Demo Traders Reject COVID-19 Hospital In The Cito Mall Area, Surabaya

SURABAYA - A number of people joined in the Cito Owners and Traders' Association (P4) to protest the establishment of a hospital in the Cito Mall area, Surabaya. The demonstrators consisted of apartment owners and traders in Cito Mall.

They staged an action in the corridor between tenant buildings inside the Cito mall. Posters pitched their demands. Among them the words 'We Reject the COVID-19 Hospital in the Cito Mall Area', 'Reject the COVID-19 Hospital in the Cito Mall Area', and others.

"In essence, we reject the Covid-19 referral hospital in the mall area," said Secretary of P4, M. Yazid Mualim, during the rejection action in the corridor of Cito Mall Surabaya, East Java, on Wednesday, February 3.

Yazid explained that the Cito area, which is located at the Waru Roundabout, on the Surabaya side, consists of three parts, namely an apartment, a shopping center, and now the new Siloam Hospital is about to open. P4 members only learned about the opening of Siloam Hospital after reading the news in the media.

Yazid admitted that P4 had not received any information about the opening of the hospital, both from the management of Siloam Hospital and the Surabaya City Government. Because of that, his party was surprised to hear the information that Siloam Hospital would open in an area known as the shopping center.

Yazid said that apartment residents and traders in the Cito mall are worried that when Siloam Hospital operates, it will make visitors worry, so that the shopping center in the South Surabaya area is deserted. Moreover, he said, the hospital will also be used as a referral hospital for Covid-19 patients.

That's why according to Yazid, apartment residents and traders in Cito are restless.

"Many are making a living and shopping (in Cito), really, they want to set up a COVID referral hospital. Obviously this is causing anxiety. Even though the hospital is not yet operational, customers don't want to come here," he said.

P4 members, continued Yazid, acted not expecting attention or compensation. They took action because they were worried that the presence of a hospital would discourage visitors from shopping at Cito. Therefore, Yazid emphasized that P4 still rejects the existence of Siloam Hospital in Cito. "We still refuse," he said.

Previously, Head of Public Relations Siloam Danang Kemayan Jati said that Siloam Cito Hospital had been physically prepared since 2014. Currently, the facilities are complete and ready to operate. As directed by the Minister of Health, some rooms in the hospital will later be used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Even though it is in the Cito area, Danang emphasized that the management, facilities, access, and disposal system of Siloam Hospital medical waste are separate from shopping centers and apartments.

"Physically, all of these hospitals are ready to be opened, and ready to operate with 185 beds (TT) with 15 ICUs in total. If permitted, we will open within 10 days with 105 TT in the first phase," he said in a written statement received. on Sunday, January 31st.