Only 1 Of 7 City Districts In The Riau Islands Does Not Hold A Takbiran Parade

Illustration of takbiran on the night of Eid 2022. (Antara)

KEPRI - Governor of the Riau Islands (Kepri) Ansar Ahmad said the takbiran parade was not prohibited in his territory. He invited the district and city governments to invite the people who want to hold a takbiran parade.

"The central government does not prohibit holding a takbiran parade, but it must still comply with health protocols," he said in Tanjungpinang, quoted from Antara, Wednesday, April 27.

The chairman of the Riau Islands COVID-19 Handling Task Force has also conveyed the policy to the Riau Islands Regional Leadership Coordination Forum, regents and mayors throughout the Riau Islands. "Hopefully this beautiful momentum can increase our friendship and strengthen our piety," said Ansar.

Secretary of the Riau Islands COVID-19 Task Force, Muhamad Darwin, said that of the seven regencies and cities in the region, only the Karimun Regency Government did not hold the takbiran parade. Takbiran in Karimun is only held at the mosque.

"Tanjungpinang, Bintan, Batam, Natuna, Anambas and Lingga Islands held a takbiran parade after two years of not being able to carry it out because of the rules for preventing the spread of COVID-19," he said.

Meanwhile, regarding the Eid al-Fitr "open house", according to him, the public can hold an "open house". The government only prohibits officials from holding "open houses".

"The spirit of the provision may be to prevent spending a lot of money during the Eid celebrations," said the Head of the Riau Islands Energy and Mineral Resources Office.

He explained that there were only 31 active cases of COVID-19 in Riau Islands, three people spread across Batam, 13 in Tanjungpinang, six in Bintan, four in Karimun, one in Lingga and four in Natuna. Anambas has had zero active cases of COVID-19 since two weeks ago.

"We are optimistic that Kelri will soon have zero active COVID-19 cases, judging from the trend of new cases which has drastically decreased, and the number of patients who have recovered is increasing," said Muhammad Darwin.