Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD Calls The COVID-19 Terror In Indonesia Brings Many Lessons, How Come?

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD stated that the COVID-19 pandemic not only brought difficulties, but also brought lessons from many sides.

This was stated by Mahfud in the webinar 'Economics and Politics, Pandemic as Momentum for Pro-Equity Economic Policy Change,' organized by the MMD Initiative Institute, in Jakarta, Saturday, June 26.

Mahfud said, no country was ready to face the COVID-19 pandemic and no one expected the pandemic to be so serious, widespread and long lasting.

"At the end of December in Wuhan, Indonesia was still calm. Until the end of February, Indonesia was still quite relaxed in responding to this. Even on February 28, 2020, in an international journal, we were called the only big country in Asia that had not been hit by COVID-19," he said. from Between.

But then, continued Mahfud MD, on March 2, 2020, a case of COVID-19 transmission was found which later turned into a big and serious one. This began to raise economic and political problems.

According to Mahfud, any government, including Indonesia, would want to resolve the pandemic as soon as possible. Therefore, various efforts have been made, one of which is the budget focused on handling the pandemic.

In fact, he said, the government even issued a Perppu for handling COVID-19. The government was also accused of preparing instruments for corruption, even though the budget was really to deal with COVID-19.

"At the beginning, all countries were not ready. Personal protective equipment (PPE), masks, medicines, all were bought up, monopolized. Any government has difficulties," said Mahfud.

Because of the various difficulties, Mahfud continued, the wisdom of the pandemic finally appeared, with the emergence of creativity from the community, which was supported by the government. Mask products, PPE, drugs from within the country and creativity in other economic fields are present to deal with the impact of the pandemic.

Then, in the field of education, according to him, the idea of virtual learning emerged that could be applied not even during a pandemic, although at first it was quite difficult.

"Distance classes used to be banned by the government. Due to the pandemic, we can keep up with the demands of development with new creations," he said.

The next lesson, he said, also appeared in the financial management bureaucracy. Mahfud gave an example before, it was very difficult for ministries and institutions to spend money or budgets, because there were too many rules.

The government can be wrong if it does not immediately issue a budget, but it is also dangerous if the budget is issued carelessly.

"Finally, regulations that are more substantive, not formalistic, now do not need to be stamped. Now direct cash assistance is sent directly to the account. This is a good variation," he said.

In addition, the pandemic condition has also led to other bureaucratic efficiencies such as the convenience of conducting technical meetings that do not need to spend a lot of budget.

"National decisions can be made virtually. Meetings with bureaucracies in any area. In two hours, national problems are completed, without the need for anyone from the regions to bring many kinds of staff to Jakarta," he said.

Regarding efforts to handle COVID-19, Mahfud MD also did not forget to invite all people to continue to comply with government regulations and be disciplined in implementing health protocols.

"Now the cases are above 20,000, the death rate is also high. Facing the terror of COVID-19 this time, we all have to be careful, follow government rules, obey health protocols. Because, rest assured, government regulations are always issued based on comprehensive considerations," he said. .