Local Medical Devices Lack Of Buyers, This Entrepreneur Asks Jokowi, Please Create A Fair Market

Employees of PT Sri Tita Medika in Hegarmukti Village, Central Cikarang District, Bekasi Regency, West Java voice their aspirations (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Local medical device (alkes) entrepreneurs have asked President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to prioritize the use of domestically made products in an effort to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. For medical devices currently use a lot of foreign products.

"We ask Mr. President Jokowi to give instructions to the ranks so that they know and implement in the field the regulations for the use of domestic products as stated in Presidential Decree No. 12/2021 and No. 15/2021," said General Manager of PT Sri Tita Medika Heru Purnomo in Cikarang as reported by Antara. , Thursday, November 18th.

The condition of domestic medical equipment companies, according to Heru, was hit by the impact of the pandemic. Even for the production of domestic swab test kits, they are not used because they are imported more.

"Currently the company is trying to get a market to supply. But the current condition is that many products are from abroad, while domestic products are not used even though our quality is better and the price is more affordable," he said.

He regretted that many parties prefer to use imported products for the needs of PCR and antigen tests.

This tool is also used by SOEs engaged in transportation, such as stations and airports. In fact, state-owned companies should support the use of domestic products.

Heru admitted that his company has been operating in the field of medical devices since before the pandemic. Then when COVID-19 entered Indonesia, his party also produced other health needs, including masks and swab sticks.

In terms of capability, he said, his company can produce up to 25 million swab kits per month, but in reality the demand in the field is far below that. Of the five million tools produced, only hundreds of thousands to one million tools were successfully distributed.

This condition forced the company to make a policy to lay off employees. With these conditions, he hopes that the government will take sides with local entrepreneurs.

"We don't want government subsidies because we are still able to finance production. What we need now is a fair market for us to distribute antigen swab kits. If there is no fair market, the problem will result in employee welfare. salaries and lay off some employees, because the company's financial condition also needs to be saved," he said.

Heru admitted that actually the regulations issued by the government were good, it's just that their implementation in the field was not in accordance with the regulations that had been made and directed.

"Our hope is that the regulations that have been determined can run properly so that domestically-made products can be prioritized and used," he said.

On Wednesday, a number of employees of PT Sri Tita Medika located in Hegarmukti Village, Central Cikarang District, Bekasi Regency, West Java voiced their aspirations regarding the worsening welfare of employees.

"We ask the management of the company to pay attention to our future as well as our friends who have been laid off," said the labor representative, Owi Indra.

Based on the results of negotiations with the management, said Owi, the company's condition is sluggish. Even though in the midst of a pandemic, where health issues are highly prioritized, this medical equipment manufacturing factory is actually short of orders.

"He said many of the products used were imported, even though we have them. We also hope that Mr. President Jokowi can prioritize the production of domestic medical devices rather than imported medical devices," said Owi.