Lessons From The Tanah Abang Crowd: It Turns Out That We Haven't Learned Anything

Tanah Abang Market Crowd, Saturday, May 1 (Source: Antara)

JAKARTA - Humans suck at Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta, Saturday, May 3. Various parties frantically. Various protocols were put in place to respond to this mess. Unfortunately, many consider it too late. Not only that. The Tanah Abang incident again shows the confusion in managing the COVID-19 control policy. We don't study.

The first response was shown by DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan. He appealed to the public to spread out. Don't all go to Tanah Abang Market, because there are many other markets in the capital, which are close to Tanah Abang Market.

"In Jakarta there are many markets. We recommend visiting various markets in Jakarta apart from Tanah Abang Market," said Anies while visiting Tanah Abang Market, Central Jakarta, Sunday, May 2.

On that occasion Anies also conveyed several ways that the government would immediately take. One of them is by dividing the market closing schedule. In addition, Anies also coordinated with PT KCI to arrange the commuter line schedule so that it does not stop at Tanah Abang Station at 15.00 to 19.00 WIB.

"So starting this afternoon, the market will be closed, divided by those at 16.00 and closing at 17.00 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.

Photo illustration of Tanah Abang Market (Angga Nugraha / VOI)

The Commercial Director of PT KAI Dadan Rudiansyah, who accompanied Anies to visit the Tanah Abang Market, said he was ready to support the policies of the DKI Provincial Government. The train departures and stops will be diverted to the nearest station, either Duri Station or Karet Station.

Apart from train travel, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government with the assistance of the TNI-Polri will also limit and control the number of people entering the station. The control will be carried out in the Tanah Abang multipurpose pedestrian bridge (skybridge) area, as well as the north side of Jalan Jati Baru.

The latest news is that the President Director of Perumda Pasar Jaya, Arief Nasrudin, stated that the Tanah Abang Market today is not as crowded with visitors as it was last weekend. I don't know what Arief means. What is clear, he said that today officials began to set visitor restrictions at 50 percent. In-and-out arrangements are also applied to parse humans.

"The officers reminded that if one location is full, people don't crowd and look for other locations, considering that there are quite a lot of shops selling similar products in the Tanah Abang Market area," said Arief in a statement quoted by VOI, Monday, May 3.

Furthermore, as of Monday afternoon, May 3, the closure of the kiosk at Tanah Abang Market will be carried out more quickly. Officers apply an odd-even system. Stores on odd floors are asked to close at 4pm and those on even floors close at 5pm.

Arief said that the officers would continue to be alerted for the next few days, especially during times of busy visitors. This was done considering that shopping for Lebaran clothes is an annual culture for people throughout the archipelago.

"This is to prevent the accumulation of visitors at the same time ... With these various efforts, the health protocol can be carried out as much as possible," said Arief.

Criticism of policy management

Tanah Abang Market crowd, Saturday, May 1 (Source: Antara)

A public policy observer from Trisakti University, Trubus Rahadiansyah, sees the chaotic logic of managing the COVID-19 control policy. From the DKI Provincial Government level, for example.

The reactions taken not only show that the DKI Pemprov is too late but also failed to implement the policy to impose restrictions on community activities (PPKM). "The implementation of the PPKM policy is not optimal. It is very weak," said Trubus, contacted by VOI, Monday, May 3.

"Because there should be anticipated. The DKI Provincial Government as the executor in the field should be able to anticipate the incident in Tanah Abang that can be prevented. That means, when later it is common for our society to approach Lebaran day. Tanah Abang is one of the favorites, right? It should have been done. know, "Trubus.

That is at the level of the DKI Provincial Government. At the central level it is no less confusing - if you don't want it to be called chaos. For a long time the central government has been playing it safe. They often throw the blame on the local government. In fact, there is a portion that should also be carried out by the central government, in this case through the COVID-19 Task Force.

Not just throwing mistakes. Government agencies, complete with their officials, often make confusing statements. Just look at Sri Mulyani's statement, which is still warm. Sri Mulyani encouraged the shopping community to welcome Eid to roll back the wheels of the economy.

Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati (Source: Setkab)

Not completely wrong. Sri Mulyani in her statement touched on the context of online shopping. However, are you sure the online shopping culture is that good? What about people who are not users of online shopping platforms?

Various surveys have shown an increase in online shopping activity among Indonesians during the pandemic. Great potential, of course. However, what if we talk about something more fundamental, namely the issue of limited internet access?

The survey of the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association (APJII) in 2020 revealed that the penetration of Indonesian internet users in Q2 (2019-2020) was at 196.7 million. If the total population of Indonesia is 266 million, then 73.7 percent of Indonesians are connected to the internet.

But in detail, the performance is not as good as it seems. The imbalance of internet access is evident. Java still dominates with 55.7 percent. Another area, far below. The closest one is Sumatra, which makes up less than half of Jakarta: 21.6 percent.

The rest, Sulawesi-Maluku-Papua is only 10.9 percent. Kalimantan (6.6%), and Bali-Nusa Tenggara (5.2%). In the same year, the Director General of Post and Information Technology of Kominfo, Ahmad M. Ramli, recorded that 9,113 areas were not touched by the 4G network.

In addition, there are 3,435 non 3T areas that also do not have 4G coverage. So, in total, there are around 12,548 blankspots in Indonesia. The blankspot area does not have a fiber optic network that connects the BTS (base transceiver station) so it is not covered by the 4G network.

There are many other confusing policies. According to Trubus, this happened because of the obstructed synergy between the central and regional governments. Old problem, indeed. But, it's still happening.

"But the problem is then there is weak coordination at the center itself with the COVID-19 Task Force under Sri Mulyani's own direction. There should be one voice so that the community is not confused. This is what I see that is always the blame for the community."

The Tanah Abang case was again only exposed. A better and synergistic policy management system is needed to anticipate recurring problems.

"The Tanah Abang case is the most responsible for the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government. There the central government is also involved. Because the problem of market crowds is not only in Tanah Abang."

"So a lot of these markets are invaded by visitors. Actually the one who plays the role should be the COVID Task Force. So there are regional and central portions."

* Read other information about TANAH ABANG or read other interesting writings from Yudhistira Mahabharata.

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