this year. Three months ago, The parish not only allowed What the parish and the wom- they sold their fi rst yield and re- them to use the land but sup- en had done is an approach called ceived Rp 12 million (US$854) in ported them by shelling out Rp 10 “build back better” championed total. The proceeds from the sales million to buy seeds and pay the by the National Development were distributed to the parish and farmers, including Maria and her Planning Agency (Bappenas). The used to buy more seeds and cover two friends. program aims to prevent vulnera- the cost of tilling the soil. “We thought letting the land be bility and revive economic activ- Maria said the COVID-19 pan- cultivated was part of the parish ity to bring about improvements demic had made it hard for resi- economy, and it’s also part of com- through social, economic and en- dents of Tilir and neighboring munity empowerment,” Rusmia- vironmental transformation. kampungs to obtain vegetables. din said. The parish paid each farm- “The revival after COVID-19 The large-scale social restrictions er Rp 50,000 per day for their labor. should not be oriented only at limited their mobility, so markets In another village, in Komo- social and economic activity but and shopping centers were closed. do district, Maria Alfensia Surni, also the environment,” said Egi In April, Maria and her hus- grew vegetables as well. After she Suarga, program manager of the band Florianus Sandri Karno’s had lost her job at a hotel, she rent- LCDI World Resources Institute fi nancial situation was in tatters ed a plot of land in June. Besides (WRI) Indonesia. because they could not sell their vegetables, she grows pineapples, He said family farming could arabica coff ee beans as the local marketing her produce through make use of a house’s front or back administration had closed the Facebook and WhatsApp. yard to grow food and use organic markets for about two months. “The technology has made it waste as fertilizer to increase the “We were hit hard. We did not easy for me to market my produce, supply of food from family farming. have any money, so we could not both vegetables and fruits,” said Egi said Building Back Better buy rice, soap, detergent and oth- Maria Surni in November. Among in Post-Disaster Recovery (GF- er basic necessities,” she said. her customers were tourism play- DRR) is to build fairer. The key They also had no money to buy ers and cruise ship managers in words were: poverty eradication, internet data for their oldest child Labuan Bajo, a famous tourist des- reducing inequality and reducing to attend senior high school class- tination in the province. exposure to environmental risks. es online. On government orders, Surni decided to go beyond The program also makes women, schools across Indonesia halted growing vegetables. She made ba- indigenous people and vulnerable all physical activities and moved nana and cassava chips as well. communities a priority to create classes online. Many students She was also teaching how to equal access. could not aff ord the internet quo- make the chips and learning how ta or a smartphone or computer, to make the tutorial video to be MARKUS MAKUR IS ONE OF THE RECIPIENTS while others did not even have an uploaded on YouTube. OF THE BUILD BACK BETTER FELLOWSHIP internet signal in their areas. Father Rusmiadin said farming ORGANIZED BY THE WORLD RESOURCES “I went to [the priest] in Tilir during the pandemic had helped INSTITUTE AND THE SOCIETY OF INDONESIAN parish, Father Firminus Rusmia- them keep the environment fer- ENVIRONMENT JOURNALISTS (SIEJ). din, and I asked for his permis- tile. “Human beings should not be sion to cultivate the idle land at idle when much land is idle. We THIS ARTICLE IS FUNDED BY THE FELLOWSHIP.