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Yearender 2021: Anies checks off most campaign promises but with lackluster delivery
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has managed to deliver some notable achievements this year despite the overbearing sense of crisis, but many of the capital city’s fundamental problems still persist.
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Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan gives a speech during the launch of Jakarta Bermasker (Jakarta Wears the Mask) logo at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Feb. 3, 2021. (Antara/M. Risyal Hidayat)
I
n 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic was both a curse and a blessing in disguise for Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, as he approached his final year in office.
While the global health crisis has stifled his efforts to follow through on a number of unfulfilled campaign promises, analysts suggest that his general success in leading Jakarta through a devastating Delta variant-fueled second wave of infections earlier this year has spared him from tough scrutiny over his lackluster delivery of programs.
Anies managed to make some notable achievements this year despite the overbearing sense of crisis, but a lot of his programs have also fallen short of expectations, with many of the capital city’s fundamental problems persisting under his watch.
Read also: Nearly half of Jakartans may have had COVID-19, serosurvey suggests
COVID-19 capital
One of the former education minister’s most notable achievements this year has been the success in mitigating Jakarta’s COVID-19 outbreak, including during the devastating second infection wave midyear that pushed the city’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse.
Although Jakarta was among the hardest-hit regions during the Delta wave, the capital managed to bring down its daily caseload from around 14,600 to 2,600 and reduce its hospital bed occupancy ratio from 90 to 73 percent, all in just two weeks.
