TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Central Government admits that the distribution of personal protective equipment (APD) for healthcare workers in smaller regions is still stagnant at the provincial level.

This issue was highlighted by the House of Representatives (DPR) finance commission in the virtual hearing with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati on Monday. She did not provide further details regarding the cause of the stagnation.

“As it turns out, from the provincial level it did not trickle down to community healthcare centers (puskesmas),” said the Finance Minister to members of the House on Monday.

House legislator from the Gerindra faction, Ramson Siagian, grilled Sri Mulyani regarding the lack of supply of healthcare protective equipment in a number of healthcare centers, even though a massive budget of Rp75 trillion had been allocated to sort this exact issue.

“District health centers were lacking [APD],” Ramson questioned.

Apart from demanding the government’s monitoring ability on the distribution of APD, the legislator also requested the government to secure the supply of protective equipment by urging available industries to switch function and produce the scarce commodity instead.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Indonesia has claimed at least 24 doctors. The Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) revealed that the high number of fatalities looming over doctors is the issue of protective equipment or the lack of.

FAJAR PEBRIANTO