Puan Maharani Reminds Jokowi To Maintain Public Trust, Don't Decrease COVID Cases Due To Decreased Testing

Speaker of the House of Representatives Mrs. Maharani (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, reminded the government of Joko Widodo to maintain public confidence in the adjustment of policies that often change in the Enforcement of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM).

"Build public trust starting from the process, until the community finally feels the positive impact of the policy," said Puan, Tuesday, July 27.

According to him, efforts to build public trust in the adjusted PPKM Level 4 policy should not be injured by things that are counterproductive in the implementation process. For example, a decrease in the number of examinations (testing) of the declining case indicators.

“If the number of daily cases goes down, but the number of testing goes down, people might say 'ah, the cases are down because the testing has been lowered'. Views like this are anticipated by the government as much as possible so as not to reduce public confidence in the government in dealing with the pandemic," said Puan.

For that, said Puan, the government must anticipate by not reducing testing during this emergency period, especially below the applicable standards. He said, testing should not only be increased nationally, but also need to be monitored per region.

"Test targets should be bigger for the level 4 area and the red zone," said Puan.

The former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture explained that monitoring of testing data per region is important as the basis for making 'open-close' policies for each region in the future.

"On the other hand, if testing is lacking, and a large number of cases are not revealed, this could become a ticking time bomb in the future," said Puan.

In addition, said Puan, the government must also be able to explain in detail the new regulations that are in the public's spotlight. For example, the rules for eating at the stall are a maximum of 20 minutes in the PPKM Level 4 adjustment.

“The government must be able to explain why the rules for limiting meal times can be considered effective in preventing transmission. Then how about technical supervision? Does it just need public awareness or what? This must be explained in detail,” said Puan.

"If this is left without explanation and ends up being just a joke in the community, I'm afraid this will actually reduce people's trust in the government," he continued.

Puan added, building trust can also be done by the government through community involvement. Among them, through community empowerment programs, such as soup kitchens and assistance for people who are self-isolating.

"Community involvement will change the paradigm that this pandemic is not only a government problem, but our common problem, so that we all must work together to get out of these difficult times," said Puan.