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THE INDONESIAN government emphasized that the opening of the Batam-Bintan travel bubble with Singapore was not a hasty decision, but had been carefully planned and took into account the various risks.
According to Deputy I Chief of Presidential Staff of Indonesia, Febry Calvin Tetelepta, in a press release in Jakarta, Monday (1/24) said that this policy has been discussed for a long time, including one of the coordination meetings at the KSP in May last year. But the uncertain condition of COVID-19 in both countries made this plan delayed several times. So, the opening of the Batam-Bintan and Singapore travel bubbles is not a blink of an eye decision.
Febry said, the opening of tourist destinations in the Batam and Bintan areas of the Riau Islands with the application of the travel bubble (Indonesia and Singapore) had paid close attention to the readiness of the location to the implementation of health protocols, to ensure tourists really only did mobility in the designated areas.
In terms of technical preparation, he said, Bintan Resort already has a Molecular Rapid Test Laboratory (TCM) connected to the PeduliLindung application. Meanwhile, Nongsa District is also in the process of implementing TCM and implementing Bluepass which is prepared for tracking purposes for workers and tourists.
“It is hoped that with this preparation the spread of COVID-19 can be prevented,” said Febry.
Febry assessed, the travel bubble became an important momentum after two years of tourism in the Riau Islands sluggish due to the pandemic.
He said the reopening of tourist destinations in Batam and Bintan for foreign tourists would make the economy in the two regions revitalize.
“Lagoi Bintan and the Nongsa SEZ are centers of tourism and the digital industry that can provide a high multiplier effect on the surrounding community,” he said.
As is known, the government starting Monday officially opened the travel bubble or the opening of a cross-border zone between Indonesia and Singapore, in the Batam and Bintan areas, Riau Islands. This decision was taken to encourage tourism activities in the two regions. What’s more, the status of the two regions was already level one.
Meanwhile Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said there are several requirements that foreign tourists need to meet when visiting Batam and Bintan. Among them, foreign tourists have received a full dose of vaccine at least 14 days before leaving, showed a negative PCR test whose samples were taken a maximum of 3×24 hours, registered for E-HAC, had insurance ownership of 30,000 Singapore dollars, and used the PeduliLindungi application, and Bluepass. [antaranews/photo special]
