South Tangerang Regional Election Debate: Princess Ma'ruf Amin Questions COVID-19 Case To Incumbent Benyamin, Offends The City Government Failed

South Tangerang (Tangsel) mayor candidate number 2 Siti Nurazizah in the Tangsel regional election debate (Ilham / VOI illustration)

JAKARTA - Candidate for Mayor of South Tangerang (Tangsel) number 2 Siti Nurazizah asked about the handling of COVID-19 from candidate number 3 for mayor Benyamin Davnie. The daughter of the Vice President, Ma'ruf Amin, said that the Tangsel City Government failed to deal with COVID-19.

"I ask about the COVID pandemic situation, many people say the government is failing to deal with COVID. It can be seen that in carrying out health care such as hospitals, Tangsel Regional General Hospital down grade from C to D, when we examined candidates, they had to have medical tests in the district, ”said Azizah in the Tangsel regional election debate broadcast on Youtube Kompas TV, Sunday, November 22.

Benyamin Davnie, who is also Deputy Mayor of Tangsel, said that the City Government of Tangsel has made every effort to handle COVID-19. Benyamin explained the amount of budget disbursed for handling COVID-19.

"Indeed, the most basic health problem in society. As long as we have handled COVID-19, even from the budget aspect of Rp. 77 billion, our APBD has been disbursing since the beginning of the fiscal year through various agencies to deal with COVID in South Tangerang, "said Benyamin.

Regarding the decline in grade at Tangsel General Hospital, Benyamin explained that the Tangsel City Government is completing type C hospitals. Meanwhile, Tangsel Hospital is said to have participated in accreditation since several years ago to upgrade to Type B.

"Whereas the accreditation was dropped, we have already corrected the data requested by the Ministry of Health," Benyamin continued.

Benyamin candidate for vice mayor of Tangsel, Pilar Saga Ichsan, added that the construction of type C hospital will strengthen public health service facilities.

"The target is how each of our sub-districts has its own hospital in the future, there are types B, C and D so that finally public health services can be handled properly in South Tangerang," said Pilar Saga Ichsan.

Azizah responded again to Benyamin's answer. According to him, the facts on the ground actually show that health services are not optimal.

"If we look at the alignments of the budget in handling COVID-19 in mandatory spending, I see that the partiality has not been maximal. Refocusing (budget) is still around 15 percent whereas in other regions almost 50 percent can be done, ”said Azizah comparing.

There is also a candidate for deputy mayor of Ruhamaben who is paired with Azizah. According to him, the current mapping of COVID-19 by the Tangsel City Government has not been systematic.

"One of the tasks of the government is to carry out accurate and detailed mapping, even if possible up to the RT and RW level, the office level. We have never seen a detailed report on the mapping of COVID-19 cases in the city of Tangsel, "said Rumahaben.

Benyamin responded to the Rumahaben statement. According to him, the cure rate for COVID-19 in Tangsel reached 82-83 percent. Meanwhile, the level of community compliance with health protocols reached 72-75 percent.

"This shows the efforts of the Tangsel city government are showing relatively good results," said Benyamin.