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Raids at internet cafes spoil students’ fun during COVID-19 curfew
Where’s the fun in that? Public Order Agency raids internet cafes to send home students who don't respect the city-imposed curfew as schools remain closed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
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A Jakarta Public Order Agency officer visits an internet cafe in Jakarta on Tuesday. The agency is conducting raids to ensure students don’t visit internet cafes to play games during the city-imposed curfew and school closure to curb the spread of the coronavirus. (Tribunnews.com/Photo Courtesy of Jakarta Public Order Agency)
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ublic Order Agency (Satpol PP) personnel have carried out raids at several internet cafes to make sure students stay at home during the two-week school closure imposed by the Jakarta administration.
West Jakarta Satpol PP head Tamo Sijabat said his personnel had raided dozens of internet cafes where students usually played online games.
"We raided 55 internet cafes yesterday and have continued to monitor the cafes even up till now," Tamo said on Thursday as reported by antaranews.com
During Wednesday’s raids, he said, officers had found around 100 students. The officers would educate the students about social distancing before sending them home.
Tamo said students could visit internet cafes as long as they came for e-learning and not for online gaming.
"We'll let students visit internet cafes if they want to print their assignments or want to study," he said.
Read also: COVID-19: Regions postpone national exam amid 'social distancing' call
Tamo said the agency planned to continue the raids until the COVID-19 emergency response period was over.
Besides checking on internet cafes, the agency would also visit places where students usually gathered, like playstation rentals and shopping centers.
The North Jakarta Satpol PP also carry out similar raids on Thursday.
"We’re trying to implement [the Jakarta governor's] instruction on social distancing, especially for students," North Jakarta Satpol PP head Yusuf Majid said on Thursday.
"If we find students doing their homework, we'll give them permission to stay and finish it, but if we find them playing online games, we'll stop them and advise them to go home."
Prior to the raids, North Jakarta Satpol PP had advised internet cafes and playstation rentals to stop operations temporarily.
On Saturday, the Jakarta administration announced that it would close schools across the city and suspend examinations for two weeks starting Monday as part of measures to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the capital city. (nal)
