resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has once again called on his Cabinet to accelerate and streamline bureaucratic procedures in mitigating the overarching impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, sooner rather than later.
Amid the mounting number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Jokowi has urged his ministers to dispense with conventional thinking and come to terms with the gravity of the health emergency.
“During a crisis, we must work harder. Don’t work as if it was business as usual. Work harder and faster. That’s what I want in the current situation,” he said on Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta.
Jokowi asked the Cabinet ministers and their senior bureaucrats to expedite regulations while citing the emergency situation.
“Ministerial regulations, which normally take two weeks to complete, should now be issued in a day. Government regulations, which normally take one month to complete, should now be issued within two days. That’s what I want,” he stressed.
The President also advised state officials to use “smart shortcuts” in place of the established procedures, pointing out that the dire state of current affairs called for "extraordinary" measures.
“We need to switch to extraordinary channels [and] shift from complex methods to quick and simple [solutions],” he said.
Jokowi made a similar call last month, urging all ministries to cut their red tape and quickly disburse funds to stimulate the economy.
While sending signals about his disappointment with his ministers in the Cabinet in addressing problems in health care and social aid disbursement for the poor and those seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the President made a veiled threat, saying that he was prepared to take extraordinary political measures to address the current crisis, including reshuffling the Cabinet.
Indonesia recorded 70,736 confirmed cases and 3,417 COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday.
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