NEWS, The Eid al-Fitr period in 2021 creates a difficult dilemma for the government, which is to provide options for allowing or prohibiting homecoming. Meanwhile, the homecoming culture has become a tradition for the Indonesian people which is usually done at the end of Ramadan by visiting relatives in their hometowns.
However, with concerns about the possible increase in the number of Covid-19 victims, if homecoming is allowed to continue, the government has banned the community from going home from 6-17 May 2021. Thus, it becomes difficult for the community to carry out Eid together with their families in their hometowns. they.
The decision made by the government makes a lot of sense. Given, the number of victims from covid-19 transmission is increasing. In addition, there is a case study from India which has experienced a large saint victim.
katakita, Currently the homecoming culture does not only have social values which have been used as the right time to stay in touch and gather with family. From a social point of view, mudiok is one of the hotbeds of followers and family unity, even though they have worked and settled in other cities. Homecoming also has a commercial aspect that is increasingly having a greater economic value each year, in line with the increase in the level of income and the welfare of the community.
From this commercial side, the homecoming culture is able to push economic activity to a higher level so that it is hoped that it will be able to encourage economic recovery which is currently experiencing disruption due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Missing Economic Potential
Telisik, The ban on going home, on the one hand, will be a powerful policy to reduce the potential increase in the number of Covid-19 victims. However, on the other hand, it will have a huge impact on the economic potential that is lost due to the prohibition.
There are several reasons why the homecoming economy is one of the important momentum in supporting the national economy. First, economic activity at the central and regional levels reaches its peak ahead of the Eid celebrations until several days after the Eid ends.
This is where the circulation of money becomes very large and so far there has been no other incident that can match the people's party that took place during the Eid. It is estimated that the turnover that occurs during homecoming and Eid will reach around IDR 200 trillion or even more in just a few days.
Second, the homecoming tradition allows large amounts of money to flow from the center to the regions. The flow of money will create a redistribution of wealth that will be enjoyed by family members and people living in the regions.
Opinion, The THR (Tunjangan Hari Raya) received by those who work, of course, can also be enjoyed by their family members. Which in the end will also be spent in the area where they live. The redistribution of wealth is certainly one of the factors capable of supporting economic activity in the regions.
Third, the potential for economic activity in several regions will also be more or less disrupted so that the stretching of several economic sectors in the regions is no longer like the Eid pandemic in the previous year. Tourism and hospitality activities in the regions cannot expect as many guest visits as the previous Eid.
The culinary sector, be it restaurants, food, beverages, or regional specialties will also feel the impact. The car rental business and retail trade below were also disrupted. In fact, some of them are MSME players who have been supporting the economy in the regions. Land, sea and air transportation activities were also severely disrupted so that their transport fleets had to be idle for a while.
Fourth, the homecoming economy has been one of the triggers for increased household demand and consumption, which has become one of the engines of national economic growth.
Fifth, so far, business activities have increased production to increase the supply of goods ahead of Eid. However, with the existence of the homecoming ban, automatically most economic business activities will decrease or stop temporarily. The impact is that they are forced to lay off some of their employees for some time until conditions return to normal.
DIFFICULT CHOICE
The government-issued ban on going home has become a difficult choice. We need to appreciate the government's priority and desire to put more importance on public health factors. The national economic recovery that has been running so far will certainly not reach the optimal target, if the number of covid-19 infections is getting bigger.
The goal of restoring the economy will actually experience a setback, and even failure if the covid-19 transmission becomes increasingly difficult to control. This is where we encounter a contradiction that may not be fully realized by all parties, regarding these two different interests.
