TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Minister of State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform Tjahjo Kumolo, has officially issued a ban on homecoming, or known as 'mudik', for state officials (ASN).

The ban is implemented through the issuance of circular No. 36/2020 on The Restrictions for Out-of-Region Travel or Mudik for State-Officials to reduce the possibility of further spreading of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

"The point is that the Minister in his circular wants [state-official] participation to curb the spread of COVID-19 and suppress it," said the ministry's secretary Dwi Wahyu Atmaji, in a video conference on Monday, March 30, 2020.

The issuance of the Circular Letter calls for the entire civil servants to restrain themselves from participating in the annual tradition of mudik, where migrant workers in major Indonesian cities briefly return to their hometown during for Eid Al-Fitr celebration.

Dwi asserted that civil servants should not make distant travels until the end of the national emergency status set by The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB). The spokesman also called for civil servants to encourage their neighbors to follow the government's suggestion.

The State Apparatus and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry have also ordered each and every instance to record in detail each and every case related to coronavirus (COVID-19) among state officials.

EKO WAHYUDI