Bali Tourism Entrepreneur Rejects PPKM Level 3 Directed By Jokowi, Head Of BNPB Talks About Restoration Of Gods' Island As A Proof Of Handling Pandemic

ILLUSTRATION ANTARA

JAKARTA - Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Major General Suharyanto said the restoration of tourism conditions in Bali Province could prove that Indonesia was able to handle the COVID-19 pandemic well.

"This is an opportunity for the Indonesian people and the province of Bali in particular, to prove to the world that we are capable and can control this pandemic," said Suharyanto at the Bali Ideathon Disaster Research Results seminar, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 23. throughout 2019 foreign tourists who came to Bali were able to reach 6.3 million people. But in 2020, the number of tourists who come will only touch the number of one million people.

Suharyanto explained that if Bali is successfully restored, the state can help restore the pace of the economy in the tourism sector, which had experienced a decline in the number of tourists so that people's incomes can gradually return. Apart from being proof that it can control the pandemic, Bali's recovery can help Indonesia maintain the trust that has been given by the world to hold a Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) which is a multi-stakeholder forum to review the progress of various knowledge and discuss the latest developments in disaster risk reduction in 2022.

"We must work hard to improve and strengthen preventive efforts by continuing to be disciplined in implementing the 5M health protocol in every daily activity. We must also be able to break the chain of transmission by increasing the 3T," he said.

According to Suharyanto, in addition to continuing to be disciplined in implementing health protocols, all parties also need to work together to make the pandemic condition even better so that it can turn into an endemic.

One of the ways that BNPB is dealing with the pandemic is collaborating with a number of universities in Indonesia, to study disaster issues that can help speed up the handling, especially the COVID-19 pandemic in Bali.

Suharyanto said that the achievements of research conducted by universities can help the government measure the decline in positive cases, deaths, and improving economic conditions in Bali.

Suharyanto also hopes that the impact of the results of research and studies carried out by universities can be directly felt by the community.

"I hope that all researchers can share all their experiences and knowledge so that they can help solve disaster problems, especially the COVID-19 pandemic in Bali Province in particular and in Indonesia in general," he said.

Tourism Entrepreneurs Reject PPKM Level 3

Tourism actors in Bali rejected the plan to implement PPKM level 3 during the Christmas-New Year holidays. PPKM level 3 was decided by the central government to be implemented throughout Indonesia.

The rejection of PPKM level 3 was conveyed by the Bali Marginal Tourism Actors Alliance (APPMB), which consists of daily tourism workers (DW), freelance guides, freelance drivers, conventional drivers, souvenir sellers, traders to tourist destination guards.

The head of APPMB Bali Puspa Negara asked the central government to cancel the plan to implement PPKM level 3 for the Christmas-New Year holidays. This policy is considered strange.

"There is information from the Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy who said that in order to prevent crowds and limit community activities at the end of the year PPKM Level 3 will be implemented throughout Indonesia. This is certainly very strange and eccentric for Bali," said Puspa in a written statement, Tuesday, November 23.

According to him, PPKM level 3 has become a new burden when Bali tourism begins to move.

"In the middle, we are preparing to rise in rhythm with the current PPKM level falling to Level 2 and instead hope to continue to decline to Level 1 and if necessary to level 0 without restrictions and towards true normal," he added.

In the perspective of Bali tourism, the decline in the level of PPKM gives hope for economic movement. When PPKM level 2 was implemented in Bali, the tourism movement began to increase.

"We hope that by the end of this year tourism will return to life, although still with strict and innovative processes. If Muhadjir Effendy's words are properly implemented, it is certain that Bali as a destination cannot move, aka the people in the destination will be dying," he said.

"The material loss is the cancellation of year-end bookings that have started to enter the domestic market. Likewise, several events with procedures must be canceled. If it is calculated that the implementation of PPKM Level 3 at the end of this year, business actors and the public will certainly lose billions of rupiah," he explained.