Pak Jokowi, People 'Have Money' If Lockdown Must Be Done

JAKARTA - Entering the third week since the social distancing policy - now replaced by physical distancing - voiced by the central government, the number of positive COVID-19 patients continues to increase significantly. The government's attitude has not changed, the lockdown option has not been heard from a copy of President Joko Widodo's (Jokowi) speech. In the regions, government authorities move independently to close their territories. Academics also voiced asking that the lockdown option be selected selectively.

Starting Monday, March 30, the City Government (Pemkot) of Tegal will block 49 access points for protocol roads in the city and connecting roads between villages. The Mayor of Tegal, Dedy Yon Supriono, said that this step was taken as an effort to protect Tegal City from spreading the virus outside the region. The City Government of Tegal called this step a "local lockdown", a term that was questioned a lot later.

The policies that Yon took were clearly not easy. Tegal, however, intersects the Pantura Line, the social and economic lifeblood of Java. Therefore, Yon was careful in setting this policy. The road closure, said Yon, does not cover access to provincial roads and national roads. Even so, Yon believes this step is crucial.

By quarantining the local area, the City Government of Tegal only has to handle one positive case - when the news was written, Tegal recorded one positive case - as well as tracing the potential transmission of the case. The City Government of Tegal also only has to guard the national and provincial major routes. In that route, the City Government of Tegal will implement compulsory reporting. Later, anyone who wants to enter the city must obtain a permit from the Tegal City COVID-19 Control Task Force.

"Only the people of Tegal City cannot leave the outside and cannot enter the City of Tegal," said Yon, quoted from CNN Indonesia, Sunday, March 29.

Other regions do the same. Tasikmalaya followed Tegal's steps. Tasikmalaya Mayor Budi Budiman decided to lock down his area when five positive cases emerged in his area. The policy will take effect on Tuesday, March 31. The City Government of Tasikmalaya will place guard posts at every entry into the city. The posts will be guarded by the TNI, Polri, and other local government officials.

Public transportation and other means of transportation will be prohibited from entering the City of Tasikmalaya without urgent reasons. "After there are five positive corona people in Tasikmalaya City, we together with the task force team will impose a regional quarantine or local lockdown which will start on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 tomorrow," Budi explained, reported by Kompas.com.

Before Tegal and Tasikmalaya, Papua had already closed Sentani Airport. The main entrance to Papua will be closed from Thursday, March 26 to April 9. The policy was taken based on a joint decision between Forkompinda Papua Province and regents and mayors in all provinces.

"The airport does not operate until April 9, except for goods transporting logistics, transporting patients in an emergency, swab samples, they have specialties," said Jayapura Police Chief AKBP Victor Makbon, quoted by Kompas.com.

Term

The term local lockdown, which was put forward by the Mayor of Tegal, Dedy Yon Supriyono, was briefly protested. Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo asked him to replace the term with "territorial isolation". According to Ganjar, any steps that use the term lockdown can only be issued by the central government.

"Regarding the problem of the term local lockdown at the direction of the Central Java Provincial Government, in this case Governor Ganjar Pranowo, that the name local lockdown must be replaced with the name of regional isolation or limited isolation which means to keep the citizens of Tegal City, of course, to be safe from the dangers of Corona Virus Diase. (COVID-19), "said Yon, as quoted by Detik, Saturday, March 29.

The term Yon used did indeed cause problems. Many parties have questioned this, including Ganjar as the leader of Central Java Province. Indeed, in the realm of state administration, terminology can have implications for legislation. There are legal consequences that a government must take when a term is used.

Legal practitioner, Masykur Isnan, who was contacted by VOI, March 29, revealed that based on Law Number 6 of 2018 concerning Health Quarantine, the situation of quarantine will force the central government and local governments to take responsibility for protecting public health from disease and / or risk factors. public health which has the potential to cause health emergencies through the implementation of community quarantine.

However, behind all the legal implications, in fact, many people may have missed, that there is an important message that can be taken from the policies of Tegal, Tasikmalaya or Papua, that limiting human space is very important in these conditions. And the appeal, maybe it's not enough.

People's rights and state obligations

This is also a concern as well as a question for many parties. Some pushed for the lockdown, others calculated, is it possible for the government to be able to bear the conditions during the lockdown?

Article 8 of Law 6/2018 mandates: People have the right to get basic health services according to medical needs, food needs and other daily needs during quarantine.

In the explanation of the article, it is explained that what is meant by "other daily necessities of life" covers the needs for clothes and toiletries, washing and defecating.

The Board of Professors at the University of Indonesia encourages the government to carry out a selective lockdown. This means that lockdowns are being carried out in the worst affected areas. The board even simulates calculations if the lockdown is carried out for 14 days. This simulation uses Jakarta, which has a population of 9.6 million, as a model.

With the calculation model above, it means that the lockdown option is very likely to be taken by the government. Financing can be taken from Indonesia's total tax revenue - which in the model collected as of November 2019 amounted to Rp1,312.4 trillion. The source of funding from taxes makes a lot of sense, because the taxes paid by citizens so far are actually the right of every citizen to be returned for the benefit of the citizens.

Legal practitioner, Masykur Isnan said, based on Law 6/2018, the state must be present in the midst of regional quarantine in various perspectives, from economic, legal, and social. "... regarding the economy, the state must guarantee the availability of infrastructure for the fulfillment of basic rights; basic needs, education and others, including the availability of logistics and supporting advice to make it right on target. "

The rest are related to job sustainability and social security. This is because with the lockdown, those who are most affected are workers, both formal and informal. The rest, which must be paid attention to, is none other than a stimulus for business actors, both small and large scale, who are affected.

"Regarding the law, here the government is required to make a clear legal basis, both formal and material, which regulates regional quarantine both at the regional and central levels. And, don't forget, it is also a matter of guaranteeing facilities and infrastructure, law enforcement officials to be optimal in implementing regional quarantine, "said Isnan.

Lastly and to be important is related to the social perspective, where the steps taken need to be considered and formulated in internalization efforts related to the objectives and functions of the implementation of regional quarantine in the hope of achieving the goals.

"Optimizing the role and synergy of all elements of society and social institutions, from families to local governments, so that they can form an effective and efficient communication in order to answer the communication needs of the community," he added.

However, the decision is up to Jokowi as the leader of the country. What is clear, we are not in field conditions. The choices are probably many these days. Tomorrow, not necessarily. Before the selective lockdown option disappears and the national lockdown becomes the only option, perhaps the calculations made by the UI Professor Council need to be taken. Take it easy, the people have money that is entrusted to the state in the form of taxes.