The biggest lesson to take away from COVID-19 is that it has highlighted fundamental issues that we have not yet seriously thought out across numerous sectors that have all been closed all this time.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The COVID-19 pandemic that is currently plaguing Indonesia has highlighted the nation's fundamental problems in sectors such as health and education, Regional Representative Council (DPD) chief A. A. La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti has said.

"The biggest lesson to take away from COVID-19 is that it has highlighted fundamental issues that we have not yet seriously thought out across numerous sectors that have all been closed all this time," he said in a written statement received here on Tuesday.

The first fundamental issue is how vulnerable and fragile Indonesia's health sector is, he pointed out.

Everyone has seen how Indonesia's health facilities almost collapsed due to the spike in COVID-19 cases, he said.

The second fundamental issue concerns the resiliency of the social sector, La Nyala noted, saying the government is facing difficulty in promptly distributing social aid to citizens impacted by COVID-19.

The next problem concerns the resiliency of Indonesia's education sector, he said.

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Supporting infrastructure for learning activities, which have been shifted online, has been found wanting, he explained.

"The quality of the learning activity reflects how unprepared Indonesia is and how unable they are to adhere to a standard," the DPD chief remarked.

In addition, the economic rescue of citizens has remained a basic problem for the nation, he observed. For instance, the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the nation have not been able to transform quickly in response to the pandemic challenge, he noted.

"This is a major task for us citizens who will celebrate the 76th anniversary of our independence on August 17 later," Mattalitti remarked.

However, he said he disagrees that the government has been ineffective in efforts to handle the pandemic due to ever-changing policies.

"For me, the government has remained dedicated in its effort and its work to handle the pandemic to this day. It is not easy to handle the pandemic in an archipelago state as big as Indonesia," the DPD chief remarked.
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Translator: Muhammad Zulfikar, Fadhli Ruhm
Editor: Suharto
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