The management of the pandemic strategy should be optimized in terms of the implementation of vaccinations and distribution of social aid.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Vice-Chairman of the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Syarief Hasan lauded and supported the government's move to extend the level 4 public activity restrictions (PPKM), effective from July 26 to August 2, 2021.

"This extension has shown that the government listens to the people's voice, although it should have been done earlier. The PPKM extension is the best solution to handle the number of COVID-19 cases that have not been decreasing," Hasan noted in a statement here on Monday.

The Assembly’s vice chairman called to support policies that prioritize the health sector and that has been the Democratic Party’s stance since the pandemic hit Indonesia.

Hasan noted that the Democratic Party had repeatedly urged the government to extend PPKM and prioritize the health sector and also the scheme to reallocate infrastructure budgets in the strategy to handle the pandemic.

"Budget reallocation includes incentives for health workers, vaccination events, social aid for people as well as micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)," Hasan stated.

He assessed that management of the pandemic strategy should be optimized in terms of the implementation of vaccinations and distribution of social aid.

Citing data, as of July 25, 2021, Hasan remarked that only about 44.46 million people had received the single dose of the vaccine, while 17.9 million people had completed the vaccination.

"This means if the numbers are combined, only 29.95 percent of the people are vaccinated out of the target of 208.26 million Indonesians, whereas the main key in ending the pandemic is to rapidly vaccinate as many as possible," he emphasized.

On the other hand, Hasan discerned that until mid-July 2021, the realization of the pandemic budget was still low, with the Ministry of Finance reporting the uptake of the new health budget to only reach 25.2 percent, or Rp54.1 trillion, with the cap of Rp214.95 trillion.

Hasan noted that budget realization for social security only reached 43.8 percent, or Rp82.22 trillion of the allocated Rp187.84 trillion.

"Even budget realization for MSMEs and business support was recorded at only 32 percent, or Rp51.53 trillion of the total Rp161.2 trillion. This should be a cause for concern because in 2020, the total realization of the pandemic handling budget only reached 83.4 percent," he underlined.

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Translator: Imam Budilaksono, Kenzu T
Editor: Sri Haryati
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