TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan on Thursday officially asked oxygen producers to allocate 90 percent of production for medical purposes to prevent future shortages.

The minister - who has been appointed to handle the latest Covid-19 restriction - said this issue has been discussed in meetings ahead of the emergency public activity restriction (emergency PPKM) enforcement that will kickstart on July 3-20.

“We have asked the Industry Ministry to coordinate oxygen producers to allocate 90 percent of the production for medical purposes. We’ve held meetings, managed it, and from what we see, hopefully there will be no trouble in this aspect,” Luhut said in the press conference held virtually on July 1.

Moreover, Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin confirmed that his office has listed and managed the supply and demand of oxygen from hospitals across the Java island. He also said that the implementation will be closely monitored by authorities.

“We will station personnels in each hospital to make sure that it is managed correctly,” he said. “The support from the Armed Forces (TNI) and police will be mobilized if needed.”

Demand for medical oxygen has increased after hospitals in Java added their capacity for Covid-19 patients. Roughly 80 percent of hospitals in Java island are equipped with facilities for oxygen regasification.

Read: Jakarta Police Closely Monitoring Oxygen Supplies

EGI ADYATAMA