TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) revealed several cases indicating that the government failed to protect the consumers.
“Consumer’s rights were significantly marginalized,” said YLKI Chief Executive Tulus Abadi on Thursday, December 28.
The first was the Umrah pilgrimage travel package fraud by First Travel. According to Tulus, YLKI received 22,655 complaints from the victims who failed to conduct their Umrah. “The absence of government intervention to protect the dozens of thousands of consumers was the evidence.”
The next was the controversial Meikarta housing project that built most of its infrastructure despite only having a local government permit. Once again, said Tulus, the state failed to intervene.
“Tragically, the government seemed to be on Meikarta’s side. It was reflected in the statement issued by Maritime Affairs Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, who fully supported Meikarta,” said Tulus in his attempt to highlight that the government tends to be pro-market oriented rather than pro-people.
The next case where the government caused an uproar in the public interest was the requirement for prepaid mobile phone card owners to register their private information. Tulus argued that the government failed to consult with members of the public before issuing the new rules.
Tulus added that in 2017, consumers who were critical in fighting for their rights were actually criminalized by businesses. On another note, the government failed to create a healthy society, which can be seen through a large number of patients who seek medical care suffering from catastrophic diseases.
“The main cause is the unhealthy lifestyles. The high smoking rate within society is really concerning. Ironically, the Indonesian government is still uncertain to increase the cigarette tax,” said the YLKI chairman.
DIAS PRASONGKO
