Business Activities in Pantura Start Again

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Food stalls provide a place to wash their hands in the north coast of West Java, in Pegagan Village, Palimanan District, Cirebon Regency, Sunday (7/7/2020). The Covid-19 pandemic hit businesses in the northern coast. Turnover decreased dramatically, even had to close.

CIREBON, KOMPAS – Business activities along the transportation corridor in the northern cost of Java (Pantura) have begun to grow again. Food stalls, restaurants, souvenir shops and accommodation facilities, both star and non-star hotels, both the western and eastern part of the Pantura highway have reopened again.

However, the transaction value and earnings remain low and only enough to cover operational costs.

"Beginning in July, the number of buyers began to increase. But our earnings are only enough to cover the salaries of employees and electricity bills; no profit yet,” Daud, the owner of a large souvenir shop in Cirebon, said on Sunday (07/07/2020).

Daud has three shops that employ 45 people. During the initial stage of the pandemic, he lost more than Rp 400 million (US$27,671) because of a lack of buyers. Many souvenirs stored in the warehouse are damaged. Before the pandemic, on weekends, more than five buses dropped by his shops, which often caused traffic jams. On that Sunday afternoon, only two cars had stopped by.

Also read : Eased Restrictions Increases Risk of Covid-19 Transmission in Pantura

Sales have also begun to increase in a number of souvenir stores in Brebes regency, Central Java. A number of buyers, for example, were seen at the HTM Jaya store, which sells salted eggs.

Since last month, sales have increased sharply to about 700 eggs a day from about 100 eggs per day before the easing of social and physical restrictions in June.

“Pantura Brebes is starting to attract a crowd," said Dinah, 53, an owner of one of the shops in the area.

Also read : Pantura Declared Covid-19 High-Risk Area

KOMPAS/KRISTI UTAMI

A woman buys salted eggs which is one of the souvenirs typical of Brebes Regency.

The majority of buyers are travelers from out of town, such as Jakarta, Bandung and Semarang in Central Java. To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, Dinah asks her employees to wear masks and clean their hands with hand sanitizers as often as possible.

The situation was quite different from the T shop, another salted egg shop, in Brebes. There, buyers without masks were allowed to freely enter and hold eggs without washing their hands first. The seller of the salted egg shop also did not wear masks properly. Masks were often left hanging on their necks.

At the eastern part of the Pantura corridor in East Java, the impact of the pandemic was felt by Heri Sampurno, the owner of the Warung Lya restaurant located on the side of the Banyuwangi-Situbondo toll road segment in Wongsorejo district.

Also read : Transmission Still High, Detection Not Optimal

At present, the restaurant sells only up to 30 chickens a day, a far cry from more than 100 chickens a day before the pandemic.

"Our customers are mostly the drivers of freight trucks heading to Java, Bali and even to Lombok [West Nusa Tenggara]," he said.

Hotels

The number of guests staying at hotels along the Pantura highway has also begun to increase. The director of the Grand Mutiara Karawang Hotel, Agus Solihin, 28, said that guests had begun to return to his hotel, albeit the number was still small. He said of the hotel’s 50 rooms, only 10 were occupied a day. Guests are mostly drivers and travelers from out of town.However, most of the hotels in the area have not applied health protocols as required. At a non-star hotel in Kramat, Tegal regency, the requirement for visitors to wear a mask, wash their hands and check their body temperature is not enforced. Travelers from outside town are also not required to show a COVID-19-free document.

"We were not asked to implement [health protocols] like that. The guests should know themselves," said Amir, the hotel’s receptionist.

KOMPAS/KRISTI UTAMI

Illustration of hotel photos in the city of Tegal, Central Java, Sunday (7/7/2020).

In the past months, only between five to seven rooms are occupied a day. In total, the hotel has 31 rooms.

Although most hotels still ignore health protocols, there are two hotels in the area that have implemented them strictly. A two-star hotel in West Tegal subdistrict, Tegal City, for example, requires its guests to wear masks and clean their hands with hand sanitizer when entering the reception area. Guests from out of town are also asked to show a health certificate.

Although businesses have begun to adopt new habits, new COVID-19 cases in Tegal and Brebes still appear, with more than 50 percent of the people testing positive turning to be travelers from COVID-19 red zones.

New COVID-19 cases are also still found in the city of Cirebon. In the past three days, 11 new confirmed cases have been reported in the city. As for Cirebon regency, six of the people infected with the disease are travelers.

Purchasing power

According to a study conducted by the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef), the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a decline in regional income, especially in Java, as a result of a decline in activities in the industrial sector. Provinces whose incomes have dropped significantly include Jakarta, West Java, Banten, Central Java and East Java. The decline in the regional incomes in Java will significantly affect the national economy because the island’s contribution to the national economy can reach between 58 percent and 60 percent.

The Finance Ministry projects that regional revenues in Java and Bali will drop by 40 percent this year. The most severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt by regions whose economies rely mainly on services, tourism and manufacturing.

According to Indef researcher Esther Sri Astuti, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted almost all economic activities in rural regions as reflected in the weakening of people’s purchasing power. The government needs to accelerate its economic recovery programs in those areas.

HUMAS PT KAI DAOP 9 JEMBER

PT KAI Daop9 Jember Special Railroad Police member inspects train passengers on Friday (6/19/2020).

According to the head of Bank Indonesia’s (BI) representative office in Jember, Hestu Wibowo, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy of Sekar Kijang (ex-Besuki and Lumajang residency) in 2020 was expected to experience slower growth than in 2019.

"The new normal will have a positive influence on tourism in the third quarter of 2020," he said.

The Semarang city administration officially allowed on Thursday the resumption of the operation of 54 entertainment and tourism-related centers but with the implementation of strict health protocols.

The new normal will have a positive influence on tourism in the third quarter of 2020

However, according to Joko Mulyanto, an epidemiologist from the Department of Public Health and Medicine at Jenderal Soedirman University, Purwokerto, the risks of COVID-19 in Greater Semarang (Kendal, Semarang, Demak) remained high due to their close proximity to Jakarta and East Java, the epicenter of the disease in Java. (IKI/MEL/XTI/GER/BR O/KRN/AIK/DIT)