Indonesia Highlights: Jakarta Asked to Get Tough on Covid Fight | Businesses in Indonesia Suffer Major Loss | Young Indonesians Unaware of Regional Elections Candidates

KOMPAS.com – Jakarta is paying the price of its long holiday weekend earlier this month as new Covid-19 infections have once again surged.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan announced another extension to its transitory large-scale social restrictions until December in light of growing virus transmissions over the past three weeks.

Businesses in Indonesia are increasingly feeling the financial pinch from the coronavirus pandemic based on a survey from the Ministry of Manpower.

Nearly nine out of 10 companies in the country have been affected by the Covid-19 crisis that the ministry attributes to plunging production.

Indonesia officially hit a half-million nationwide Covid-19 infections yesterday, but the government is proceeding with the 2020 Regional Elections which thrusts its younger citizens at the helm of political change.

However, despite various government bodies and institutions preparing for the elections ahead of time, Indonesia’s younger generation knows very little about the candidates that they can choose to put in public office, according to a Change.org survey.

1. Jakarta’s Anies Baswedan Asked to Get Tough on Health Protocols

As Covid-19 cases in Jakarta face a resurgence, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has been asked to take a tougher stance on penalizing health protocol violators in Indonesia’s capital city.

National Covid-19 Taskforce Spokesperson Wiku Adisasmito made the suggestion after Jakarta found itself as the top five regions with the highest number of new Covid-19 cases nationally for three consecutive weeks.

“I am asking for the Jakarta Governor together with law enforcement officials to penalize those who violate existing health protocols.”

Wiku hopes that the past eight months of hard work and dedication in mitigating the Covid-19 virus in the country will not be wasted due to regional governments that have been impatient, reckless, or ignorant about the pandemic.

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/11/24/18032921/kasus-covid-19-dki-tinggi-satgas-minta-anies-tindak-tegas-pelanggar-protokol 

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2. Survey: 9 in Every 10 Companies in Indonesia Incur Losses due to Pandemic

About 88 percent of companies in Indonesia suffered losses in the last six months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a survey of the Manpower Ministry showed.

The survey stated that nine out of 10 companies in the country were directly affected by the coronavirus crisis.

The companies in Indonesia that were most affected include the food and beverage industry, real estate, and construction. However, most companies still keep their employees.

The survey said only 17.8 percent of businesses resorted to layoffs, 25.6 percent imposed unpaid leave, and 10 percent implemented both.

Source: https://go.kompas.com/read/2020/11/24/230210674/survey-9-in-every-10-companies-in-indonesia-incur-losses-due-to-pandemic 

3. Young Indonesians Unaware of Regional Election Candidates

A Change.org survey found that 62 percent of respondents do not know the history and experience of the candidates to head their region ahead of the 2020 Regional Elections in Indonesia.

According to the Commissioner of Young People Wildanshah, the survey result is a bad sign for regional election candidates as it reflects their inability to take advantage of younger Indonesians who are the country’s bonus demographic.

“Young people [in Indonesia] are randomly selecting candidates which is dangerous for the younger generation.”

Wildan believes that a lack of interaction between regional election candidates and young people is to blame for the sheer unawareness ahead of the 2020 Regional Elections.

He added that the candidates most likely have insufficient information about Indonesia’s young voters, thus resulting in weak involvement of the group in their campaign programs.

Source: https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/11/24/16565891/survei-changeorg-62-persen-anak-muda-tak-tahu-rekam-jejak-calon-kepala