Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi revealed that Indonesia would accept import supply oxygen from Taiwan. However, it has not been stated how many imports will enter.
“So from Taiwan this has been done,” said Lutfi during a virtual press conference, Monday (5/7).
Lutfi said the import policy was opened by the Ministry of Trade according to a proposal from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). Previously, BNPB requested that important products in handling the impact of COVID-19 not be prevented from entering Indonesia.
“So I make sure that this oxygen is included in the list and hopefully there will be no problems in its procurement, especially at national borders from outside to Indonesia,” he said.
Unfortunately, he declined to give further details about this oxygen import. The same goes for other countries that will send oxygen to Indonesia.
“This is not from anywhere, but from anywhere if the goods are already listed, it has entered the essence and we make sure the smooth operation at the port is good,” he explained.
On the other hand, Lutfi said his ministry would also ensure the smooth distribution of medicines and medical devices. This policy has also been coordinated with the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) and other ministries/agencies.
“Alkes and medicines will be a priority, especially in the Emergency PPKM. We ensure that everything available can be distributed to the community,” he said.
However, he said that the issue of rising prices for medical supplies and drugs in the community is not in the realm of the Ministry of Trade. “This is the main task of the Ministry of Health,” he added.
Previously, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin stated that Indonesia would import oxygen cylinders to meet the increasing demand in line with the surge in COVID-19 cases.
“We have coordinated with the Minister of Industry to import 6 cubic meter and 1 cubic meter tubes to meet additional emergency rooms in hospitals,” said Budi.
Budi said the process of distributing liquid oxygen to hospitals in large volumes using tanks was not optimal in meeting the needs of COVID-19 patients. The problem is, the majority of hospitals use more oxygen cylinders because of the addition of emergency rooms.
“So we also see that there is an issue in distribution, which previously could be sent directly to a large liquid tank to be distributed with the oxygen network, now it must be done in the form of a tube,” he explained.
Currently, the national oxygen production capacity is 866 thousand tons per year. However, the utilization of all factories is now only 75 percent.
As a result, the real production amount is only 640 thousand tons per year. The majority or 75 percent of the oxygen is used to meet the needs of several steel and nickel industries.
(uli/one)
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