Luhut Annulled Muhadjir's Statement That The Emergency PPKM Had Not Been Extended

JAKARTA - The implementation of the Java-Bali Emergency Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) will end tomorrow, July 20, after 2 weeks of running. It is not known whether the policy period will be extended or not. The reason is that the government is still evaluating the success of the Emergency PPKM and it will be announced in the near future.

However, the public is confused because they already know the news of the extension of the Emergency PPKM until the end of July through the statement of the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy.

He said President Joko Widodo had decided to extend the implementation of the emergency community activity restrictions (PPKM) until July 31, 2021.

"Earlier, the limited Cabinet meeting that I attended while I was in Sukoharjo (Central Java) has been decided by the President to continue until the end of July this PPKM," said Muhadjir, while visiting the University Club UGM Hotel which is used as a shelter for COVID-19 patients in Yogyakarta, Friday, July 16.

President Jokowi, said Muhadjir, also said that the decision to extend the emergency PPKM had many risks.

Meanwhile, the risks include how to balance between disciplining residents to comply with health protocols according to PPKM standards with the distribution of social assistance.

According to Muhadjir, social assistance cannot be borne by the government itself. However, the assistance is mutual cooperation with the community and a number of other agencies.

"This social assistance cannot be borne by the government itself, so the community, including the UGM academic community, under the leadership of the Chancellor, helps those who are less fortunate as a result of this PPKM policy," said Muhadjir.

According to Muhadjir, distributing masks also needs to be a concern, considering that not a few residents consider masks as expensive items.

He explained that whatever term is used, whether emergency PPKM or super emergency PPKM, as long as people violate health protocols, the handling of COVID-19 will not work.

"If you don't realize that health care is the main thing, handling COVID-19 won't work," he said.

One day later, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan stated that the government was still evaluating the implementation of the Emergency PPKM which had been running from 3 to 20 July.

According to him, the matter of whether the policy will be extended or not will be announced in the next 2-3 days.

"Currently we are evaluating the Emergency PPKM, whether a further extension of time is needed, we will report it to the president, and I think in the next 2-3 days we will also officially announce it," Luhut said at a press conference, Saturday, July 17th.

The Java-Bali COVID-19 Handling Commander said relaxation could be done if the case indicators were getting better.

"Incidentally, for the past 2 days, we have seen improvements. Therefore, in the 14-21 day period, we have entered that period. We see that there are several areas that have experienced a decline in community mobility quite well and the addition of cases has started to flatten and decrease, such as DKI Jakarta," he said.

"I see that Bali will also decrease its addition within the next 1 week although it will increase in the next 2-3 days. But if everything is consistent, I see that at the end of July our position will be better," he continued.

The Deputy Chairperson of the KCP-PEN Committee also asked community elements in all places in Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java to work hand in hand, as well as other places throughout the country to fight the Delta variant.

Luhut also apologized for the non-optimal emergency PPKM. The government, he repeated, in the next 2-3 days will announce whether or not the emergency PPKM will be extended.

"As the coordinator of the Java Bali Emergency PPKM from the bottom of my heart, I apologize to all Indonesian people if it is still not optimal. But I along with the ranks and with the relevant ministers will continue to work hard to ensure that the spread of the delta variant can be reduced," said Luhut.