Policy Analysis of West Java’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Abstract

The Government of Indonesia (GoI) defined COVID-19 outbreak as a non-natural disaster as stated in the Decision Letter of Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana/BNPB) 9A/2020 concerning the Status of Determining the Specific Situation of Coronavirus Disease in Indonesia, prompting the President to declare a state of public health emergency which subsequently led the President to ask relevant ministers to take maximum steps to stop the virus transmission. As the virus began spreading to different parts of the country, including to the most populous province in Indonesia: West Java, local governments, particularly regional and city governments, saw the need to enact stringent measures in their region to the extent which is allowed by their right of autonomy. In doing so, the West Java regional government, which receives its mandate from the national government, is tasked with coordinating and delegating countermeasures to the city/district governments under its jurisdiction, which include mass testing, social restrictions, and securing health services. However, we learned that issues arise during the course of this delegation, including coordination issues between national and local governments, vertical and horizontal mechanisms, and decision making. This paper aims to answer: "How does West Java govern the response to the COVID-19 pandemic?". It does so by assessing the efforts done by the West Java regional government and its corresponding city/district governments to contain the COVID-19 virus from March to August 2020. The assessment also identifies the gaps which exist between the regional and local governments and use them to formulate recommendations aimed at improving West Java's institutional response to COVID-19.

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