Ministry of Social Affairs and BNN Sign MoU on Narcotics Handling

JAKARTA (10 July 2020) - The Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) are collaborating in efforts to prevent and eradicate the abuse and illicit trafficking of Narcotics and Narcotics Precursors and Social Rehabilitation.

The collaboration between the two institutions was inaugurated in the form of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the Minister of Social Affairs, Juliari P. Batubara and the Head of BNN, Heru Winarko, at the Office of the Ministry of Social Affairs. The two institutions agreed to establish a synergistic functional relationship as one system of government.

Country Manager and Liaison to ASEAN UNODC, Collie F. Brown who was present on behalf of UNODC said that currently many drug addicts suffer from drug abuse disorders. In addition, Brown also appreciated the step of cooperation between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Narcotics Agency.

"This collaboration will produce National Standards which are certainly in line with international policies," he said.

On the same occasion, Head of BNN Heru Winarko said that currently BNN is conducting mitigation efforts to choose which narcotics users will go through the legal process and which will be rehabilitated. "The problem is, more people are asking for rehabilitation, but we still lack a place for rehabilitation. Therefore, we really welcome this collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs," said Heru.

In line with Heru, Minister of Social Affairs Juliari P. Batubara said that there were many clients who had not been handled because there were more people waiting in line for rehabilitation. Therefore, Juliari hopes that this collaboration can become a working MoU and the memorandum of understanding can be implemented in real terms in the field.

"What we have done is nothing, because the number that has not been handled is more. Therefore, we have to do bigger things," explained Juliari in front of the reporters were present.

In an effort to deal with narcotics, continued Juliari, the Ministry of Social Affairs has a hand in carrying out rehabilitation. "The role in handling narcotics is not only from the side of law enforcement but also from the side of rehabilitation. Because not all can be punished, more people should be rehabilitated," said Juliari.

Currently, the Ministry of Social Affairs operates 5 social rehabilitation centers for drug abuse victims spread across several provinces and 178 Compulsory Reporting Institutions (IPWL) in all provinces in Indonesia. This is an asset for the Ministry of Social Affairs in efforts to deal with victims of drug abuse, especially in the field of social rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, the cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Social Affairs and the National Narcotics Agency regulates prevention and rehabilitation efforts based on the core business of each institution. One of them is the social rehabilitation process which is the main task of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Meanwhile, the National Narcotics Agency will carry out early detection of abuse and illicit trafficking of narcotics and narcotic precursors in the work environment and environment under the authority of the Ministry of Social Affairs.

The two institutions also agreed to exchange data and information related to efforts to prevent and eradicate abuse and illicit trafficking of narcotics and narcotics precursors, of course with due regard to the confidentiality and interests of the State. The cooperation will be carried out for the next 3 years.

On this occasion, there was also the launch of a guidebook for drug rehabilitation services during the COVID-19 Pandemic period, which was a collaboration between the National Narcotics Agency, UNODC, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, the Indonesian Association of Addiction Counselors, and other institutions.

The Minister of Social Affairs revealed that this manual is a response to the need for quality development of drug rehabilitation services.

"During the pandemic, of course there must be adjustments in rehabilitation so that it remains of high quality," he said.

The guidelines, continued Juliari, can be used as a reference for rehabilitation institutions in the management of services, prevention and preparation of facilities and infrastructure that support services that refer to the COVID-19 protocol.

Finally, Juliari emphasized that the Ministry of Social Affairs through the Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation (DG Rehsos) will continue to make efforts to improve the quality of social rehabilitation services for victims of drug abuse.

In the signing of this MoU, present to accompany the Minister of Social Affairs, Director General of Social Rehabilitation, Harry Hikmat. Drug Abuse Victim’s Social Rehabiliatition is one of 5 programs under the Directorate General of Social Rehabilitation.

This activity was also attended by echelon I and II officials within the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs. Meanwhile, from BNN attended by the Main Secretary, Principal Inspector, Deputy for Rehabilitation, and Deputy for Law and Cooperation. Meanwhile, from other institutions, the Director of P2 Mental Health and Drugs at the Ministry of Health was also present, as well as the Program Officer and Program Coordinator of UNODC.