The assistance is the result of his working visit to Singapore, he said in an official statement released in Jakarta on Wednesday.
"Smart Gas will be refurbished to available ISO tanks in Singapore and some will be ordered from China," Hartarto added.
An ISO (International Organization for Standardization) tank is a container that is commonly used to load liquid and gas cargo.
The Indonesian Government has estimated it will need about 140 additional ISO tanks for oxygen distribution, and Singapore has so far provided five of them, Hartarto informed.
When meeting with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other ministers, they asked him about how Singapore can assist Indonesia, especially in handling COVID-19, he said.
"The Indonesian Government is grateful for the quick response to the additional equipment for oxygen distribution. Now, the challenge is how the production of oxygen can quickly reach the community in need," he remarked.
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As part of efforts to curb COVID-19, especially the Delta variants that are spreading very quickly, Indonesia is continuing to take anticipatory measures, including increasing the number of self-isolation rooms, Hartarto informed.
To increase the isolation wards, the government requires both cylinder tubes and ISO tank equipment to distribute existing oxygen, he said.
Meanwhile, during a meeting with Indonesian entrepreneurs in Singapore, Minister Hartarto lauded their initiative to collect oxygen concentrators for Indonesia.
So far, 11 thousand oxygen concentrators have been collected and 1,500 units have been received in Jakarta, he said.
The collaboration between Indonesian and Singaporean entrepreneurs was organized by Temasek, he informed.
Furthermore, the Singapore Prime Minister's wife, Ho Ching, directly intervened to ensure that the donation could be successfully collected and shipped to Indonesia as soon as possible, Hartarto said.
Over the past few weeks, Jakarta and several other provinces have been striving to cope with the impacts of a severe second wave of COVID-19 amid growing threats of the more transmissible Delta variant.
Amid this alarming situation, the Indonesian Government has requested to convert all supplies of oxygen to fulfill medical requirements. Data of the ministries of health and industry pointed to a fivefold increase in the demand for medical oxygen cylinders due to the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases.
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Translator: Kuntum Khaira Riswan, Kenzu Ta
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
