Yellow Card Action For Jokowi In Today's Memory, February 2, 2018

The condition of malnutrition present in Asmat Regency, Papua. (Between)

JAKARTA Memories of today, six years ago, February 2, 2018, Chairman of BEM University of Indonesia (UI), Zaadit Taqwa surprisingly gave a yellow card to President Joko Widodo (Jokowi). The yellow card was deliberately given to warn Jokowi to focus on the issue of malnutrition in Asmat, Papua.

Previously, Asmat was an area classified as an Extraordinary Incident (KLB) of malnutrition. This problem tarnishes the face of the Indonesian government. A country with extraordinary natural potential.

Indonesia's narrative as a country rich in natural potential has been famous for a long time. The food source is abundant. However, the narrative is often damaged by the presence of malnutrition problems. The problem is a disgrace for the government.

Take for example related to the problem of malnutrition that befell Asmat Regency in early January 2018. The problem of malnutrition has increased to 652 people, and 223 children have been declared malnourished.

The death rate due to the two problems was not small. It even reached dozens of lives. This condition made the Regent of Asmat, Elisa Kambu, set a bad nutrition as a KLB on January 9, 2018. News related to Asmat's poor nutrition KLB status spread everywhere.

Many parties have speculated regarding the spread of malnutrition problems in Asmat. The issue of funds that are not right on target has spread. Health facilities that are not much of a problem. Even health workers in the Asmat area are considered not to get a decent salary.

The local government is like not working optimally. Problems such as malnutrition should have been handled for a long time. The government can make policies so that the nutritional intake of children in Asmat can be better. However, not done.

The head of the Asmat Health Service, Pieter Pajalla, did not deny the number of nurses' salaries graduated from diploma. He also found it strange because the wages of health workers with undergraduate degrees were actually smaller, namely Rp. 2.2 million. I don't know why it's smaller because this has been determined from the beginning. This year, he said, the Asmat local government has increased the salaries of all health workers by Rp. 1 million.

The lack of health workers is not the only factor of the spread of wavy sufferers and malnutrition in Asmat. Hendrik (the team of doctors who came to Asmat) together with the diocese team concluded that the wavy virus was widespread due to the very little nutritional intake of Asmat children. They can actually get nutrition and carbohydrates by consuming sago and fish, as their ancestors had done for hundreds of years. However, people have rarely gone to fish and only occasionally look for sago, "explained Erwan Hermawan and his friends in the book Missing Anggaran, Bad Nutrition for a while (2018).

The KLB status in Asmat also made the central government criticized. The government is considered to have failed to protect its citizens. The criticism that is most memorable is the provision of a yellow card from the Chairman of Bem UI, Zaadit, to President Jokowi.

The yellow card was given when Jokowi gave a speech at the 68th Anniversary of the UI on February 2, 2018. The yellow card action was considered a warning to the Jokowi government to focus on the welfare of the people, including the matter of completing malnutrition in Asmat.

Zaadit's actions did not last long. Because, Paspamres immediately secured it. The action then became a concern throughout the country. Zaadit's action brought pros and cons. On the one hand, Zaadit was accused of disrespectful criticism.

On the other hand, Zaadit's actions were deemed appropriate because the government immediately turned its attention to the issue of malnutrition in Asmat. Jokowi even promised to bring his UI colleagues to monitor directly to Asmat.

"This is a form of our efforts to still be able to express our aspirations. In yellow card football, this is a warning to be more careful or take care of himself. Likewise for Pak Jokowi, this is a warning that students will not remain silent and to return to completing their unfinished tasks," said Zaadit a few days later as quoted by the BBC website, February 4, 2018.