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Nearly Rp 5 billion collected in fines from health protocol violators
As of Nov. 5, the police have slapped violators with fines over 82,000 times with a total value of Rp 4.8 billion.
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he National Police collected nearly Rp 5 billion (US$351,729) in fines from violators of the government’s COVID-19 health protocols between Sept. 14 and Nov. 5.
The police were joined by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and local stakeholders to net health protocol violators through Operation Yustisi, which aims to monitor and discipline the public over health protocols. The operation was carried out in several regions.
“As of Nov. 5, our joint team has slapped violators with fines over 82,457 times, with a total value of Rp 4.8 billion,” National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Awi Setiyono said on Sunday as quoted by tempo.co. He went on to say that the police had handed the funds over to the state coffers.
In addition to fines, the police also issued nearly 10 million written and oral warnings, Awi said. The force also temporarily closed down nearly 2,000 businesses found to have violated prevailing health protocols.
Awi said the fines and sanctions were in line with Presidential Decree No. 6/2020 on the enforcement of COVID -19 protocols. He warned that repeat of- fenders would eventually become subject to imprisonment. “If [an individual] continues to violate [the protocols] despite having been warned multiple times, then like it or not, we will have to enforce the law,” Awi said.
Previously, the Jakarta administration reportedly collected around Rp 4 billion in fines from residents violating COVID -19 health protocols as stipulated in Gubernatorial Regulation No. 51/2020, which entered into force on June 4.
There has been a list of rather unorthodox penalties imposed by several regional administrations across the archipelago to ensure public compliance with COVID -19 protocols.
In Lhokseumawe, Aceh, those who do not wear a face mask in public could find themselves cleaning up a local park by pulling weeds as a form of administrative sanction. A joint team of the Lhokseumawe Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), National Police and the TNI carry out inspections around Taman Hidayah near Simpang Empat to ensure compliance with the administration’s mask-wearing rule.
The South Tangerang administration in Banten has taken a no-nonsense approach to health protocol violators. According to its latest policy, residents found not wearing a mask are subject to sanctions that test their physical endurance, exposing them to the scorching hot sun and doing an 800-meter sprint.
“Some ‘sunbathed’ for 30 mi utes, while others were told to sprint 200 meters four times and do 10 push-ups,” South Tangerang Satpol PP investiga- tion and enforcement head Muk- sin Al Fachry said recently.
In East Jakarta, several motorists were told to sweep the ground after they were found to have violated the mask-wearing protocol by local authorities. Some pre- ferred to sweep than to pay a Rp 250,000 fine for improperly wearing a mask.
Jakarta Police traffic division deputy director Adj. Sr. Comr. Hari Purnomo said some mask- wearing motorists had failed to comply with Article 4 of Gubernatorial Regulation No. 79/2020, which stipulates that a mask must cover one’s nose, mouth and chin.
The Probolinggo COVID-19 task force in East Java ordered dozens of people at Maron Market to get into a hearse containing a casket used for transporting COVID-19 patients’ bodies after they were caught not wearing a mask.
In East Java’s Gresik regency, violators were ordered by local authorities to dig graves for those who have died of COVID -19 as punishment for not wearing face masks properly in public. (rfa)
