PDIP: Jokowi's Anger Should Be A Whip For Minister Of Health, Budi Gunadi

Photo: BPMI Setpres/Muchlis Jr.

JAKARTA - Member of Indonesian House of Representatives Commission IX from the PDIP faction, Rahmad Handoyo, assessed President Joko Widodo's frustration with insinuating that the need for medical devices (alkes) in Indonesia still depends on imports, should be a lash for Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin.

"Mr. Jokowi's anger should be a lash for the Minister of Health", said Rahmad to reporters, Friday, March 25.

According to Rahmad, the COVID-19 pandemic should be a momentum for the Ministry of Health to reduce medical equipment imports. So that Indonesia is no longer dependent on medical devices from other countries.

"This pandemic is our momentum to be independent, sovereign in medical equipment, the pharmaceutical industry. Our health resilience is also getting stronger. However, it seems that it is still a rule, a policy that has not given any affirmation to domestic production", said Rahmad.

The PDIP politician was also surprised by the Minister of Health's policy of still importing medical equipment. In fact, said Rahmad, President Jokowi has issued instructions to accelerate the pharmaceutical industry. Even Jokowi called for using domestic products.

"What is lacking is that the President has made Presidential Instruction No. 6/2016 regarding the acceleration of the pharmaceutical industry. It is clear what his duties are, what kind of Ministry of Health is there, what kind of industry, what kind of ministry of finance", said Rahmad.

Therefore, the Central Java legislator hopes that there will be an affirmation policy through the state budget for hospitals that use domestic products. He encouraged hospitals to use Indonesian medical equipment.

"There must be partiality, there is an affirmation from the people's money from the state budget, especially hospitals that use domestic products. We also encourage these hospitals to use domestic industrial production. In the end, the pharmaceutical industry already exists, it turns out that there is no affirmation of partiality to domestic production, right, unfortunately. The industry already exists, the industry is capable, it turns out that they prefer to love buying foreign products", he concluded.

Previously, President Joko Widodo was annoyed because government agencies were still spending the budget on imported products. In fact, domestic Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) can still produce goods needed by agencies.

"We are really stupid", said Jokowi during the Affirmation Proudly Made in Indonesia in Bali, Friday, March 25.

He also mentioned a number of products that are still imported by the agency, one of which is CCTV. "What is this. We don't think that we are a developed country, we just buy CCTV to buy imports", he said.

The former governor of DKI Jakarta also satirized the Minister of Health, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, who was still importing hospital beds and medical equipment. In fact, the production of hospital beds is available in Yogyakarta, Bekasi, and Tangerang.