IDNEWSNOW.COM, Jakarta – Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia asked all people to end the polemic surrounding the price of the PCR test and look to a better future. He said efforts to contain COVID-19 are not elementary and require hard work.
“What’s important is to look to a better future,” said Bahlil at a press conference on Thursday, November 11.
The price of the PCR test drew public attention following the government’s policy that required the COVID-19 test for air travel in the Java-Bali region. The government also mulled over expanding the policy for other modes of transportation as an effort to anticipate the COVID-19 third wave ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The issue continued to become a polemic after two ministers reportedly involved in the PCR test business. They are the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister Erick Thohir.
According to Bahlil, the government continues striving to contain the pandemic in the country. As a result, Indonesia’s economic growth in the third quarter of 2021 is still maintained at around 3.5 percent.
The opportunity to boost economic growth in the fourth quarter, he went on, is very wide open because the virus case could be controlled. In addition, public confidence is also claimed to be improving along with the economic transformation.
“This is our momentum to only share good news, in an objective context,” said Bahlil, adding that unpleasant news could be detrimental so as to trigger public distrust in Indonesia.
Read: Advocacy Team Challenges PCR Test Price Rule at Supreme Court
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