State Assistance Loses Viral To Volunteers, PKB Legislator: Without It, The Government Must Help The Community

Indonesian Navy personnel enter logistics into transport aircraft to be distributed to Sumatra, Tuesday (9/12/2025). BETWEEN/HO-Humas TNI AL

JAKARTA - Member of Commission I DPR RI, Syamsu Rizal responded to the commission's record, Endipat Wijaya, which urged the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) to be more proactive and massive in disseminating information about the government's performance in disaster management, especially floods and landslides in Sumatra.

This is because news about government assistance has gone viral with the help of volunteers.

According to Syamsu Rizal, the logic of comparing state assistance with community solidarity is wrong and unnecessary. He emphasized that mutual cooperation is the nation's greatest strength and is a form of people's supremacy that cannot be compared.

"Yes, I think that's where the power of society is, that's the supremacy of the people. And this is natural because we are people's servants, not the other way around," said Syamsu Rizal in Jakarta, Tuesday, December 9.

The former Deputy Mayor of Makassar assessed that the ability of the community to help others without state facilities is proof of social resilience that must be grateful for, not in response to competition with the government.

"People without any facilities provided by the state are actually able to provide assistance. We should be grateful that mutual cooperation, mutual assistance between others still exists and is proven to be strong among the nation's children," he said.

The PKB legislator from the South Sulawesi electoral district I also emphasized that the government has a constitutional obligation to attend and assist residents in any conditions, especially when a disaster occurs such as flash floods, without waiting for the process of viralization or imaging.

"Even without going viral, the government must help the community, whoever it is, especially those affected by the flash flood disaster," he said.

He then invited all parties to strengthen collaboration between the government and the community, not highlighting who was the most seen providing assistance.

"Gotong royong is the identity of a nation that cannot be lost," concluded Syamsu Rizal.

Previously, Member of Commission I DPR RI, Endipat Wijaya urged the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi) to be more proactive and massive in disseminating information about the government's performance in disaster management, especially floods and landslides in Sumatra.

Endipat conveyed this strong insistence during a working meeting with Komdigi at the DPR Building, Jakarta, Monday, November 8.

According to Endipat, the lack of information spread made the government's hard work, including trillions of rupiah in aid, as if drowned by the viral donation that was being raised by other parties. This condition even tends to lead to the assumption that the government is not moving.

"We ask you to focus later on the Ministry of Communication and Digo, so that information is no less viral than friends who are currently the most arrogant in Aceh, in Sumatra and others," he said, quoted from the YouTube channel of Commission I of the DPR RI Channel, Tuesday, December 9.

Endipat then mentioned the action of content creator and founder of Malacca Project Ferry Irwandi who raised donations in Kitabisa.com, and managed to collect donations of more than Rp. 10 billion in 24 hours. The donations collected have been distributed to a number of points affected by floods and landslides in three provinces, Aceh, West Sumatra, and North Sumatra.

Although he did not explicitly mention Ferry's name, Endipat quipped that there were parties who wanted to be called the most working at the disaster point. He also did not accept that the government's accusations were not present when providing assistance to victims.

"There are people who only come once as if they work the most in Aceh. Even though the state was present from the start, there were new people who came and only made one post saying the government didn't exist. Even though the government has built hundreds of posts there," said Endipat.

"So what is about something like that, ma'am, please pay attention and develop it with Komdigi to become public information so that the public knows that the government's performance already exists and is already great," he concluded.