Not A Problem Of Sanctions For The Crowd Of Rizieq Shihab, But Concerns About The Surge In COVID-19 Cases

Rizieq Shihab (screenshot of Front TV)

JAKARTA - The mass gathering activity by FPI leader Muhammad Rizieq Sihiab resulted in a sanction of IDR 50 million. However, the problems did not stop there.

Epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, Syahrizal Syarif, said that imposing sanctions on violators of health protocols does not necessarily deter people and immediately avoid crowds.

"People carry out crowd activities, there are consequences for fines, yes it is true. But, that's not necessarily a deterrent effect," Syarif said when contacted by VOI, Monday, November 16.

From the crowd cases that Rizieq and his followers have repeatedly carried out, it shows that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is not handling COVID-19 strictly and does not provide education to prevent the return of the crowd.

"If it does make education, then the implementation is firm. The crowd that occurs, whether it's the pick-up, or the Prophet's birthday, I see that the DKI Provincial Government is indecisive," said Syarif.

In fact, said Syarif, the rate of increase in COVID-19 cases had decreased from late September to early November.

"It's not under control, but at least the number of cases is flat. The average weekly case, from the end of September, started from 4,200 per day, then 4,100, down again to 3,300," he said.

Then, a potential spike in cases due to the long holiday period began to emerge. "In this week, the increase has reached another 4,100," he added.

If the handling of COVID-19 in DKI continues to run loosely when the pandemic is not under control, Syarif estimates that an even higher spike in cases will occur in the next one to two weeks. This is because DKI is the largest contributor to cases in Indonesia.

Rizieq Shihab's daughter's wedding ceremony (screenshot of Front TV YouTube channel)

Prevention efforts are not firm

Rizieq Shihab's son-in-law, Hanif Alatas admitted that his party as the organizer of the Prophet's birthday and marriage could not do much to prevent the crowds attending their activities.

On the pretext of the high enthusiasm of Rizieq's followers, Hanif said that he could not limit the number of people who came, even though they had advised him to implement the health protocol.

"We, from the family side, understand because the enthusiasm of the people is unstoppable and we have appealed to obey protocols," Hanif told reporters.

"Protocols should be tightened. However, the enthusiasm of the people cannot be stopped, so the technicalities are difficult. But (the crowd) is not only here, but also at other events," he added.

Meanwhile, Head of DKI Satpol PP, Arifin admitted that his party had taken action against protocol violations according to existing procedures.

Arifin said, the ranks of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government have appealed, supervised and imposed sanctions if there were violations. However, no efforts to prevent the crowds were maximally carried out.

"We have procedures. Yesterday there have been actions as well. The Mayor of Central Jakarta has written (to Rizieq and FPI), reminding them to comply with protocols and so on. Last night we also carried out supervision and enforcement of sanctions," he added.