It appears that Indonesians are not getting their long end-of-year holiday after all, as the government has officially cancelled three collective leave days between Christmas and New Year.
Coordinating Human Development and Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy made the long-awaited announcement this evening.
“There will be a reduction in collective leave by three days, namely on [December] 28, 29, 30,” Muhadjir said in a press conference.
“We hope that this decision will not create controversy or outrage, so the greater good can gain its benefits.”
The government doesn’t ordinarily mandate a public holiday between Christmas and New Year holidays. However, this year, to make up for canceling Eid al-Fitr collective leave days amid fresh outbreak concerns in May, the government mandated collective leave days from a day before Christmas to New Year’s Day, meaning Indonesians wouldn’t have to go to work from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3.
As it stands, the government is mandating collective leave days on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31, which may serve as some consolation to those hoping for a rare extended end-of-year break.
Previously, the National COVID-19 Task Force recommended the cancellation of the collective leave days as Indonesia continues to record new daily highs for COVID-19 cases in November.
Indonesia saw a dip in cases at the beginning of November, but that was later attributed to reduced testing during a five-day long weekend at the end of October. A couple of weeks after that break, Indonesia’s daily count spiked dramatically — the country recorded its highest daily count of 6,267 on Nov. 29.
Related — Government releases 2021 holiday and collective leave schedule
