Palu Mayor Removes Penalties For PPKM Violators, DPRD Criticizes

PALU - The DPRD of Palu City, Central Sulawesi responded to the decision of the Mayor of Palu, Hadianto Rasyid, to lift a fine of Rp. 2 million for business actors who violated the micro PPKM curfew. The decision of the mayor of Palu was called an ambiguous attitude.

The DPRD said that Mayor Hadianto Rasyid's attitude seemed ambiguous. This is because the revocation of the sanction is not accompanied by a revision of the new circular.

"This is ambiguous. The sanction was lifted verbally but the circular was not." said member of Commission A of the Palu DPRD, Mohamad Imam Darmawan, quoted by Antara, Friday, July 17.

The need for revision of the circular, said Imam, must be done to anticipate the occurrence of turmoil in the field. That way, officers in the field and business actors alike understand that there has been a change in the rules.

"Don't let the circular letter not be revised, it will cause turmoil in the field because until now we, especially us at the Palu DPRD have not officially seen a new circular regarding the lifting of the fine," he said.

Meanwhile, a member of Commission C of the Palu DPRD, Rezki Hardianti Ramadani, said that the new circular was very much needed. The reason is that the current circular does not include a definite time limit for the application of the rule.

"In the circular, it is written for an undetermined time limit. So don't let the revocation of fines only be understood by officers at the top level, but not understood by those in the field," said Rezki.

This was expressed on the basis of the many cases of misunderstanding between officers and the public in several regions in Indonesia.

"There are a lot of misunderstandings that occur in several areas. I think the misunderstanding is due to a lack of socialization to the lower levels. Don't let that happen in Palu City," he hoped.

The City Government of Palu, Central Sulawesi has decided to abolish the fine of Rp. 2 million for business actors who are proven to have violated the rules regarding the Implementation of Restrictions on Community Activities (PPKM).

Palu Mayor Hadianto Rasyid said that the sanctions for business actors who violated the PPKM rules were replaced with social sanctions.

Business actors who are found to have violated the PPKM rules, he explained, will then be subject to sanctions for providing assistance to residents affected by COVID-19 in Palu City.

"The assistance is up to you, we will arrange it later but it will not be burdensome. It doesn't mean that the sanctions are not considered heavy, then business actors violate a lot," he said, quoted by Antara, Wednesday, July 14

The Palu City Government, confirmed by Mayor Hadianto, will return the fines that have been collected from business actors who violate PPKM rules.