VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Chairman of the NU's task force for COVID-19, Muhamad Makky Zamzani, speaks at an online discussion on "Support of Religious Organizations and Volunteers of United Indonesia”, held in Jakarta on Thursday. (May 14, 2020). (ANTARA)

Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has been working with the wider community to produce masks, as one of the steps to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, through its task force for COVID-19.

"The pandemic has also had an economic impact, so we have empowered around 200 people to make cloth masks," chairman of the NU's task force for COVID-19, Muhamad Makky Zamzani, said during an online discussion on the theme "Support of Religious Organizations and Volunteers of United Indonesia”, held on Thursday in Jakarta.

In addition, the Islamic organization has helped create an economic network by providing around 20,000 staple foods, with a target of increasing it to 100,000 staple foods.

"At present, there are only 20,000 staple foods (that we have distributed), and we hope that in the next few months, (the requirement for) 100,000 staple foods can be met (by us) to help the government in general," Zamzani said.

NU is implementing programs related to handling COVID-19 with the help of its task force. The task force can disseminate information more quickly, both to Islamic boarding schools and the wider community, including Islamic study groups, according to the organization.

The NU Task Force for COVID-19 has released 91,729 posters, five guidebooks, 10 videos, and various other media.

In addition, it has conducted 614 training sessions for a total of 10,478 people, 5,912 socialized villages, 1,336 village action plans, and 1,092 volunteers.

“There are 1,092 national volunteers registered in our database. But, there are also those in the regions who have not submitted their numbers in general, I am sure there are more than 10,000 people," he said.

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics had earlier appealed to the Indonesian public to continue spreading positive messages related to COVID-19 and remain optimistic and united in the fight against the pandemic.

"We must spread positive knowledge, and the foundation for that is we have to maintain optimism," director general of Public Information and Communication at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Widodo Muktiyo, said at a virtual discussion forum on Wednesday in Jakarta.

The COVID-19 pandemic, he said, needs to be tackled with positive thoughts, without pointing fingers at anyone. Self-discipline also needs to be practiced while using social media, and, at the same time, people must work together to help each other during this difficult time, he added.

"Let us set aside our ego because we are facing one common enemy which is the coronavirus. So, we should not put the blame on anybody, especially among ourselves," he urged. (ANTARA)