Face masks look set to be as essential as motorcycle helmets in Indonesia, legally speaking, with regional administrations preparing legal justification to enforce fines for not wearing the protective equipment.
One province that is close to enforcing the fine is West Java, where a Gubernatorial Regulation (Pergub) outlining sanctions for indiscipline regarding health precautions during the pandemic is being prepared.
“The legal basis [for a face mask fine] can be in the Pergub. Also, President Joko Widodo the other day said there will be a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) to uphold health precaution discipline. So there will be more legal justification,” West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said on Thursday.
It’s not yet known how much the fine will be, but Depok, one of the largest cities in the province, has gone ahead and introduced its own sanctions for non-mask wearers.
“People caught not wearing masks will be fined IDR50K (US$3.37) or given social sanctions,” Depok Mayor Mohammad Idris said, adding that a new city-wide regulation regarding the use of face masks has been passed.
Under the regulation, the city administration is required to hold a three-day period, starting today, in which the public will be educated on the sanctions for not wearing a face mask. The fine will be applicable starting on Thursday.
Social sanctions for not wearing a mask can generally come in the form of community service or, in the case of the South Kalimantan city of Banjarbaru, push ups on the spot. However, the mayor of the city has since admitted that physical punishment has not been an effective deterrent in the city, and so his administration passed new regulations allowing them to impose IDR250K fine for violators.
Jakarta has previously imposed a fine of up to IDR250K for non-mask wearers under its Large-Scale Social Restrictions (PSBB) protocol, but it has yet to introduce a blanket regional regulation to legally justify the sanction for when PSBB is no longer in effect.
