COVID-19 Task Force Admits Blind Spots Lead to Quarantine Mafia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Commander of the COVID-19 Task Force at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Col. Agus Listiyono, admitted there were a number of blind spots in the quarantine flow of international passengers at the airport.

The blind spot is a vulnerable point for the emergence of irregularities, such as the quarantine mafia. “It (blind spot) exists, that's why we’re improving [the rule],” Agus told Tempo on Monday, Feb. 7.

According to him, the vulnerable points continued to be evaluated by all parties. The Task Force carried out strict supervision at the sites. “The joint team has carried out inspections and patrols,” Agus added.

The National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo also acknowledged that there were vulnerable points in the quarantine route starting from when landing until heading to the Immigration.

“There is a blank area that allows quarantine violations and deviations to occur. There were transactions so that foreigners and Indonesian citizens who should be quarantined in the predetermined places could escape,” said Dedi in a written statement, Friday, Feb. 4.

To minimize this, the two-star general said the National Police had launched a quarantine monitoring mobile app. Dedi also underlined that cooperation with other stakeholders is necessary to monitor the quarantine.

Dedi emphasized that his side would not hesitate to take stern action against quarantine mafias as instructed by the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo and President Joko Widodo's orders.

Read: Foreigners Lament Different Quarantine Test Results; Task Force Answers

JONIANSYAH (CONTRIBUTOR)