Analyst praises Cabinet Secretary for consistent updates on NTT aid
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Political analyst Hendri Satrio, also known as Hensa, has praised Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya for continuing to provide updates on the delivery of aid to East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).
Hensa said in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday that Teddy has been quite consistent in playing a role as a link between President Prabowo Subianto’s instructions and the implementation of government policy on the ground.
Most recently, Teddy announced that the government had again sent 65 tonnes of logistics using five aircraft. With this addition, the total logistical aid for communities affected by the disaster in NTT since the first day has reached 253 tonnes.
“What Teddy has conveyed can serve as an example that the government is working. Whether people like the government or not, if the planes are flying and the aid is genuinely being sent, how can we say it does not exist?” he said.
Nevertheless, the founder of the KedaiKOPI survey institute also reminded that affected communities do not only need large figures regarding the aid that has been dispatched.
According to him, what is far more important is ensuring that the aid arrives quickly, accurately and evenly to the residents who need it.
“We must not be so good at counting how many tonnes have departed, but forget to ask how much has actually reached the hands of residents. This must also be safeguarded,” he said.
Hensa assessed that Teddy has so far been quite effective in carrying out the government’s communication function.
“Teddy also does not only bring figures, but explains what is being carried and how it is being delivered. At least there is something the public can hold him accountable for,” he said.
He said that this consistency can indirectly also add to Teddy’s political capital in the eyes of the public.
Moreover, Teddy is not a regional head, not a party chairman, nor a minister who directly manages programmes for the community.
However, Hensa stressed that popularity should remain a side effect of work, rather than becoming the main goal.
“If the work is good and then one becomes popular, that is fine. What is dangerous is if the order is reversed: wanting to be popular first, and working later. Regarding the NTT matter, the government only needs to prove one simple thing: whether those 253 tonnes reach the people or not,” said Hensa.