Erick Thohir's Call For Private Sector To Participate In Handling COVID-19

Illustrated photo (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - BUMN Minister Erick Thohir appealed to private companies to join in and help the Indonesian people in the midst of the corona virus or Covid-19 attack. Moreover, currently there are two people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Indonesia.

The private sector, said Erick, should not only think about profits in the midst of the condition of Indonesia which is struggling to deal with the COVID-19 attack. Erick emphasized that handling COVID-19 is not only a government task but a collective task.

Erick admitted, the Ministry of BUMN has so far taken preventive steps by appealing to state-owned companies to help the community. One of them is by distributing free masks.

"(Distributing masks?) Bank Mandiri has, not SOEs. We have to unite. I also ask the private sector to help the people. The private sector can get money from the people. Do not also think about profit on this occasion. Prove that we are united to go down to the people. below, "said Erick, while visiting PT Kimia Farma Tbk (KAFE) pharmacy in Menteng, Jakarta, Wednesday, March 4.

The government, said Erick, only has 1,300 pharmacies. Meanwhile, there may be far more pharmacies that are privately owned. Therefore, Erick also asked not to increase the price of masks and make it difficult for the public.

Currently, BUMN has proven its role in fulfilling medical devices for the community. "It is impossible for only private state-owned companies to start to decline. Kimia Farma Pharmacy only has 1,300, I don't know how many are owned by the private sector," he explained.

Regarding vaccines, Erick admitted that he could not say much, considering that there is still a need to further study this matter.

"If we say there is a corona virus, there is a drug, there is a vaccine. I cannot comment yet, I am afraid that it will be wrong. What is certain is that we at BUMN companies have to start thinking about health security. That's why merging hospitals (hospitals) improves the quality of doctors. "Scientists at BUMN and the discovery (of vaccines) must be made to become a pillar of BUMN," he said.

Previously, Kimia Farma's Managing Director, Verdi Budidarmo, said that currently there are still supplies of masks and anti-septic properties. However, sales are limited. In addition, Kimia Farma has set a selling price for masks at IDR 2,000 per unit.

"All Kimia Farma Pharmacies are now available. One (mask) costs Rp2,000, you can't buy one box," said Verdi.

According to Verdi, currently there are approximately four thousand boxes of masks or 215 thousand pieces for all Kimia Farma Pharmacies in Indonesia. He added that his party is currently ordering 7.2 million pieces of masks from China with a fixed selling price of IDR 2,000.