JAKARTA - Edtech startup Ruangguru CEO and founder Adamas Belva Syah Devara has announced his resignation from the Presidential Special Staff.
Mr Devara took to Instagram to announce that he had submitted his letter of resignation to President Joko Widodo on April 15, 2020 and informed him in person on April 17.
Mr Devara’s resignation comes amid controversy surrounding Ruangguru’s involvement in the government’s recently-launched Pre-Employment Card programme. Concerns have been raised about possible conflict of interest due to Mr Devara serving on the Presidential Special Staff and holding his Ruangguru position simultaneously.
“I am making this difficult decision because I do not wish to prolong controversy resulted from various assumptions and perceptions on my position as a Presidential Special Staffer, which could interfere with the President and the government’s concentration in handling the COVID-19 pandemic,” he wrote on Instagram, Tuesday (21/4).
In addition, the Harvard and Stanford graduate also stressed that for the time being he will not respond to any media enquiry.
Seven of the 13-member Presidential Special Staff are young public figures, with most of them being startup founders with degrees from overseas universities. Mr Devara is the first special staffer to resign following numerous controversies surrounding the office.
Aside from Mr Devara, special staffer Andi Taufan Garuda Putra, who is the CEO and founder of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startup Amartha, has also been heavily criticised for sending a letter with a Cabinet Secretariat letterhead to numerous subdistrict heads, asking them to partner his company in their effort to tackle COVID-19.
Although Mr Putra issued an apology after the letter had been leaked on social media, he was reported to the police for alleged abuse of power by lawyers M. Sholeh and Tomi Singgih. The police, however, refused to process the report.
Another special staffer notable for invoking controversy is NGO founder Billy Mambrasar, an Australian National University (ANU) and Oxford graduate. Known mainly for his Twitter outbursts and rows, the Papuan native was subject to criticism and ridicule for claiming on his LinkedIn account that his position as a special staffer was equal in importance to a cabinet minister.
Furthermore, another member of the Presidential Special Staff is also rumoured to be living in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic as situations in Indonesia continue to worsen. (MS)