JAKARTA - Member of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Alvin Lie, said that government policies related to people's travel during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed inconsistent. Many "heads" in policymaking confuse society.
"The government's handling of COVID is not clear. Whose commander is it? Is it Pak Doni Monardo, Pak Luhut, Pak Erick Thohir, or Pak Airlangga? All of them make their own contradictory policies," Alvin said in a webinar discussion, Monday, December 21.
This uncertainty is said to have been visible since the middle of this year. In July, the government had promoted tourist attractions by advertising and providing travel incentives such as discounted train and plane tickets.
Then there was a spike in cases after the long Independence Day holiday in August and the Prophet's birthday at the end of October.
Meanwhile, ahead of the Christmas holidays and the new year 2021, the government has again made a policy to control the spike in cases with an obligation to test antigen on a number of public transportation.
Because, towards the end of the year, the number of new cases of COVID-19 has increased. On average, there were more than 6,000 cases added in one day. In fact, new cases had reached a record, namely 8,369 cases on December 3.
"Everything shows that they question the direction of government policies in dealing with the pandemic, what comes first? Public health or the economy? In the end, neither results can be achieved," said Alvin.
At its peak, the lack of clarity on government policies in limiting travel during the pandemic was evident in the issuance of the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Circular Number 3 of 2020 concerning the Health Protocol for People Travel During Christmas Holidays and Welcoming the New Year 2021 during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
In SE Number 3 of 2020, the COVID-19 Task Force explains the policy of having a rapid test antigen before traveling in effect since 19 December.
However, this Circular Letter was only published and circulated in the public on December 20. As a result, there was a queue of air travelers at Soekarno Hatta Airport because they had to do a rapid antigen test which resulted in a crowd.
In addition, other requirements that travelers must have, namely the Electronic Health Alert Card (e-HAC), also lead to problems because registration on the official website of the Ministry of Health cannot be accessed.
"On December 19 to 21, the Ministry of Health server was down, unable to access e-HAC. Because e-HAC could not connect to the server, they had to fill in the manual and consequently the crowd again. This shows the government doesn't care if the rules can be implemented immediately. or not, "he added.
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