By : Farida Salsabila
The easing of the Policy for the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) is an effort to develop the economy of the people who had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan as Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) said the PPKM that had been implemented was aimed at reducing the rate of opportunity for health services to be improved.
With the PPKM, it is hoped that the trend of Covid-19 cases will continue to decline. This is also an important part of the weekly PPKM evaluation. Luhut also added, in order to improve the people’s economy as well. The pattern of opening PPKM will be held periodically and adjust to field conditions.
To that end, he stressed the importance of the involvement of all parties. Luhut said that in the future the public will also have to get used to using the PeduliLindung application as part of promoting 3T which of course must be supported by all parties.
Currently, the Government has developed the Peduli Protect application that can monitor and discipline the Indonesian people in their activities. Luhut said, “We will be dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic for a long time. We have to start thinking about how to coexist with this virus. He also added that the most important thing right now is 3M compliance, high 3T, high vaccination achievement.
On a different occasion, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian said the gradual relaxation in the implementation of restrictions on community activities (PPKM) in the regions must be accompanied by the application of disciplined health protocols.
In his statement, Tito said, “This gradual easing means that there are sectors that have begun to relax by being escorted by strict health protocols, by continuing to wear masks and avoiding crowds that have the potential to cause transmission.
In the framework of a working visit to Jambi, Tito said that the control of pandemic indicators in this province had shown a positive trend. However, Tito reminded the entire community not to be careless about the current conditions.
Previously, the number of high transmission cases in Jambi was recorded to be high in July 2021 as a result of the detection of the Delta variant of Covid-19. However, thanks to the implementation of PPKM and good health protocols, Jambi was able to gradually reduce the transmission rate of Covid-19 cases. Improvements in efforts to control Covid-19 were also followed by easing community activities in places of worship, sports venues, restaurants and educational venues.
The former National Police Chief also asked for the various easing of community activities not to be responded to by the community excessively. The community must be more prepared to implement health protocols while still being monitored by regional heads and regional leadership coordination forums (forkopimda).
Meanwhile, Member of the House of Representatives Commission XI, M Sarmuji hopes that the policy of easing the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM) will continue to be followed by prioritizing health protocols. He is optimistic that the economy will revive as the PPKM loosens. In his written statement, Sarmuji said, there are several sectors that will grow accelerated, including tourism, the transportation sector and hotel accommodation, which are currently still contracting.
According to him, people are also starting to realize how to prevent the spread of Covid-19. If many people are positive for Covid-19, people will hold back. But if it decreases, people have the courage to come out. The decline in the level of PPKM gives a legal stamp for the activities that are starting to become normal. He argues, in order to avoid being greeted with euphoria, the easing of the PPKM needs to be carried out gradually and evaluated periodically. So it doesn’t have to be all loose.
Sarmuji considered that the business world must be involved in handling Covid-19, at least in their respective business spaces. So that employees must get vaccines and must be active in implementing health protocols. With the easing of the PPKM, Sarmuji said that the community should no longer hold protests. Because his protest has been fulfilled.
The good news, Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara as Director of the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) said that the easing of the PPKM will create a positive opportunity for economic growth in the third quarter of 2021.
The PPKM easing policy was taken after positive confirmation cases recorded a decline. Since the peak of cases on July 15, 2021, positive confirmed cases of Covid-19 have fallen by 68 percent.
When PPKM is relaxed, there will be several sectors whose businesses are active and increase the amount of production, at this moment the economic sector will develop so that people can increase their income to keep the kitchen steaming.
(The author is a contributor to the Nusantara Reading Room)
