Administration to close two nightclubs

JAKARTA (JP): The City Public Order Office is to permanently revoke permits of two of the 13 nightspots caught violating rules on New Year's Eve, an official said yesterday.

Kusaeni Budiantoro, the head of the public order office, said the nightspots did not have permits to operate and had committed repeated violations.

One of the clubs, identified as the H Discotheque, Central Jakarta, had been operating with a permit issued for a cafeteria, Kusaeni said.

Kusaeni said the discotheque would not operate again. Besides violating permits, residents had raised objections because it was in a residential area, Kusaeni said.

The other nightspot, the Cafe TB, in South Jakarta, had repeatedly committed violations, he said.

The public order office also temporarily sealed off five other nightspots Tuesday night.

The clubs were CR Cafe, and L Discotheque in South Jakarta; and O and J Discotheques, JJD Pub, and SAG restaurant in Central Jakarta. Kusaeni said the clubs would be closed for a minimum of seven days.

Among the violations were operating businesses or year-end festivities without permits, selling unauthorized tickets, and exceeding permitted operation hours for New Year's Eve celebrations, he said.

The city had earlier ruled nightspots must close by 4 a.m. on New Year's Day.

Meanwhile Kusaeni said the office had not decided on the form of punishment for the North Jakarta club, identified only as LP, which showed three local striptease performances Tuesday night.

There is no law regarding such performances by local artists, Kusaeni said.

A 1992 gubernatorial decree and a 1988 instruction of the Minister of Home Affairs only regulate performances by foreign artists.

"However, we do not tolerate any indecent shows," Kusaeni said.

He added a city team including his office and the tourism agency, will study the degree of violation committed by the North Jakarta club and then decide on an appropriate punishment.

He said the public order office would give warnings to five other clubs which violated rules on Tuesday night.

Kusaeni said violations by nightspots on New Year's Eve had increased 2.5 percent from 1995.

In a later development, a city councilor urged the public order office not to discriminate against undisciplined nightspots.

"There is something wrong with the way some clubs continually violate the law," Lukman Mokoginta, the head of the Indonesian Democratic Party said.

Unless punishment is imposed on all violators equally, the law could not be properly implemented, he said. (02)