Anies Limits Visitors To Tanah Abang Market, Epidemiologist: Indonesians Always Have A Way

JAKARTA - DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has carried out a number of tightening measures in the Tanah Abang Market area, Central Jakarta to prevent an overgrowth of visitors like last weekend. This is done to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

In response to this, an epidemiologist from Australia's Griffith University Dicky Budiman said Anies's response to the crowd that occurred in the market was right.

However, there are other things that the government should pay attention to, including raising a sense of awareness.

Because, if there is no awareness from the public not to crowd in the midst of a pandemic then this will happen. Not only in Jakarta but also in other areas.

"What must be built is awareness, including limiting from where they live. So in this case, education and persuasive efforts should be carried out from the community level. Because, if people are restricted to something, there are always ways", said Dicky when contacted by VOI, Monday, May 3.

"Indonesians always have a way", he added.

Apart from building awareness, the government must also start to promote online shopping. This is to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.

"Physical spending is a big risk, especially at the community transmission level. This means that Indonesia cannot trace the source of transmission because there are so many clusters. Many cases go undetected, untraceable", said Dicky.

As for online shopping, he said, PD Pasar Jaya should be able to facilitate by providing a website. So, the community does not need to crowd in one shopping center such as Tanah Abang Market.

"So what must be responded, done as an effort to anticipate is to minimize if people are traveling, if people move", he said.

In addition, another way is to make other markets have the same features as Tanah Abang Market with prices that are not much different.

"If the prices are not much different, the location is also not far from the community's house, people will definitely go there. Because they also think, going to Tanah Abang and using trains is risky", said Dicky.

"So this is a strategy that cannot be carried out by just one region because it affects all and this is for all so it must be synergized", he said.

As previously reported, before the Eid Al-Fitr, Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta was enlivened with buying and selling activities. In fact, this market crowd caught the public's attention after a video was circulated describing the crowd in this shopping place.

In the video taken inside the market, visitors are jostled without implementing health protocols. In fact, currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is still happening in Indonesia.

The day after the video of the Tanah Abang Market crowd circulated on the internet, the Governor of DKI Jakarta Anies Baswedan conducted an inspection. In addition, he also took steps so that similar incidents would not happen again and one of them was by dividing the market closure schedule.

"So starting this afternoon, the market will be closed, divided by those at who close at 16.00 p.m. and others at 17.00 p.m. to avoid going out at the same time and then heading to almost the same point", said Anies during a visit to Tanah Abang Market, Sunday, May 2.

In addition, there is also a change in the schedule for the commuter line that crosses Tanah Abang station. "Tomorrow afternoon from 15.00 p.m. to 19.00 p.m., the commuter line train will not stop at Tanah Abang Station so it will not transport passengers from there", he said.

This decision, he continued, was taken after his party held discussions with PT Kereta Commuter Indonesia (KCI), because of the pile of passengers at the station close to the shopping center.

However, as an alternative for the community, the provincial government still provides TransJakarta buses that operate from Jalan Jati Baru to other stations. "For merchants or passengers who need public transportation, other vehicles can be facilitated", said the former Minister of Education and Culture (Mendikbud).

Not only that, but merchants also have to sell in the market building. Anies said, buying and selling activities should not be carried out on the sidewalks around the Tanah Abang Market because this creates a risk of crowds.

Furthermore, Anies did not deny that there was a significant increase in visitors visiting the market. "So it is different from the previous days, Saturday there was a jump in the number of visitors from 35 thousand to 87 thousand, and today, temporary data is estimated at around 100 thousand visitors", he said.

"Now, the control is then carried out by deploying around 2.500 personnel consisting of the Police, Brimob, Sabhara. From the National Army (TNI), there are the Military Command, Navy, Marines, Paskhas Air Force, and Civil service police (Satpol PP)", he concluded.