'Alcohol ban a half-baked plan'

The city administration recently decided to enforce a bylaw banning supermarkets from selling drinks with more than 5 percent alcohol content, except for duty-free shops. The Jakarta Post interviewed some residents about the plan.

Ahmad Syahril, 35, is a trader at a private company in South Jakarta. He lives in Kebayoran Lama, also in South Jakarta:

I think that regulations for the sale of liquor should be strengthened, not only for the sale of liquor in supermarkets and hypermarkets, but more importantly for the sale of drinks at sidewalk stalls.

Not many people can afford to buy liquor at supermarkets, but everybody has access to alcoholic drinks sold at jamu (traditional herb drink) stalls on the side of the road. On the pretext of using alcohol for jamu mixtures, these places sell alcoholic drinks to whoever wants them.

I know for a fact that many sidewalk stalls sell cheap Topi Miring (Tomi) -- a local beverage containing around 20 percent alcohol -- and what's worse they can be found in residential areas.

It would be better if the administration also paid closer attention to these sidewalk stalls.

Iwan Noviarsyah, 32, is a software engineer at an IT company in Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta. He lives in Pondok Kopi, East Jakarta:

I really don't understand what the administration is aiming to achieve with this new regulation -- is this being done to protect public morality or is it just to regulate businesses?

If this is about morality, the administration is not doing a thorough job. People who really want to get drunk know where to go and that's not to supermarkets or hypermarkets.

If it's something to do with religion, why not require people to show their valid identity cards to ensure they're of age and are non-Muslim?

On the other hand, what's the use of regulating the distribution of products if the administration doesn't also regulate production? Why not ban domestic production outright? To me, this seems like another half-baked plan.

--The Jakarta Post