The Coordinating Minister Luhut's Instructions For State Civil Servants To Work From Bali

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Kemenko Marves) revealed the reasons behind the Work From Bali (WFB) policy for the state civil apparatus (ASN) in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment and seven ministries/institutions under its coordination.

Deputy for Tourism Coordination and Creative Economy Of Maritime Affairs and Investment Ministry, Odo R.M. Manuhutu, said the launch of the WFB program was implemented to increase the confidence of domestic tourists so as to restore the local economy. This increase in domestic public confidence is expected to create a multiplier effect that helps restore the local economy.

"Every single rupiah spent on official travel to the region, including Bali, will provide a multiplier effect (direct, indirect, or induction impact) for the local economy," he said as quoted by Antara, Thursday, May 20.

Bali is one of the provinces that have experienced significant impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic because the Island of the Gods has been based on the tourism sector. These conditions caused Bali's economic growth to plummet to minus 9 percent.

"The occupancy rate of hotels in Bali is only 10 percent in 14 months, this has had a significant economic impact," he added.

Odo said WFB policy had also been carried out by the central government in 2000 after the Bali bombings. According to him, the policy was also not taken haphazardly and without considering other factors.

The government, he said, has allocated a social assistance budget (bansos) for the community during this pandemic amounting to Rp100 trillion.

"So it is not true that the government is only focusing the cost of state civil servant official travel to revive the tourism sector without considering the social needs of the community in general," said Odo.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Jodi Mahardi revealed that there are several points prepared by the government before the implementation of the WFB policy. First, it is to boost the COVID-19 vaccination program in Bali.

"Mr. Minister (Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan) in March requested that the vaccination program in Bali be intensified from 1.8 million to 3 million people as of May to establish immunity so that the province can become a green zone," he said.

Jodi said, to protect the people in the Bali area from the spread of COVID-19, all visitors both for work needs and other purposes must follow the travel requirements to Bali imposed by the government, namely conducting PCR swab tests and rapid antigens.

Previously, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) supporting the provision of accommodation for tourism improvement of The Nusa Dua Bali with ITDC on Tuesday (18/5).

The MoU was created as an effort to support the increase of Bali tourism, where the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Investment and seven ministries/institutions under its coordination will carry out the Work From Bali program. The seven ministries are the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, the Ministry of Transportation, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the Ministry of Investment/BKPM.

A total of 16 hotels located within The Nusa Dua area have coordinated with Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) as the manager of The Nusa Dua tourism area to cooperate in the provision of accommodation and hotel facilities with the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment.