Observer: No Negotiation, The Sanctions For Prohibiting Homecoming Must Be Consistent

Passengers at Radin Inten II Airport in Lampung who wish to travel. (Photo: Ruth Intan Sozometa Kanafi / Antara)

JAKARTA - The government has banned homecoming for all members of the community, from BUMN employees, private employees, civil servants, members of the TNI-Polri, formal and informal workers, to the general public in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19.

In line with this policy, University of Indonesia (UI) Sociologist Nadia Yovani assessed that enforcement of regulations in the field must be consistent in order to prevent people from going home on Lebaran 2021.

"I think that legal sanctions are enforced consistently, consistently, yes it can. The problem is that the problem is always the consistency between the rules and the implementation of the rules," said Nadia in a press statement received in Jakarta, Thursday, 22 April.

According to him, the officers on duty should not take excesses from the sanctions imposed by the government. Consistency is needed in order to control. "For example, negotiations with the authorities," he said.

If the apparatus is consistent, Nadia is sure that the community can abandon their intentions and refrain from going home. He considered that there was a need for sanctions that could make people aware that the COVID-19 pandemic was not over.

For example, there are social sanctions for travelers who are reckless if their culture is already formed. "The most social sanctions that can be done are on social media by highlighting the reckless actions of travelers, for example," he said.

Indonesian netizens, said Nadia, can give negative comments to those who are receptive to going home as social sanctions for people who are receptive to going home. "But what is prioritized is more to the sanctions imposed by the government when citizens violate this action," he said.

Nadia realizes that going home is a habit or culture that is embedded in the Indonesian people. However, to change one's culture regarding homecoming, it can be done with a top-down approach or an institutional institutional approach.

"Should there be a procedure for restrictions on going home or a ban on going home in this year's Eid, it should also be accompanied by clear procedures, the rules are also clear, now the sanctions are also clear," said Nadia.