Business On The Threat Of Bankruptcy, Hotel And Restaurant Entrepreneurs Are Confused About Who To Borrow Funds From

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Entrepreneurs (PHRI) Emil Arifin said the condition of hotels and restaurants in Indonesia was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of the Java-Bali Emergency PPKM made the situation even worse.

"We are already dead. The government has implemented PPKM, whether we like it or not," he said in a virtual discussion, Saturday, July 3.

Currently, said Emil, the difficulty experienced by the hotel and restaurant business is the availability of funds. According to him, when the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout 2020, the company was still able to survive because it had reserve funds from the 2019 period. However, at this time the company had no funds.

"We can use the profits for the 2019 period until we run out of money in around July, August. It's gone, we finally borrowed money. Now we have borrowed money and it has run out again. We don't know who to borrow from," he said.

Emil said President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) emphasized that the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic must be balanced between health and the economy. However, according to him, the policy taken by the government is more on brakes than gas.

"So I think the President said it had to be balanced. But in reality in the field, the brakes keep on. The brakes are 5 times, the gas is once," he said.

Emil said that hotel and restaurant entrepreneurs need government assistance to survive the increasingly severe COVID-19 pandemic.

"We really need help from the government, because we are still half dead and we almost want to die. Don't wait for us to die, if we die we can't be helped anymore," he explained.

Since December 2020, said Emil, 37,834 restaurants on the island of Java-Bali with 800,000 employees have stopped operating. Therefore, government assistance is needed to revive the restaurant business.

Emil admitted that the government had indeed provided incentives by reducing taxes and grants. However, hotel and restaurant revenues are still decreasing. Therefore, he hopes that the government will provide assistance such as rent assistance and salary subsidies.

"We have BPJS data to record so that we can provide employee salaries, they need money," he said.

The government implemented an Emergency Community Activity Restriction (PPKM) from July 3 to July 20 in the areas of Java and Bali.

Based on a copy of the implementation of the tightening of community activities in the Emergency PPKM, the policy was carried out in 48 regions with a level 4 pandemic situation assessment and 74 city districts with a level 3 pandemic situation.

The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment as well as the coordinator of the Java-Bali Emergency PPKM Luhut Pandjaitan said that no shopping centers or malls were allowed to open as long as the Java-Bali Emergency PPKM was in effect.

Then, said Luhut, for supermarkets, traditional markets, grocery stores, and supermarkets that sell daily necessities, they are limited to 20:00 local time with a capacity of 50 percent of visitors.

"Eating, drinking in public places such as food stalls, cafes, street stalls, both in separate locations, only accept take away and not dine-in," he said at a virtual press conference, Thursday, July 1.

Luhut also said that for the non-essential sector, 100 percent of work from home (WFH) is applied. Meanwhile, all teaching and learning activities are carried out online or online.

As for the essential sector, said Luhut, 50 percent of the maximum work from office (WFO) staff is applied.

Then, for critical sectors, the maximum 100 percent of WFO staff is allowed with strict health protocols. Furthermore, what is meant by essential sectors include finance and banking; capital market; payment system; information and communication technology; non-COVID-19 quarantine handling hotels, as well as export-oriented industries.

Coverage of critical sectors is energy; health; security; logistics and transportation; food industry; drinks and their supports; petrochemicals; cement; national vital object; disaster management; national strategic projects; construction; basic utilities such as electricity and water; as well as the industry to fulfill the basic needs of the people in daily life.