Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Enforcement of Emergency Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) Java-Bali will end today, Tuesday (20/7). However, the government has yet to officially decide on its next steps, including extending the policy.
Even so, Epidemiologist from the University of Indonesia, Hermawan Saputra, suggested that the Emergency PPKM policy should not be extended. According to him, the policy is not effective.
He said the government should return to referring to existing laws related to controlling the outbreak. The law in question by Hermawan is the Health Quarantine Law Number 6 of 2018.
“We should return to the law as the main reference and be crucial when the Emergency PPKM is considered ineffective,” Hermawan said to CNNIndonesia.com, Monday (19/7).
Hermawan assessed that the Emergency PPKM policy had many holes. One of them is that the policy is absent in providing guarantees for the needs of economically vulnerable communities.
Although there are several social assistance programs from the government, they are not officially included in the Emergency PPKM policy. So, said Hermawan, there is a lack of clarity in the implementation.
“There are also a lot of complaints in this field that have not been realized even though the Emergency PPKM has been running for two weeks,” he said.
In contrast to the Health Quarantine Law, Hermawan said the regulation was better. Because, in the law it is stated that every citizen has the right to get insurance needs during quarantine.
“Everyone has the right to get basic health services according to their medical needs, food needs, and other daily life needs during quarantine,” Article 8 of the Health Quarantine Law reads.
Hermawan considered it to be one of the strong considerations for the implementation of the Health Quarantine Law. Instead, extend the Emergency PPKM.
“Back to PSBB or lockdown. If the PSBB already has a government regulation (PP) number 21 of 2020, there is also an obligation to also strengthen the weak economy,” explained Hermawan.
In addition, Hermawan also explained, the Quarantine Law has passed the stages of study, research, policy brief and has also passed the public test. So, legally clear.
In terms of position, the law is stronger because it is made by the House of Representatives (DPR) and the president. Thus, the implementation of the policy will also be clear.
Unlike the Emergency PPKM, Hermawan said the policy was legally weak. Because the policy is issued by the minister.
As a result, implementation is difficult to realize properly. Hermawan assessed that the policy was not as strict and detailed as the Health Quarantine Law
“Yes, indeed emergency PPKM does not provide strong enough space for implementation in the field,” he said.
“This PPKM has a rather weak legal basis because of the Instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs,” he added.
Related to that, Hermawan said the government must have the courage to decide to return to the existing law. He said it had to be done to break the Covid-19 chain
“The policy is a kind of control drug, which should be returned to the regional quarantine law. Don’t look for drugs that have never been tested on drugs,” he said.
“Of course, from an epidemiological perspective, regional quarantine is very effective in breaking the Covid-19 chain. But indeed the government must be ready to provide assistance and support, protection for small, weak communities,” he concluded.
(yul/ard)
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