Entrepreneurs Complain To Anies: The Level Of Mall Endangered Drops To Only 10 Percent Compared To Before The PSBB

The Governor of DKI Jakarta, Anies Baswedan. (Photo: BNPB)

JAKARTA - Shopping center (mall) and retail entrepreneurs admit that they are experiencing tremendous difficulties in surviving the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Jakarta's PSBB. This is because the level of mall visitors continues to decline.

Chairperson of the Indonesian Shopping Center Management Association (APPBI) Alphonzus Widjaja said the number of mall visitors had dropped dramatically since March, after President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announced the first case of COVID-19 in Indonesia. The condition of decline has continued to this day, including during the Jakarta PSBB volume II imposed by Governor Anies Baswedan .

"Now the condition of shopping centers is getting heavier, the deficit is getting worse, especially the traffic on PSBB is only about 10 percent to 20 percent left. So the shopping center is already a massive deficit," he said, in a virtual discussion, Monday, September 28. .

During the transitional PSBB, he said, mall entrepreneurs could still survive because the number of visitors was still around 30 to 40 percent. However, now the conditions are getting tougher, so we need direct assistance from the government.

He explained, there were several things that caused the rate of mall visits to drop dramatically. Among the reasons for this was the COVID-19 pandemic, which made people still cautious about leaving the house, then because of the sharp decline in people's purchasing power.

Furthermore, said Alphonzus, since the strict PSBB volume II was enforced in Jakarta, restaurants and cafes are prohibited from providing on-site dining or dine-in . This condition is very difficult because the main destination for people to the mall is to restaurants and cafes.

"Even though the economic recession has been felt so far, with the effect of the announcement of the recession later, there will definitely be an effect on the business world. Then the effect on buying and selling transactions and so on. We hope the government can immediately respond to requests from retailers and shopping centers," he said.

The assistance requested from the central and regional governments is exemption from PPh and PNN, revocation of PBB, billboard tax and parking tax.

"This is why we ask, because although the shopping centers are closed and not fully operational, they still pay advertisement taxes and PBB," he explained.

Free Entrepreneur Tax, Save Threat of Mass Layoffs

Alphonzus said, if business actors are tax exempt, it will greatly help the company's cash flow so that the deficit is not too large. So, employers can prevent layoffs (PHK) for employees.

"If there is no help, business actors can collapse and layoffs a lot, if this condition occurs it will make the recession even longer," he explained.

Furthermore, he admitted that he was worried that if the strict PSBB was extended, the impact would be on shopping centers. Because the trend of the number of positive cases is not down but tends to increase from time to time. If this continues, it is not impossible that mass layoffs will occur.

"Friends at Food and Beverages (FnB) have sent their employees home. If this continues, eventually the resilience of retail tenants who are no longer able to afford to be laid off will increase to become layoffs. If they are laid off, it will certainly affect the company, if it continues the tenant company it will collapse, "he said.

According to Alphonzus, if the tenant collapses it will affect the shopping center. Because both are one unit of ecosystem.

"We don't know how long the number of positive cases will go down. This must be anticipated. We will work together to reduce positive cases. But on the one hand, employers have also been exhausted. Therefore, we hope the government will help to survive and the number of cases can be achieved. pressed, "he said.