Mayor Of Surabaya, Whisnu Sakti, Refocuses The Budget To Restore The Economy From The Impact Of The Pandemic

East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa appointed Whisnu Sakti Buana as mayor of Surabaya (Photo via ANTARA)

SURABAYA - The Mayor of Surabaya, Whisnu Sakti Buana, said that he would focus on economic recovery in his remaining position. One of them will be reselecting public works (PU) projects, to be diverted to handling COVID-19.

"We are continuing to make an inventory of several projects that are not strategic. We will set aside Rp. 300 billion to Rp. 500 billion in funding," said Whisnu, after being appointed as Mayor of Surabaya in Surabaya, Thursday, February 11.

Whisnu hopes that handling the pandemic does not only talk about health, economy, education and human resources. "The younger generation in Surabaya is also being paid attention to. Do not let the pandemic condition reduce the quality of our students," said Whisnu.

Whisnu said that he would move MSMEs so that the people's economy could rotate. Collaborating between tough villages and empowering MSMEs.

"So the UMKM there are more empowered. Like making rice packets to feed the residents and so on so that the economy will be more excited. With this micro PPKM there is actually an opportunity to move," said Whisnu.

Whisnu will lead Surabaya for about six days or will retire until February 17. Whisnu admitted that he was not targeting for the remainder of his term of office, and plans not to rotate the Surabaya City Government officials.

"There is no specific target. Everything must run. I cannot rotate the OPD," he said. Ahead of his retirement, Whisnu wants to change the orange zone to yellow and the green zone. This was done in collaboration with Forkopimda to actively move downward.

"We are also reactivating tracing efforts. So far, we have been doing it in the last few months, so that we can really recover from the pandemic," he said.