"Whether it is from the PC-PEN (COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery) allocation or not, there will be (an allocation) from the state budget," he said at an online press conference on APBN KiTa (Our State Budget) for June 2022, which was accessed from here on Thursday.
He affirmed that the ministry, along with the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture, is currently still calculating the amount of budget that will be provided to handle the FMD outbreak.
Earlier, the government approved the procurement of 29 million doses of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine for livestock this year using funds from the Committee for COVID-19 Handling and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN).
Medicines and vaccinations, as well as a monitoring mechanism for the movement of livestock from one farm to another, will be prepared by the government, including funding.
Meanwhile, Rachmatarwata explained that the continuity of the PC-PEN budget in 2023 would depend on the COVID-19 situation in the country.
"If COVID-19 is getting under control, it is not suitable if we allocate or make a special budget for PC-PEN anymore. Still, that does not mean we are not ready to prepare a budget for COVID-19 (handling)," he said.
The director general assured that, if in the future, COVID-19 cases surge again or if another pandemic occurs in 2023, the government will prepare an allocation to handle it.
"Maybe the name will not be specifically PC-PEN budget, but we will still prepare it (allocation) to face COVID-19," he remarked.
Related news: Legislator calls for quick, uniform distribution of FMD vaccines
Related news: Need to take FMD outbreak into account before performing Qurbani
Translator: Sanya Dinda, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
