Council Says Rp5 Trillion BTT Budget To Finance Homes For COVID-19 Patients And Healthcare Workers Has Not Been Collected

Wsima Athletes Kemayoran (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government (Pemprov) will use an unexpected budget post (BTT) of around Rp. 5 trillion to handle and tackle the spread of COVID-19. This includes financing for guesthouses, hotels, guesthouses, sports buildings (GOR), and schools to accommodate COVID-19 patients and health workers or health workers.

However, according to Commission C for Finance of the DKI Jakarta DPRD, S. Andyka, the trillions of rupiah have not been collected. This is because local governments still have to find a budget through taxes, levies, and tax revenue sharing with local governments.

"BTT is approximately Rp 5 trillion, but what must be understood is that this is a budget, the money does not yet exist," Andyka told reporters quoted on Saturday, June 12.

Even so, Andyka is sure that the handling of patients and temporary shelters for health workers will not be neglected. In addition, he said that the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government's decision to optimize its own facilities had also passed a thorough study.

Moreover, this is also in line with the central government's policy of temporarily stopping hotel financing for COVID-19 patients and health workers.

"With us using government-owned facilities, of course, the financial capacity can still be sufficient. Compared to using a hotel, of course the cost is very high," he said.

Furthermore, he also supports the central government's decision to stop financing hotels in Jakarta. According to him, the policy was taken because it considers the implementation of vaccination in the community which continues to be intensified.

"Especially for DKI, a study was carried out between the Central Task Force and the DKI Task Force, so that it was decided that the costs incurred related to medical personnel and isolation problems in hotels, now no longer use hotels," said Andyka.

"Although we know that many hotels in Jakarta are owned by local governments that are managed by BUMD, but it's still a matter of paying for it," he added.

Previously, the central government stopped financing the isolation facilities for COVID-19 patients at hotels, inns and guesthouses in Jakarta. Not only that, the cost of lodging for health workers who handle COVID-19 is also the same.

Therefore, DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has set a number of new isolation locations. This is stated in the Governor's Decree (Kepgub) Number 675 of 2021.

The Governor's Decree, which was signed on May 31, 2021, revoked the Governor's Decree No. 979 of 2020 regarding controlled isolation locations for previous COVID-19 patients.

"With the policy of the National COVID-19 Handling Task Force regarding the termination of financing for hotels, lodging, and guesthouses for confirmed COVID-19 people, both asymptomatic and with mild symptoms, and lodging costs for health workers handling COVID-19 and guaranteeing legal certainty in fulfilling the need for controlled isolation facilities and lodging for health workers, the Governor's Decree No. 979 of 2020 needs to be changed," Anies said to the governor, quoted Monday, June 7.

The determination of the isolation location was also carried out when new COVID-19 clusters began to appear in a number of RTs, such as in Ciracas, Semper Barat, to Kayu Putih.

Currently, there are thousands of isolation beds and lodging for health workers provided by Anies. These locations are in hotels, guesthouses, flats, sports halls, mosques, and schools.