As quoted in a written statement by the government received here on Wednesday, abolition of the collective leave days for the Christmas holidays on December 24 is stipulated in a joint decree of the Minister of Religious Affairs, Minister of Manpower, and Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reforms regarding national holidays and collective leaves in 2021.
"This policy is being implemented to limit the public's massive mobility during the year-end holidays," Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Muhadjir Effendy, remarked.
The government also forbids state civil servants (ASN) from taking leaves during national holidays.
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Minister Effendy has issued a circular regarding restrictions on collective leave for ASN and travel activities outside the region during the 2021 year-end holidays.
"We are striving to suppress mobility as much as we can. We cancel collective leaves as well as prohibit ASN from taking leaves," he added.
Effendy also urged the public, in general, to stay at home during the year-end holidays.
"I hope there would be a large-scale campaign to urge people not to travel and not to return to their hometown or to travel for non-primary purposes," Effendy remarked.
People with traveling necessities must comply with the travel requirements and undergo strict inspections.
They have to be vaccinated and show a negative result of the PCR test for air transportation and a negative result of the rapid antigen test for land transportation.
"We hope that the number of passengers traveling can be limited and also controlled. This is especially important in monitoring to avoid the possibility of high COVID-19 transmission after the year-end holidays," he added.
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Translator: Andi Firdaus, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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