There will be no more masks crackdown by authorities in the capital of the Island of Gods following President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s announcement this week that people are no longer obliged to wear them outdoors.
In what many would consider a breath of fresh air, the Denpasar Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) has officially stopped cracking down on maskless people outdoors as of yesterday.
Denpasar Satpol PP’s field coordinator Nyoman Sudarsana said that they will instead check whether people have signed up to the mobility tracking app PeduliLindungi. The app has been pivotal in tracking people’s vaccination status, test results, as well as their travel history on the island (as well as the rest of Indonesia, for that matter).
Prior to the relaxation of mask rules, Denpasar has been the one area where the mask mandate has been stringently enforced in all of Bali.
From 2020 to May 17 this year, 2,600 people have been fined IDR100,000 (US$7) each for failing to comply with mask rules in the capital.
Last year, foreign nationals in Bali were subject to a higher fine of IDR1 million (US$69.80) if they were caught without masks the first time, while a second violation may subject them to deportation from Indonesia.
