TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian and Coordinating Minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD paid a working visit to Surabaya, East Java on Friday, June 26. The government has paid serious attention to the city following its status as black zone that recorded the highest case fatality rate of COVID-19 .

During his visit, Tito asked the Surabaya administration and regional governments nationwide to emulate the Bali government’s ways of promoting health protocols ahead of the new normal to the community.

“We [should] see the COVID-19 cases in Bali. How can it be more controlled? Because its cultural system and the social system are more homogeneous, and the people strongly obey the leaders and the traditional village system, and the pecalang (Balinese traditional guards) are remarkable,” said Tito in a written statement sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs' spokesman on Friday, June 26.

Tito hoped that Surabaya and other regions could resort to such local wisdom to control the spread of novel coronavirus. “In East Java, for example, on how to make the community obey the clerics, traditional figures,” he added.

Formal governmental structures, such as community units or RT/RW, were also expected to actively participate in combating the virus, he said. Tito then ordered the regional government to mull the possibility of imposing legal or social sanctions on violators of the health protocols.

According to Tito Karnavian, Surabaya as the capital of East Java is similar to Jakarta as it intersects with other regions. He also reminded the regional government of the ping-pong effect of the COVID-19 involving Surabaya and its supporting areas.

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DEWI NURITA