During a visit to Kompas editorial offices in Jakarta on Thursday (23/9/2021), Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin said the government would continue to take a number of initiatives to handle pandemic.
By
Kompas Team
·6 minutes read
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin with Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin and CEO of Kompas Gramedia Liliek Oetama during a visit to the Kompas Daily Editorial Office in Palmerah, Jakarta, Thursday (23/9/2021).
The Covid-19 pandemic has not only had a severe impact on health and the economy, but has also contributed in part to an increase in poverty. The government should continue to work extra hard to cope with the pandemic’s impacts.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government\'s measures to deal with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on public health and the economy might not be the best compared to other countries, but it is by no means the worst. This means that the efforts the government has taken to deal with the pandemic so far can be considered relatively good.
Indonesia’s pandemic handling efforts have received recognition from a number of countries and world institutions. However, the country must continue to remain vigilant and not become trapped in a state of euphoria.
During a visit to Kompas editorial offices in Jakarta on Thursday (23/9/2021), Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin said the government would continue to take a number of initiatives to handle pandemic. "We haven\'t won yet, but of course we have to make an effort so that the impacts on health, economy and society does not deepen," the Vice President said.
Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Press Council chairman M. Nuh accompanied Ma\'ruf during his visit to Kompas. Other senior government officials who joined the Vice President’s visit were: Communication and Information Ministry secretary-general Mira Tayyiba and National Disaster Mitigation Agency systems and strategy deputy Raditya Jati. The Kompas representatives who attended the meeting were: Kompas Gramedia CEO Lilik Oetama, Kompas deputy general manager Budiman Tanuredjo, and Kompas editor-in-chief Sutta Dharmasaputra.
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin during a visit to the Kompas Daily Editorial Office in Palmerah, Jakarta, Thursday (23/9/2021).
Before his visit to Kompas editorial offices, the Vice President observed the Kompas Gramedia vaccination program at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, held in collaboration with the Press Council.
New poor
The Vice President said the government had taken a number of measures to handle the pandemic, such as accelerating the nationwide vaccination rollout, intensifying the 3M (mask wearing, handwashing, social distancing) campaign, and optimizing 3T (testing, tracing, treatment) efforts. Other steps included reallocating the state budget, relaxing corporate loans and providing unsecured or non-collateral loans to micro and small businesses.
For the people who were vulnerable to poverty or had become part of the “new poor” after they were laid off or their businesses closed because of Covid-19, the Vice President said the government was providing support through the Presidential Assistance for Productive Micro Enterprises (BPUM), Wage Subsidy Assistance (BSU), and the Preemployment Card.
“If the pandemic were not handled quickly, the impact could be even worse. There is a new poor because the pandemic increased the number of poor people by one percent. They are vulnerable and due to the pandemic, they have become the new poor," said Ma’ruf, who also heads the National Team for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (TNP2K).
Chronic and extreme poverty should not become a burden, but required further control, he said. "The method is through social assistance and empowerment, such as [by providing] access to capital, training and skills development," said the Vice President.
Answering questions after observing the vaccination program, Ma’ruf said Indonesia must achieve zero extreme poverty by 2024. "It is indeed the President\'s responsibility, and extreme poverty must be [eliminated] by 2024," he said.
More than 10 million of the country’s 27.54 million poor people are classified as living in extreme poverty. "In this, the TNP2K is trying to achieve its target. For 2021, the target is around 20 percent, or more than 2 million. This is indeed very difficult because the time is short,” Ma’ruf said.
This year, the TNP2K is targeting extreme poverty in 35 districts and municipalities in seven provinces, or five districts and municipalities per province. The seven provinces are: West Java, Central Java, East Java, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku, Papua and West Papua.
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
Vice President Ma\'ruf Amin accompanied by Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Chairman of the Press Council M Nuh while reviewing the Covid-19 vaccination at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jakarta, Thursday (23/9/2021).
The poverty eradication program will be carried out in other provinces in 2022-2024. The TNP2K has prepared a strategy, but its realization depends on the condition in the field. It is expected to achieve 30 percent of the target in 2022, another 35 percent in 2023 and the remainder in 2024.
Special staff to the Vice President Bambang Widianto, who is also TNP2K executive secretary for 2010-2020, said that cutting extreme poverty to zero percent was line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eliminate extreme poverty in the world by 2030. However, President Joko Widodo has ordered for the target to be achieved six years earlier, at the end of 2024.
Efforts are also made to ensure that ministries, agencies and local administration can achieve their poverty reduction target, while they continue to monitor and control poverty as planned.
According to the Presidential Decree on TNP2K, the Vice President is to focus on improving poverty reduction policies and programs through synchronization, harmonization and integration. Efforts are also made to ensure that ministries, agencies and local administration can achieve their poverty reduction target, while they continue to monitor and control poverty as planned.
High elderly deaths
As part of the effort to reduce the high Covid-19 death rate among the elderly, the government is prioritizing accelerated vaccination for the elderly. At present, only 25 percent of the 20 million-strong elderly population has been vaccinated. The Covid-19 death rate for the elderly has reached more than 12 percent.
"There are a number of difficulties. First, the elderly are worried about the safety of the vaccines, apart from having to wait in line to be vaccinated. So I ask for your help in this. Please convince the elderly – our parents, grandparents – that it is safe to be vaccinated,” said Health Minister Budi.
According to Budi, the Covid-19 death rate in hospitals averaged between 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent. “More than 12 percent of the elderly who were taken to hospital died. They should be protected. The Vice President\'s direction is correct, that people should be invited, encouraged, convinced so they are willing to be vaccinated," said Budi.
Responding to the possibility of a third wave of infection, Budi emphasized that no pandemic ended in a short time. “As far as I know, it could take five years, but can [also] reach tens, even hundreds of years. So we have to learn to live with [the coronavirus],” he said. (WKM/HAR)
(This article was translated byHendarsyah Tarmizi).
