Note To Anies, The Retail Sector Lost IDR 200 Trillion Due To The Pandemic And Jakarta's PSBB

The Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan. (Photo: DKI Jakarta Provincial Government Public Relations)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Shopping Center Tenants (Hippindo) Budihardjo Iduansjah said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the government's large-scale social restriction (PSBB) policy, retail entrepreneurs have lost up to Rp200 trillion.

"In terms of figures, we are around Rp. 400 trillion a year. Even if only 50 percent (of them are operational), the turnover drops by Rp. 200 trillion, so the losses are there. But the costs can't be complete," he said in a virtual discussion, Monday, September 28.

Budi said that there were around 1.5 million workers in shopping centers who had to be laid off or had reduced income because entrepreneurs were unable to cover expenses with a decreased turnover.

Furthermore, Budi said, this figure is half of the total employees of a shopping center, which number three million people.

"If we are sent home, we consider it one shift. Because usually two. We have no details. But yesterday we got the number of members, but only reached 100 thousand potential employees. The data is incomplete, only from 90 companies that report. "That will happen the possibility of being sent home or shifting his income," he said.

On the same occasion, Chairman of the Indonesian Shopping Center Management Association (APPBI) Alphonzus Widjaja said that the decline in turnover occurred because visits to shopping centers had dropped dramatically.

According to Alphonzus, people are currently still worried about contracting COVID-19 while shopping. Then, another cause is the decline in people's purchasing power.

"Especially for DKI, at this time two more factors have been added, namely restrictions everywhere. Plus restaurants and cafes are not allowed to serve meals on the spot," he said.

In fact, said Alphonzus, restaurants and cafes are the main destinations when people visit malls. Moreover, not all food and drinks can be ordered and taken home or take away.

The impact of the strict PSBB volume II, he said, was that tenants who were involved in the food and beverages (FnB) sector or food and beverage finally chose to close their businesses.

"Meanwhile, even if forced, the cost of income will not cover operational costs. This is quite worrying because they are forced to lay off employees," he said.