Good leaders are not those who emerge merely because of money but rather those with a creative practice of political leadership. The key is the ability to make use of the scope of policy properly.
By
Dahlia Irawati
·4 minutes read
The master is content to serve as an example. He is pointed but does not pierce, he straightens but does not disrupt, and he illuminates but does not dazzle. – Lao Tzu
It’s not easy to become a leader during the present COVID-19 pandemic. Several village leaders have given concrete examples of how to protect residents amid these uncertain conditions.
In Sitirejo village in Malang regency, East Java, for instance, residents have been building self-isolation rooms since last year. The initiative began after two Sitirejo villagers tested positive for COVID-19 and could not be treated as hospitals were packed.
The two finally died. “Then I thought we should have our own rooms for treatment,” said Sitirejo village head Buwang Suharja.
Buwang bought oxygen cylinders and accepted donations from the community. Now his village has eight oxygen cylinders that can be used by residents and lent to other villages when needed. Cooperation and mutual support, he said, were key to dealing with the pandemic.
Buwang is a respected figure because he has boldly opposed housing developers planning to, in his opinion and that of many residents, improperly utilize village assets. He has also rejected bribes of tens of millions of rupiah to make some people village officials. He prefers to recruit through open fit-and-proper testing.
“I cannot handle everything alone, so I need personnel who are prepared to work with me,” said Buwang, who is still engaged in his original profession as an acupuncturist.
Efforts to make residents feel comfortable in this difficult situation have also been undertaken by the Gondowangi village administration in Wagir district, also in Malang regency. Village personnel are broadcasting happy feelings on air through a community radio station as entertainment for residents.
“Besides being a means of education, community radio is utilized by residents for exchanging greetings. It’s unique, like bygone times. It has served as entertainment during the pandemic, even though people are not meeting. If they feel happy, the immunity of residents is expected to strengthen,” said Gondowangi Village Head Danis Setyo Budi Nugroho.
Danis said Radio Gondowangi FM was set up in the early pandemic in 2020. At the time, village residents wished to assist with at-home education and radio was chosen because it was thought to be more effective than online learning for the village’s circumstances.
The broadcasts offer songs of all genres, local and national news, as well as lessons for students.
The village eventually began working with Diponegoro Islamic Senior High School of Gondowangi. The broadcasts offer songs of all genres, local and national news, as well as lessons for students.
A breakthrough was also made in Panggungharjo village, Sewon district, Bantul regency, Yogyakarta. The village has devised a digital system of COVID-19 control in the form of an application, Bantul-Tangguh.com. The application monitors the condition of confirmed COVID-19 patients. By combining a number of datapoints, they can map out the extent of coverage of herd immunity in the village.
Waste and flooding
The pandemic has not caused other issues to be ignored. Head of Baktiseraga village, Buleleng regency, Bali, I Gusti Putu Armada, 54, for example, has decided to chart a potential problem in his village other than the coronavirus. It concerns waste, which causes the village areas of Banjar Bangkang, Banjar Tista, Banjar Seraya and Banjar Galiran to be routinely flooded.
Armada has ordered the construction of a waste processing dump based on the principle of “reduce, reuse, recycle” (TPS3R) he initiated in 2018. Residents are also trained to sort waste, and household organic waste is converted into fertilizer for the village’s crops.
“By utilizing the organic fertilizer from the TPS3R, Baktiseraga is developing a village plantation to increase income,” said Baktiseraga village head I Gusti Putu Armada.
As an urban village, Baktiseraga has limited land for plantation. The local Family Welfare Association (PKK) cooperates with villagers who own land to spare. “Part of its harvest is used as an additional food supply for residents in need, especially in this pandemic,” said Baktiseraga PKK chairman Ketut Praba Wijayanti, 53.
A political science lecturer at Brawijaya University, Malang, Wawan Sobari, said leaders were important because they allowed people to benefit from the scope of policy. In Wawan’s view, good leaders are those who can utilize the existing scope of policy to settle public issues.
“Good leaders are not those who emerge merely because of money but rather those with a creative practice of political leadership. The key is the ability to make use of the scope of policy properly,” said Wawan.(COKORDA YUDHISTIRA/HARIS FIRDAUS/DEFRI WERDIONO)