On 10 April 2020, Governor Anies Baswedan along with the
Ministry of Health enacted the large-scale social restriction or PSBB,
applied to all citizens of Jakarta. Barring a few exceptions, all
businesses must be closed and employees are advised to work from their
respective homes if possible, public and online transportation services
are limited accordingly, and citizens are prohibited from gathering
outdoors in groups larger than five. The officers of Satpol PP,
Indonesia’s municipal police force, are tasked in enforcing the rules
that have been established. Among them is Pak Gatra.
Six months ago, Pak Gatra donned his Satpol PP uniform for
the very first time, right after transferring from his previous duty at
the urban village of Bendungan Hilir. Perhaps he did not expect at the
time that within a mere half-year the world would be ravaged by a
pandemic that required him to send the children playing at the football
field home due to a health risk. Each and every day, this 33-year-old
officer bids farewell to his wife and two children and leaves home to
patrol the now almost deserted Jakarta streets. While fully aware of the
coronavirus and all the symptoms that come with it, this does not seem
to falter his steps at all.
(Foto: Pak Gatra)
“Reading the theory [on COVID-19], of course, it will
affect [how I feel about] my work. But when you compare the virus and my
duties, I don’t mean to sound rash, I don’t work for my own
self-interest but for the safety of the people,” he exclaims.
While on duty in the Central Jakarta area, Pak Gatra
explains the three roles of the Satpol PP during this pandemic:
education, socialization, and action. Pak Gatra has witnessed the stigma
pushed against those categorized as People Under Monitoring (ODP) or
businesses that still insist to operate even though the rules have been
laid bare. According to him, this is the result of a lack of information
on COVID-19 and shows the importance of education on this matter.
“We want to convey that these messages relating to the PSBB
is not just another written rule put forth by the governor, but the
impact of enacting PSBB will be detrimental to all of us,” he explained,
“If none of us are disciplined, if we downplay this rule like
‘Whatever, it’s only meant for the people who work in offices or at the
central area,’ surely this pandemic will not be ending soon.”
Jalan Pecenongan Street Food
Pak Gatra remembered that during the first days of the
enactment of PSBB, he was assigned to patrol the Jalan Pecenongan area
in Central Jakarta, where several restaurants were still open. Pak Gatra
and his colleagues calmly inform the business owners that they are
still allowed to operate but only for food delivery services.The
employees then willingly put away their tables and chairs to prevent
customers from dining in. However, some of them still purposefully
disobeyed the rules in secret.
(Foto: Pak Gatra)
“They pretended to be none the wiser. They folded up their
tables and chairs but when we moved on to another restaurant, they
placed them down again,” Pak Gatra chuckled, “We’ve told them about
three or four times already, and they understood. But still, they
insist. Some customers ate standing up and tried to do it discreetly.”
Beyond the restaurants, Pak Gatra’s patrolling experiences
during the pandemic was quite interesting. From the children playing
football at the field who mocked the officers from a distance but
scattered off when the officers came near to the online motorcycle taxi
drivers that crowded together in waiting for a passenger. Online
motorcycle taxi services were still permitted but they were limited to
carrying food and packages, not people. Regardless, according to Pak
Gatra, they violated PSBB rules since there were many more than five of
them. Sometimes, while trying to convince them to leave, a conflicted
debate will amass between the officers and the drivers. However the
officers always try to approach the situation calmly and the drivers
will eventually obey, though reluctantly.
“If I don’t drive, then how will I eat?” Pak Gatra quoted the mutterings of the drivers as they relocated their motorcycles.
Dealing with The Places of Worship
Satpol PP also had to deal with houses of worship such as
mosques or churches, as they are normally crowded places. According to
Pak Gatra, they approach this differently as the matter of religious
worship is quite sensitive. They will arrange a meeting with local
religious leaders to discuss the application of PSBB rules in their
mosques, churches, or temples. Though there have been some cases where
the residents insisted that the mosques reopen so that they can perform
Friday prayer.
“It’s quite a unique incident,” expressed Pak Gatra, “Some
mosques have put up signs saying ‘No Friday Prayers’ yet the nearby
residents tried to force them to reopen because they have garnered the
minimum of forty people to perform Friday prayer. We heard many stories
from mosque keepers who experienced this dilemma.”
Even so, a large majority of houses of worship in Jakarta
have peacefully obeyed the rules. According to Satpol PP’s reports, a
week after PSBB was first enacted, only three out of the two hundred
mosques in Central Jakarta remained open.
(Foto: Pak Gatra)
The Citizens Hold the Key to Ending the Pandemic
Pak Gatra insists that how quickly the pandemic will be
resolved highly depends on the citizens. He expressed that reports from
citizens have been a great help in solving problems and encourages
everyone to take advantage of the official citizen’s report channels by
reporting any crowds they see around their homes. Pak Gatra believes
that the government will continue to assist but they can only do so
much. In the end, the actions and discipline of the citizens will
determine well the pandemic will cease.
“The government cares about the citizens, their people.
[They] have provided the medical facilities and aided with supplies,”
Pak Gatra asserted, “This all depends on the citizens. Which comes first
in the priority scale? Health? Or personal interests in the guise of
the economy?”
112