Indonesia’s Tourism Industry Players Demand Jakarta’s Partial Lockdown Be Lifted

KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s tourism industry players are calling for large-scale social distancing (PSBB) measures in Jakarta to be lifted due to weak enforcement.

The Visit Wonderful Indonesia (VIWI) Board, consisting of 18 national tourism associations, has further asked the government to lift visitor quota and operational hours for businesses.

VIWI Chairman Hariyadi B. Sukamdani cited weak implementation of PSBB in Jakarta and the government’s inconsistency as reasons behind Indonesia's tourism industry players' demands.

“Because it is a regulation, it should be consistent. If we are doing it to break the chain of transmission, then we must be consistent.”

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In reality, Hariyadi often witnesses large crowds gathering and not adhering to health protocols without being penalized by the authorities.

It has led Hariyadi to conclude that despite total lockdown and partial PSBB in Jakarta, public awareness on the dangers of the Covid-19 pandemic remains weak coupled with inconsistent penalty conducted by the government.

“If the state or government is inconsistent, then how is the society supposed to believe the danger? If we look at the lower-class parts of society, they don’t believe Covid-19 is real. That happens on top of the inconsistencies mentioned previously.”

Lifting visitor quota and PSBB in Jakarta

Indonesia’s tourism industry players and related businesses have been working to abide by health protocols in mitigating the virus.

The country’s business community is making the additional effort to not lay off any employees, bear overhead costs and new normal fees, and restructure their finances.

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Despite the efforts of businesses in Indonesia, members of the public continue to gather in large crowds during the pandemic and without fines.

“What we see is that there is no sort of action taken. What happens to the business sector is that the authorities seal off the place and disband any crowd activities. This is the problem.”

Hariyadi outlined how despite the weak enforcement of visitor quota and business hours, Indonesia’s industry players try their best to abide by the law and prioritize public health in the new normal.