JAKARTA - A few days ago, Robert Budi Hartono became a hot topic in the country. It started when Budi sent a letter to President Jokowi. He didn't agree with the implementation of large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) in DKI Jakarta.

The letter was first uploaded by Peter F. Gontha, on September 13, on the Instagram account of the former Indonesian Ambassador to Poland. The upload then went viral.

In his letter, Hartono said that the PSBB in DKI Jakarta wasn't effective. It couldn't reduce the transmission of the COVID-19 virus. There are two reasons for Budi Hartono to think that strict PSBB is not appropriate.

The PSBB in Jakarta, according to him, wasn't effective in reducing the growth rate of infection in Jakarta. Even though Jakarta carried out the PSBB, the positive rate of COVID-19 still rose.

The second reason is that the hospital capacity in DKI Jakarta. According to Budi Hartono, will still reach its maximum capacity with or no without the PSBB. The regional/central government should continue to prepare independent isolation areas to handle the cases.

Quoted from Bloomberg Billionaires Index data, Budi Hartono's total wealth reached USD 13.8 billion on Wednesday, September 16. This extraordinary number puts the Djarum Group Boss in 129th place on the list of the richest people in the world.

By calculating the exchange rate of IDR 14,800 per USD, Budi's wealth is around IDR 204.24 trillion. Quoted from Forbes, Budi Hartono is also the richest person in Indonesia with a wealth of USD 16.9 billion. He is the 94th richest person in the world.


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